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New YouTube video features student bands

Members of the student band
Members of the student band "Shake the Baron" rehearse in the MOBROC barn.

A new video posted on Connecticut College´s YouTube channel invites you to step inside "The Barn" and get a sense of what it is like to be in a student band at Connecticut College. In addition to a full and active Music Department, all students at Connecticut College have the opportunity to join MOBROC, a student-run support organization that provides bands with access to practice space, a full sound system, a place to store instruments and a network of fellow student musicians. "MOBROC stands for Musicians Organized for Bands Rights on Campus," MOBROC President Rich Abate ´10 said. "Basically what we do is offer a practice space for anyone who plays an instrument and anyone who wants to play with other musicians on campus." The practice space - a converted squash court with high ceilings and a second-level balcony that make it an intimate concert venue - is called "The Barn." "Just being in that room, that big open space - you are free to do whatever you want," Matt Addison ´10, the drummer for the student band "Shake the Baron," said. While that usually means creating and practicing new music, Kyle Joseph ´12, a guitarist and vocalist for the band "Take Care," says sometimes it means having deep discussions with other musicians. "We sign out the barn for two hour slots and we played music on time for 15 minutes, then got into this intense debate for 45, and then played for the next hour," he said. MOBROC is open to all student musicians, regardless of experience level or instrument played. "If you´ve played guitar for one month, if you´ve played guitar for 10 years, or if you´ve played xylophone, trumpet, violin … we can use you and we have a spot for you," Abate said.



April 19, 2010