By Lisa Occhino

So, word on the street is the world was supposed to end yesterday. Not gonna lie, it got a little rainy there for a second in Boston, but that’s about as close to apocalypse weather as we got – what a bummer. Now that everyone has emerged from their bomb shelters and stopped their blabbering about misconstrued conclusions that the Mayans never actually came to, I think it’s safe for us to hit rewind on this semester and count down the Top 7 “grooviest” moments. (We sincerely apologize for all of the “Groove” puns we try to make that just come across as a poor attempt at bringing back ‘60s slang… we’re workin’ on it.)

THE TOP 7 “GROOVIEST” MOMENTS OF FALL 2012:

7. We selected Melanie Lynx, Betty Who, and Red Oblivion to be featured as our Artists/Bands of the Month, in which we carefully handpick Berklee students who are doing remarkable things with their music careers.

6. In a special edition of October’s Artist/Band of the Month, we featured four sharp Berklee students who won our first-ever scavenger hunt by finding the pairs of CollegeFest tickets that we hid around campus in the late hours of a random Wednesday night.

5. Turns out Berklee kids really love a good scavenger hunt, so we decided to team up with our friends at Guitar Center who generously gave us over $1,000 in amazing prizes (including an Ibanez F-Style Mandolin and a 2012 Big Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar!) to hide around campus. What started out as a cute little idea of ours ended up exploding into an epic night of college kids running around like maniacs in search of the coveted prizes. In the words of one of the participants: “I have never seen this college so alive!”

4. We started a monthly email newsletter, in which we hook our Groovers up with exclusive opportunities, concert tickets, prize giveaways, and more! They’re also the first to know about super secret Groove stuff, like cool upcoming articles that haven’t been published yet and our events/giveaways that haven’t been announced to the public yet. Shh!

3. We interviewed Berklee alumni Karmin, YouTube sensation Walk Off The Earth, and a legendary electric-rock harpist who toured with Steve Vai – not to mention Sara Bareilles, The Fray, Joshua Radin, and Grace Potter over the summer, who just so happen to be some of our biggest idols. (Have we mentioned how much we love our jobs?!)

2. Hannah Christianson won our third “In The Groove” Songwriting Competition, which proved to be our biggest and best yet. After probably causing a fire hazard with the number of people who crammed into the Student Activities Lounge for the competition last semester, we decided it was time to upgrade to a bigger space. So this semester, the top three finalists (including runners-up Maddie Rice and Myloe) battled it out live for the audience’s vote at Guitar Center in Fenway. The stakes were higher than ever before, with the first place prize including a $250 Guitar Center gift card, a live performance and interview on the BIRN, a featured set at King’s, the headlining performance at our spring 2013 end-of-semester party, and of course, a featured interview right here on berkleegroove.com. We received the most submissions that we’ve ever gotten for this competition, so narrowing it down to the top three was really tough. But after giving away 15+ raffle prizes, honorable mention prizes, free Red Bull all night generously provided by the Wiiings Team, and $20 Guitar Center BonusCards for every attendee, we finally revealed the results of the audience’s vote and crowned Hannah as the winner.

1. Oh, and it was about time that we got memed. We’re actually quite flattered and, for some strange reason, consider this to be a milestone. (Mostly because three years ago, people barely even knew The Groove existed!)

So, there you have it. We’ve come a long way, my friends. And hey, even if you didn’t do anything else this year, you survived a non-existent apocalypse. Now that’s one for the books.

Seriously though – from all of us at The Groove, we wish you the most amazing holiday season! We love our readers and contributors so much; we would be absolutely nothing without you guys, and we can’t thank you enough for continuing to help The Groove grow and thrive. Have a very relaxing break – you deserve it! We can’t wait to see you again in spring 2013!

All the best,

Lisa & The Groove staff

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By: Lisa Occhino

Wow, what a semester.

I’ve finally had a little bit of time to sit and reflect on everything, and what hit me the hardest was how fast college seems to be flying by. I’m now over halfway done with Berklee, but it honestly feels like orientation was just last week. It’s sort of an interesting paradox though; as fast everything seems to be happening, it’s hard to believe how much you can achieve and grow as a person in just one year – or even a semester.

I can wholeheartedly say that being a part of The Groove has brought me some of the most rewarding and memorable experiences that I will probably ever have in my entire life – and based on some of my discussions with the rest of the staff, this seems to be a sentiment that’s shared across the board.

