I entered the Mug right before eight on October 25th, catching the pungent whiff of a food truck pasta bucket as I waited for the first musician, Cornbread al la Shakey Graves, to begin his set. More familiar with the popular “Spud Cannon” vibes of the Vassar music scene, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a show which would flow from bluesy rock to 90’s alt to Ska in the first hour alone. I was familiar with the big names of the lineup- The Beatles, KISS, David Bowie- but I wasn’t sure how these iconic groups would translate through Vassar musicians. As Cornbread stepped up to the mic, members of the StuMu crew encouraged the audience, lined up against the wall in the mismatched Mug stools and chairs, to pull up closer, to get close.
“I love him, his music and his hair,” Cornbread told me when I asked him why he decided to channel Shakey Graves. I asked him to summarize the essence of performing for me: “I usually just imagine everyone in their underwear.”
“Under the Covers” is a Halloween-themed cover show run by StuMu, officially known as Vassar’s Student Music Union; the show provides a space for student musicians to channel and perform as popular and inspiring artists. “The idea [for the show] is that your entire set is of one artist, so you are dressed up as that artist and performing as them,” Kota Lee, a StuMu show coordinator and tech director, told me. According to Lee, the show allows musicians the chance to perform in a low-pressure environment and pay tribute to the bands that influenced them. “Performing as another musician is a fun way to show some respect to something that helped form you as a musician.”
As I wondered if people imagine each other in their underwear in other “staged” situations- like when Cornbread recites poetry in our Contemporary Poetry seminar- he began to strum and sing. Unfamiliar with the original songs, I couldn’t help but associate the mellow groove and sensitive lyrics with the performer in front of me. The crowd was still, listening.
“It’s very freeing to be able to go up on stage in front of people you don’t know and your friends and play your heart out. To say something,” Lee told me. “[StuMu is] one of the few outlets on campus that regularly give space for people to show their art, for any type of art.”
As the show progressed, the audience got a taste of a variety of music, swelling and moving with the artists on stage like a heart pumping to an ever-changing beat. As the music increased in intensity, the audience got closer.
The space between stage and crowd became nonexistent, as the bands and audience members interacted through dancing, witty banter, or singing along. One of the most popular acts of the night was KISS, covered by the Stuffed Shirts, who’s part-recreation, part-pantomime performance brought a lighthearted, teenagers-rocking-out-in-a-garage feel to the basement venue. There might have been tongue, but if so, I missed it, unable to view the entire performance through the densely-packed bodies.
StuMu shows didn’t originally garner this amount of attention; as a relatively new org, they are still developing a community and working to increase the presence of student musicians on campus. Organized under the ViCE banner until two years ago, StuMu had to go through major reconstruction after they split. “We were essentially a brand new org and we wanted to build the org so we really had a presence on campus,” Lee said. “So we decided to hold workshops and have open meetings; last year was really a building year for us.” StuMu now offers music lessons to people interested in getting into the music scene, and they have an official practice room for anyone who needs the space to practice. “The more accessible we can be, the bigger our community will be,” Lee emphasized. “The StuMu community isn’t just the musicians, it’s the people who come to the shows and support us. We don’t exist without a community.”
Not all the music groups featured were iconic or legendary; Lee and fellow musician Liam Manion performed songs by the 90’s alternative rock band, Marcy Playground. (You may know their hit “Sex and Candy” circa 1997. Go listen to it, it will probably strike a cord.) According to Lee, “Marcy Playground has a really DIY feel, which influenced me a lot. In high school I didn’t really have anyone to play with, so I had to make music on my own, and that is what I could do.” While their performance itself was DIY, Lee and Manion performing together for the first time without too much preparation, the choice to cover Marcy Playground captured the tonal essence of formative years for musicians.Vanessa Achoy, another show coordinator for StuMu and a Mug manager, sees the growing interest in shows like “Under the Covers” as an indication of live student musicians gaining recognition on campus for their art.
“It’s really nice to have a bunch of people show up and be excited about it… A lot of the time it’s just mostly people’s friends who show up, but it really seems like going to student music shows is becoming a thing to do, just to check it out.”
After the show, which ended in a rousing tribute to David Bowie with “Under Pressure,” I witnessed just a flash of the StuMu community which Lee and Achoy hope to leave behind when they graduate this year. As StuMu members began disassembling the equipment, music history was made as members from KISS, the Beatles, Sublime…student musicians still in full facepaint and garb, all worked together to pack away drum kits and coil wires. Not only were these musicians supporting the event staff, but their presence seemed to say I’m still here. I stayed and listened to you play. Your music matters.
From a personal perspective, I recognized a lot of the musicians, even if they were performing with different people than they were used to. But the Halloween cover show allowed them to transform into new iterations of themselves which I wasn’t familiar with, adding a new dimension to what I considered a pretty compact music scene at Vassar. Still, many of the performers I hadn’t heard or seen before, and the recognizable elements of familiar songs or musicians combined with the range of student artists and genres created a spooky feeling of what should have been deja vu, but wasn’t. I know I’ll never hear that precise rendition of “I Am the Walrus” again.
For Lee and Achoy, “Under the Covers” accomplished everything they hoped for in a StuMu show. “We want this show to be an annual thing right around Halloween, because it just fits. At the end of the day, our job is to entertain people,” Lee explained. “And to let people do music,” Added Achoy.
The next StuMu show will be November 15th, and will highlight Trans/Femme/Non-binary musicians and artists.