The anticipation for Spring Weekend concerts came to an end when New Politics and Jake Miller hit the stage at Keene State College. Spring Weekend festivities kicked off at KSC with the two acts Friday, April 25, 2014, in the Spaulding Gymnasium.

“I came with my friends and it was nice that for KSC students, the tickets were low- price,” first-year student Margaret Maloy said. Maloy said she enjoyed the different types of music the concert was composed of. Friend and first-year students Morgan Lutz, Mary Curtin and Rachel Lally were in attendance with Maloy.

Curtin added, “When we saw the posters around campus we started listening to them, and now we’re interested to see them.”

Fellow first-year student Kelly McIntosh agreed with Curtin and said advertisements for Spring Weekend were what prompted her to listen to the artists.

Freshman Olivia Drury has been a fan of New Politics longer than the spring weekend posters have been up. Drury said she has been listening to New Politics for around five years now.

New Politics member David Boyd said the band is more about song writing and love of music rather than being musicians.

“We started out just writing music and we ended up here by YouTube videos and word of mouth,” Boyd said. He added that around four years ago, record labels picked the band up from the U.S. and that is when the surreal feelings set in.

Samantha Lewis / Equinox Staff:
New Politics members David Boyd (left), Soren Hansen (right) and Louis Vecchio on drums (not pictured) rock out while engaging attendees of the Spring Weekend concert on April 25.

With inspiration from the film This Is Spinal Tap, Boyd said the band changed their name from The Politics to the New Politics due to copyright issues.

After the band’s release of their recent album in May 2013, Boyd added their future is stacked full of tour dates, recording sessions, trips across seas and most importantly, for them, song writing.

“I really loved performing here because I can relate to it. We are all sort of young and wild, so it builds our energy on stage,” Boyd said.

Curtin said energy was apparent, adding that everyone loved the performances.

“They kept the entire crowd engaged the entire time,” Curtin said.

And for New Politics, that was the band’s purpose. Boyd said there were millions of musicians before them, but they love to do what they do in order to make something enjoyable for others.

Boyd added, “Whatever resonates with us, we use it. We don’t think too much about if we’re punk, or if we’re pop or we’re reggae. We are just fans of music and we are grateful for being able to do it.”

Jake Miller, the main act of the Spring Weekend concert denied an interview with The Equinox.

But, for Miller’s performance, Alicia Berry, concert coordinator of Social Activities Council, said everyone who watched Miller really enjoyed his performance even though few people came to see him specifically.

“The crowd had really great energy and people were dancing and smiling the whole time,” Berry said.

The Spring Weekend concert was hosted by Social Activities Council at KSC. Kyle Hastback, a sophomore at KSC and employee of the Young Student Center, said he got to the gymnasium at 7:30 a.m. to start setting up for the concert that night. That process didn’t end until around 2:30 p.m. later that day, he added.

“We unloaded the equipment from the trucks with a forklift and we have to break it down tonight because it is being used somewhere else tomorrow,” Hastbacka said.

The work done by Social Activities Council members and student center employees made attendees proud, Hastbacka added.

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at herdbrink@keene-equinox.com

In the early weeks of March there were been numerous mini-snowstorms that slowly added to the heaping mounds that lay around.

On campus, there are six parking lots for students to keep their cars. Between the parking lots of Pondside I, II and III and the commuter lots, the Winchester lot is the largest in terms of space.

While winter may be coming to an end, New Englanders  are advised to stay prepared in future years.

Campus Safety Officer, Brendan Bosquet, provided a list of necessary things to remember in the flurry months. The first place to start is in the car. When one first approaches another’s car, the first site tends to be snow engulfing the car as a whole. Bosquet stated before someone starts to drive their vehicle, they should make sure all the snow is removed off the car.

Eric Jedd / Equinox Staff

Bosquet added making sure mirrors, windows, roofs and hoods are clear will ensure visibility and deplete the amount of snow suddenly falling off in any way. He stated removing snow from headlights, taillights and license plates can help keep the car as safe as possible.

Bosquet advised checking antifreeze, cleaning battery posts, inspecting spark plug wires and inspecting brakes are things to keep an eye on when it comes to the car’s physical well-being.

Another component Bosquet added was to check the engine oil and tire pressure. Bosquet stated that by switching to a thinner grade of engine oil, there is a greater chance for a better performance in the cold.

AAA is the American Automobile Association of Northern New England. The organization has services that may assist people during the winter.

AAA disclosed on their website that proper maintenance to keep a car in top condition is not only checking the individual aspects, but knowing when to check them as well.

