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(04/11/07 12:00pm)
Standing outside a North Jersey bar on a Saturday night, you might hear the wild guitar solo on "Voodoo Child" and think, "Is Jimi Hendrix back from the dead?" But go inside the bar and see who's really tearing it up: 21-year-old Jimi Anderson.
Hailing from North Jersey, the Jimi Anderson Band, playing primarily blues-based guitar-driven rock, has been performing at small bars and clubs for a little over a year. But Anderson is no stranger to the stage - he was just 14 for his first club appearance. He has been part of almost 10 different groups with assorted bandmates ranging from peers to professionals.
Anderson, a junior songwriting major at Berklee College of Music in Boston, has been playing guitar since he was a child. "I know there's video somewhere of when I was three or four trying to play along with Mot?rhead's 'Ace of Spades' on a little plastic guitar."
The many years of experience are definitely apparent when Anderson almost abuses his guitar from his intense shredding. "I'm constantly working on my technique, although when I play with my band, I'm not thinking about technique at all," Anderson said. "The only thing on my mind is feel."
Anderson considers Jimi Hendrix his primary influence. "Not only (are) his tone and playing the best I've ever heard, but his songwriting is just as incredible," he said. "Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robin Trower are both close seconds though."
The Jimi Anderson Band, featuring fellow North Jerseyans Steve Salerno on bass and Matt Yeager on drums, doses out both original material and crowd-pleasing covers of rock and blues classics such as Vaughan's "Pride and Joy," the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" and several Hendrix songs.
Highlights of the band's live show include Anderson soloing with his guitar behind his back and using his teeth as a pick. "If I feel like doing it, I do it," he said. "It's a spontaneous thing. Some would call it a gimmick, but I call it putting on a show. If it was good enough for Hendrix and (Vaughan), it's good enough for me."
Anderson self-produced the band's first full-length CD, "Landing Site," which was released on Saturday night at a free show in West Milford, N.J. "I love and hate recording," Anderson said. "On the one hand it's great to put your playing and songs under the microscope and try to get that perfect performance, but on the other hand, songs and the band as a whole are continually changing, so making a record is really just like taking a snapshot of the band at that instant."
Recorded at a private studio in Hope, N.J., "Landing Site" features 12 original songs, with all music and lyrics written by Anderson. "Practically everything" he hears or sees can find its way into his lyrics, as if "catching seeds," as one of his Berklee professors put it. "Songs are like rumors for me - they start as a true and real idea and then spiral into something much bigger and more elaborate," Anderson said.
Anderson began as a guitar performance major at Berklee but switched to songwriting in his sophomore year. "I took a couple songwriting classes and I really loved them. I felt like I could learn more about songwriting. It was one of the newest things at Berklee at the time and it was really appealing."
Throughout the year, Anderson gives private lessons to young guitarists, finding clients through a music instruction studio and word of mouth. "It's really fun to take someone who knows nothing about guitar or playing music and help them grow into a good musician," he said.
Saturday's "Landing Site" release party marked the band's first acoustic performances of "You Can't Hide from Love" and "The Road to Rockaway," which appear on the CD. "We have a very open-minded audience and we thought we'd try it out. The response was great."
"Landing Site" is on sale at all shows and through the band's Web site, jimiandersonband.com. "Our No. 1 objective is to get our music out to as many people as possible and hopefully get those people to come to shows," Anderson said.
Fans of classic rock and blues should check out the Jimi Anderson Band. You'll be sure to experience good jams, good music and a good vibe. Anderson admits, "Nothing makes me feel better than performing and making a room full of people happy at the same time."
(03/07/07 12:00pm)
The New Library. This great name of this great building suggests that there is some old library somewhere. Well there is: the Roscoe L. West Library. You know, that rather large cement structure between the New Library and Forcina with the cute lion statue out front? (Just to clarify: the lion statue was there long before "Roscoe the Lion" was coined.)
But what activities are occurring in the shell of the building that used to be my library? Are adolescents absorbing information? Is the Internet being used for plagiarizing purposes? Are computer keyboards being fervently tapped by ultra-caffeinated zombies? Are administrative offices teeming with ringing phones and pissed-off students? No.
There are empty rooms. There are empty book cases. There's some random furniture that didn't quite agree with the New Library's plush and comfy seating ornaments. There's a whole lotta nothin'. Check out the picture accompanying this article. The horror!
The West Library has been closed since the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester, when the New Library opened to so much celebration and festivity you'd have thought the College earned Ivy League status. Now, a year-and-a-half later, a lot of people have forgotten about the West Library. I'm upset.
As a longtime fan of the West Library, I would like to see this building reopen for some reason, any reason, if only so I could go inside again and remember all those great times I had researching interesting stuff for important papers. And to revel in the sight of the green-tiled walls. And to hear the second story's floorboards creak. And to smell the basement's stale air. Ah, memories.
