Last school year, the Catalyst covered music spaces on campus with a survey that asked Colorado College students and student musicians about their preferred music performance space in regard to appearance, sound quality, capacity, and aesthetics. The response was largely positive, even from President Jill Tiefenthaler, who inquired about what an ideal music space would look like for CC students.
In March, the SOCC (Sounds of Colorado College), student musicians and other community members held an open forum where people could come and voice their opinions about music on campus, the music culture, and what their specific wants and needs were. Students came up with:
• A set space with a capacity for about 150-200 attendees
• Accommodations for a range of groups – from large, five to six piece bands to smaller singer-songwriter acts
• Intimate and lively with both seating and space to dance
• Designated space exclusively for student bands, performers and spoken word artists
• Permanent stage setup with the ability for artists to reserve the space for live performances
• Potential for student employment with coordinators and desk managers that would be able to staff the venue, check out gear, and work the front desk
• Cater to programming with speakers, workshops, and lunch seminars
• Open “jam hours” for musicians
• Practice room space
• Recording studio space
• Opportunities for students to learn about band management, sound production, and running live events
The ideas listed above are just a few of the concerns and needs that students listed at the meeting. Most evident was the lack of an established music hub on campus for collaboration or performances. This is quite astonishing, considering that CC has quite a presence of talented musicians on campus. How does a new student form a band without contacts? What if someone is interested in trying an instrument, but does not have the financial capabilities to invest in one and take lessons? How can students learn how to run sound for a live event if they have never had this experience or formal training? These are just a few of the questions that have yet to be addressed.
Although there seems to be a plethora of obstacles, it is useful to look at the models in place at other colleges. Oberlin College has found a way to balance formal music education with their conservatory college as well as informal music organizations. They have The Oberlin ‘Sco, which is an on-campus bar and music venue located in the ground level of the student union. Their website states, “This subterranean nightspot attracts a variety of alternative bands, along with many top-notch musical combos formed by Oberlin students . . . Although primarily a music and dance club, the ’Sco, has welcomed the occasional musical or theatrical production, especially during winter term.” They have managed to book acts such as Lower Dens, Deerhoof, Mac Demarco, Parquet Courts, and Danny Brown (to name a few) at either a severely discounted price or even for free.
Carleton College has “The Cave,” which is a student-run music and entertainment venue housed on the lowest level of one of their dormitories. This venue is open Tuesday through Saturday with regular coffee nights and live music each weekend.
This private venue, which is only open to Carleton students and hosted guests, has been a space for local and touring acts as well as student bands and DJs. This space, unlike the bar setup in Oberlin, is a BYOB space that follows state and college alcohol procedures and laws. This space has been used to host student band showcases, open mic nights, battle of the bands, karaoke parties, poetry slams, trivia nights, dances and beer tastings.
Both spaces are predominately student-run and serve as a permanent hub which consistently stages events; these venues could serve as potential models for Colorado College. At present, the main issue is gaining momentum. After a meeting earlier in the block with faculty and staff members about music on campus, regarding venue spaces in particular, there seemed to be some hesitation in the present availability of venues such as Gaylord, Cossitt Amphitheatre, and Cornerstone. Alternatively is the need for additional practice space (the only space available to non-music major and minor students is the Mathias practice space, which can be competitive in terms of booking and scheduling).
In order to get the ball moving the next step would be an in-depth proposal demonstrating the need of a new space. A few locations on campus have been considered, but it remains difficult to determine sustainability in terms of financial security for a space over an extended period of time as well as sanctioning the use of the venue.
Although there are spaces that can and have been used to hold musical events on campus, these spaces do not represent a viable musical hub. Instead, these spaces are multi-purpose and used for a plethora of events, which leaves student bands and music event planners to compete with other organizations on campus to plan an event. Also, these venues do not exhibit the factor of predictability; there is nowhere on campus where a student can go to hear live music every Friday night.
Further dialogue must take place to ensure that any action taken reflects the needs and wants of those who seek to benefit from the creation of new space, or remodeling of an existing space. Regardless of whichever is deemed most important, it is evident that student musicians, bands, and those interested in music education that might not be found in the music department are in need of more support from the college in general since they contribute greatly to the campus community.