AAA detailed checking tire pressure should happen biweekly and checking belts and hoses should happen with every oil change. In addition, brake inspection should happen every 5,000 miles. AAA added that oil changes should occur every 3,000 to 10,000 miles.

Heather Madden, student at KSC, stated this year she had a blanket, a flashlight and jumper cables in her car in case of emergencies. She also checked her engine light on her car as precaution due to cold affecting the starting and functioning of the vehicle.

Bosquet agreed with Madden that checking the car is important but not the only aspect— being personally prepared is important as well.

Bosquet added having emergency blankets, roadside flares, flashlights or headlamps, a charged cellphone and numerous emergency services are items students should always have with them or located in their trunk.

Jay Sahasakmontri, a KSC sophomore, said he keeps jumper cables, a flashlight, and roadside flares in his trunk at all times.

Similarly, sophomore Scott Munroe stated he keeps extra clothing and shoes, alon with flashlights in his car. Both Sahasakmontri and Munroe agreed keeping their cars packed with essentials is a priority on their to-do list.

Bosquet said while driving in winter, it is likely cars will get stuck at some point. He added to make sure there is a shovel, bag of sand or cat litter and salt in the car to help get out of sticky situations.

The shovel does not have to be a massive metal one, but can be a simple retractable model.

He said the shovel should be kept close due to the increased amounts of snow that occur in Keene, N.H.

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at  herdbrink@keene-equinox.com

Celine Perron / Contributed Photo:
Alpha Psi Omega, the theater and dance honor society, holds a talkback with Dr. Angela Barlow as the moderator following the Thursday, Nov. 14, production of “Spring Awakening.” The discussion was between cast members, the audience and Barlow with the aim to reflect on the potential issues of the shame, fear, desire and sexual expression as depicted in “Spring Awakening.”

Shame, fear, violence, humor and sexual expression took the stage at Keene State College’s Main Theatre during the play, “Spring Awakening” this past weekend.

On Thursday, November 14, after the show, Alpha Psi Omega, the theater and dance honor society, sponsored a talkback with the actors to give the audience a chance to ask questions regarding the performance, but also the situations and depictions in it.

Such preparation came with the role to depict struggles that come with life-ending thoughts, sexual identity, domestic abuse and the curiosity about human interaction.

It was also a time for the actors to specify the mental process they individually went through to prepare for the performances.

Celine Perron / Contributed Photo:
A scene from the Keene State College production “Spring Awakening.” The play was performed Nov. 13 through the 16 in the Redfern’s Main Theatre.

Dr. Angela Barlow, assistant professor in the KSC department of sociology and criminology, led the talkback by illustrating the connection these past issues have in the minds of people today.

Barlow commented on how matters people still face and deal with today were also an issue in earlier times, homosexuality being one of them.

During the play, “We tried to take people away from the homosexual aspect and make a love scene to make it as believable as possible,” commented Ryan Daniel Demers, 2012 graduate, who played the role of Hänschen Rupert.

Demers added that his character had an understanding of who he was and what he wanted, helping him create the scene, even with the other character being lost in the unknown.

Jon Adams, KSC senior, played the role of Ernest Reinhold, another homosexual character in the show.

“There was so much applause and cat whistles and everything after that scene, that I thought, we have changed in so many ways to be able to celebrate homosexual expression or any sexual expression,” added Barlow.

Suicide was also a big issue during the time period of the play as well, Barlow said.  Education was based off of intensive studying and forceful demands, Barlow mentioned.

She also stated that the teen suicide rate went through the roof between 1890-1910 because of the intensive education with an influx at the end of each term when students would receive their grades.

“It was definitely the hardest scene to get right,” Noah Hayden Carmel said, who played Mortiz in the show, “I really struggled with what goes through your mind leading up to the end.”

“I guess it’s more of wanting to stop living then to end your life,” Carmel said.

Carmel mentioned his character had no one to present him with chances.

His character, Mortiz, had been beaten by his father and failure at school led to the actions his character took.

Forest DeCoste, a junior at KSC, played Georg Dieter and Josh Bernard-Kriegl, a freshman, played Otto Ulbrecht. These characters demonstrated the necessity of friendship and support through times of need.

Incest and abuse were not far from sights at the show, as Martha and Ilse were forced to convey these messages.

Celine Perron / Contributed Photo:
Two performers in “Spring Awakening” enact a scene depicting homosexual expression. “There was so much applause and cat whistles and everything after that [above] scene,” Barlow said, “that I thought we have changed in so many ways to be able to celebrate homosexual expression or any sexual expression.”

