Arts & Culture — The Daily
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UW rock band Gypsy Temple gets loud Curtains drawn on musical theater program
Collectively hilarious: UW’s premiere improv troupe
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The Daily — Arts & Culture
Editor’s Note Seattle has been a hub for the arts for decades. With a rich history of musicians, authors, and artists of all kinds studying in our halls, the UW has played an integral role in shaping the city’s creative community. In this
magazine, we showcase a few people who are important to our region’s artistic past, present, and future. In this issue, we speak with Seattle hip hop legends and current UW rockers. We celebrate the international accomplishments of our design students, and we turn an eye to creative group projects being worked on by student groups on campus.
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We have a dynamic art scene in the U-District and greater Seattle area, and in order to keep it alive and thriving, it’s important to remember to support your local artists of all kinds. I hope our inaugural Arts & Culture edition motivates you to get out and take part in this community — write a poem, paint something, see a show, and remember to show your favorite artists some love.
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Arts & Culture — The Daily
table of contents The history of hip-hop in Seattle
04 The neverending world of design
12 An intro to Seattle’s literary history
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Gypsy Temple wants to be loud
06 Curtains drawn for the UW’s musical theater
LUX creates a community for aspiring filmmakers
UW student wins the Rometti Prize
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New (Im)migration concert series
Rainy Dawg Radio creates communities
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Meet UW’s premiere improv troupe
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Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief Andreas Redd editor@dailyuw.com Special Sections Editor Alyson Podesta specials@dailyuw.com Copy Chief Kellyn Grassel Sam Steele copy@dailyuw.com
Design Editor Jenna Shanker design@dailyuw.com Photo Editors Caean Couto Conor Courtney photo@dailyuw.com Illustrations by Abigail Dahl
Advertising and Business Staff Advertising Manager Publisher Leo Haghighi Diana Kramer Isaac Jundt dianakramer@dailyuw.com admanager@dailyuw.com Campus Advertising Local Advertising campus@dailyuw.com ads@dailyuw.com
Illustrations Editor Taylor Hammes illustrations@dailyuw.com
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Magicians not musicians The history of hip-hop in Seattle
By Christine McManigal The Daily While alternative rock and grunge music appear to be the dominant musical culture in Seattle, many forget about the few years before when hip-hop took the scene; a time when Macklemore wasn’t the face of Seattle hip-hop and “Fresh Tracks” West Coast. Young adults from Rainier Beach and Central District began discovering hip-hop in the late ‘70s, with locally stationed soldiers providing a growing fan base. With increasing public interest, individuals like “Nasty Nes” Rodriguez created “Fresh Tracks,” a 30-minute show that played on Sunday nights on KKFX 1250. There, up-and-coming talent could showcase their work and the station soon became a starting ground for famous artists like Anthony Ray. Ray, more commonly known as Sir Mix-A-Lot, became one of the hip-hop scene’s trailblazers as his songs like “Baby Got Back” and “Posse on Broadway” drew an eye to Seattle hip-hop. Ray attributes his inspirations to artists like George Clinton, ParliamentFunkadelic, and James Brown, as well as German electronica like Kraftwerk, more “What I loved early on was P-Funk. I always hated disco, and mellow R&B was never really my thing. I’ve always liked music that created angst,” Ray said. While he always appreciated music, Ray never knew he wanted to create it until he listened to Kraftwerk. “When I heard Kraftwerk, I went looking for them and found them on MTV and I realized they didn’t have a band,” Ray said. “There was no drummer, there
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Arts & Culture — The Daily
While Ray may not have put out an album since 2003, current hip-hop artists keep his work alive. As Macklemore was recording his music video for the
was no bass player, there was no guitar player. So I realized then that music was accessible to me.” After saving up money from his paper route, Ray purchased a Roland DR-55 for $200. The instrument was essentially an electronic drum machine that played four types of beats: snare drum, kick drum, rim shot, and hi-hat. While many young rappers today use older established artists as role models, Ray didn’t have this. After he graduated from Roosevelt High School, he began exploring his options and “getting curious,” as the artist put it. However, the hip-hop community wouldn’t exist until two years after he had graduated. According to Ray, group was the Emerald Street Boys. This group is often credited for founding Seattle’s hip-hop scene. Like Ray, the Emerald Street Boys performed locally at dances and parties and would become the very group that would be featured on “Fresh Tracks,” performing the radio station’s intro. Today we see Ray as an artist, but this wasn’t initially his plan. Ray didn’t learn how to play musical instruments as a child and was never interested in performing as an adult. He preferred to simply make music and be a DJ. “I never called myself a musician, I called myself a magician,” Ray said. “I could
program my ass off. I love programming drum machines and synthesizers. I would literally listen to a song and challenge myself to imitate it on the synthesizer.” This was also an era where he couldn’t back up his work. Ray recalled having to program his sounds and then take a Polaroid of the knobs to keep track of his work. Ray met Nes when the artist was performing at the Rotary Boys and Girls Club in the Central District. Nasty Nes and created “Fresh Tracks” as a result. He would create “mastermixes” that were wildly popular with the local youth. The show’s success allowed it to expand from its 30-minute Sunday segment to every night on Mondays to Fridays from 9 p.m. to midnight and was renamed “NightBeat.” “He came in and I was doing all this weird stuff with turntables and synthesizers at the same time, just trying to separate myself from the crowd. But in reality, there were probably plenty of other people that were doing the same thing before me,” Ray said, chuckling at himself. While Ray quickly rose to fame, he recalls others that were as talented but didn’t become as recognizable. A close friend, Jerome Gibson, was a skilled producer that went by the stage name Baron Von Scratch. “Back then you just made up any name you could think of,” Ray said.
