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 4/4 – The Quarks / Smooth Aviator / Commercial Airline Black Market / King Guru 4/10 – Icarus the Owl / Bear Girl / A Moment’s Ornament / Killer Eskimos / Before the Sunrise / Clay Cages 4/12 – Carousel Kings / Post Season / Sanction the Radio / Values / System Reset / Last Act Standing 4/20 – Buffalo Buffalo / Supreme World Emperors 4/22 – The Big Time / An Honest Year / The Resolution / N ext Year’s End / Wolves in DC / Fighting Sides Table of Contents Poetry and Short Story Submissions “Am I The Only Sane Person Left In This World?” “Regret” “Meaning: A Poem” “I Wanna Be A Giraffe” “How to Annoy Your Roommate” “Untitled” “Space Cathedral: Part 3” Interviews The Organ Machines Special Features 3 AM Album Reviews: FROOT Senior Wisdom The Death Of Art Completely Accurate Finals Week Advice 2 3 3 4 5 7 8 20 28 29 34 36 This issue worked on by Meredith Jacobs, Nick Bond, Kyle Mackey, and Sara Konecny. Cover art by Sara Konecny. Submissions: [email protected] 1 Am I The Only Sane Person Left In This World? Chad Miller Am I the only person who likes sea salt and vinegar potato chips? Am I the only sane person left in this world? I bought sea salt and vinegar potato chips and my roommate thought I was weird? Am I weird? Am I crazy? Or is everyone else crazy? Regret Meaning: A Poem Krish Ravindranath (created for my English class at 5 AM on a weekday last year) I need to write a poem, but what about? Something deep for sure. Like life or death, heaven or hell or purgatory— The stuff famous people write about. Knock knock knockin’ on heaven’s door, On the highway to hell, I got soul but I’m not a soldier… Kyle Mackey The epithet of my regret is simply put by the simple bet that what is now will not be met by a future time or a future set 2 Maybe I’ll write about meaning. I pick up my pen. Actually, I don’t— I’m in the 21st century; I’m using Microsoft Word. The blinky thing blinks, taunting; It’s called an ‘Insertion Point’— I just googled it. I type in: Meaning: A Poem Enter Sometimes it’s there, Sometimes there’s none, Sometimes there is, To only one. 3 I Wanna Be A Giraffe How To Annoy Your Roommate Lyrics by Sidney E. Something Music by Iggy Pop Sidney E. Something I am hungry gonna eat some leaves 19 feet tall I can reach the trees 5 hours of sleep is all I need So I have a lot of time to think (if you live in a traditional dorm/suite) 1. Put on some Against All Authority (I really like Hard As Fuck, Dinkas When I Close My Eyes, All Fall Down) 2. Turn up the volume a bit Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Giraffe! 3. Now turn on some Agnostic Front (some of my favorites are Gotta Go, For My Family, Riot Riot Upstart) 4. Turn up the volume a bit more My pretty spots are so unique Just like your human fingerprints My hooves are 12 inches across I can kill a lion or maybe…you! Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Giraffe! You heard me right, I’m a giraffe I’ll kill your family and friends I hate the human civilization For destroying our nature Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Now I wanna be a giraffe Giraffe! 4 5. Next put on some Hatebreed (I Will Be Heard, Destroy Everything, Straight To Your Face) 6. If your roommate still hasn't left turn on I Hate You by The Exploited, just to be a little more obvious 7. Your roommate is gone and probably hates you too! Yay! 5 Maybe they can’t tell, but I know you see Have I worn out your patience yet? Untitled Andrew Royappa Where can I get living water? For the well is deep And I’m running dry I see them, chasing after nothing Searching for something That they will never find on their own It’s driving a knife into his heart To see them like this, always searching Still searching for so much more Harassed and helpless: lost Except I don’t see them the way you do My heart is shut In the quiet, now I perceive Depravity Present as it always will be Everything adds up to nothing in me Overshadowed by all these doubts, clouding my mind I don’t see the end, so I can’t begin Cold and calculating Suffocating in this cycle Paralyzed I’m just so weak Have I disappointed you? They talk about trust, but I have so little Do I even have any? Brought to my knees once again With no one but myself to blame; so familiar 6 Oh my child, if only you knew How much I’ll always cherish you I’ll take what you have, with all your fears and all your failings You’re completely inadequate; now you agree I’m just asking you to come I am your refuge, the one you’ve been seeking The rock that you cling to The constant in a sea of change Come wind, come rain Come storms, come pain I remain the same Now I know that this is truth Only this will ever get through Only this will fill us So fill me 7 Space Cathedral: Part 3 Thomas Speers Regiobahn 119, Somewhere Northeast of Berlin The train roared through the quiet Brandenburgian twilight, drawing only minimal attention from the dairy cows in the adjacent fields, the lone external witnesses to its passage. In the rear of a near deserted carriage a young man sat alone in a table booth, frowning out the window at the darkening verdant landscape and ignoring the books scattered in front of him. “This is a bad idea,” Daniel said to