In the spring 2012 semester alone, I had the opportunity to interview some of my favorite artists, bands, and songwriters, including: Rachael Yamagata, Jason Reeves, Elizaveta, Andy Grammer, Less Than Jake, Dropkick Murphys, Band of Skulls, Allen Stone, Sam Sparro, Eric Hutchinson, and Karmin (soon to be published). My staff and I also got to speak with several music industry leaders at the Rethink Music Conference, such as Willard Ahdritz (Founder/CEO, Kobalt Music), Chris Kaskie (President, Pitchfork), and Bill Werde (Editorial Director, Billboard). Staff Writer Julian Weisser covered SXSW and the SF Music Tech Summit, and we’ll both be heading out to the New Music Seminar in NYC this June. Promotional Director Alyssa McCord was the brains behind our new and successful “Artist of the Month” series, in which The Groove features a Berklee artist or band that is doing something truly spectacular with their musical career. She also interviewed two of her favorite artists, Ron Pope and Secondhand Serenade’s John Vesely, and worked tirelessly with me to organize our most successful “In The Groove” Songwriting Competition (feature article on our first place winner, Ethan Thompson, coming soon!) and end-of-the-year party to date.

Above all, I never would have thought in a million years that being a part of Berklee’s online school newspaper would directly help me accomplish one of my life goals. I had promised myself that if I did anything in life, I would somehow to talk Sara Bareilles before I die. This woman is hands-down the biggest inspiration for my music, and an artist that I truly respect and look up to.

10 days ago, that dream came to life. Although I could have easily asked her questions for hours on end, I’m tearing up again right now reliving the simple 15 minutes I got on the phone with my idol.

So I guess the moral of the story is: Even though life sometimes feels like it’s going by faster than you can keep up with, the key is really letting all of those special moments sink in, and truly cherishing them. Let yourself be moved even by things that are seemingly small – like grabbing coffee with a friend (old or new), sitting on the docks and taking in the beauty of the Charles River and the cityscape of Boston, or finally taking the first step of starting that thing you kept putting off (go do it right now).

As the famous Ferris Bueller quote goes: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

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It’s so weird to go from running around 24/7 for four months to being home in Connecticut and finally taking a break – a real break. To be honest, I had almost forgotten what relaxing feels like. As much as I enjoy being productive, I know that I can very easily overwork myself if I don’t throw some occasional lazy days into my life.

This semester in particular was the busiest I’ve ever had, but also the most exciting and rewarding. Besides being a member of six clubs at Berklee and attending every clinic, seminar, and concert that I could fit into my schedule (not to mention squeezing in a social life on the weekends), I also had to take on three people’s jobs at The Groove since most of the staff graduated in May. Up until a couple of weeks ago, the entire Groove staff consisted of Elisa Lomazzo and me. While juggling everything else in my life, I was maxing out on my Student Employment hours writing articles every week, planning promotional events, launching contests and giveaways, and doing everything I could to raise the reputation and awareness of our school publication. Over the course of the semester, we’ve transformed The Groove into much more than just an online school newspaper. In addition to reporting on campus and alumni news, we’ve also been striving to report on local, national, and international news that we think our readers find interesting and relevant. We’ve also managed to score some incredible interviews with legendary artists and bands such as Dream Theater, The Spin Doctors, and Tommy Lee (of Motley Crue), as well as Dashboard Confessional, Jack’s Mannequin, Will Dailey, and the Top 3 contestants of NBC’s “The Voice,” Season One.

It’s been extremely exciting for me to see The Groove’s momentum pick up so much over the last semester, and it’s even more exciting to know that this is only the beginning. In October, Roland Bough, the Editor of The Groove back in 1999, was telling me about all of the politics they had to deal with back then to get the administration to take them seriously. In his words, they finally succeeded in turning The Groove from “a once-a-semester rag to a weekly publication.” He was amazed at how far we’ve come since then.