same locations as Ray did for “Posse on Broadway,” honoring where Seattle’s hiphop had originated from. In 2014, Nicki Minaj’s single “Anaconda” sampled Ray’s “Baby Got Back,” bringing the track back into the spotlight. Alongside Macklemore, other hip-hop artists are trying to make a name for themselves. At the moment, Parisalexa, Sol, and Porter Ray are the foremost artists in Seattle’s current hip-hop scene. However, their music doesn’t necessarily appear to be derived from the hip-hop of the ‘80s. The music is no longer synthetic and live instruments are used for performances and recordings. Ray says this may be for the best. “We don’t need to go backwards. These newer artists, they put more effort into making the music, it’s more rhythmic, there are choruses … But the skill of the old school, that will never be trumped.”
Reach Managing Editor Christine McManigal at
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Photos by Conor Courtney and Caean Couto The Daily
Gypsy Temple wants to be loud By Sophie Aanerud The Daily
On the night of Oct. 25, before an eager crowd, Gypsy Temple took to the stage at Seattle Center’s Vera Project. “Let’s turn the lights down, keep this intimate, like a house show,” frontman Cameron Lavi-Jones urged as he ushered in the audience. With that, the band launched into action, delivering a driving set rife with smacking drum kicks, writhing guitar licks, roaring
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vocals, and slashing chord shifts, in honor of the release of their new single, “Pick a Number,” and accompanying music video, which was screened halfway through the set. Prior to the performance, when asked to describe their sound, the band members laughed. “We have a song called ‘Heavy Handed’ and I think that’s pretty representative
of our sound: it’s heavy handed,” electric cellist Cory Cavazos said. “It’s very powerful and empowering as well, the sound is and yeah, a little bit of alt rock but it’s more than that.” “I think it’s just too hard to put one group’s sound, like the breadth of a whole sound into a single category,” bass guitarist Hamoon Milaninia added.
Arts & Culture — The Daily
Temple’s sound, which, while obviously drawing on the pounding energy of rock, also features extremely nuanced riffs
Coming up on its seventh year, the project, started by lead singer and lead
and associate with any other band. This assortment of genres from which Gypsy Temple draws stylistic inspiration, however, is only one of the elements which make this band so fun to watch.
of sound Gypsy Temple is today. “With this lineup in particular we’re on
power of a marching band on stage as they jump and headbang, stomp, spin, and roll back their eyes in time to their pounding rock beats and driving melodies. You can’t deny it, the band has swagger, but not in the arrogant manner so often associated with young musicians. This Temple brings to the stage comes not from ego, but a genuine mix of pride, passion, and joy. Simply put, they’re damn good put towards getting there, and they love what they’re doing.
and then the rest of us have been playing together for at least a year or a year and a half.” added guitarist Wilson Rahn, the band is composed of Hamoon Milaninia on bass, Evan Hill on drums. While various members of the band joined at various points in time, they all agree that after hours upon hours of playing together (during its summer tour, the band played over 40 shows), they feel like a solid unit, aptly represententing the name of the group.
