OWEN MCDONNELL: Hello everybody, this is Owen McDonnell coming at you with another episode of In The Know, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota. 

As students here at the U, we have the grand opportunity to partake in, essentially, every hobby we desire. If you’re into sports, there is a club for just about any sport you can think of. There are countless student groups for watching movies, playing games, and arts and crafts. 

If you’re into eating lettuce, there is a lettuce eating club. Yes, there is a lettuce eating club, I know (we did an episode about if you care to listen). But regardless, there is an opportunity here for everybody at the school to enjoy doing what they are passionate about.

On campus, Coffman Union serves as a hub for these student activities (we also did an episode on that). That’s right, Coffman isn’t just a place where you go and get your orange chicken and fried rice at Panda Express. Its main purpose is to serve as a place for students to gather for events and things alike. One of these events, which I happened to attend earlier this week, was The Whole Music Club’s Open Mic Night.

The Whole Music Club, or the Whole, is an underground music venue inside Coffman. I had no idea the place even existed, so I was definitely excited to go. I thought, “What better way to spend an evening on campus than to go and listen to some students perform?”

The doors opened at 7:30, and when I tell you I was pleasantly surprised by this venue, I was pleasantly surprised. The place looked awesome. However, at a music venue, especially at an open mic night, the setting is only a fraction of what makes the night enjoyable. It’s the voices that make places like the Whole so much fun. 

I sat down with some of the performers that night to get a better sense of the crowd that these types of open mic nights attract, and what was so special about the Whole Music Club. Sophomore Haidyn Lounsbery has been writing songs since she was 10 years old. 

HAIDYN LOUNSBERY: Didn’t really start putting them to actual instruments and like writing music until I was 14. So, beginning of high school. I played literally wherever I could, whether that was in church, a family function or just like people wanted me to play.

I used to post my songs, like, on YouTube and Instagram, but, not so much anymore. I kind of write for fun, and I really write as a way to, like, express myself. 

MCDONNELL: As you can see, Lounsbery has always had music in her veins. She’s kept the rhythm going strong as she’s gotten older. 

LOUNSBERY: I do love performing and I have thought about, like, performing, like, with a group. I’m in a band and we practice sometimes, but life just gets really busy. And I think I found like other things I really like to do, but definitely on the side.

MCDONNELL: Lounsbery’s devotion to music, having been a large part of her life, prompted her to play her own music for an audience at the open mic night.

LOUNSBERY: So, I used to do these events a lot my freshman year. I would do like a couple a semester. I even performed a gig at the Whole Music Club my freshman year, and I just really liked it. And I love the vibes that the Whole Music Club gives off. Everybody’s so nice and caring, and it’s not like a judgmental atmosphere as like some other venues are, and I like it a lot.

MCDONNELL: What are your musical inspirations?

LOUNSBERY: Ricky Montgomery, Chloe Moriondo and more of, like, the indie, bedroom pop scene is where I found a lot of my inspiration.

MCDONNELL: If any of you listeners know those artists, see if you can hear them in this short clip of Lounsbery’s song, “Cabbage.”

Wasn’t that lovely? I thought that was great. Moving away from the acoustic side of performances, another artist I talked to at the Whole was freshman Molly Ward. Just like Lounsbery, Ward has had music in her life for as long as she can remember.

MOLLY WARD: I first started singing when I was about nine. My interest in singing mostly piqued in, at the time, that was when the first Frozen movie came out. And like, most little girls at the time, I was like, obsessed with it. 

And that kind of got my interest in singing. And since then, I’ve like sang ever since, like in my last two years of high school, I did choir. I did musical theater. So I’ve always been super into singing, and I’ve always wanted to get my voice out there. It’s always been my dream to be a singer.

MCDONNELL: I can get behind the Frozen craze. Whether I want to admit it or not, I probably know all the lyrics to most of those songs. Ward also says that the music industry in this day and age is much harder to break into because of the internet.

WARD: I would love to have a career in music. I mostly decided to do mortuary science as my major because that’s also something I’m interested in. I’ve been teaching myself how to play guitar since January, but as much as I do want to be a singer professionally, to me it’s always felt like something that’s very unattainable even with the internet nowadays. 

It’s like, yeah, you can make a song and post it on the internet, like SoundCloud, but it’s like, you can’t force people to pay attention to it and like it, you know? I think it’s just because, like, nowadays there are a lot of, like, small artists who are fighting to get people’s attention. And I guess, like, in the early or late 2010s it was a lot more easier. Like, with Billie Eilish, for example. Her kind of success story is like, she uploaded her first song to SoundCloud and it got a thousand listens in one night. 

But like, when I upload something to SoundCloud, it gets like eight listens in like five weeks. Like I was saying, like, while it is very easy to get yourself out there nowadays in terms of music, like compared to like, like years ago, it’s just very hard to get people to pay attention to you.

MCDONNELL: Ward doesn’t feel like she can attain internet fame from her music. She still loves to perform it, though, even if she says it can be a little bit intimidating.

WARD: I’m definitely someone who gets nervous very easily. But even though I like to sing in front of people, I get nervous so easily. And I kind of wanted to use this as my chance to, I guess, get more used to performing in front of people and get rid of those nerves.

MCDONNELL: We’ve all had that moment as kids where we were forced to sing songs as a class to our parents in the audience. And I vividly remember getting super nervous to be in front of a crowd on stage. Despite her nerves, Ward went up and killed a performance of “Doomsday,” by Lizzy McAlpine.