I’m also happy to announce that we’ve officially hired a full staff! It was a grueling process that took much longer than expected (like, months longer) because we had so many qualified applicants, but we’ve finally got our solid five. Our team now consists of Elisa Lomazzo (Staff Writer), Julian Weisser (Staff Writer), Alyssa McCord (Promotional Director), Carmine Mattia (Assistant Promotional Director/Staff Writer), and myself (Editor-in-Chief/Webmaster). I’m so thrilled and honored to be working with such a talented and motivated group of people. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far, but I can guarantee you that you’re going to see some incredible things come out of The Groove in 2012.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year! No matter where you are or whom you’re with for the holidays, please make sure you savor every moment of it. The same thing goes for your time at Berklee. Don’t take any of it for granted, because it really does fly by. The worst feeling in the world is looking back and feeling like you didn’t fully take advantage of every opportunity while you still had the chance. There will be no other time in your life like your college years, so work as hard as you can, but laugh harder and don’t take yourself too seriously. Enjoy your life, family, and friends. Hell, enjoy your enemies. When your career is music and music is your passion, you can’t help but be ridiculously happy every single day. I know I am.

So, with that, have a great winter break, and I can’t WAIT to see everyone again in the spring semester!

-Lisa

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Dearest Readers,

The winter break is over. While our tiny staff of two decided to take a vacation, the world kept spinning. Tons of snow coated the nation. Political Figures were shot. A new astrological sign was introduced, Russian airports were attacked, and smokers were casted 25 feet away from our school walls like lepers. While this was going on, I was in sunny Florida. The only state out of fifty states (including Hawaii) to not have snow. Nothing says ‘welcome back to school’ like a few good old-fashioned winter storms. Tuesday’s first day of school was a scene right out of the Three Stooges, with many kids slipping and sliding between Hynes T Station and 921 Boylston. But we all happily made it to our classes, nose runny, clothes drenched in melting ice. This semester is going to be rough, but if we all work together, I think we can make some beautiful music. With that being said, Your friendly neighborhood Groove is back in business, and we will stop at nothing to bring you news of the best, the brightest, and the absurd. Welcome back, Berklee! We missed you.

Love,

The Editors

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How Berklee got its Groove Back

Written By: Jehad Choate

This is the last day of the fall semester, and we survived! We can finally spend our time productively writing songs about love affairs and political extravaganzas and not sing about the tedium of studying coupled with the stress of getting work done. You should feel very proud of yourselves, Berklee. I know I am. With that excruciating load off all of our backs, I think it’s time we all take a vacation. Some of us are going to go back home for the holidays, others will be braving the cold Boston Weather for the month we have off. The point is, we at the Groove, want to fondly wish all of you a happy time no matter where you are, because you deserve it! I know we do.

Be prepared for a brand spanking’ new attitude from your friendly neighborhood Groove writers, starting January. We are in a transitional period. Actually, we have been in one since we started writing in ones and zeros and not our traditional print. With a strong supportive team, we kept this center of information a float for the last couple semesters, but now it’s time to bring us into the light. Expect a lot more from The Groove starting January, because social functions, propaganda, and thought provoking articles are not the only things we have planned. With a sad farewell to our Editor and other Staff Writer, Andrew and Naomi, who are no doubt running about doing bigger and better things, Me and Christine are dedicating our final semesters at Berklee, to not only keeping you informed of the world around you, but involved as well, because the Berklee Community starts here. So enjoy you’re break, my fellow musicians. We will. When spring semester christens the new year of musical hustling, we guarantee you the Groove will be there to celebrate you in all your achievements.

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Jehad and Christine

Co-chief Editors

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Hello and thank you for visiting BerkleeGroove.com, the home of Berklee’s online newspaper and student voice, The Groove. My name is Andrew Slotnick and I am the new managing editor of this publication. Christine, Jehad, Raphael, Naomi and I could not be more excited to continue the commitment to quality that has characterized The Groove since its inception in 1997. We would like to thank Zac Taylor, Ann Driscoll, Paul Jefferson, and all the other former employees who have made this paper what it is today. Special thanks to Zac and Paul for fleeing the slow death of print journalism and moving to an online format; BerkleeGroove.com is an excellent site and we have plenty of room to grow.

We at The Groove promise to provide you the readers with content that is informational, entertaining, and relevant to the Berklee community. But our five-person team can’t do it alone; submissions from Berklee students, alumni, and employees are what keep this newspaper alive. So let us know about your band’s show this weekend, your friend’s new album, the coolest basement party in Allston, or what’s happening on-campus. Whether you have a finished piece to be published, a comment regarding today’s cafeteria lunch choices, or you just want to know why CampusCruiser is down again, send an email to thegroove@berklee.edu and it will be answered.