no one. As the light faded, a faint reflection of himself became visible in the window. “You’ve gotta go,” the reflection seemed to say, “Scheidemantel’s getting suspicious. It’s another miracle that nobody’s figured out you’re not in Berlin. Probably your third this year. Don’t push it.” Daniel said nothing. The old man at the other end of the carriage, satisfied now that the American boy was just talking to himself, looked back at his newspaper. The thought suddenly struck Daniel that if he wasn’t busy trying to turn a Russian cathedral into a spaceworthy vehicle, he’d have loved to go to a ball. And at Sanssouci Palace no less! He wondered just how the hell the Magnolia Ball people had made that one happen. Daniel slowly drifted into old memories of the last time he’d been at Sanssouci, exploring the famed terraced grounds as part of a previous study abroad trip. He smiled. Maybe the Magnolia Ball will be fun, he 8 thought. A break, even. It’s not like Arkady and I have made much progress this past week anyway. The thought of the continuing power problems and Arkady’s frustrated Russian swearing dampened his smile a bit, but not completely. Daniel’s second miracle of the year had been that no one had ever bothered to discover that the entire cathedral was structurally supported by the partial hull of an actual ruined alien spacecraft. According to a medieval chronicler, the strange metal pieces that had been carted in during the construction of the foundation were a novel method to support the weight of the future structure on the marshy ground that made up much of old Königsberg, designed by Henricus of Vratislav. Of course they were. After that the miracles had begun to run out. While mainly intact, the computer system proved nearly impossible to work with, even with his grandfather’s notes. Nothing else could even be turned on with the meager power supply available to them, although they fervently hoped that the faint radiation from Henricus’ tomb meant that he had been buried with the compact power supply alluded to in his grandfather’s journal. So far, neither Daniel nor Arkady had been willing to break open the tomb without knowing more. But it seemed there wasn’t much more to know without more power… A heavily accented disembodied voice suddenly announced that there was about an hour left until the train was due to reach Berlin. Daniel allowed himself to drift into a light sleep. A silly ball is the least of your 9 worries, he thought as he drifted off to the rhythmic sounds of the carriage wheels and distant engine. Regent Berlin Hotel, Berlin Erin silently steeled herself. This is the time to ask, she thought. There was a lively brunch going on, hosted by the elderly Dr. Scheidemantel and the German-­‐
American club: Louisa was busy chatting animatedly about nothing to the boy to her left, the two German ladies across from her at the table were engrossed in their own conversation, and frail Dr. Scheidemantel, seated to her right, had just finished speaking to the waiter. “So Dr. Scheidemantel, have you heard from Daniel at all about whether he’s coming to the Magnolia Ball?” You’d better have, because I saw his email too, she thought. “Ah, yes! He’s going to be there, don’t worry, Erin. It’ll be so nice to see him again, considering how little time he has for us. I may have a word with him about that, you know.” “It’s a shame, I know. Do you know why he’s always so busy, by any chance? Just curious-­‐“ “Of course, of course. It’s natural to be curious, a boy like that.” Dr. Scheidemantel’s slight annoyance turned into a sly grin, the same grin he always wore when he tried to introduce Erin and Louisa to various Berlin boys. “If he’s not busy he’s sick, and if he’s not sick he’s busy. Maybe he’s hiding something – mysterious, eh? 10 Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you two meet under the stars at Sanssouci.” He gave Erin a comically exaggerated wink. Wait, that’s not what I meant, she almost said, before quickly reconsidering and deciding that Dr. Scheidemantel’s “help” could be useful. “I’d like that.” “Good, then it’s settled. Maybe we’ll both find out Daniel Novak’s secrets, eh?” Another waiter walked by, and Dr. Scheidemantel immediately flagged him down with requests for more Weißwurst. Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam The clear and moonlit night under which the German-­‐American Magnolia Ball took place did nothing to diminish the breathtaking beauty of Sanssouci Palace. Built by Frederick the Great of Prussia to rival Versailles, Sanssouci did not disappoint. While the ornately decorated bright yellow palace itself was somewhat more modest than the abode of the French kings, a semicircular exterior courtyard nearly enclosed by twin colonnades was chosen to host the ball due in no small part to the spectacular views it afforded of the massive palace grounds: three broad convex terraces filled with meticulously kept gardens sloped down towards a beautiful stone bridge over an artificial river, flowing from its source near a rustic-­‐looking windmill past a Romanesque chapel into the wooded distance of an English garden. “This is incredible,” whispered Daniel, dressed in his 11 best European cut tuxedo, as he crossed the