That brings us to our third artist, communications major Quintin Rippiebakke. 

QUINTIN RIPPIEBAKKE: I’m just a normal student like all of you listening. I’ve been in music since I was like about 12, 11 years old. Like my fam is very artistic and very musically oriented. Mother was a violinist, my dad was in a band. Kind of naturally passed down to me. I’m a guitar player. 

My actual like journey here, performing here on campus, started when I was a freshman. I heard about the open mics. And I just left like high school choir since I graduated. So I was like, you know what? Let’s just put my musical skills to use. And I came and I just, I think I did pretty bad that night. I sang “Take On Me,” by A-Ha. But I had seen people say they like my performance, so.

MCDONNELL: There you go. 

RIPPIEBAKKE: And that, that’s just that. But I like to think of myself as a pretty laid back dude. I don’t take like myself too seriously, but I definitely take music very seriously. It’s a very beautiful art form. I never take it for granted. It’s power and it’s influence in culture and, yeah, it’s just beautiful, man.

MCDONNELL: Music, quite literally, runs in Rippiebakke’s blood. He says that although he would love to make music a career, it really is just an enjoyable pastime for him. 

RIPPIEBAKKE: Make art that you love, that you care about is a dream I think for anybody who is involved in music. But realistically I like to think of music as a bit of a pastime for me. I’d hate having to make it like commercially or having to like get like a schedule for making albums, singles, all that jazz.

MCDONNELL: Even if Rippiebakke doesn’t see a future career in music for himself, he still encourages others to try.

RIPPIEBAKKE: It’s good to hope. It’s great to dream. I encourage dreaming. Man, if you want it, go for it, dude. For me, it’s, I just know it’s not my destiny personally, but it’s definitely something worth fighting for if you want it.

MCDONNELL: Another wonderful song. That one was written by Rippiebakke too, called “My Measurable Wonder.”

As you could hear, there was a pretty loud applause at the end of his song. That is because one, it was a great song. But also two, there were a lot of people there! As I walked around and talked to people, I found out that almost everybody there was there because they had a friend performing. It really felt like a welcoming space.

But that got me thinking — are these types of open mics designed to get your name out there to an actual audience, or is it just a place to play music for your friends? Lounsbery and Ward say it could go either way.

LOUNSBERY: I’ve definitely seen both sides of it where people, like, self plug themselves and other people who are like, “I never want  anybody to hear this song that I wrote, so I’m gonna sing it here,” and, or just like, “I don’t like singing, like, I’m really scared. But I’m gonna try, because it’s fun.” 

And I think that’s the fun part about this. It’s a lot of different people who just love, like, music in general. But some are really serious about it, some aren’t. And that’s what makes it good. 

WARD: I mean, I would say it’s more to, like, get yourself out there and, like, you know, maybe, like, make some friends through it because I feel like unless there’s, like, If there are people like, you know, the Minnesota Daily or like, music professionals who are there, you’re really not going to be discovered.

MCDONNELL: Rippiebakke thinks that it is less of a place to get your name out there and more of a place to find community.

RIPPIEBAKKE: I think just like a lot of events on campus, it’s definitely meant to be more like communal, much more “come with your friends, see some people perform, have a good night, and then enjoy your time.” But I think as the Whole Music Club, as this event has gone on in time, I think people have kind of made it like, not saying that they, if they want to like, you know, plug their Spotify account or profile or something like that’s up to them. 

Personally, when I look at that, I’m like, “Is this really the right place for that?” Because this place is very local. You don’t, normally the place itself isn’t very packed or really, it’s not like it’s a bad place to advertise. I just feel like this place isn’t meant for that. 

Again, not judging anybody who does. I support anybody who wants to just come, listen, watch, perform, whatever you want to do. It’s, there’s something for you here. And you have a place here.

MCDONNELL: Although every person had a slightly different answer to my question, all of their responses had one common theme — community. And I can’t lie, I really felt the communal presence there. Even though it was my first time in the music club, I was talking to so many people and everyone was glad to chat with me. 

When there was a technical difficulty or a singer didn’t quite like the note they hit and made a face, cheers of support roared throughout the room. I was genuinely enjoying myself. So much so there were times I forgot I was there for my job! In retrospect, there are so many moments I wish I could have captured audio for but simply didn’t because I was in the moment and didn’t think of it. 

For example, this group of three guys came up on stage and told everybody to stand up and crowd the stage. One of the guys started running around the room and playing his drum while they were performing. Then there was a guy who was having technical difficulties with his backtrack, and decided to just sing his song acapella style. It was great. The vibes in that room were just remarkable.

And walking out of the music club after the performances ended, I realized that sense of community is exactly what makes a place like the Whole so special. It doesn’t matter if you’re there because you want to plug your band or if just to play music for friends. 

It doesn’t matter if you’ve taken voice lessons for 10 years or if you just started singing. It doesn’t matter. It is a place to show what you’re passionate about, and a place where no matter what, people will support you. 

So I think we should go support these people, too. Who cares if you don’t know anybody performing, I know you listeners like music. There was such a wide variety of music playing, from Zach Bryan to Elton John to originals. There is something there for everyone.

And if you take a step back and just look at campus in general, cheesy or not, I think there is something on campus for everyone too. So go out there and do what you’re passionate about.

This episode was written by Owen McDonnell and produced by Kaylie Sirovy. Thanks for tuning in, and feel free to send us a message to our email inbox at [email protected] with questions, comments or concerns. Again, I’m Owen McDonnell, and I hope you enjoyed the episode.