COPY EDITOR,
STAFF WRITER,
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The art of writing, whether it be poetry, stories, plays, or simply writing our thoughts down, has been the most dependable and influential form of recording history and remembering things that are important to us. The Diary of Anne Frank is probably the most notorious in history and greatly broadened our understanding of what was going on and how people were feeling during such a trying time in history.
Tyler Robinson, also known as Teddy, is the first rap artist to be signed to Monmouth University’s Student-Run record label, Blue Hawk Records. In the past four years that Blue Hawk Records has been operating, it has had a few rap artists represented on the various compilation albums. These artists included J Piff (James Porricelli, senior music industry student), Jax the Geenius (Jamier Gee, music industry recent graduate), and Trevon Bailey (sophomore biology student).
Joey Affatato, senior music industry student and vice president of Blue Hawk Records, has been a part of the Monmouth University music scene since the beginning of his freshman year in the fall of 2013. Now he has some amazing music to share with us on his latest album. Affatato’s first band in college was The Ramparts Rebel, which included himself and his uncle’s band, Crypt Keeper Five.
Carly Miller, a junior homeland security student, has raised about $40 so far in donations for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by creating “Keychains for Children” to directly help child refugees from Syria.
On Sunday, Feb. 5, something epic happened, and I’m not talking about the close game between the Patriots and Falcons. Lady Gaga had one of the best halftime shows in a while. Jeffrey from the 102.7 Morning Show said on Monday morning, “The best moment in history happened for 13 minutes at the halftime show last night!” Lady Gaga is the first solo act to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show since Paul McCartney in 2005.
Every semester, the Applied Music Industry class markets and produces a compilation album featuring artists from all over Monmouth University’s campus. Last Wednesday, Feb. 1 in Lauren K. Woods Theatre from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., over 15 acts auditioned for Blue Hawk Records 10th compilation album. Acts who auditioned varied from local Rap star, Tyler Robinson (aka Teddy) to acoustic acts like Oliver’s Wanderers (who are senior music industry student, Dylan Hoski and junior communications student, Kristina Caliendo) and even full band acts like Hunter’s Run who features sophomore music industry student, Tommy Allen, on the drums.
The music industry is always changing and evolving; the women involved in the music world are seek-ing a greater change and overall acceptance. While women have come a long way since the beginning of the 20th century, the amount of women involved in music compared to men is nowhere near the same–and it’s not because women have no interest.
On Jan. 12, Asbury Park was rocking all night long and Blue Hawk Records, Monmouth’s student-run record label, had everything to do with it. Every year Asbury Park hosts the Light of Day Festival which, as Professor Joe Rapolla, Chair of the Music and Theatre Department, explains, “Is an important event for Monmouth students to participate in not only because it is a high-profile music event that local and international acts, including Bruce Springsteen, perform at, but because of the purpose of the light of day organization.”
A new calendar year has started and almost everyone has been working on being a better person this year. We either join a gym, vow to be a nicer person, or promise to do better in school. Whatever it is, every year we all decide that the month of January seems like a good time to restart our lives in one way or another.
Every semester, Monmouth’s student run record label, Blue Hawk Records, creates and records a compilation album featuring various artists on campus. The Applied Music Industry class runs the whole production by making and producing this album. This process has many steps, starting by holding auditions in Lauren K. Woods theatre to releasing and promoting the album. This semester the class is working on their ninth compilation album, 9 Lives, which will be released Dec. 7, with a show of the album held in the Rebecca Stafford Student Center. The album features six artists from varying genres. This week, I met up with the two female singer/song writers on the album to talk about their tracks and experiences as up-and-coming musicians.