bridge over the inky black river toward the terraces and the palace itself. He remembered that sans-­‐souci meant “without care” in French, and he felt intuitively that it was the proper name for this place, newly presented to him at night. Let’s try and find Dr. Scheidemantel and talk first so I can get his questions out of the way, he thought, and then – then I can relax here. No spaceship under Sanssouci, no sir. He subconsciously felt in his jacket for Grandpa Allenstein’s journal, which he never allowed out of his sight now. He continued toward the courtyard, passing people that, had he not been involved with his crazy plan, he might know and enjoy. You chose this, he reminded himself. You chose not to be without care. You chose Kaliningrad. In front of the northern colonnade, where it joined to the palace itself, he finally saw Dr. Scheidemantel. Luckily, and by no plan of his own, they had met twice as he was moving to Berlin, before his initial trip to Kaliningrad. That’s probably what’s saved you, he thought just as Dr. Scheidemantel noticed him. “Daniel! So good to see you again, my boy! We’ve missed you at the Opera, and at the Regent Berlin, and at the-­‐“ “I know, I know, Herr Dr. Scheidemantel.” Daniel smiled apologetically. “I’ve had so little time, with school and a job, and then I was abominably ill last month on top of everything.” 12 Dr. Scheidemantel dropped his token annoyance completely. “Oh don’t worry – not at Sanssouci – I remember what it’s like at university. But now in my old age I just socialize and go to parties, so if that’s the road you’re down, well, there’s certainly worse things than working hard when you’re young. But speaking of university, there’s been somebody asking about you.” Daniel froze. Forgetting all politeness, he blurted out, “Wait, what?” Dr. Scheidemantel didn’t seem to notice. “Yes, one of the girls from Humboldt. Erin. She was curious as to why you’d been missing all our events, and wanted to actually meet you,” he poked Daniel’s shoulder playfully. With some apprehension Daniel recognized the look on Dr. Scheidemantel’s face, the I’m matchmaking for you, play along look, that even he hadn’t been able to escape during the two previous times they’d met. “You know, between you and me, she would be a pretty good catch. Don’t you dare say I’m too busy, here’s all you need to say to her: Du hast schöne hazelnussbraune Augen – wo gehen wir heute Abend hin?* It’s always worked for me, eh? Here, I’ll introduce you to her. Erin!” he shouted to a nearby group of women. Daniel felt a quick surge of panic that he immediately suppressed. Why are you nervous? Are you in high school again or something? No, just talk to her, if you could convince Scheidemantel that nothing’s up, you can convince this random girl. It’ll be fun, he assured 13 himself again, as a fairly tall woman in a beautiful gray-­‐
and-­‐white dress walked toward him. As he noted her straight shoulder-­‐length brown hair, slender figure, and, true enough, hazel eyes, he failed to note the fleeting look of surprise and apprehension that flashed across her face. “Erin, this is Daniel, Daniel, Erin.” Dr. Scheidemantel continued. “Daniel, Erin is studying Prussian Studies at Humboldt, I believe you were doing something similar?” “Yes, German Studies. It’s nice to meet you Erin, here at Frederick the Great’s home.” “Well, I’ll leave you two then. I think I’m wanted by the American ambassador, actually,” said Dr. Scheidemantel as he made a quick exit before Erin could even speak. With a final wink, he was gone. Daniel turned back to Erin. “So, how do you-­‐“ “I know you don’t live here!” blurted Erin suddenly, surprising them both. Daniel hesitated. Far too long. Damn, she’ll know now if she didn’t! Say something! “Of course I don’t live at Sanssouci, that’d be too perfect.” Erin glowered. “Shut up. I know you don’t actually live in Studentenstadt and that you don’t go to Humboldt. In fact, I know nothing about you. No one does. Why?” “I can explain.” “You’d better. I’ve only had Louisa here to-­‐“ Another disembodied voice emerged from near the palace doors, accompanied by glaring feedback. “Ladies and Gentlemen, if you would, we are about to start the dancing, with the ambassador and his wife leading.” In the confusion that accompanied the start of the music, Daniel felt another playful poke at his shoulder. “Well, are you two going to join us?” Dr. Scheidemantel appeared behind them with his wife. He looked at Daniel and Erin expectantly before navigating toward the dance floor. “Well, shall we?” asked Daniel. Erin nodded. “Alright, but start talking.” They found a place near the southern end of the courtyard and joined the throng of couples in a relatively quick waltz. Daniel surprised himself with his memory of the steps, and was pleased that she could dance just as well. Or maybe that’s not so great, he thought as she started interrogating him while effortlessly continuing the waltz. “So, what’s your deal? Why abandon Berlin? Don’t try to deny it, lest I be a little more up front with Dr. Scheidemantel there about what I know.” “I’ve had to travel a lot. For – other work.” “What other work? According to Scheidemantel, you have a job as a part time librarian. That hardly racks up