On a typical Sunday night, the basement of Sage Hall is cold, dark, and deserted as dust bunnies gather in the primary common room’s corners. But if you found yourself there on Jan. 14, you would have discovered something else — the space was packed with dancing students and live music.
The Sunday night event, “Tunes for Goons,” was the brainchild of Turntable, a band of first-years Felix Barman ’27, Uchechi Ibewuike ’27, Temani Knight ’27, Keziah Osei-Agyemang ’27, and Carlton Roe ’27. Turntable often plays “dad rock,” as Osei-Agyemang described it, but their repertoire ranges from Jimi Hendrix to MF Doom to Declan McKenna. Drummer and guitarist for the band, Barman, first recruited his bandmates — after jamming out, of course — to play a set at Coverchella, an annual concert held by WCFM on Nov. 10.
After Coverchella, the band members decided to continue to perform together and played a 45-minute set at Wood House in a show organized by Williams Audio Production (WAP). The band was encouraged by their performance at the WAP concert. “It was really good,” Barman told the Record in an interview. “So we decided, why not make it happen for ourselves over Winter Study?”
As Roe, a singer and bassist for Turntable, remembers it, the idea came to the band quite spontaneously. “Felix was like, ‘What if we did something on Sunday?’” he said. “And then we just put it together.”
But putting it together was no easy feat. Roe made what he called a “silly little poster,” which he and Barman posted across Frosh Quad and on social media to promote the event. Then the pair lugged audio equipment from WCFM’s headquarters in Prospect House. Members of Turntable reached out to their acquaintances in other bands, inviting them to play.
On the big night, the basement of Sage filled with students — and then kept filling, as more and more arrived, drawn to the promise of live music. Barman recalled watching the crowd with both pride and slight concern. “During the show it got so hot that I ran and filled a bunch of cups with snow,” he said. “I put them on a table so that if people were too sweaty, they could go and rub some snow on their wrists.”
The event was met with enthusiasm from both performers and concert-goers. “I think the show at Sage showed that there could definitely be a space for [this type of] music on this campus,” said drummer, bassist, and vocalist of the metal band Milquetoast Leila Ruser ’27.
Ruser was initially disappointed with the informal music options when she started her first year at the College. “When I arrived, I was pretty underwhelmed,” she said. “It seemed like there were very few [student] bands.”
But the less-formal Sunday night concert was a positive sign for the future of the music scene at the College and students’ ability to create it, student performers told the Record.
“The fact that we could organize the show and it was such a success was kind of a revelation because we realized that there really is no higher authority when it comes to organizing things like this,” Roe said.
“We can play whichever songs we want,” Barman added. “Especially in a time where we’re kind of in between childhood and adulthood, it feels really awesome and exciting and empowering to be able to make decisions for ourselves.”
Turntable views their project as filling a fundamentally different niche on campus from that of formal, academic lessons and performances. “That’s another thing on your Google Calendar, right?” Roe said. “This is something completely different.”
What’s next for Turntable? Following the success of “Tunes for Goons,” members of the band said their next step is to establish a more consistent practice schedule. Then, more gigs, more original songs, and maybe more Turntable-organized concerts. The group also plans to play in the Battle of the Bands in February to compete for a spot as an opening act for the headliner at All-Campus Entertainment’s annual Spring Fling.
Ruser and Roe both said that they invite more students to contribute to the impromptu music scene. “My hope is that people just keep playing — keep forming bands, keep organizing shows, play fun covers and their own songs,” Ruser said.
“Get your friends together, make music,” Roe added. “It doesn’t have to sound good. It just has to be exciting. Come join us.”
