Arts & Culture

Arts &

Nov. 3 - 9, 2021

8 The Daily Aztec

Culture

EDITOR: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com

Student musician thrives on stage, creates feel-good music in studio

By Samantha Muscio CONTRIBUTOR

Singer and songwriter, Jalea Villarama, a third-year management information systems student at San Diego State, has a passion for making music that illustrates her lively personality and creative expression as an artist.

“I just want to stay true to myself and make music that inspires people to spread love,” Villarama said.

Students and faculty who know Villarama as an artist know her for her performances on campus, specifically her performances for the Asian Pacific Student Alliance organization, which she is the cocoordinator for.

Her first big performance at SDSU was in 2019 at the Night Market event in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. Hundreds of people gathered to watch her sing and play the guitar to three R&B songs. Villarama said she remembers feeling joy as the crowd started singing the lyrics along with her.

After the Night Market performance, her recognition as an artist and support from SDSU students and staff emerged, leading to more performance opportunities for her on campus.

Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan, the director for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Resource Center, is one of Villarama’s biggest supporters on campus.

“It is important to amplify APIDA artists especially in this time of anti-Asian hate,” Dr. Loh-Hagan said. “Jalea has so much to share with the world. Through her music, she serves as a voice for APIDA joy. I’m so proud of her.”

Villarama said her passion for music

Courtesy of Jalea Villarama’s Spotify (Left) Single cover for Villarama’s newest single “Hung Up,” (Right) Single cover her 2020 single “Close.”

dates back to when she began singing at only three years old. She grew up in a musical household singing with her parents and grandparents who have always supported her as an artist.

Some of Villarama’s most memorable childhood performances include opening for Vhong Navarro, a popular artist in the Philippines at six years old and winning best talent at a pageant for singing Frank Sinatra for an audience of over 300 people at seven years old.

“It feels like home for me on stage and I feel like I can be whoever I want,” Villarama said. “If there’s a chance for me to perform, I’ll take it.”

As she got older, she continued to perform in talent shows, singing competitions and choir performances at her high school. Villarama said her experience as a performer and the support she has received as a singer is why she is

the artist that she is today.

In 2020, Villarama released her first song, “Close” ft. Y.S.A., which now has over 4,500 streams on Spotify. The music video for “Close” produced by the music production group, Collective Society, shows her natural-born ability as a performer.

Villarama’s music has an R&B style with elements from pop music. However, she does not limit herself to this label as an R&B artist. Villarama explained that her main goal is to create music that not only sounds good but also expresses her artistry most authentically without limits.

“I think Jalea makes music that is relatable and extremely vibey. I would describe her music as feel-good music,” said third-year speech-language pathology student, Giselle Sarmiento.

Her latest song, “Hung Up” was released in September 2021 and has already

received more than 1,700 streams on Spotify. According to Villarama, releasing music on Spotify is one of her biggest accomplishments.

Both “Close” and “Hung Up” follow the theme of love, a topic which Villarama says she enjoys singing about the most.

“I’m kind of a hopeless romantic so I like to portray that side of me through music,” Villarama said.

Villarama, who once used to record music in her parent’s bedroom, is now writing and recording songs in music studios, doing different collaborations with other artists, taking part in music videos, and accepting every opportunity that comes her way.

She spends her time in music studios, specifically Villa Vibes Studios, exploring her creative vision and writing music with help from her father. Villarama’s favorite aspect of the music-making process is creating satisfying harmonies.

Villarama said music will always be a part of her life, and her ideal artistic dream is to produce an album, go on tour, and watch as her fans sing along to her lyrics.

More importantly, Villarama said she wants to stay true to herself as an artist and continue to make music for the joy of it. She hopes to impact lives in a positive way and bring people together with her music.

“I just want people to know that it’s okay to follow your passions and follow your dreams,” Villarama said. “It’s your life and it’s up to you on how you want to live it.”

Check out her Instagram @juhleeyuh and stream her two songs, “Close” and “Hung Up” on all platforms now.

Students show cinematic chops at Halloween festival

By Flower Smith & Cristina Lombardo SENIOR STAFF WRITER ASST. ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

San Diego State’s School of Theatre, Television and Film department held their sixth annual Howling Halloween Film Festival in Montezuma Hall on Oct. 29. Over 100 people attended in-person and on Zoom to watch short horror films written, directed and produced by SDSU theater, film and media students.