the miles.” Daniel sighed. “Look, Erin, I don’t know you, but I’m going to ask you to trust me. It’s for something very important that I can’t tell everyone I meet. Why can’t you just not worry about it? Just enjoy Berlin?” “Because… because you would have been in all my 14 15 classes and stuff and… look, I’m lonely here, ok? I can’t seem to connect well with the Germans, and my only American friend here is consistently being a giant ass to me.” She gestured to another girl who had whirled near them, who Daniel could see (and smell) was blau** out of her mind. “It’s just not fair!” “That’s awful. Really, I’m sorry,” he said as Louisa whirled out of sight again, “but I really came here to do what I’m doing and not to study in Berlin. If I had decided not to go to Kal-­‐ -­‐ to go for it, I’d be in the States and not here. So you would be lonely here either way, unfortunately.” Erin shook her head, feeling the beginnings of tears forming. “That’s not good enough – look, you know how Germany works. Most classes are just final exams, so it’s not too late, you could stay here and cram and it’d be good. Please?” The couple had come around again to the edge of the southern colonnade, where there was an open view to the gardens of Sanssouci. Daniel had no idea what to say next – he had not planned for this at all. Seeing that anything else he said was highly likely to upset her, he decided to say nothing more. “Sorry,” Daniel said, before breaking the dance and rushing out of the courtyard into the terraces and gardens. Now it was Erin’s turn to forget all politeness. “Fuck! Get back here!” She sprinted after him to the topmost terrace, trying not to lose him among the flowers and thanking God she had decided against wearing heels tonight. He seemed to be making for the river and the chapel, weaving through the twisted garden paths and the taller and taller plants that inhabited the lower terraces. “Come back here!” she shouted as loud as she dared, as she saw him dart to one side of the chapel, desperately trying to reach the other side and the trees beyond. Panting, she rounded the annex to the chapel that Daniel had disappeared behind only brief seconds before. To her surprise, there was an open entrance to the chapel annex, which she now saw was elliptical instead of circular. She stopped for a second and looked inside, in case he had tried to hide here instead. A single beam of moonlight filtered through the trees and the door to illuminate an ornate marble sarcophagus in the center of the annex. The reclining figure of a well-­‐
dressed man was carved on top, apparently lying on his deathbed with a look of bitter sadness on his eerily lifelike face. But he was alone: Daniel was nowhere to be found. “Dammit!” Erin screamed before running toward the trees in the direction she thought she saw him running last. Her footfalls gradually faded away, leaving the tomb of Emperor Frederick III undisturbed once again, until Daniel quietly crawled out from behind the sarcophagus. “Sorry, Fred.” Daniel patted the cold stone, brushed himself off, and made his way carefully and quietly to the palace exit. That was more than enough excitement for palace without-­‐care for one night. 16 17 -­‐ About 15 minutes later, Erin admitted to herself that he was probably gone. I should have gone to the palace gate, she thought bitterly. That was the only way out tonight, he would have had to talk to me again. Her self-­‐
criticism gradually lost its form and became a general ugly mood as she walked back toward the colonnades. As she neared the courtyard, her run of luck continued, and she tripped on something in the path and fell flat on her face. “Unngh.” She moaned, grateful at least that no one had seen, and as she picked herself up she searched the ground for the offending object. She found it in seconds, but then stopped cold. There on the ground, exactly where Daniel had jumped onto the path, was an old leatherbound journal, stuffed with loose paper. Scarcely believing her eyes, she quickly scooped it up and brought it to her coat for safekeeping. Refusing to think about it just yet, she said her goodbyes to Dr. Scheidemantel and drunk Louisa and made her way home to Studentenstadt. -­‐ “Shit shit shit.” Daniel sat in the Berlin Central Station, waiting for the same Regiobahn to take him back to Kaliningrad via Szczecin. Twenty frantic patdowns of his clothes and searches of his luggage had failed to turn up Volker’s journal, and he was currently typing out an email to Dr. Scheidemantel about the lost journal in order to stave 18 off despair. As soon as he had sent the email, however, a new message appeared in his inbox. Considering who sent it, there was no need to read the email, but Daniel read anyway. I have the journal, the gist of the message read, where do you want to meet? Daniel paused a minute, and then smiled. Have you ever been to Szczecin?, he typed. -­‐ *You have beautiful hazel eyes. Where are we going tonight? **drunk 19 The Organ Machines Interview by Meredith Jacobs In honor of the March 6th release of their debut EP Parallels, the Organ Machines were more than happy to share their major influences, secrets behind their unique sound, and what’s coming next. Check out Parallels at