Martha, played by KSC junior Tamar Teitelman, and Ilse, played by Abbie Leigh Brown, another KSC junior, used real-life struggles of their own to convey their characters to the audience.

“I had to take something in my own life closest to what she’s been through and work from there by deepening it through her words,” added Teitelman.

The character she portrayed (Martha) suffered through child abuse and incest throughout the show, displaying bruises of force.

Brown (Ilse), Martha’s friend who experienced incest as well,  expressed that it was difficult to put herself into a situation she’s never experienced.

She added she made herself realize, “This isn’t the life I wanted to live,” making her character turn for support from friends. One of those friends is Thea, played by Allyson Doyle.

Abortion is an issue that the world and the United States still face today, according to Barlow, but faced in different ways than in the 1800-1900s.

She mentioned in the talkback that people would become pregnant and get married very young back then which is slightly different than now.

Senior Amy St. Louis, who played an adult woman and Paul Teitelman, who played an adult man, demonstrated their utmost concern for the events that happened as the play continued to flow.

St. Louis mainly showed concern during the abortion scene, which sends the young and innocent girl, Wendla (KSC junior Kristen Licht), to the grave.

Anna, played by KSC freshman Gabrielle Myska, added, “The abortion happens in this back alley, it’s dark out, middle of the night, it’s really secretive…. It’s kind of ‘hush-hush.’ ”

Although Myska was not the character who acted out the abortion scene, her words rung true amongst the cast on stage.

Sexual repression also happened in this time period Barlow added, which provoked Wendla to express the curiosity her character had during the supposed rape scene.

She said her character really does have no idea what could come but Melchior, played by KSC junior Taylor Jorgensen, knows more of the consequences.

As Dr. Angela Barlow stated, there are still connections of shame, fear, violence, humor and sexual expression with past issues that are on the minds of people today.

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at herdbrink@keene-equinox.com

“Starting route to,” was all I heard from the GPS as my roommate, Andrea Pauza, and I began our way to Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013.

It was mid-afternoon with a chill atmosphere and a heavy sunlight glare. Andrea’s iPod was playing in the background the music of the band we were both so excited to see—Phish.

As our hour-and-a-half trip from Keene to Worcester was winding down, the  anxious energy of excitement set in.

“Arrived at,” the GPS exclaimed and that was the moment my brain clicked into “Phish mode.”

We entered a parking garage and situated ourselves for the night. We began to walk down the street.

Contributed Photo / Jamie Rooney: Phish performs in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Boardwalk Hall during Halloween weekend, 2013. The band will also perform throughout the weekend of New Year’s Eve, Dec. 28 through the 31, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

As I approached the venue, the sign read, “DCU Center,” in large dark-green letters.

My roommate and I joined the already formed “women’s line” and started to move closer to the door. We reached the worker where we were patted down and sent inside.

Within the next set of doors stood an older-looking woman with big, dark, curly hair and a massive smile across her face, ready to check our tickets. She looked at our tickets and sent us in to the show of a lifetime.

The DCU Center is one big circle. If you miss your section, then you can make a safe bet that if you continue walking, you will pass it eventually.

We started our walk around the building’s personal roundabout and looked for our section sign. We passed sign after sign until we reached section 207.

As we walked up the stairs, the first view our eyes were captured by was the stage.

The stage was set up with spots for the keyboard player and bass player on the left-hand side; lead vocalist and guitarist, percussionist and drummer located more in the middle and a bassist on the right-hand side.

The stage was an aqua-blue color with a tint of violet and dark-green. The colors were still and remained primarily on the equipment placed on stage.

Above the physical stage hung two massive rows of black amplifiers. These amplifiers signified the sides of the stage.

Multi-colored lights and smaller amplifiers filled in the space between these rows to further the light experience along with the sound. After fully comprehending the entirety of the stage, we found our seats.

After a little while, the crowd began to fill in the empty spaces. The stadium was too large for me to see in its entirety,  but as I looked around, I began to notice that every seat was full.

The floor section was packed to the brim with people pushing and shoving to get to the front row.

The lights began to dim and the audience anticipated the performance with utter excitement. The members of the band, drummer Jon Fishman, Trey Anastasio on lead vocals and guitar, bassist Mike Gordon, and keyboard player Page McConnell, took the stage.

A single strum made the audience gleam with joy, then the opening song began, “Party Time.” A drum pattern began the song with the electric guitar and the bass was not far behind it.

Full percussion is added and jammed on before Anastasio began the lyrics with background accompaniment.

The words flowed out with a raspy yet stern tone that showed confidence and respectability.