The spooktacular film festival showcased student and alumni films from throughout the years, but the festival really highlighted the amount of creativity and drive it takes to create a quick spooky story.

The night started with eerie music playing right before the films began. As it got closer to showtime, the music gained momentum and became more ominous.

Rich Underwood, the festival curator and professor at SDSU, kicked off the event with a quick welcome and introduction to the night. He asked the audience to howl as a metaphorical way to signify they would be howling with laughter and fear while enjoying the short films.

Underwood asked the audience to participate in selecting the crowd favorite of the night by ripping a piece of the program brochure to indicate their favorite choice as a way to make the night even more memorable for everyone involved.

“It’s interesting to see these things (the brochures) of what students think

Photo by Cristina Lombardo The Howling Halloween Film Festival hosted a night of spooktacular films from students and alumni.

of what’s scary and what scares them,” Underwood said.

In total, there were 13 short films played. Each film was between a minute to 11 minutes long. There were many different themes and stories told, ranging from spine-chilling films to quirky and lighthearted. Nonetheless, they were definitely crowd favorites.

The short film “Pumpkin,” directed by Casey Nakamura, was one of the top three favorites of the night. It centered on a tiny pumpkin in a pumpkin patch wanting nothing more than to be a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween.

This four minute and 20 second film showcased a lot about this little pumpkin’s journey throughout the Halloween season. It sees its friends get taken and put back, and also experiences the death of his friend as a little girl stabs another pumpkin right in front of him. The pumpkin reacts and its facial expression changes as it is soon put to bed and thrown out by the people working the pumpkin patch. But the tiny Jack-O-Lantern survives and makes it to Christmas where it becomes a part of the Christmas spirit and decor on a beautiful Christmas tree.

This sweet film was definitely the crowd favorite and won the audience choice of the night.

Following “Pumpkin,” and the theme of the spooky season, the runner-up was the short film titled “Madre Sagrada.” This short film, directed by Maximiliano Garcia, was one of the longer films with a run time of eight minutes and 50 seconds. This Spanish short film was in blackand-white

and included English subtitles. “Madre Sagrada” focused on Mexican folklore. The film follows a young girl’s mother being burned at the stake for witchcraft as the young girl tries to find her way to escape the same fiery fate as her mother’s.

Rhetoric and Writing Studies student Althea Millman attended the Friday night festival and shared some of her thoughts about the film.

“I really liked ‘Madre Sagrada.’ The cultural aspect was what made it the most cinematic,” Millman said.

Some other crowd favorites were “Hanging By A Thread” directed by Chloe Cerami and “I Might Die Here” directed

by Tayo Oyekan. C.J. Villegas is an English major at SDSU and is a friend of Millman’s who also attended the festival.

“I liked ‘Shutter’ honestly. All spooky and fun, it was cool to go to this,” Villegas said.

Each film had the audience at the edge of their seats in anticipation of what was to come from the next showing.

The TFM department’s next film festival is going to be Valentine’s themed, so be sure to keep a lookout if you are interested in attending. For more information about the Theater, Television and Film department at SDSU and their upcoming events, check out ttf.sdsu.edu.

Nov. 3 - 9, 2021 EDITOR: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com

Arts & Culture The Daily Aztec 9

‘Scisters Salon’ takes eco-friendly strides

by Eugènie Budnik STAFF WRITER

When clients walk into Scisters Salon and Apothecary located on University Avenue in La Mesa, one might notice something unique about this salon. Products in glass and aluminum bottles, hair being collected for recycling, and bamboo combs and brushes adorn the shop. This is because Scisters Salon and Apothecary is San Diego County’s first zero waste salon.

The salon was opened in 2010 by co-owners and founders Melissa Parker and Easton Bajsec after they were paired together in a business class. The project they were assigned to do was to draft a hypothetical business plan. Parker and Bajsec, both interested in opening salons one day, decided to draft a plan for a salon.

“We did it as if we were realistically going to open a salon, just to get the most out of it. In doing this project, we looked at each other and realized that we could financially make this work. We ended up using that as our actual business plan,” Bajsec said.

Despite their environmentally conscious efforts, Scisters Salon was not initially centered around sustainable beauty.

At its start, the salon was much like a traditional salon. However, as Parker and Bajsec started working in the industry, they realized how much plastic waste was being created through their business.

“We had a real struggle of conscience in selling this major manufacturer’s product. We had like 150 skews of plastic bottles lining our shelves here,” Bajsec said.

