ROCK ON

Student, graduate bands make sweet music

Guitar riffs and blaring feedback reverberate off the basement walls, echoing into the ears of a milling crowd. A band member requests a mic check, triggering a smattering of applause and catcalls from the crowd.

The atmosphere is noticeably informal _— even performances by indie bands at venues like the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., are more structured. Maybe it’s the aroma of stale keg beer, maybe it’s the de-stressing after a long week of term papers, but something lingers about the performance of a student band.

"[Our band] practices in basements," said Matt Morrell (‘04), member of the band En Francais. "It’s a pretty wild scene. There are no windows so you don’t know what time of day or night it is."

Morrell acknowledged that though he enjoys being in a band, it is certainly not all fun and games, even while playing En Francais’ signature sound — self-described "sugar- laden power pop." "It’s not all backstage parties and twelve-string jangle hooks."

Being on the road is hard, especially as a student. "One night, you’re playing a packed house at the beach, and the next night, you’re playing in some fraternity’s basement and you have to wait for everybody to leave so you can sleep on the floor," Morell said.

Though the road may be hard, it is one that might lead En Francais to musical success. JMU graduates Dean Fitzgerald (’04) and Scott Ferguson (’04) recorded 14 songs in the summer of 2003, and sent in a five-song demo to the selection committee for the Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference. After the demo was accepted, Fitzgerald and Ferguson signed on two other permanent members, Morrell and Ben Earman, and then signed on two extra players, Devon Lamp and senior Branden Henderson, solely for the MACRoCK performance.

However, bands do not always form for a specific function or event. Candide, with members Morrell, Henderson, Fitzgerald, junior Tim Van Schaick and sophomore Matt Arduini formed one lazy afternoon while jamming. "We formed when we were all bored one time and decided to play some music together ... It just kind of grew from there," Van Schaick said. "It just happens to be a coincidence that my best friends are also excellent musicians."

Candide, playing mostly rock music is still in its beginning phases, and its members mainly are concerned with bringing a product to the music scene that people can enjoy, Van Schaick said. "I’ve never actually been in a band [before], so this is all pretty new for me," Van Schaick said. "We have no ambitions to do anything, except have as much fun as we can. My only ambition is to be in a fun group that people like to listen to."

The band //Panoramic shares Candide’s philosophy on fun. "We play because we love to play; we’re really just exploring," said senior Joel Mills, member of //Panoramic. //Panoramic plays instrumental post rock, inspired by the style of a Texas band, Explosions in the Sky. //Panoramic — consisting of Mills, and fellow members seniors Wes Webb, Doug Standford, and T.J. Ill, only has been in existence for six months, but already has played a number of house parties, which has helped to get their name out to the public. Their style is almost improvisational, playing off ideas and themes, rather than written or memorized music, Mills said.

Candide usually doesn’t use improv, however, preferring to write out all music and lyrics before performing it, Fitzgerald said. Between lyricists Fitzgerald and Ferguson, the band has over 130 songs. Fitzgerald and Ferguson each write and sing their own songs, said Fitzgerald.

The two of them "have enormous scores written out in their heads and try to communicate it to the rest of us in some strange esoteric language that they have between them," Morrell said. "We just try and keep up with their brilliant designs."

After all of the writing and practicing, there is only one thing left to be done — perform. Musicians say the rush of a live crowd performance is addictive. "It makes it all worth it, really," Morrell said. "It’s that moment, when it’s no longer En Francais on stage and the fans in their seats, but something that is so much more. It’s something like being at the Boston Tea Party, or being with Moses when he went up and got the Ten Commandments."

And that rush, the adrenaline pumping through swelling veins, accompanied by screaming groupies and thumping base, is truly what it’s all about.

.