Temple” in homage to his family. “Me and my folks would move around a lot but I never felt like I didn’t have a place to belong because you know I always had my folks there, always had somewhere where I could go back and be myself and be safe regardless of whatever different places we moved to or whatever things would go through the family,” he said. “ ... I think that’s also really representative of the group we have here.” While still active in Seattle’s scenes, the band has been steadily gaining attention. In August they played for the opening of Home and Away” exhibit, an experience connect to Seattle music history,” and in September Gypsy Temple rocked the UW at the 2018 Fall Fling concert, during which the band opened on the mainstage for PSA,
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The position as opening act at Fall Fling was not something the band members took lightly, recognizing it as a means of getting the band’s name out the wider UW audience, as the now nationally touring Seattle-based Naked Giants had at the 2016 Fall Fling.
voter registration and voter turnout tour so we’ll be at lots of different high schools Jones explained. The tour, headed by Gypsy Temple,
with excitement,” Rahn recalled of the Rahn especially has found this latest rocking out at the Naked Giants show too himself to often be politically apathetic. Since Fall Fling, the band has been prepping for the upcoming release of their debut album while simultaneously taking with distinctly political motivations. “We’re doing this tour ... called the
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empower other people and be empowered myself has been like a super huge growth
important to share that with other people and get them excited about it as well.” “Raise your hand if you’re registered
from the audience. “Now keep it raised if you’re going to members beamed: their sound had brought an audience to its feet and their message had brought it to the polls. Keep an eye out for the band’s debut for release in early 2019. Reach writer Sophie Aanerud at
Arts & Culture — The Daily
Lights, camera, opportunity LUX creates a community for aspiring filmmakers By Cristen Jansson The Daily When many people come to the UW, they expect that at a big school, there will be many opportunities for whatever they wish to pursue. However, instead of through classes, a quality experience may come in the form of participation in a Registered Student Organization (RSO). While the UW does offer a degree in cinema & media studies, there is no track production. This is where the LUX: Film Production Club comes in. Theirs is a community committed to creating a center
Even though LUX has been doing a lot span of a 10-week quarter. Club members are assigned different roles based on their interests, and the rest is engaging in handson experience. “We have all the necessary parts for an that that’s what we’re participating in, is living out the experiences of what it would
academic curriculum. “I don’t know what’s going to happen out of it but it’s a hope and dream of my own to
and hard work, but the experience gained from going through the process, and making mistakes and learning from them, is one of
Rizzo said. “And eventually one day people In the meanwhile, LUX is training
“It’s almost like you’re throwing a dart and you’re fanning that dart in different
“The idea is you meet people and make Blake Rizzo, head of productions at LUX, said. Rizzo had been making videos for years before starting the club as a freshman. The group began small, but is now in its fourth year and has 120 active members. “It’s incredibly crazy to see how many people are super interested at our school,
now, LUX is teaming up with the cinema studies department in an attempt to incite
on experience, but also bringing in guest speakers and leading workshops to teach people skills based on certain elements of “I think we should be cultivating our Washington so that they’re more inclined
experience they can bring to the table that better. “Filmmaking blurs all science, technology, art, math, everything together, and I want
of external relations at LUX, said. “Luckily,
community as a whole, and to do that we need to be providing opportunities for our The LUX Film Production Club meets Wednesdays in Dempsey 104. Reach writer Cristen Jansson at
Presently, the club is engaged in six productions, and many of them go from pre-
whatever you’re studying in the world ... to
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The Daily — Arts & Culture
UW student wins the Rometti Prize
Photos by Shelby Schumacher The Daily
Art and design students represent the UW in Italy By Charlotte Houston The Daily This summer, three UW students were chosen to travel to Italy to compete for the Rometti Prize. Rometti, a ceramic design company in Umbertide, Italy, holds a contest every year that allows college students to come and intern in the 90-yearold Manifattura Ceramiche Rometti, the brand’s studio. For them, it brings in fresh, new ideas to a century-old process. For students, it is an opportunity to learn the process of creating high-end pottery. agreement in the past has been that only one student from each school is chosen, but this year three UW students were cho-
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Also notable about the experience was that all of the students competing were women. “As a female artist, you really have to put yourself out there, you have to be conwe’re all pitching our ideas to this company that’s run by men, but all the artists “This year was a little exciting because the notice came out and it was three stufessor and the director of the school of art, art history, and design, said. “So I called Rometti and said, this is really great, but ment was for just one student and that’s
phone call where the representative from Rometti remembered that agreement. to send all three students over the Atlantic. The winner of the competition was decided in September, after the students -
sent in 10 submissions to be selected for interdisciplinary visual arts major. of
Arts & Culture — The Daily
Bradley, a senior in the interdisciplinary visual arts major, said of the designs she created for the competition. “When I was researching ideas for this, I did a ton of wheel throwing to look at forms that I thought would be interesting, and I also did a lot of research on icons of Italy that I really came up was pitchers. I also looked at high fashion in Italy and this dramatic side to it. I messed around with this pitcher form, and it condensed into these non-functional, The students applying had to create something that Rometti would theoretically want to produce. The studio tends to work very traditionally — they don’t mass-manufacture products, and everything is still hand-thrown. “Rometti is always trying to look forgarding why Rometti reached out to the in Italy they were following, about always making sure there are young voices in the design process. We are a very avant-garde, sculpture-based, art-based program instead of a pottery-production or design program, and I knew our job was to sort of come in from the side, with some really Before they applied, the students participated in workshops and critiques with their peers, and eventually rendered the designs and sent them in.