Parker and Bajsec set out to find a manufacturer who would sell them hair care products in bulk, to allow for refillable bottles to be sold directly to consumers in the salon. This proved challenging, as no manufacturer would budge on selling their products in bulk. So, Parker and Bajsec started to experiment with creating their own product.

“We knew we wanted to do refillable items. So we looked for a place where we could find products in bulk so that we could have a sustainable refill program,” Parker said.“In trying to find something that was zero waste, and low toxins, as well as a product that works really well, we could not find anything. We decided we were going to make it ourselves.”

After many months of testing out products on their own hair, Parker and Bajsec finally found products they were proud of and confident in selling to clients. But now, they had to define

Photo courtesy of Scisters Salon

From left to right: Melissa Parker, Katherine Olenski, Easton Basjec.

exactly what zero waste meant in their salon, as well as how they would practice it.

“We define zero waste as doing what you can to not send anything to the landfill. We also try our hardest not to send anything to the recycling center. We are trying to make as circular an economy as possible,” Parker said.

In order to accomplish this goal, Parker and Bajsec carry their products in strictly glass or aluminium containers at the salon. They also send waste items that cannot be reused such as disposable gloves or hair to the company Greencircle, which recycles the material in unique ways.

“Greencircle takes our hair and repurposes it. Just recently, they used hair to clean up the oil spill which happened off our coast a few weeks ago. It’s a pretty genius idea!” Parker said.

Scisters Salon also strives to make sustainability an accessible, community affair.

“Our hope is that we can be a resource to our industry, as well as all other industries and even individuals in their sustainability journey. Any effort is applaudable,” Parker said.

Basjec expanded upon the fact that other salons across the country have reached out to their team about implementing more sustainable practices into their own salons.

“Recently, we had a salon in Indiana reach out to us, saying ‘We love what you’re doing! What Products are you using?’ Hopefully, one day there will be a lot of salons doing this,” Bajsec said.

Whether someone is just starting out in their journey of a sustainable lifestyle, or is a pro at living sustainably, everyone is welcome at Scisters Salon and Apothecary.

“Our tagline has always been ‘Beautiful people. Beautiful community. Beautiful planet.’ “We always strive to live up to that line,” Bajsec said.

Wanting to book an appointment at Scisters Salon? Visit their website.

Concert Roundup: Lord Huron are no ordinary cowboys

By Ryan Hardison ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

How do you know you’ve really lived until you die?

To Lord Huron, there’s only one way to truly solve this ideological riddle: feel as much as you can, even the moments that haunt you.

Elaborating on this theme, the Los Angeles-based indie folk quartet hosted a night of love, loss, regret and absolution at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Amphitheater on Oct. 27. Lord Huron’s adventurous appeal translated to a truly stunning show packed with radiance and charisma while transitioning from resilient anthems to soft crooning.

Pairing seamlessly with Lord Huron’s indie rock sound, the concert opened with Skyway Man, an eccentric personality with the same mannerisms and appearance of a quirky character who hangs on the outskirts of the Salton Sea. Despite his Bay Area origins, his music screamed New Mexico, with the same ominous tunes of the opening theme to “Breaking Bad.”

For the main event, the stage was shone fully decorated with faded cardboard cutouts of cacti and rocky, desert landscape. A decorative tribute to the Old West or to “Woody’s Roundup” from “Toy Story 2.”

With this style of saloon jukebox music, bolo ties and wool jackets would be the expected fashion on the menu. Instead, the band appeared as clean-cut, new age cowboys. Lead singer Ben Schneider jaunted around the stage waving his cowboy hat and flinging back his long, wavy hair. The wind flowing past his head created a shimmering, splendid figure, like a Jebediah Jesus.

There is no better way to start a performance than by drawing attention to center stage with a spotlight, cultivating the entire crowd’s attention onto a single segment of space. For a solo under the lights, the band began with “The Moon Doesn’t Mind,” a goosebump-inducing appetizer, and the intro to the band’s most recent album “Long Lost” — a perfectlytailored concept album fit for a singing sidekick to a John Wayne action hero.

Photo by Mariadelcarmen Zuniga

Lord Huron lead singer Ben Schnedier serenading the crowd with a performance of “Mine Forever.”