In this spirit of community involvement, I am proud to announce a new feature for the site: Facebook Connect. We are still working out a few bugs, but now you can leave comments on BerkleeGroove.com using your Facebook identity without having to create a new account. At the log in screen, simply click on the “Connect to Facebook” button and you will be prompted to give our application permission to log you in. This permission can be revoked at any time by visiting your Facebook application settings, and your password is never revealed. Additionally, any user without a Facebook page can still easily create an account on our website by providing a berklee.net email address. Facebook Connect is a useful service due to Facebook’s popularity among Berklee students, however all users should look carefully at how their information is being shared online and use caution when posting anything to the Internet using a real name.

Please check back often for updates to the site and let us know what you think. Keep your finger on the pulse of Summer 2010 with BerkleeGroove.com and get into The Groove!

Andrew C. Slotnick
Managing Editor

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Papa's got a brand new Groove.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

You see these beautiful people in this picture? They’re your new snooty music journalists! Get to know them. From left to right, we have Naomi Gingold, Ann Driscoll, Andrew Slotnick, yours truly, Paul Jefferson, Jehad Choate, Christine Occhino, and Rafael Sanchez.

Paul, Annie, and I are off to other endeavors; namely, places like New York City and Los Angeles. But we’re leaving you in good hands. Andrew is taking over the reigns as managing editor, Rafael is our new web/graphics guru, and Naomi and Jehad are the new staff writers. And they would like to a) be your friend, b) know what’s cool about music from your point of view, and c) listen to your ideas about how to make the Groove as beneficial to us students as possible.

So that’s about it for me, boys and girls. I’ll probably submit a handful more articles, help the new folks get acclimated, and steal any free pizza that happens to find itself available around campus.

It has been an awful lot of fun writing about all of you, and you have all inspired me in countless ways. This is a fun place, yeah? I’m going to leave you with my graduation speech submission that didn’t quite get the go-ahead for Saturday (I’m sure Jack will do an awesome job); but it’s from the heart and I hope you enjoy it. Hit me up in the meantime if you need some help writing your bio or press release; I’d be happy to help.

Oh, I almost forgot–Come to my CD Release Show tonight (5/6) at Cafe 939!!

“Listen Hard”

You know that feeling music gives you? When the hair stands up on your arms. When those chills surge up and down your body. What is that thing?

When I was ten, I used to listen to Nirvana and Beatles CDs on a Discman (it’s what we listened to before iPods). I didn’t know what harmony meant, or how a groove was supposed to work, or even really notice that there were patterns called verses and choruses. All that mattered was that feeling those sounds gave me.  That thing.

If there’s one thing I have learned at Berklee, it’s that music does different things for different people. It fulfills different needs. Maybe you need a big fat beat to bob your head to. Maybe it’s a catchy pop-country tune. Maybe it’s that first note Jimi Hendrix plays in the solo from “Machine Gun.”

But here, depending on your major, it could be getting the reverb on the snare drum to sound just right. Or planning a twenty-five city tour for an artist that you manage. Or helping a patient recover with some soothing acoustic guitar. Or blogging about Lady Gaga’s dress, or lack thereof.

Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t matter what your thing is, why you have it, or how you came to have it. All that matters is THAT you have it. That it’s yours, and that it resonates with you. And Berklee didn’t give you that thing—you had it long before you got here. What’s cool about Berklee is that it can give you a blueprint of how to stir it up and bottle it.

A blueprint to help you find that special place where your muse hangs out. Where she takes her tea, and what kind of honey she puts in it. You learn how to listen to her, in her language. An Arab speaks Arabic; a Frenchman speaks French; I suppose your muse speaks music. Our hope is to one day be able to access this special place freely and readily; but remember—Luke Skywalker wasn’t always a master of the force, and Neo didn’t make his first jump in the Matrix.  But that didn’t stop them.

During my first semester here, guitar phenom Steve Vai said at a clinic: ‘Find out what you’re good at, and the rest is gravy.’ He was talking about that thing that gives you that feeling.

You don’t have to be famous or on TV to have that thing on overdrive. Most people here know that fame has more to do with money and body curves than anything remotely associated with a passion for music.

I bet you all have a friend that has looked at a famous musician and said, ‘I could play better than him.’ I know I have…But at t his stage in the game, we’re finding out that it’s not about who’s the best guitarist, best singer, best songwriter, or best sousaphone player. Technique can be perfected, but art cannot. The artists that can move you are the ones that A) have that thing spinning real hard for them, and B) also know how to show it to you. I’ve been moved as many times from a performance in a class, coffeehouse, or even subway platform than I have from watching whoever’s on TV.

