VCPunx fills void of niche music interests

While Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) and other music booking collectives on campus strive to bring bands to Vassar that will appeal to the majority of the student body, VCPunx, established in 2008, caters to the small but avid group of students who favor more hardcore, extreme and underrepresented genres of music. On Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. in the Mug, VCPunx will offer an intense opportunity for pre-exam week catharsis with their Winter Concert, an event that will no doubt feature some proverbial, and perhaps literal, moshing.

Jon Gorman '13, current president of VCPunx, explained of the organization, "There really is a solid group of people at Vassar who have interest in this music, and we figure if we can get them together, even if it's a small crowd, then that's valuable," he said. "I guess the bottom-line difference between us and other booking collectives on campus is that we just don't really care about approval ratings," he added.

During the Spring of 2010 ViCE asked VCPunx if they would like to be one of its branches, but VCPunx declined, stating that they would prefer to work alone and not have to worry about booking bands that will appeal to larger groups of students. Punx Member Zebulon Wimstatt '14 attested to the memorable shows such a close, tight-knit type of audience facilitates: "I guess I'm drawn to VCPunx shows—in ways—because of the intimacy of them. The crowd is, like, never more than 55 people," he said.

Gorman assures that the concert will be a welcoming environment in which all are invited to come and let loose. Such an atmosphere, in fact, parallels the ideals of the group itself. "We are pretty small as far as a student organization goes, so our whole executive board works together really equally," he explained.

VCPunx brings bands, mostly from New York State and other parts of the Northeast, that are struggling, lesser known and eager to get their names out there. "We run mostly free booking, and really just pay the bands in gas and pizza money," Gorman said.

Similarly, the concerts themselves are generally low-tech and do-it-yourself. This informal ambiance, however, places the most emphasis on hearing and feeling the music, whether it be through uncontrolled moshing or shameless head banging.

The Winter concert will feature several hardcore groups from upstate New York, including The Dip(p)ers, a band led by one of the founders of VCPunx, Reed Dunlea ‘09. Unlike some of VCPunx' other concerts, which pepper harcore music with electropop, this one will be extreme through and through. "It's going to be more hard core and brutal, but we feel that that's good because a lot of people have expressed interest in that kind of music, and we want to bring at least one heavy show per semester," Gorman explained.

In addition to The Dip(p)pers , the Winter Concert will also feature Shoppers and Dead People Screaming, two bands self-proclaimed as noisy Syracuse queer punkers and dead Philly dead punks, respectively.

And while Gorman does not expect the concert to draw as large a crowd as some of the Mug's other events, he is sure that those in attendance will be incredibly energetic and zealous about hardcore music.

The Mug's intimate atmosphere will likely encourage a rapport between the audience and band. Of course, the Mug can make setting up tricky, as its location is in the heart of the Retreat and it is small with a low ceiling. "Still, while the Mug is not the most convenient space, it's certainly better than the garages and basements that a lot of groups are used to playing in."

VCPunx also explores issues beyond music, depending on interests of the group members. "We're mostly about the music, but we've done stuff on social issues, and panels in the past on niche things, such as last year's non-conformist sex panel," Gorman said. The panel was presented by Fuckin' (A), a NYC-based political collective that exists to promote, support and facilitate radical sex positivity as a crucial aspect of liberating people and communities.

"When our members are passionate about different stuff we try to get it going," he explained. According to Gorman, because the group is tight-knit, members are able to voice their opinions easily and in an environment that is very open and accepting.

The organization has weekly meetings at 6 p.m. in the Strong Bike Shop open to anyone interested in attending. Whether you're from another student group and have collaborative ideas, are a musician and want to play at an event, or just hope to discuss music with likeminded people, Gorman assures that VCPunx is a fun and chill atmosphere to get started.