The Whole Music Club in Coffman Union saw the second GIGS Student Sound Concert for the academic year on Friday.
The event allowed students to listen to music from a variety of student bands including The Gentlebrass, Riverside Quartet, Corporate Death Party and Empathy.
The first group to perform was experimental metal band Empathy, the brainchild of singer and drummer Jack McWilliams. The group consists of three friends who are in another, more traditional band called Virgo. Their set consisted of only one hypnotic, very loud song.
When asked about the biggest challenges of their band, bass player Zander Lang said, “I think our biggest weakness is drawing people in and getting people to engage with it. It’s very niche.”
The band members said they recognized their unique sound and audiences are not ever indifferent to the sound. The band said audiences either give very negative or very positive feedback.
The Riverside Quartet’s set came next.
Featuring Lance McDonald on upright bass, Connor Hilstrom on piano, Jack Wagner on trumpet and Nick Peterson on drumset, Riverside played four original songs. Their final number featured their previous saxophonist Nathaniel Nelson, who graduated in 2023.
The group began as a trio in 2022 and became a quartet in 2023, eventually replacing Nelson with Wagner after Nelson graduated.
Hilstrom was featured heavily in the band’s set and had several solos. He said some of his greatest influences are jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and gospel and R&B artists Billy Preston and Ray Charles.
Riverside’s main composer is their drummer Peterson, whose compositions piano player Hilstrom described as “sometimes unorthodox” due to his playing of drums rather than a melodic instrument like piano.
“(Jazz Composers) will write up blues over the blues chord progression or rhythm changes, and they’ll write chord changes and then they’ll write a melody that works,” Peterson said. “I think more in terms of melody, cause that’s just more what I’m focused on as a drummer.”
Peterson said he considers himself a melodic or harmonic drummer, playing based on the melody rather than only focusing on keeping time.
Riverside often plays live shows but also has recorded three studio albums and one live album.
Peterson said he plans to continue pursuing music in the future.
“I’ve been playing drums since I was four, so it’s not something I’m really planning to or willing to give up any time soon,” Peterson said. “When you don’t play for a while, you start to get a little crazy.”
Punk band Corporate Death Party followed Riverside Quartet, featuring Preston Heit on guitar and vocals, Eddie Falbo on bass and Emerson Ambrose on drums. One song the band performed was “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo.
“This one’s dedicated to my ex-girlfriend!” Heit said before the song began.
Corporate Death Party has one live album, an EP and a single on their Spotify page.
Ending the concert was The Gentlebrass. Featuring Blake LaBarge on trombone, the band performed covers of popular soul, jazz and rock tunes.
The band started with a cover of “Tank!” from the anime series Cowboy Bebop and went into “Lucky Strike” by Maroon 5. They then played a cover of “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s.
“Rock Lobster” was followed by a cover of “Floral Fury” from the videogame Cuphead. Here, one of the trombonists played bongos instead.
Next, they played “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor followed by a Panic! at the Disco medley and closing with Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.”