With full focus on Schneider, the song presented a haunting plea for peace where a disoriented soul begs for anybody to listen. It’s the group’s most ruggedly beautiful song, and should be four times longer than its bite-sized one minute runtime. Paired with a semi-circle crevice on the back wall of the stage, light began gradually rising up like the morning sun shining over the desert display.

Throughout the night, the beauty of the music was extended by an extremely colorful light show matching the rhythm of the beat, especially on upbeat anthems like “Not Dead Yet.” There were lots of warm tones, with pink and yellow lights spinning around providing the most glow.

Many of the band’s songs create a serene ambience referencing the glistening highlights of nature whilst reminiscing times of pure elation and scintillating regret. “Meet Me in the Woods” and it’s folksy companion piece “Meet Me in the City” — highlighted by a slow, twangy

surf guitar — portrayed this especially well. On these tracks in particular, Schneider is positioned as a frontier man who spins tales of remorse and despair.

The night’s best songs undoubtedly came from “Long Lost,” with the overarching message of regret being extended the most throughout the concert. Schneider was inspired by the feel and stories of an old-timey studio the band began using to record this album, and decided to create a world rich with scenery and stories. This includes records like “Love Me Like You Used To, ” a track about begging for a chance at relationship redemption.

There was also the title track “Long Lost,” the group’s biggest passion piece for nature and ode to struggling with one’s true purpose. It’s firmly evocative of the rural American landscape and the rockbottom feeling of hopelessness.

In spite of the heavy subject matter, the show could be described as incredibly soothing. Matching with the laid back mood of most of the night’s festivities,

the crowd swayed from side-to-side matching the swiftness of the wind. For the more upbeat entries, people’s heads began hopping up and down, with bodies awkwardly flinging around like “Peanuts” characters.

There were many light-hearted moments, including Schneider donning a Dia De Los Muertos-esque skeleton mask for a performance of “The World Ender,” and delivering jovial monologues after each batch of songs.

Ultimately, the show’s climax was “I Lied” — a ballad that’s equal parts sorrowful and wistful about a married couple’s mutual failure to live up to their vows. It’s breezy production is evocative of how easy it is to drift in and out of love while feelings fade into the air.

Soon after, the slow and contemplative “Where Did the Time Go” and an intimate performance of “The Night We Met” about a lifetime’s biggest regret, winded the proceedings down completely and left concertgoers to contemplate their own sorrow on the ride home.

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10 The Daily Aztec

Arts & Culture

Nov. 3 - 9, 2021 EDITOR: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com

Community awakens at Night Market

By Katarina Josifov STAFF WRITER

San Diego State University’s highly anticipated annual Night Market was back in-person at the Conrad Prebys Courtyard on Oct. 28.

Hosted by Asian Pacific Student Alliances, One SDSU, and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Resource Center for the eighth year, campus organizations set up shops selling cultural foods which were accompanied by lively student performances.

Last year, the event was held virtually, showcasing cooking videos, acapella, and animated shorts from various AAPI organizations.

The goal of the event, according to APSA’s website, is to serve as a “gateway for APSA to share the Asian and Pacific Islander cultures with the SDSU community.” With October being Filipino American history month, Night Market commemorated and celebrated Filipino heritage, culture, and achievements through delicious food and cheerful performances.

Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan, director of SDSU APIDA Center, said attendance this

Photo by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran The APIDA Night Market contained multiple stalls with student organizations selling food and drinks.

year exceeded expectations with over 500 people dropping by to enjoy the exciting atmosphere.

“We are highlighting and exemplifying Filipino talent,“ Loh-Hagan said. “It is so important to be able to celebrate APIDA talent, APIDA joy, and APIDA accomplishments especially at this time of anti-Asian hate.”

While enjoying food such as spam musubi, rice balls, Thai tea, and vegetable lumpia from various Asian regions, students were entertained by numerous singers and dancers who graced the stage. Sara Rose Fausto, a third year integrated marketing communications major, blissfully performed “Good Days” by SZA.

“This was my second performance on a stage in public,” Fausto said. “My favorite part is getting to meet new people. I think the goal of the event is to bring people together and learn about each other’s culture.”

Another student, singer/songwriter Bryant Jordan who is a second year SDSU environmental sustainability major, performed his original track “Soulmate,” and a collaboration with South Bay Collective, “Make U Mine”’ in front of the delighted crowd.

“It was a mix of nervousness and excitement,” Jordan said. “I have been manifesting this moment to be able to share whatever I need to share with the community. Being Filipino, there aren’t many holidays or times when we can really share our culture. The fact that we are able to make this community thing happen is big.”

