By Chris Fitzgerald
Learning Center Training Coordinator

On December 2nd the Learning Center hosted its 2nd annual Sound Collage Contest Showcase & Awards Ceremony. Haven’t heard of the Sound Collage Contest? It’s where Berklee students get to tweak, mangle, chop, distort, reverse, and generally destroy audio samples to create a piece of music. For the contest, the Learning Center, with the help of Scott Mabuchi and the MP&E department, recorded various household oddities, unique instruments and a collection of music inspired quotes and tongue twisters in multiple languages, and then provided them to students back in September. Along the way they offered classes and forums on topics like sampling in Reason and Kontakt, creative sound design with Logic’s Ultrabeat and EXS24, audio editing and working in Pro Tools, and classes and forum events in Ableton Live and Digital Performer.

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Effective September 1, 2009 the College is making Berklee student email the primary and official communication tool for students.

Why? Our entire community has expressed a desire to improve communication, particularly for students. To ensure that students receive information, we have made email the primary and official means of communication. We will expect students to check their Berklee email accounts on a regular, preferably daily, basis. Related to this change, effective immediately, Berklee student email boxes will grow in capacity to 1GB to accommodate and support this policy.

Although this storage increase is significant, some students may still wish to manage their email by using other domains/accounts. Detailed information about how to do that follows below.

Regardless of your choice, students must read their Berklee email on a regular basis. We strongly recommend that you do so on a daily basis as key information we be communicated to you ONLY through email.

How to change email forwarding settings from my.berklee.net email account

Student’s my.berklee.net email accounts are the primary way for faculty/staff to get in touch with students. Communication can range from important upcoming deadlines to notifications from offices regarding probation or deans list.

Space in the Berklee email accounts has increased significantly to accommodate larger files. However, if you prefer to use an external email account, you can enable forwarding on your my.berklee.net email account.

Please note that due to spam filtering some email providers, such as Comcast, will prevent forwarded messages from arriving at your external email account. If you must use an external service and you suspect that your messages are being filtered out, then you should either use a different email service provider, or enable the “keep a copy” option in the my.berklee.net forwarding filter.

The steps below tell you how to change your forwarding settings, and will ensure that you will still be receiving essential communication from Berklee.

1. Log in to your CampusCruiser account at http://my.berklee.net.
   Within the MyCruiser tab, click “Personal Tools”, then click “E-mail.”
2. In the toolbar on the left, click on “Filters.”
3. Under “Incoming Mail Filters,” click on the “Forwarding Filter” tab.
4. In the “Forward E-mail to:” box, enter your external email address.
5. Check the box labeled “Forwarding Enabled,” to turn forwarding off, uncheck the box.
6. Optionally, check the box labeled “Keep a copy in INBOX.” Only do this if you must use an external account, and if you suspect that your forwarded messages may be filtered out. Note that you will need to periodically check you’re my.berklee.net email account.
7. Click the “Save” button to save your settings. If you click the “Remove” button then your filter will be removed completely.

**Please note that changes will take about 30 minutes to take effect**

By Zac Taylor
Editor-in-Chief

There’s a pesky epidemic sweeping the mobile community. It’s called mass-texting. Musicians and other shameless self-promoters will often drop the mass-text the day before, of, or after a show in an effort to “get people out.” Sometimes it’s your friend. Maybe it’s the girl from Harmony class. Often, it will be a random number and you have to ask someone, ‘What the heck is the area code 513?’ After years of being a notorious mass-texter myself, I have realized certain rules—nay—guidelines, that validate a sense of courtesy, and in a sense, strategy, in the implementation of the mass-text:

1. You’re allowed (1) mass text message for a gig.
   Forget about the two days before, one day before, morning of, or the classic “Hey! We’re starting in a bit! Head on over.” People know the game, and are short on patience as it is. Send the solitary mass-text on the day of the show as a reminder, and end the madness.
2. Be Succinct.
   In the past semester, I got a handful of mass-texts that were three messages in length. My cell phone went nuts—ding, ding, ding— and I made the mistake of thinking I was popular and/or loved by three separate friends. Nope. I was not only being invited to Poetry Slam, but also given specific details, and an elaborate emotional reflection of how much it would mean to the texting party if I showed up, and of course, the “C U there” tagline. OMG, texters. Here’s the format: Event/venue/time/sign off. Keep it to one message’s length, or even one screen’s length if applicable.
3. No ‘Thanks for Coming!’ mass-texts.
   Under no circumstance should you ever send the “Hey everyone. Thanks for coming out. It was a blast.” There are ways to disguise it (e.g. using ‘man’ or ‘dude’ instead of ‘everyone’) that will fool a handful of naïve Nokia users, but it’s still not recommended (It’s also a notorious Facebook inbox clogger. Put it as your status, and move on with your life).
4. Erase the ‘FWD:’ prefix.
   The one that is automatically added to most mobile devices upon forwarding a mass-text after you’ve reached your 10-contact quota. It doesn’t take long, and seasoned mass-texters appreciate the courtesy.
5. Lose the emoticons.
   If your LCD reads “Come see my band at TT’s tonight. We’re on at 10 =P,” does the little tonguey smiley guy make you want to come show your support that much more? No sir. It’s irksome even without the emoticon, and has the potential to lose friends if superfluously implemented.

Most of these guidelines are applicable for Facebook messages, MySpace invites, and other ways we like to “keep in touch.” You want people to come see your band. Most of them won’t, but you simply can’t afford to alienate the few that might actually come.

Got some more guidelines? Let us know at thegroove@berklee.edu, or leave a comment below.

By Liz Turner
Contributing Writer

If you grew up in the 1990’s, you may remember hearing Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” as it soared to the top of the charts. But since that foray into mainstream success, Duncan Sheik has now taken his music and imagination to an entirely different genre: musical theater. Over a period of eight years, Duncan Sheik worked with acclaimed director Steven Sater on writing a rock musical based on the controversial German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind.

Spring Awakening opened on Broadway in December of 2006, and soon achieved popular success, particularly among young musical theater fans. Sheik won two Tony awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Original score, and a third award also went to the cast of Spring Awakening for Best Musical. A year later, Sheik also won a Grammy award for Best Musical Show album. After playing 888 performances to sold-out audiences on Broadway, Spring Awakening closed on January 18th, 2009. I had the great opportunity to meet up with Sheik last week while he was in town and ask him what he has been up to since Spring Awakening closed.

Duncan Sheik was at the Berklee Performance Center on March 13 performing songs off of his new album Whisper House, Spring Awakening as well as his own solo material. Whisper House is a new musical that Sheik and playwright Kyle Jarrow have been working on about a young boy whose father dies in World War II, and then goes to live with his aunt in a haunted lighthouse in New England. Ghosts of the lighthouse (played by the musicians of the show) appear and are the embodiments of all of the young boy’s fears and desires.

Joining Duncan Sheik on his tour are original Spring Awakening cast member Lauren Pritchard and promising singer-songwriter Holly Brook. The band members consist of Duncan on vocals and guitar, Gerry Leonard on guitar, Louis Schwadron on French horn, Lauren Pritchard and Holly Brook singing and playing keys, and cello, clarinet, bass and drums. The instrumentation brings unique sounds to Sheik’s compositions, which span a range of genres including pop, rock, folk, and classical. I asked Sheik if there are any plans for Whisper House to become a staged musical and he said that they are working on a small, intimate production of Whisper House to debut in San Diego sometime in January of 2010.

Throughout his career, Sheik has tried to stay true to himself. “I wasn’t going to go off and try to be Steven Sondheim,” he said. “It wouldn’t be authentic, and I wanted to write music for young people in the contemporary world, to do theater where the music was relevant to a wider culture.”

With the current economic hardships and many shows unable to afford to stay open on Broadway I asked Sheik what he currently thought of Broadway. “Broadway is going to be just fine” he replied. “ It doesn’t matter what the economy is doing. In fact when the economy goes bad is when people start going to the movies and theater a lot more, they want to be taken away from their troubles for a few hours.”

Duncan Sheik grew up listening to a wide variety of artists ranging from Mark Hollis of Talk Talk, Bjork, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, The Cure, Yes, Nick Drake, and John Martin. He also reminisced about seeing David Sylvian of the indie band, Japan at the Berklee Performance Center, when he was at the boarding school, Phillips Andover, just 25 miles north of Boston.

Duncan Sheik ended our interview with some advice to aspiring musicians. “It’s not usually a great thing to try and second guess what other people are going to like and want to listen to. Just because something is a commercial success, it doesn’t mean you should follow, imitate, or re-create that exact path. Music is always made best when someone has a unique and different point of view.” “I’ve also found in my own process whenever I’ve tried to do things for more commercial reasons, they have been very disappointing, and then when I’ve done things for purely artistic reasons, the irony is that those are the things other people seem to like much more.”