The members of the band jammed out by inserting riffs and other components to make the song have an uplifting and overall fun atmosphere to it.

“Party Time” slowly made transitions into song after song, melody after melody, and solo after solo until the first set was done.

The concert was split into two sections. The first section consisted of ten songs while the second had nine.

The lights that accompanied those tunes were a different story.

They “blew everything out of the water.” The array of rainbow colors played within one’s brain spectrum, flashing as a strobe light and staying quite consistent.

The colors would move from side to side, hypnotizing each member it lit up. The break came to a halt as the lights began to dim again and the members retook the stage.

“Drowned,” was the opener for the second set. The piece started with an Elton John-style piano melody that was slowly picked up by the drums and electric guitar.

The piano melody stayed consistent in the background of the song while the vocals, drums, guitar and bass jammed separately on top of it.

After about a minute, the song went back to only the piano, the original melody our ears heard at the beginning. The piece picked up to the dance tune we all fell in love with as the lyrics progressed.

The atmosphere of the second set was nothing like that of the first set. Everyone was more energetic, along with the band members.

Everyone was more concentrated on the overall show, instead of the space they were listening to it in.

The lights absolutely did not fail with their effects and multitude of colors. The show came to a mind-blowing conclusion with the crazy and audience enthused, “Possum.”

Between the lights and the music that melted us into the floor, we were “Phish-fried.”

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at  herdbrink@keene-equinox.com

When the month of October rolls around and the dark spooky nights  quickly approach every year, most people begin to think about Halloween.

Some classify the month with the holiday and some consider it to be an activity. The hardest part about Halloween is not getting the right amount of candy, but getting the right costume.

“I’m being a bunny ‘cause bunnies rule the world,” Keene State College sophomore Paige Marion said when asked her Halloween costume idea this year.

Michelle Lefebvre / Equinox Staff

“I’m being a merman ‘cause my girlfriend is being a mermaid,” Connor Havron, a freshman at KSC said.

You may be seeing some repeat costumes from past years mixed with the new creations of this year.

According to Rick Asa, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, there are some very interesting trends happening this year.

In the article, “‘Breaking’ in some new looks for Halloween,” he mentioned  Walter White, who has become immensely famous from the incredible show “Breaking Bad,” the long-bearded “Duck Dynasty” characters, and the gothic forensic scientist from ‘NCIS,’ Abby Sciuto.

Big-name celebrities and their actions bring a lot of attention and merchandise to stores, especially around Halloween.

A few more, he named, would relate to what we have been seeing in the media.

Miley Cyrus, Amanda Bynes and Lindsey Lohan are big contributors to Halloween costume ideas. Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance, for example will put a lot of teenage girls in foam pointer fingers and almost nothing else.

Amanda Bynes and Lindsey Lohan, Asa wrote, will be portrayed through their reckless actions.

Best friends Tanner Semmelrock and Moire Lawson are teaming up. Semmelrock stated, “I am being Bill Clinton and she [Lawson] is being Monica Lewinsky.”

The two went against the norm of the mask politicians that we often see in stores, but still plan to keep the humor of the overall message.

Jaclyn Chrobak and Jessica Sullivan, freshmen, have their Halloween weekend planned out as well.

“I’m being a mermaid ‘cause I love them, [and] Waldo and Pebbles,” Chrobak said.

“I’m being a flapper girl, one of the three blind mice [with a group] and an army girl,” Sullivan said. Both expressed the reason for their choices were because they were easy wardrobes to put together.

Personal costumes are not for every night. Just like Sullivan said, three blind mice is a way to incorporate a group of friends in the Halloween atmosphere.

“I am being one of the Grateful Dead bears with a group,” Brittney Tilton, a junior at KSC said. This is another example of how you can make your Halloween costume a group one.

Although Halloween is an event for everyone, you don’t need to spend money like some do. Costumes created at home can sometimes be the best ones out there.

“I’m being a cop ‘cause it’s the only costume I have in my closet at the moment,” sophomore Erica Pontillo said.

“I’m wearing a Flash costume ‘cause I wore it before,” Michayla Shay stated. This is another example of how you can save money by using items you already have and have worn.

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at  herdbrink@keene-equinox.com

KSC alumnus prepares for debut on Halloween night

Zach Benton graduated from Keene State College in the Spring of 2010 and is now getting ready for his first album release.

The album is called, “Fall In,” which is named after one of the songs on the album. “I tried out other titles,” Benton said, “I wanted to make sure it was one that hadn’t been used before.”

Benton explained the inspiration for his songs had a lot to do with relationships, break-ups and overall growing up. “Some of the songs were written a while ago,” he commented.