After another successful year, the Night Market at SDSU displayed a beautiful celebration of Asian culture thanks to AAPI organizations and students on campus. For future events, visit the APIDA Center’s page.

Photos by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran

(Top) Students from the Pacific Islander Student Association (PISA) performing a “haka,” (Bottom) Korean American Student Association (KASA) Ignite dance team performing their routine influenced by K-pop choreography.

Review: ‘Halloween Kills’ has no new tricks or treats to offer longtime fans

Review: Majid Jordan create retro love songs

By Sara Rott SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The “Halloween” franchise has been producing classic films since 1978, now with a total of 12 films produced. It’s only natural that it gives people all the spooky feelings.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has been the star of the classic films for years. Her film debut was in the first original “Halloween” movie, playing a teenager hunted down by this killer. After playing in about three more sequels, Curtis asked to be killed off in “Halloween: Resurrection.”

Then she revived her role in 2018, and it makes me wonder what changed her mind to debut in another revival of the film.

*Spoiler warning for the last two recent Halloween movies*

The ending of the previous 2018 movie concluded with Michael Myers locked in a flaming basement, which surely would’ve been the end of him.

Well surprise folks! This turned out to be a total lie, because “Halloween Kills” picks up where the last movie ends.

Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement thinking they’re watching Michael Meyers die.

Laurie is taken to the hospital with the certainty that Michael is dead, and her

Courtesy of Peacock Screenshot of “Halloween Kills” advertisement.

daughter Karen lets her believe it after Karen learns that the trap did not work.

When Laurie did learn the truth, she was ready to get up and fight Michael even with a stab wound — who could blame her.

The strange and gory deaths have you shy away from the screen, with eyes being popped out, people getting stabbed in the armpits and really bloody scenes that make your head turn. Not to mention the introduction of a mental patient that really wasn’t explained and only lives for about 15 minutes before falling to a gruesome death.

The cringe horror stereotypes are plastered throughout the movie as well, like when a character locked the car doors after the car windows were smashed. The type of scenarios that leave you yelling at the screen.

From the start of this movie, you are prone to think that this has to be the last “Halloween” film.

Especially with the town coming together to take down the murderer and

classic characters from previous films coming back.

The chant of “evil dies tonight” gets stuck in your head with this certainty that, “yes Meyers could not possibly survive this time around.”

As Karen leads the mass murder out to the street and the crowd surrounds Meyers with bats and knives, this is the moment.

Beaten to the ground, stabbed, kicked, punched and lying motionless on ground, could this be the moment that Michael Meyers dies?

The classic line from “Avengers: Endgame” has to be going through everyone’s mind “Aim for the head” or the logic of zombies stabbing the brain or checking to see if he’s even alive.

Wrong! Oh no, Michael picks himself off the ground and starts killing the people around him. Honestly, was anyone surprised?

Yes, “Halloween” is a classic movie franchise with an immortal villain who is set on revenge and killing but how long are they going to milk this series?

It’s starting to get old Hollywood, can we please let Mike Meyers go into the serial killer hall of fame and hang up his mask. Or at least come up with an adaptation that’s inspired by “Halloween” with a different twist to give another perspective.

The last movie in the franchise, “Halloween Ends,” is scheduled for 2022 but who knows if that will really be the last time we see Michael Meyers.

By Trinity Bland MANAGING EDITOR

The 1980s have influenced pop music once again!

Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan — made up of singer Majid Al Maskati and producer Jordan Ullman — provided fans with their modern interpretation of radio pop music from the decade with the release of their latest album, “Wildest Dreams,” on Oct. 22.

OVO Sound, the record label cofounded by Drake — who has a feature on the album in addition to Swae Lee and Diddy — produced this bass-heavy album that experiments with shimmering new sounds while introducing glossy nostalgic elements to create a hybrid of intricate R&B and pop production fused with decorated, pensive songwriting in “Wildest Dreams.”

Ullman’s precise and meticulous engineering on this album leaves plenty of room for Al Maskati’s vocals to glisten with passionate expressiveness from start to end.

It’s a main character project, revolving around a romantic interest who greatly surpasses their wildest dreams (“Wildest Dreams”), and the objective of the album is to share this escalating collection of deep feelings for this woman with her. A superstar at the very least, “she” can be described as a number of things.

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