http://theorganmachines.bandcamp.com ! How was the band started? Chris: “Originally, I saw the band Bad Rabbits, and I told Alex that we should start a funk band, and we were that for three weeks. We still have all the demos we did back then. We were going to have this girl singer, and that didn’t work out. Derek was already in the band. Somehow, it turned into what it is now. We went from being this funk band to this prog-­‐weird-­‐something band.” Alex: “We kinda bill it as post-­‐prog, post-­‐surf, something, rock.” Chris: “It depends on how you define genres. Progressive surfish-­‐rock, is good I guess. As for the vibe, I’ve always seen it as having an ominous feel to it. Which is probably because of the vast amount of reverb Derek uses.” What effects do you use to obtain your unique sound? Alex: “It’s mostly Derek. I use a tube screener bass pedal, but that is the only bass pedal I have.” Chris: “I’m a drummer.” Derek: “I use different levels of reverb and delay. I have two different reverb pedals and two different delay pedals. One is set to what people are used to hearing, and the other is set to be more over the top. Since we just have three instruments, the ambience can help fill out the sound.” Alex: “I blame Chris.” Chris: “We actually have four instruments. It’s me playing drums, Alex playing bass, Derek playing guitar and then Derek’s reverb.” Chris: “It’s probably 90% my fault.” How did you come up with the name? Derek: “I was trying to think of something that didn’t sound like any other type of band, and based on the new type of music we were doing, it felt like I was trying to do technical things guitar-­‐wise, but also have a very organic sound. The name came from wanting to mix organic and mechanical things together.” How would you describe your sound/vibe that you create? 20 Derek: “For vocals I have a pedal that adds either a harmony above or a harmony below.” Who/what are your major influences? Chris: “I think the interesting thing was that we had three different people come from three different areas, and it met in the middle. I am the ultra progressive person in the band. I listen to heavy progressive metal stuff. My favorite bands are Circus Survive and Coheed.” 21 Alex: “And [being a part of marching] band. You’re very technical.” Chris: “That song came almost done. Derek had the riff.” Chris: “But not technical in the typical way. I am progressive pocket drummer, as Alex told me.” Alex: “I’m used to playing straight up rock or alternative rock, so this is still kinda weird. I don’t listen to prog at all, unless Chris plays it. Influences on my end are Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age and, of course, Pillage & Plunder.” Derek: “I was inspired by the band Mood Rings’ album VPI Harmony. I have always been a huge surf guitar fan. As prog-­‐y as I get would be Pink Floyd. Out of all of those things, the thing that I love about the guitar tones is that the guitars have a vocal part. I admire the technical players, but I enjoy playing the guitar as a vocalist. Queens of the Stone Age and The White Stripes have always been huge influences. For this band, I reach towards certain bands that help me do what we as a trio are trying to do.” Chris: “One thing I’ve always thought about this band that is really interesting is that of the bands that the three of us had been in before, none of us had been the front people. I thought that was one of the reasons we sound like a unit is that we have three people that all they have really wanted to do was play their instrument in a way that makes sense with everything else.” You recently released your debut EP, Parallels. Can you tell me about that process, from songwriting to the finished product? Alex: “‘Devour’ was one of the first.” 22 Alex: “It came from Derek’s vault of phone recordings.” Chris: “It was pretty much all from that, except for the bridge. I came up with that in the shower.” Alex: “Devour is on that clean funk side. ‘Bullion’ is one of the newer ones.” Chris: “Derek was checking his guitar at some point, and he played that first riff and I made him keep playing it for like 20 minutes. That’s how we wrote that song. Except for the weird prog-­‐y part, I also came up with in the shower.” Alex: “‘Oil Waves’ was one of the jam songs.” Chris: “We wrote the ugly part at the beginning for fun, and I thought it would be cool if we played a really pretty part after it. And they thought it was dumb, and it’s still dumb but it works. Everything after the ugly part was written in one sitting. For lyrics, ‘Devour’ and ‘Bullion’ were done by Derek. I wrote ‘Oil.’ I think an important part of this band is that Alex in the recording studio. Photo by Chris Deese. 23 we do lyrics last on everything. One thing we always do is that we finish a song completely instrumentally and won’t touch lyrics. We always ask as a band, ‘what do you feel when we play this song?’ or ‘what story or theme do you hear?’ Whoever feels the most invested in the song, takes the song.” Derek: “The approach for lyrics for ‘Devour’ was I wanted to come up with a melody that fit over nicely what we were doing. I had an idea of an abstract interpretation from multiple perspectives of being in a bad relationship. I started writing what came to mind. For ‘Bullion’, the song title came from something that helped us remember the song. ‘Buillon’ was originally called ‘Bullion for Breakfast’. When it came time for lyrics, I think we thought the title was too silly. We stripped it down, and I wrote a song about grief and the ways it can control you and keep things from progressing.” has been tainted on the surface.” What is your favorite song to play live? Chris: “’Psycho.’ It’s so prog.” Derek: “’Psycho’ because it has very distinct parts that are fun. Some you can mess with more live than others. Some of the parts that I’m playing in that song came out of left field but feel so natural. It has that fun jump to it. It’s fun to play, but it’s also fun to watch Chris and Alex play. The groove is so strong in that one.” Alex: “’Psycho’ because it is so much fun to play live. It has that throwback to the song ‘Waiting’ by the Merry Go Rounds, [a band I was in previously]. I’m proud of the lyrics I wrote, and the end is great.” Alex: “Those lyrics didn’t fully materialize until the night we recorded vocals.” Chris: “‘Oil’ is based on a true story of somebody that I know. It was someone that I knew that was getting into bad things and they knew better. He had friends that were also doing bad things. It was a really interesting dynamic where they knew the things their friends were doing were bad and wrong and were going to hurt them, but they weren’t going to do anything about it. I don’t want to get too morbid. And more bad things happened. It’s a weird juxtaposition of a song. It feels really light, but it has this sad, dark side to it. That was the idea behind the title ‘Oil Waves’. Waves are these dynamic beautiful things. It’s the idea that something 24 The Organ Machines’ members include, from right to left, Derek Liddell, Chris Deese, and Alex McIntyre. Photo by Chris Deese. What is your favorite part of being in a band? Alex: “It’s just completely out of my norm. I probably would have never written anything like this in a million years. The combination of us three, what we listen to 25 and how we jam creates this weird, abstract, nebulous alternative prog surf awesome thing.” perfectionists, but like, we know when a song is not ready. We have so many random demos lying around.” Derek: “I came to this band with the idea of trying to pull off having three instrument but one guitar. Trying to play three different parts: playing a horn part, another guitar and a lead guitar all in one. The limitation of it is the challenge of trying to do all those things. It’s always a fun challenge.” Alex: “We could record another album.” Chris: “The first thing for me is that this is the first band where I have been a person who actively started it. For me, this band is like my.... soul child. The second thing would be that when people ask me what we sound like that I can’t actually answer. As weird as that sounds, that’s one of my favorite parts. I’m proud that I am part of a project that has its own sonic space in the giant spectrum of music we have in the world. The third thing is that I am able to drum the way that I do naturally. In this band I get to do all the weird meter manipulation stuff that I have dreamed of doing.” What is a difficulty you have faced? Chris: “There’s really not that many.” Alex: “Well as far vocals are concerned, they’re always on the backburner.” Chris: “Writing vocals and lyrics for songs is the hardest for us sometimes.” Alex: “Because writing melodies is hard to begin with, and I don’t usually write this kind of stuff. So when I try to write lyrics, it’s like a mental exercise for me each time.” Chris: “I think we also have three people that are not 26 Chris: “We have a good six recordings of things that we would like to do at some point, but we know that it’s not it and that we’ll do something with it at some point. It’s not a difficulty persay.” Alex: “Oh no, we come up with too many good ideas” Derek: “Being a trio might be a challenge, but I wouldn’t say that it’s a difficulty. We have set parameters that we can work within, and for me they end up being more creative than if I had all these different options. The difficulty for me is trying to elevate the song with lyrics as opposed to bringing it down. The music that we have is like I don’t know what we could do to make this better. You don’t want to ruin it with bad lyrics or bad melody. That’s the last thing you want to do with music that you’re really proud of.” Plans for the future? Chris: “We just go with the flow. Play shows around town. We’ve been playing a lot more around town lately. At some point release something longer.” Alex: “We have a lot of songs sitting there waiting to be recorded. So that, play more and hopefully get more people to listen to our music and like it.” Anything else you want to say? Alex: “This is fun. It’s cool. I dont know where this is going, but its working out so far. We still sound kinda weird, and I like it.” Chris: “Yeah, I’m with that. Just three busters trying to make some music.” 