“I think the common theme of this CD is trying to get through rough times,” Benton explained, “trying to be optimistic when it’s hard to be optimistic.”

According to Benton, the most exciting factor of the release for this album is that it is his first full album. “I’m excited for people to hear it,” he mentioned, “I want people to see what I’m capable of doing.”

Benton runs the “Acoustic Thursday’s” at Fritz on Main Street. “Ninety percent of the time, it’s my acoustic guitar and me,” Benton stated. He has been performing for ten years and said he waited a long time for something like this.

“I’ve been carrying the songs around but I wanted to present them in a professional way,” Benton added, “I can’t do all the instruments live, I’m not a millipede!”

Alyson Galipeau graduated from KSC in 2010 with Benton. She is a music teacher for a middle/high school for grades 6-12 in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Galipeau explained her singing began in the fifth grade chorus, but really took off in high school.

By college, she declared it her major. Galipeau accompanied Benton on one of the tracks on the album. “I love singing jazz,” Galipeau said, “that is one of the reasons Zach asked me because it needed to have a jazz vocalist.”

Galipeau described her changes to Benton’s song as only minor nuances, “minor melody changes and little pronunciation things,” she added.

Working with Benton was a reward for Galipeau, as she described. “I think he got it [Benton’s album] exactly the way he wanted it. I don’t think he has ever had that before,” she remarked.

“He mixed and mixed and mastered and re-mastered to get it how he really wanted it. He didn’t compromise anything.” According to Benton, the first step in an album process is the song writing.

“Performing those first drafts live can help you see what works and what doesn’t,” Benton said.

He said that he continued to rewrite the songs while performing them. “You can sculpt the song better that way,” Benton noted.

Once the feel for the writing part is complete, Benton said, demos for the songs are then constructed. “You can try new things when recording demos,” Benton mentioned, which then helps set the song list for the entire album.

“Once you pick the songs, you need to make a commitment to finish the project,” the musician added.

Ben Rodgers owns Loud Suns Studio in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. He works with a lot of different people, “the more populated areas, the studio’s focus [is] on one type of music,” he said. “In this area, I need to diversify. I like it [be]cause it’s a new experience.”

Rodgers was the co-producer and engineer for Benton’s album. According to Rodgers, he has been co-producing and engineering for over ten years now.   “Music has been my passion since I was young,” Rodgers said.

He explained that there are many interpretations to his title, “I don’t consider myself a producer. I just work with the musicians.”

An engineer, he stated, is someone who handles the technical side of the recording while the musician goes into the studio with their main focus being the performance.

Rodgers added they also provide critical listening.  He explained that Benton and he worked together for a few years.  “I let him develop the songs,” he clarified.

“I let him sit, then take them further or back a step if it wasn’t working.” Rodgers added that hanging out with the tracks could give it the feel you want.

“I recorded my EP [extended play] with Ben Rodgers so I went to him with the demos and went for the long haul,” Benton said. The official in-studio process with Rodgers began back in October or November of 2012.  “Recording takes concentration,” Benton continued, “It might not seem like you accomplished a lot at the end of the day but it’s definitely worth it.”

After the initial recording of all the instruments, Benton explained the next step is to listen to the tracks back and fix the kink. “I try and think, do I like this now, [and] will I like this five, ten, even twenty years from now?” Benton thought aloud, “it doesn’t turn into something that is going to sound great until about half-way through.”

The third-to-last step, Benton described, is mixing. This step, he said, makes everything sound good together.  “You want to make sure things like the piano or vocals aren’t louder than the rest,” Benton said. The mixing process then leads into mastering.

Mastering, according to Benton, is when one sends out their music to someone who has never heard it before. They then listen to the album to make sure the songs fit together.

The last step, Benton described, in this process is the marketing aspect.

“It’s really important if you want people to hear it and get it out there,” Benton stated. He said a good way he markets his work is by performing.

“By performing it, you can work on your craft while being an advertisement at the same time,” Benton explained.

Benton described his future aspirations to be a full-time professional musician. “I don’t really want to be famous,” Benton clarified. “I don’t want to lose my grip on the craft I have on music to become a celebrity. You depend on people’s approval and there’s no where to grow.”

The release show for Benton’s album is Halloween night at Fritz on Main Street. According to Benton, the opening act will hit the stage at 6:30 p.m. and he will be quick to follow around 7:30 p.m. His album will be sold at the release for five dollars and will also be available on iTunes and Amazon.

Haley Erdbrink can be contacted at  herdbrink@keene-equinox.com