But alas, the West Library isn't a library anymore; it's as far from a library as Sodexho food is far from edible.
This is not to say I do not like the New Library; I do. "Is very nice," as Borat would say. But what the hell is an empty building doing on campus? (Forget about the Green Farm House for now . oops, that probably just reminded you about it.) The West Library is not a relic; it is a building perfectly acceptable for usage, similar to how Centennial is perfectly acceptable for humans to live in.
Last semester, I was happy to see that the amount of construction on campus had considerably lessened. I took the time necessary to truly appreciate the beauty of our 289-acre campus.
But this semester, construction is back in a big way. Giant holes in the ground all over the place, a big ol' water-barren lake, the rubble of the apartments . a very beautiful campus indeed. My family will be pleased when they come to see me graduate in May and see what their money really went toward.
Even with massive budget cuts, the administration now seeks to fill the holes it dug, refill a lake it drained and rebuild the apartments it destroyed. Why not throw that old library into the mix?
An article from the Aug. 31, 2005 issue of The Signal reported that "the College is committed to renovating the section built in 1930" and that "a committee is still deciding the future use."
The Autumn/Winter 2005 issue of TCNJ Magazine offered similar vague explanations - that "the College is still exploring its options" and that Taras Pavlovsky, dean of the New Library, "hopes to keep part of the building as a remote-storage facility for the (new) library's ever-expanding collection."
Can these hopes become reality? Is this "committee," if such a committee exists, really "still exploring its options" a year-and-a-half later? Oh, still no word? Okay, take your time.
The old library could easily become a new dormitory. Why not? There will always be a shortage of housing on campus. (Forget about the apartments - they're bad luck.) It could have classes. It could have offices. It could have a computer lab. It could have a large auditorium. It could be a mini museum to commemorate the College's 150 glorious years of history. Anything's possible.
I happened upon something peculiar on the "Virtual Tour" on the College's Web site (tcnj.edu/~vtour), which enables prospective students to click on campus buildings to view information and pictures of their exteriors. However, the user is not able to click on the West Library, and there's no nifty label like the other buildings have. There's a building; I can't click on it! Why not? What is this mysterious building? What don't they want me to know? Is Osama hiding inside?
Upon further perusal of the College's Web site, I could find no mention of the West Library since the New Library opened, and those sparse mentions were only to show how much it pales in comparison to the almighty New Library. Ever since then, it might as well have not existed.
It seems that the College wants nothing to do with one of its own buildings. What the hell did it do to anyone? What would the real Roscoe L. West, a former College president for 27 years, think about all this? It is he whom Roscoe the Lion is named after - he must be respected.
But all cock mockery aside, the fact that the College does not even acknowledge a campus building as being a building on campus is very disconcerting. When the College boasts extreme pride about pretty much everything it does, it is unusual and unexpected that nothing has been done nor has any information been offered regarding the West Library in the year-and-a-half since the New Library conquered its lonely predecessor.
(02/22/06 12:00pm)
Liberal learning sucks. How's that for an intro?
Ever since the Fall 2003 semester, when transformation took over, students have been complaining. And rightfully so.
Four classes a semester at four credits each. In the standard four-year (eight-semester) college career, that equals 32 courses total. Out of those 32, about 10 will be liberal learning classes. Don't forget the other classes for foreign languages, senior practicum and other random mandatory requirements (redundant!).
I know some people who will have to stay at least one extra semester to fulfill all their requirements. This is in part because of general education. Some people are deterred from doing a minor because they can barely complete their major and gen eds.
Instead of taking liberal learning gen eds, I'd rather take additional classes relating to my major or minor (makes sense). I don't care about being a well-rounded person educationally. I care about knowing a lot in the main areas in which I'm interested (duh). I'm sure some people accept their doom and go into liberal learning classes with a positive attitude, but not me. Hooray for pessimism.
If you take a look at my transcript, you'll see mostly As and Bs (thank you). But what's that? C+ in microeconomics? C in African-American history? I must be really stupid. Thank you, liberal learning, for kicking me off dean's list those semesters. Other liberal learning classes in which I earned B-s: Politics of Sexuality and Islam. No comment.
That all makes me seem like a racist and sexist asshole. I'm not racist or sexist. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!
Were those courses difficult? No, I think "pointless" fits better. The low grades were due to my apathy toward those classes. For some people, economics and African-American history are interesting and worthwhile. But I did not want to be there. At all. And since I resented wasting hours of my life sitting in classrooms "learning" about stuff I don't care about, my work was done halfheartedly (the other half was busy with The Signal). At least I have some personal evidence to back myself up in this rant.