“A lot of my original sketches were hand-drawn, but to really present it in a professional way, all of it had to be computan hour-long crash course on how to use all these design programs, which as an artist, sen, and when they arrived in Italy, the form had already been made for them. While they were there, they were responsible for doing a surface treatment, like deciding on the paint color and exterior design. During their 10 days, they were also able to see how the factory ran. “We toured where they would harvest the clay from this really ancient riverbed, and we saw how they processed the clay to really condense it into something they
“I tend to focus a lot on functionality when I design things,“ Lee said. “For this competition, a lot of it is based on form, which was a good opportunity to work on that a little more. For Bradley, winning also gave her a sense of legitimacy that she’s had trouble feeling in the past. “Being a female artist has also taught me a lot about myself, because, like I
to appreciate yourself and appreciate the art you’re producing, and this was a good reminder of that the art I’m producing is good. It’s hard to say that I’m a really good artist, but in some ways I know I’m talent-
also saw how they outsourced to a bunch of different families to do different parts of the process and the whole accumulation of how they produced these really high-end
Walker echoed Bradley’s sentiments in his own musings on the worth of this experience. “Maybe one of the best things about this is that students are valued as artists and designers as relatively inexperienced peo-
Lee, a senior in industrial design, also made a design that drew inspiration from Italian culture. “My project was a set of three vases, and they were made to not really emphasize the shape of them but to emphasize
interested in the way they think, in what they have learned through their lives and in university. The empowerment of their educational experience coming into this
if you put it together, there are outlines of talking about the liveliness and culture of Although both women experienced challenges resulting from the language barrier between them and the designers, they feel like they both learned a lot from the experience.
The women’s pieces remain in Italy, and they all have the possibility of being picked up, either by Rometti or the other companies they work with. Reach Opinion Editor Charlotte Houston at
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Arts & Culture — The Daily
The never-ending world of design
By Cynthia Li The Daily Take a look around — look at the chair you are sitting in or the website you are searching on. Question yourself. Is this item you nothing to say, chances are it was well-designed. That silence is the product of the mind of a designer, who works long hours to create ideas and products to create the best experience for you. This idea of designing for the world is one of the foundations that
students is the long hours spent in studios
coming up with ideas for assignments. These hours add up, causing design students to often pull all-nighters, sleep in the Art Build-
build emotional connections with their work.
but for the general public. The work they do,
communication design, interaction design, and industrial design. Visual communications to problems; interaction design focuses on understanding and creating relationships between people and the systems they use; industrial design focuses on creating physical products. To enter the program, students must -
student Andy Le, often becomes political. “The reason why you build such an emotional connection is because you are, in a way, studying how you think about this information here; you are understanding what you think is important, and shaping what information should be out there in the world,” Le said. “Just by designing, or being a designer, you are being political.”