3 A.M. Album Reviews: FROOT, Marina and the Diamonds Tanika Bantukul Disclaimer, I’m a sucker for female-­‐driven pop albums (see: Lorde’s Pure Heroine, MØ’s No Mythologies to Follow) so I admit I’m biased towards FROOT. Marina and the Diamonds’ “How to Be a Heartbreaker” was my go to jam for longer than I care to admit. A rulebook on how to be adored? I’ll take that any day. Her second album, Electra Heart, was a guidebook on how to be the cliché pop princess – beautiful, unattainable, universally wanted, but as empty as a porcelain doll. FROOT is another character. The lyrics are direct, the dubstep beats of Electra Heart have been reigned in. The album opens with a stripped down track, “Happy” – a declaration played out in vocals and pianos. Her penchant for playful lyrics and exaggerated metaphors are still there, but they’ve been used as tools of introspection rather than obvious PLEASE MAKE THIS A RADIO SINGLE AND REBLOG PICTURES WITH MY LYRICS ON IT. Not to say there aren’t songs that were crafted to be high-­‐energy hits (FROOT, Blue), but they all feel like statements, promises she’s making to herself. I’m not saying FROOT is a must-­‐listen. It’s nothing unique, nothing that’s going to take the world by storm. But it’s a cohesive pop album with enough variation to keep your interest and songwriting that hints at a lot more depth than Primadonna. If anything, it’s a fun listen that gives you something to dance to. That’s all I’m looking for from a pop album. Favorite Tracks: Better than That, Savages 28 Senior Wisdom Sara Konecny With another school year coming to an end, so too end the Georgia Tech careers of roughly 2,000 ecstatic 4th (and 5th…and 6th…) years on campus. Having served their time, each can now proudly say in just a short couple of weeks that they “Got Out” and can live to tell the tale. We interviewed two graduating seniors, Tom Speers and Caity Murphy, about favorite memories, biggest regrets, and just how hard it was to be able to say “I Got Out.” We wish them the best as they journey off into the real world, and hope their advice helps to enrich the journeys of those with graduation yet to come. Caitlin Murphy Marietta, GA Major: Chemical Engineering How long did it take you to graduate? “Four years. But I did summers, so I guess there were some extra semesters in there.” 29 What are your plans after graduation? “I am planning to go to grad school to study medicine and get a Master’s in anesthiology to be a physician’s assistant.” What was the hardest part about making it to this point? “Having continuing motivation. I have no desire to study anymore, to be honest. It’s hard to keep up with stuff, especially since I’ve decided I don’t want to do engineering. I’ve found it tough to stay focused and motivated in engineering classes for the last year when I really just want to go into medicine.” What is your favorite GT memory? “As far as Under the Couch, the concert we put on two or three years ago for GT week. [My friend] Archie changed the t-­‐shirts to say GOAT week, so that was funny, but it was just really fun overall. We rented the stage and you’re not really supposed to drive cars through [campus] but I remember the old president renting a U-­‐Haul and just driving through campus and no one cared. It was just fun putting that on. Either that or when you used to be able to go on the roof of the Ford building and friends and I would just go up there and drink beer and hang out.” What is one thing you did in your time here that you are glad you did? “Definitely studying abroad. I did GT Lorraine and I loved it. I would highly recommend studying abroad to anyone who has the chance.” What is one thing you regret not doing in your time here? “Probably not interning. That’s something I wish I had done.” Finish the sentence: “Back in my day…” “Brittain Burritos were actually good.” What is the one piece of advice you would give to incoming freshmen? “I would tell them to not limit themselves to campus. I feel like a lot of students, and freshmen especially, get too hung up on ‘Cool! I’m in college!’ and just stay in one area. Especially since we’re in Atlanta, there’s just so much to do. Even if you don’t have a car, there are just so many resources to get out there. I would say not to live on campus all four years and don’t just go to parties on campus or just do things on campus, cause there’s so much more out there. I think college is all about exploring your area -­‐ not just being in school.” What is the accomplishment you are most proud of in your time at Tech, school-­‐related or otherwise? “Most definitely my ability to binge watch an entire series in a week even though I had important school stuff to attend to.” 30 31 Thomas Speers Elmhurst, IL Major: Aerospace Engineering Minor: German How long did it take you to graduate? “Five years, but only four at Tech. I spent a year abroad in Germany.” What are your plans after graduation? “Sell my labor to an aerospace company, because under capitalism there is no other way to survive. But definitely not grad school.” What was the hardest part about making it to this point? “In the second half of college, all of the tough aerospace classes are individually a huge roadblock to get past. There’s about 8 or 10 of them and they’re each very hard to get past. Getting through those was just pretty stressful and exhausting.” What is your favorite GT memory? “It’s not technically at Georgia Tech, but it was with [my band] The Merry