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Music Appreciation Club brings Rock, Pop, and Icelandic Folk music to MC

Headlining U9’s line-up last Thursday were Tom Petty, Cream, and Jefferson Airplane in their youth, lighting up the big screen at Music Appreciation Club’s (MAC)   Psychedelic Rock Week. They performed at the request of students’ fingers, which typed songs like “Sunshine of My Love” to call Eric Clapton’s 1964 Gibson to wail once more. A passing student may not place the psychedelic wail but will hopefully be drawn in to discover the source. This is club president Allison Lehn’s (11) goal.

“We really just want to get people to find a way to share music and listen to some new stuff and not be define

Club president Allison Lehn promoting MAC
Photo courtesy of Allison Lehn

d in one genre,” Lehn said.

Emboldened by this statement, I called on The Flaming Lips and Melody’s Echo Chamber. Sure enough, they materialized on the projection screen in front of me, psychedelic sound waves amplified in the same room so many students have heard lectures on past societies in. In MAC, history played out in the form of classic rock, obscure bands, and kaleidoscopic music videos.

“We can go back and listen to music of the past, and that represents history,” Lehn said. “It shows what the people were like and what they felt. Everyone has their music. Everyone has something that represents them, and the way that we have that available for posterity is really neat.”

Along with reviving musical world history, the club plans on strengthening the future of MC’s music program through fundraising events. MAC also looks to expand club members’ musical preferences, so if psychedelic rock isn’t your thing, well, that’s so

rt of the point– the  club’s cause can also be interpreted as ‘no music snobbery allowed’.

“People start thinking they’re better because of their music taste, and we just wanted to drop the pretenses and listen to whatever,” Lehn said.

Cream, one of the many bands you can catch in U9
Photo courtesy of The Audiophile Man

Lehn is no hypocrite when it comes to  practicing her club’s values.

“My three Spotify daily mixes are like, 80s and classic rock and then romantic-era classical music, and indie alternative,” Lehn said. “It all depends on my mood. Sometimes it’s Duran Duran and sometimes it’s Britney Spears.”

While she is also a self-professing Beatles fanatic, Lehn places no one band or musical era on a pedestal.

“Every artist that’s come through in any time has had some kind of impact on some kind of group of people, and that’s why we consider them noteworthy– that’s why we have the rock and roll hall of fame,” Lehn said. “Everyone makes their own development.  I think that there’s so many cool styles of music, from hip hop to alternative to Icelandic folk. There’s always a Beatles in any kind of genre, really.”

Next week is 80s pop-centered, a genre I have personally sworn off. After an enlightening listening experience at last week’s meeting, however, I’ll be going anyway. MAC has taught me that expanding my musical palate isn’t so scary. Plus,  I might miss Sgt. Pepper dancing in neon legwarmers to a synthesized sax.

  

Written by Evelyne Eng

Evelyne Eng is a senior at Mt. Carmel High School.

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