answer, they’re looking at how students apsion for what they are doing. happens here, then design is not for you,” professor of design Axel Roesler said. “It is one thing to think that design is cool and you want to be a designer, but you really need to like it.” work and the competition does not stop. In
hours. It often does not occur to them that thing that is always on their mind because
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School of Art + Art History + Design. Within
design challenges, and a written portion. Here, the faculty looks for students who challenge the world in front of them. They’re
to turn in an ‘I don’t care,’ you want to turn in an, ‘I’m proud of this.’” Despite the hard work and long nights, the consistent theme throughout the design
ing in such a small cohort of students and competition into the design process. To see dents to want to create great work as well. In their eyes, turning in minimal work is unacceptable and can be embarrassing. They create work that they can show off and be proud of. senting your best work and you become one something that you are okay standing there and saying, ‘I did this,’” interaction design student Bridget Lewis said. “You don’t want
Todd, the best design students are the ones who are constantly wanting to question and explore. “Students who are successful in design are students who are interested in the world around them,” Todd said. “They are always looking, always questioning, always wondering how to make things better or differ-
ing things look pretty. It’s about always trying to come up with a new idea, questioning the world, and wondering how to make things better for it. Design isn’t a singular ing or making a poster. It’s a combination of these things and more. It takes a lot of time, and it’s not easy. “Design is real work; anything that is — a scientist that wins a Nobel Prize has to work hard, a politician that creates a masworld has to work hard — what people who they work really hard,” Roesler said. Reach writer Cynthia Li at
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Curtains drawn for the UW’s musical theater program Lack of funding and faculty shuts down fledgling Individualized Studies project
Photos by Julian O’Leary The Daily By McKenzie Murray The Daily In winter 2017, halfway into her freshman year, Merideth Kirry — a direct admit to the UW’s Musical Theater Program (MTP) — received an email asking for input on her experiences in the program. The steering committee behind the MTP explained that it was undergoing an internal review to period. A few months later, Kirry, along with the other students in the MTP cohort, discontinued. Kirry’s class, the class of 2020, would be guaranteed their degrees, but no new students would be admitted into the musical theater major. “I had done a little bit of research [prior
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to auditioning to the program], and I knew that at the time I auditioned, it was in its pilot period,” Kirry said. “And then, when the pilot period was over, it was going to be decided whether to continue to build the major, or add resources ... but I was just an incoming freshman, and I didn’t really know anything behind it. They don’t put everything out there.” The news that the MTP was being “sunset,” to use the drama department’s term, was a shock to the students and faculty involved with it. Shortly following the announcement, the MTP experienced unsettled the students even more. Firstly, Wilson Mendieta, the founder and program director of the MTP, announced that he would be leaving to take
a job at Chapman University in California. most of the dance classes for the program, would also be leaving the following year. “This was his baby, and he was leaving,” Kirry said of Mendieta. “It was really disheartening.”
“It has taught me resilience, and I think that’s something I’m really going to need as an artist.”
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CaraLee Howe, another third-year student in the MTP, also expressed disappointment at this huge change. “But it makes sense,” Howe said. “If the position’s going under, it’s not a very viable career option, and I totally respect the decisions that everyone have made. It’s just kind of hard on the students because of the lack of commitment to us.” Following Mendieta’s departure, the musical theater students were without an adviser for “a good part of the 2017– 2018 school year,” according to Kirry. Then, the steering committee brought
community networking advocate for the musical theater students. Kirry described Waite as being fantastically dedicated to the students for the brief time she served as program director. But at the end of fall quarter with the administration. “[Waite] essentially said, ‘I am not being allowed to do anything for you,’” Kirry said. “That was the most devastating thing for us as a cohort.” The position of program director steering committee appointed a doctoral student (who has since graduated) to serve in the interim, and it has now been taken over by Jennifer Rodgers, another doctoral student. Both Kirry and Howe emphasized the fact that the closure of the program itself was not the biggest issue they’d experienced in pursuing their degrees — after all, they knew when they auditioned that it would be a pilot program. They were most deeply affected by the chaos the program was plunged into after its impending end was announced. “The biggest problem we’ve seen is a huge amount of faculty turnover,” Howe said. Eloise Boyle, a drama adviser here at the UW, has taken over the role of advising for the 19 students who remain in the musical theater cohort. While she assumed the position long after students were informed of the program’s closure, she still deals with its effects. “Students are obviously disappointed that the program got the decision to not be continued,” Boyle said. “But they’ve been so resilient in the face of everything.” Boyle’s statements are echoed by Catherine Cole, the divisional dean of the arts, who was involved in the decision to
sunset the MTP. been understandably disappointing to students enrolled in the program as well as to donors who contributed generously to make the pilot program possible, and also to faculty leaders who have devoted so much energy and ingenuity to the pilot,” Cole said via email. “That said, everyone understands the need to have programs that are sustainable and that can offer all the resources genuinely needed to achieve and maintain academic excellence.” Howe also has a generally positive outlook on her experience in the MTP, despite its challenges. “It has taught me resilience, and