He also confirmed for us that the rumors are true: Spring Awakening will be made into a motion picture sometime in the near future. Spring Awakening has just opened up in Vienna and also in the West End of London. It will also be making its way to Boston as part of its North American National Tour. Spring Awakening will be playing at Boston’s Colonial Theater April 28 to May 24 2009. For student rush tickets visit the box office one hour before the show with your student ID, to receive a ticket for $25 or visit broadwayacrossamerica.com for more details.

The Wilbur Theatre is an excellent venue to see a rock and roll act, in spite of not serving alcohol. Or having functioning lights. Or booking a good rock and roll act. Such was the case last Thursday, April 2, when the Cold War Kids performed to a sold out crowd. The LA-based quartet had all the ingredients for a cool rock band: guitars, sneers, swagger, choruses, and obscure intersong stage banter, but it didn’t quite add up to what some may call ‘entertaining.’ Lead singer Nathan Willett’s shout-along melodies sound cool and weird on their debut album Robbers and Cowards, but are just weird during the live set. The tunes from the new record Loyalty to Loyalty were slightly more interesting, but mainly more of the same margarine indie pop. Multi-instrumentalist Jonnie Russell’s guitar playing, keys, and backing harmonies were very professional-sounding, as were the rhythm section, but it all added up to a stale sound; “blah rock,” if you will. There were some lighting issues that at first appeared to be an intentional grunge rock shtick, but much of the set was performed in darkness (save the glow from the cell phones and Exit signs). So perhaps the overall dull vibe isn’t entirely contributed to the CWKs, but it said their name on the marquee. Zac Taylor

Somewhere backstage at The Middle East (presumably in a phone booth), the diminutive frontwoman and guitarist of Screaming Females, Marissa Paternoster, has slipped out of her everyday clothes and into her trademark red housedress. Shrieking and twisting before a crowded house of uninitiated forty-somethings, she is every bit the cataclysmic paramour of rock n’ roll lore. The once apathetic, perhaps cynical audience validates- her fits of guitar shred and banshee screams by bobbing their heads in approval. Intermittently, she disappeared out of view, conjuring radioactive sonic assaults from her modest collection of gear. When the abrupt twenty-five minute set ceases, the audience is taken aback, yet palpably won over. “Insane guitar,” a woman commented. “I feel like I’ve found new music.”

Despite the musical apotheosis that has just occurred, off-stage Paternoster could not be more down to earth. “I wait tables,” she explained. “I’m a scumbag.” Regardless of her modesty, this formula has played out nightly for the last four years. Every night virgin ears are defrocked by the trio’s cacophonic aural assault while inexperienced eyes realize the St. Vitus dance of arguably indie rock’s most intriguing femme fatale since Wendy O. Williams. And while it is undeniably her image that makes the bands’ performances so visually compelling, it is the triumph of their unique business model that has granted the opportunity to open for national acts such as The Breeders and to appear in Spin magazine.

Their self-propelled touring scheme is the brainchild of drummer and business manager Jarrett Dougherty, who is responsible for booking every tour date.
The Do-It-Yourself method, inspired by hardcore pioneers Fugazi and The Minutemen, has designed a Spartan approach to touring that has guided the band across the nation and into different three countries. Absconding the traditional bar and nightclub venues in favor of art spaces, basements and abandoned houses, Screaming Females has avoided the demands of club owners to build a devoted fan base from the ground up. Instead of performing to a disinterested room of inebriants, sharing an art house with local bands provides a built-in fan base already inclined towards their genre. While this method of advancement is undeniably risky and less lucrative, Dougherty explains that by circumventing motels for fans’ floors and packing ample edible provisions in advance, the band manages to keep their excursions from becoming financially solvent.

Though this unconventional model was never intended to ensnare the attention of a record label, their valiant endeavors have garnered the representation of the Jersey based Don Giovanni records. Power Move, their first label backed record, is slated for release April 14 and promises to be an exciting step for the group. Anticipation of their new album is so tangible, spurred by a cult-like following, that much of the material has been leaked on the internet via blogs. Moreover, the music video “Bell” (directed by their friend Biz R Lynch) has been deemed a “Must See Video of the Week” by the video website The Daily Swarm. Yet these are not the only auspicious developments of the recent signing; Don Giovanni has afforded a tour in Puerto Rico. “It’s probably the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life,” comments bassist Mike Rickenbacker, “Going to Puerto Rico…for free.”