You walk around these halls, and you see the jazz kids’ brains frolicking through the deepest jungles of harmony. You hear the gospel kids scatting the most ridiculous vocal runs. You see the synth kids chopping up sine waves into a galaxy of otherworldly sounds. You watch the singer-songwriters sending out text messages to get people out to Club Passim. Everyone is frantically pacing around this place in search of the keys to that code to his or her own special thing.

Now here we are in 2010. Ticket sales are way up. Record sales are way down. You have people becoming rock stars on game shows. You have video games with plastic guitars and drums. You have Ashlee Simpson. What does it all mean?

It may seem dire for those of us with a real passion for real music.

But we all have hope—more hope than can be measured. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here today. Sitting next to each other. Making plans for later today, next week, next year. Hey—let’s hang out and listen to that record.

Music is a communal experience.  And of course, us music nerds can sit around a jaw about the EQ of a bass amp, or the lyrical arc of a song, which is all fine and dandy. But real people (non-musicians) need that communal experience, too. You don’t have to know about music to love it, the same way you don’t have to be a cardiologist to know your heart makes you feel good things and bad things. But the cardiologist doesn’t regulate his treatment only to other doctors; he heals real people, the same way musicians have a healing power, and a duty to use it. And any Berklee professor will tell you: if you make music for musicians, you will STARVE.

The young artists who get ahead in today’s industry know about the power of community. You see the amateur MCs free-styling in a group. You see a jazz TRIO trading fours at Wally’s. You see the Monkey Rock Writer’s Circle at All Asia every Wednesday to hang out and play songs for each other.  We’re on the same team.

Some of us will be luckier than others. Some are better connected. Some will just plain work harder.  And the competition is as fierce as it’s ever been. But for the ones with real passion for real music, community will always triumph over competition.

Think of the people you’ve met in Harmony class. The kids you’ve sat next to at Crazy Dough’s. Your humble student newspaper. Of course they’re your friends, but it goes beyond the g-chatting, the Myspace top-friending and the Twitter following. They are your fellow soldiers in this insane industry. They are the ears that will hear your first rough cut. They are the hands that will help you lift that Marshall stack into the back of a Volvo. They are the honest critics who will see you on TV and tell you, ‘You know, the camera really does add about ten lbs.’ They are the ones who will be at your house in sixty years to tell your grandchildren about the time you were in a band together, and you had to lug your drums around on the subway in Manhattan.

Matthews Knowles, music biz heavyweight and father and manager of Beyonce, spoke at David Friend Recital Hall last year. At the end of his conference, he asked all of the singers in the room to stand up. Then the songwriters. Then the drummers. Then the producers. Then the videographers, and so on. Then he said: ‘everyone you need to succeed is right in this room.’

And so it is: everyone, and everything, you need is right here all around you. We’re all on the same team.

Good luck, listen hard, and don’t ever let that mysterious feeling music gives you fade away.

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iSight? On the 1 Bus? Why not.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

I’m writing this from the back of the 1 Bus from Harvard Square to Hynes. People are looking at me funny. So what else is new…

The next couple weeks are typically the most fun of the year: turning in all the assignments you’ve missed, cramming for proficiencies (which is typically reserved for this upcoming Sunday), and for us graduates, figuring out what we’re going to do on Monday, May 10.

My time (or reign, if you will) as managing editor of your humble student newspaper is coming to an end; and I like to think I left it better than I found it. For instance—you see how you’re reading this on a screen and not on paper? Still a pretty new thing. And have you notice the new content uploaded everyday? Pretty nifty, right?

I have been interviewing for an entire new staff (with the exception of our Promo Director Christine), and I think you all will be very pleased with the new batch; unlike Saved by The Bell: The New Class. While it has been enriching and inspiring to write about my fellow musicians, it has often been a pickle to swap out my journalist hat for my musician hat and back again. I’m indeed looking forward to having my hands on a guitar and microphone more than a Macbook and mouse.

Speaking of which, I’m releasing my first record, Salesman, next Thursday May 6 at Café 939. My friends Nini + Ben and Kris Roche will be opening up the show, and all of our parents will be in town for graduation. So I guess it’s kind of my senior recital, too (Mainly because I forgot to book 1A in 1140 in time…).

We’ll chat once more before I sign off for good. In the meantime—get those melodic minor runs together, or the terrorists win.

P.S. John Mayer’s not really coming back to Berklee. Gotcha.

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