And just recently, a revelation has been dug up from the trenches of Records and Registration hell. There are other options to complete your liberal learning requirements, with a lower number of courses than ever before. Whoa! Thanks for screwing us with transformation and then telling us about these "new" options when we're upperclassmen!
The way most of us have been plodding through the liberal learning is "Option C," according to Robert Anderson, director of General Education. Option C. Meaning there are Options A and B. When I was a clueless freshman, some "official" person told me how to complete the gen ed requirements. It was the method of Option C. It was not the third option described to me - it was the only option. But I was confident. I was going to conquer liberal learning! I was going to take gen ed courses that eliminate more than one requirement, so as to take the easiest and shortest way out. Call me callous.
Would I have chosen Option A or B? Probably not. But that's beside the point. The point is that liberal learning sucks and it makes me want to make fun of it as much as possible without threatening anyone.
(11/16/05 12:00pm)
There were no baked goods at The Rathskellar on Saturday, Nov. 12, but there was The Goods, the once-a-semester student art festival sponsored by 'ink.'
With no cover charge, students, faculty and even strange drunk men could come and go as they pleased, to enjoy or not enjoy the music, poetry and fiction delivered by the student performers.
Starting off the day was The Embassy, a four-piece punk band of College juniors and seniors. Their 45-minute set included several original songs and a cover of The Cars' "Just What I Needed."
The band has played many times on campus, and said The Goods was a great event for them. Andrew Ferencevych, junior history major and bass player for The Embassy, said, "It's a good venue, and people can come out and chill."
And indeed, people chilled. Through the course of the day, audience members ate, drank and were merry. During a jazz improvisation segment from sophomore guitarists Keith Petrillo and Michael Bywra, a few students were doing homework. The College's rigorous course load led students to continue with their homework throughout the day as the performances raged on.
As an introduction to her fiction reading, Michelle McGuinness, freshman English major, said, "This is the single most intimidating moment of my life." But 15 minutes later, she was reassured from the cheers in the audience.
Perhaps the biggest crowd-pleaser of the day was Musical Ridiculousness with senior biology majors, Jordan Kaplan and Jason Morgan. The duo played three original works and five covers, including "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," "How Can We Be Lovers" and a heartfelt rendition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge."
But the song the audience loved most was an original, titled "Take My Breath Away." Kaplan sang-rapped such lyrics as "You give me emphysema because you take my breath away" and "Studying your jeans, that's what I call genetics." Kaplan spoke of how grateful he was for being allowed to play at The Goods.
"I am glad to have brought the bads and the uglies," he said.
Next up was Sean MacPhee, who read an original short story called "Gardener." A poignant look at Internet porn, the tale garnered tremendous applause.
David Byrne, senior math major, played a half-hour set of original music, armed only with a guitar, amp and some effects pedals. His unique sound was self-described as "experimental minimalism." With such song titles as "What Would Dave Do" and lyrics like "Snug as a bug in a rut with an appetite for chloroform," Byrne's music was definitely something different. Byrne also happily lent his amp to all the day's musical performers.
Near the end of the day was Nicole Grieco, senior English major, who read three poems, two being about the lives of Barbie, Ken and the other dolls in the Mattel franchise. The audience consistently laughed at Grieco's work, and she was easily a favorite of the day.
Grieco said she was very satisfied with the event. "The audience was really responsive, and it was good hearing what things they laughed at and what had no effect," she said.
Next was The Steamboat Project, the name of senior English major Anthony Milici's solo act. Using an acoustic guitar, keyboard and a flute, Milici's haunting music and storytelling lyrics struck a nerve with the audience. Guest Byrne played trumpet on the last song of the Steamboat set.
And then came the feature presentation: slam poetry. The three poets, Post Midnight, J. Simone and Chad Anderson, performed a total of 13 poems. The audience thoroughly enjoyed Post's first poem, "Bacon," with lines like "Bacon helped me redefine my spirituality."
Chad Anderson's first poem was an anti-drinking poem about various people from his past. Before his next poem, he realized that "doing an anti-drinking poem at a college is a fucking stupid thing to do."
Post's last poem, "Cunning Linguist," included the great line, "Forgive me sister for when I read your scripture, all I pictured was coed naked Twister." And at the end of the poem, he chanted, "Do you want some head? Say yeah if you want some head."
After six hours of music, fiction and poetry, The Goods was over. Sarah Maloney, senior math major and president of 'ink,' who emceed and coordinated the event, said, "I think the quality of this year's Goods is the best it's been so far. We want to keep getting better and better."
Anderson's final line of the final poem of the day summed up the spirit of The Goods. Dedicated to all writers, Anderson's voice resonated as he said, "You are read to me, and I can't stop reading."