Despite all their marketing ingenuity, Screaming Females would not be successful without a superior product. Perhaps the most striking thing about the band’s live set is how authentic it feels. Packed into basement, elbow-to-elbow with malodorous miscreants, one cannot help but feel in the presence of rock and roll iconoclasm. Each show imbues transcendent possibility, recalling Iggy Pop’s infamous self-mutilation or L7’s tampon fiasco. While things so drastic rarely occur (Jarrett has been known to play naked), it seems as though anything is possible. The band is so refreshing, both sonically and conceptually, that it causes even the most jaded of listeners to fall in love with rock music all over again. That is not to say that Screaming Females auditory experience is sans verruca; rather, it is impregnated with the same insouciant imperfection that made Nirvana and The Stooges so charming. Most of all, leaving a Screaming Females show, the audience feels proud, confident in the knowledge that rock and roll is in safe, tiny hands. Chris Primeau

For more on Screaming Females,visit myspace.com/screamingfemales. They can be seen in Allston at Gay Gardens April 22 at 8 P.M.

By Orlando Dixon
Staff Writer

Fusing R&B, gospel, and rock, Ryan Pinkston breaks down musical stereotypes. Known for his electrifying energy on stage, the versatile musician captivates his audience. “I feel that live performance is the best setting to capture me in,” said Pinkston. “You really get all of me on the stage.” Making it a point to stay true to his roots, Pinkston’s personality and urban foundation define his style.

“I consider myself to be a hip-hop singer,” said Pinkston, a Professional Music major. “I relate to the rawness and realness that hip-hop music offers. That feeling of being bare and transparent in the music, and giving the people something they can relate to really connects to what I want my own music to do.”

While Pinkston’s distinct tone and vocal ability are compared to the likes of Stevie Wonder and Prince, his talent also lends itself to his songwriting and musicianship. He bares his soul through his music and artistry. As he continues to grow and mature in his craft, Pinkston is also making a conscious effort to build his fan base.

“I feel like honesty is one of the fundamentals essential in the process of the creation of art.” Pinkston said. “In everything I do musically, I want to strive to be as genuine and as real as I possibly can, so that people are able to relate to my music.”

Be sure to check out Ryan at The JOY Rebirth Experience on April 25 at Café 939. Also check out his website at myspace.com/ryanpinkstonofficial.

Dhy Berry of Mrs. Danvers. Photo by Kevin Bullis.

By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

Queerstock ‘09 features 11 of the most talented LGBT-identified artists at Berklee. The second-annual event is sponsored by BUGLE, Berklee’s Union of Gays, Lesbians, and Everyone Else. Last year, Queerstock featured a roster of talented acts, attracted around seventy people to the caf and was a unifying event for Berklee’s queer community. This year’s event, which already has 91 confirmed guests on Facebook, is being promoted both on- and off-campus, and features a lineup of 11 young artists and Berklee students from all over the world.

Some of the featured artists include Berklee Songwriting Contest ‘09 Winner, Michael Gottlieb, a current 4th semester professional music major hailing from Israel. Second-semester student, Lydia Kay will perform her feisty, tragic Johnny Cash-influenced number, “You’re No Good For Me.” Metal band, Horcrux will perform the raucous, “Acid” featuring front-man, Stephen Hopkins’ impressive wail and Phoebe Danskin’s thick, supportive bass playing.

Miami native Joey Primero will play her deceptively sunny pop song “Living With a Ghost,” accompanied by her full band, while Emily Musolino will perform her smoldering acoustic blues number whose lyrics declare pride and strength, while decrying hypocrisy in such targets as Dick Cheney.

Michael Gottlieb

Mrs. Danvers, an all-female rock sextet, will bring their energetic, disco-pop to the caf. Rebecca Perkins and Becca Marbach are performing again after making strong impressions last year. First-semester student, Lauren Grubb of San Francisco will make her cafshow debut, as well as second semester singer-songwriters, Wil Viozzi and Drue Wendt.

The showcase is no ordinary night of music- but a celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer identity. It is also an acknowledgement of the wealth of talent within the queer community, which is frequently discriminated against in the music industry as well as society as a whole. BUGLE invites students to attend and support this event on Sunday April 19, at 10 p.m in the Caf.