ELENA FITZGERALD
Staff Writer
Photo by ELENA FITZGERALD | Staff Writer
The Music Industry Club put a spin on their yearly spring event, which was known as Soulstice Jam, and is now Fredchella.
Soulstice Jam was a Music Industry Club event that was primarily held during the spring semester for one day. The winning band of Battle of the New Bands, another Music Industry Club event, would play at that springtime event as a prize.
It was Vice President Olivia Castiglione who came up with the idea to change Soulstice Jam to Fredchella, an event that would be a festival for the students who could not make it to Coachella.
Fredchella was held as a two-day event, on both April 20 and April 21 at Barker Commons in town and the Williams Center Multi-Purpose Room on campus, with five performances each day.
Alongside the performances, vendors were selling their merchandise from Valerie Ann’s Institution, Recollected, TeddyBara and more.
Students were walking around as the music was playing to look at the vendors, as well as having a good time watching the performers.
Day one of the event began outdoors at Barker Commons, where the music could be heard throughout the town.
Performances included Sienna Strain, Prairie Pavement, Asteroid Day, Amphobia and Chatterbox.
Chatterbox won Battle of the New Bands this past fall and headlined day one as part of their prize. They performed a set of original songs, including the debut of their new song called “Placebo Effect.”
The mix of the bill brought together many different Fredonia bands that had never played together before, as well as Prairie Pavement, who traveled from Buffalo to perform.
On the flip side, there was a reunion performance, as Asteroid Day and Amphobia played together in Battle of the New Bands two years ago.
Andrew Springer, senior sound recording technology major, plays the drums in Amphobia who played both Soulstice Jam last year and Fredchella this year.
“Fredchella was a new opportunity for us in Amphobia, with this event being our first festival-like experience,” he said.
Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal for the outdoor concert, which made it challenging to continue the event that day.
Ahmani McKoy spoke about the weather, as he is the events coordinator of the Music Industry Club.
“The process for setting up Fredchella was hard because we had everything in the bag and then the weather just started getting worse,” McKoy said.
Even though it was very brisk outside, the bands and audience persisted for Fredchella on day one.
However, on day two of Fredchella, it was moved to the Williams Center Multi-Purpose Room because the weather continued to be too cold.
This day included Puddle, Sadboymanii, Violent Graffiti, Relentless Moisture, Clayton Duffy and the 80 HRS.
Similarly to day one, there were mainly sets from Fredonia-based bands, with the one band from Buffalo being Clayton Duffy and the 80 HRS.
The collaboration of the Fredonia campus overall was staggering, with the Music Industry Club bringing not only the Animation and Illustration Club but also Sound Services, as they provided sound for the shows.
There was also a collaboration between the performers and the club, as McKoy himself performed as Sadboymanii.
Sadboymanii performed some of his songs, such as “LOML,” “My (Not So) Ordinary Life” and “Loves All Mine.”
In terms of booking the event, as it is a two-day festival, this was a big accomplishment for the Music Industry Club.
McKoy booked Fredchella alongside Castiglione, with McKoy taking on the responsibility of communicating with the various performers as well as making sure the day of the performance went smoothly.
As McKoy focused on communicating with the bands, Castiglione took the time to search for the artists and bands that would fit the event.
“I chose bands that I felt had a good stage presence and took as much inspiration from actual Coachella as I could,” Castiglione said.
Castiglione stuck to that idea and it worked very well in the long run. “For example, Sienna Strain’s band ended up doing a cover of “Pawn Shop” by Sublime, who performed at this year’s Coachella,” she said.
The event overall was a hit, not only for the audience but also for the performers, as Springer played on both days.
Springer said, “The festival did a great job of showcasing many genres of music, whether that was pop, folk, punk or alt-metal, so it really felt like there was something for everybody.”
Castiglione mentioned a goal of hers when first thinking of the idea, which she strived to achieve for Fredchella.
She said, “I just wanted to commit to the idea of having a knock-off Coachella even if it sounded a little weird or odd because the event is meant to be fun and it’s something that everyone can recognize whether you know the music scene or not.”
Music Industry Club did just that, bringing together people who knew the Fredonia music scene and people who knew nothing about it for two days of fun.
Elena Fitzgerald, the writer of this article, is the manager of Relentless Moisture.