Go Rounds in my time here. I would 32 have to say Baltimore. That was a night that will live in infamy. We played a show at this small bar where the bartender gave us all $1 drinks and we all got completely wasted before the show. I went on stage eight beers deep. I was holding on to stuff and trying to remember how the songs went, but everyone loved us and it was just one of the coolest nights I’ve ever had.” What is the accomplishment you are most proud of in your time at Tech, school-­‐related or otherwise? “That’s hard, but probably getting an internship with Airbus in Germany as an American, which is super hard to do.” What is one thing you did in your time here that you are glad you did? “I’m glad I joined Under the Couch. All of my friends except a couple are there now.” What is one thing you regret not doing in your time here? “When I was a freshman, some guy tried to convince me to join Archery Club, which I thought was really cool but forgot about. I kinda wish I had done that.” Finish the sentence: “Back in my day…” “There was no CULC. You spoiled kids.” What is the one piece of advice you would give to incoming freshmen? “Always, always, always talk to your professors. I’ve turned D’s into C’s by just going to see them and talking to them without offering excuses about why I fucked up and just being honest. Seriously, talk to them.” 33 The Death Of Art Kyle Mackey As part of a campaign by a faceless bureaucracy to add more culture into the lives of the philistines that attend their school, it was recently decided to fill the most modern-­‐looking building on campus with student-­‐
created art and label it an “event.” This “event” was then scheduled to open at the end of April but, due to reports of ice in isolated parts of southern Alabama, it was decided to postpone the debut until the next week to avoid any possible liability on the part of the school. A shrewd decision if ever there was one. At any rate, all of this nonsense culminated into the opening of the Clough Art Crawl at the beginning of March. Walking into the Clough I was prepared to be unimpressed, as is usual for me, and when I had a chance to peruse the various scraps hanging on the walls and the curious trinkets displayed on the various podiums throughout the building, I was glad I had prepared, because otherwise I would have been utterly shocked at how unimpressed I was. Don’t get me wrong, the pieces on display clearly showed the mark of great artistic skill and careful dedication; it was inspiration that was lacking here. Between the photo-­‐realistic portraits and the photographs that were essentially just well framed vacation pictures nothing really evoked an emotional reaction, due at least in part to the fact that there was no emotion behind them. As is the trend among young artists of recent years, the art was created with conscious intent, every detail being thought through and thoroughly considered before being placed 34 on the canvas or encompassed in the frame. Very little about it was spontaneous or visceral; rather than conveying an intense, personal feeling from the artist to the onlooker the art seemed only to attempt to impress as many people as possible. Of course there were a few exceptions to this generalization and overall the opening was pulled off gallantly, but in the end the whole event just fell flat (a less creative writer might have used the term “Art Sprawl” here, but I included it anyway, so whatever). The dull created by the Art Crawl was not the result of a fault local to this university but rather much more global issue that is the excessive intellectualization of art. Nowadays everything about art has to have a meaning; something can’t just stand in a corner and be beautiful, there has to be a reason for it, its beauty has to be compared and quantified. If this trend continues, as it gives every intention of doing, it may very well lead to the end of art as a vehicle by which one human being transmits his joy, melancholy, awe, affection, or inner tumult to another of his species in a language that does not need to be spoken to be understood. To put it simply, it would mean the death of art as an art form, and that is something that cannot be abided. 35 Completely Accurate Finals Week Advice It’s April, and finals week is fast approaching. If you don’t already feel down by the end of April, finals week is always there to help with that. And if you do already feel down by the end of April, well… we may not be able to help. But we’ll sure try! Here’s some study advice that’s sure to make your finals week easy as procrastinating. (Please don’t sue us. Please. We don’t have any money to give you.) • Fall asleep on your open book. Learn by osmosis. •
Studies show that whichever answer your tears fall closest to is the correct one. •
Take a shot for every problem you get wrong. This will discourage you from making mistakes. •
Take a shot for every answer you get wrong as well. Actually, fuck studying and just drink. •
If you eat the professor, you will gain his powers and pass the exam. •
Don’t study. Just ride your armored polar bear into class and demand an A. •
When writing an English paper, interpret all letters as variables. Solve. •
Lie down on the floor and cry. 36