I think that’s something I’m really going to need as an artist,” Howe said. “And because the program is closing, it has led to the community really kind of embracing us ... we’ve developed wonderful, wonderful partners in the community, at the 5th Avenue [Theatre], and different organizations.” It’s important to recognize that UW students still have opportunities to pursue music and drama, despite the program. But MTP students, in the program’s waning days, are mourning the loss of its community. With only 19 members, the cohort of musical theater students has grown close and undergone similar struggles together. The small
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size also allowed the program to focus on individual students and their strengths and interests. However, the program’s small size and individualized nature ultimately contributed to its demise. The MTP never had its own department — instead, it was housed under the moniker of “Individualized Studies,” in limbo between the Schools of Drama, Music, and Dance. “It is not adequate to simply have a ‘collage’ of disparate courses from dance, music, and drama respectively,” Dean Cole explained via email. “Musical theatre is a discrete discipline located at the fusion of musical theatre programs ... are generally quite expensive to run.” The university was not up to funding this expensive program, concluded the committee that reviewed the MTP’s pilot years. “The review process was both broad and deep, including extensive surveys and in-person interviews with students, faculty, and staff directly involved with the program, while also drawing upon external expertise from outside UW,” was that, despite the best efforts of key faculty and staff, the Musical Theater Program was not sustainable in its current form.” Howe and Kirry are frustrated with the closure of this intimate, exploratory
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program, which was relatively unique among public universities. While they
symptomatic of a university-wide and country-wide devaluing of the arts. “It’s a part of the Seattle theater scene that’s dying,” Kirry said. “And we’re bummed out about it. People take pride in the theater community here, and we’re losing a little facet of that. But I really do think that the bigger issue now is that we expected the same caliber of education, and work, and resources, and commitment [as other majors] ... We are paying for the exact same education that everyone else here is. And we are not being met with the same support.” For her part, Howe is grateful to the university for the experience it provided with the MTP, but she’s still frustrated about its closure and the leadership whiplash it has undergone in the past few years. “It’s been a real rollercoaster,” Howe said. “A rollercoaster I’m glad I got on, but a real rollercoaster ... and I thought I was getting on the carousel.” The number of students involved in the MTP cohort may seem small compared to other disciplines at the UW. But this decision still shuts down the hopes of many prospective UW students who, like Kirry and Howe, admired the university for its trailblazing musical theater
program. It represents an entire, distinct artistic discipline that students can no longer pursue at this university — and the fact that no one is talking about it, Howe said, indicates a campus culture that needs to shift. “Anybody reading this should think about the places in which the arts have been important, and put a little more stock in them,” Howe said. As Kirry pointed out, the impacts of art on daily life are impossible to escape and should not be overlooked. “Anyone who ever watches movies, listens to music, dances to music, intakes any sort of entertainment media — all of that media is artists. All of that content is trained artists who work just as hard as computer science majors — in different ways, but just as hard,” Kirry said. “This program is producing artists. And it would continue to produce artists. And the world as a whole won’t be as enriched as it currently is without that art, without that culture.” Reach writer McKenzie Murray at
Arts & Culture — The Daily
Following the wandering tune UW (Im)migration concerts will explore the lives and music of displaced composers By Leslie Fisher The Daily When you think of immigrants, migrants, and refugees, you may not be thinking about classical music composers. But when large groups of people are displaced, a few musicians are usually mixed in with the crowd. That’s one reason why UW music professor Robin McCabe is organizing quarterly (Im)migration concerts that will highlight music by displaced composers. Each concert will begin with a lecture by a UW faculty member and consist of performances by UW music students. The Brechemin Auditorium. “[The composers] were longing for home, and so it produced this outpouring of expression,” McCabe said. “Hardship sometimes produces beauty, which is an amazing paradox if you think about it.” New racial laws convinced composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco to leave Italy in 1939. Frédéric Chopin left Poland in 1830 to improve his career prospects but felt he could never return after his country was taken over by Russia. Paul Hindemith left Germany for Switzerland in 1938 because his wife was of partial Jewish ancestry. After trouble with the political establishment in Hungary due to Nazi These composers each expressed their feelings about the political situation back home in different ways. Arnold Schoenberg had previously converted to Christianity, in part to protect himself in an extremely anti-Semitic environment, but after he left Germany for France in 1933, he reNazi regime. “Schoenberg was a feisty dude,” UW music faculty member John Hanford said. Hanford will give the pre-concert lecture The composers’ music was often affected by the turbulent political situations in their homelands. Chopin is known for gentle, often melancholy music, but composed a few uncharacteristically stormy pieces following Poland’s invasion.
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Each composer built their work on music from their homelands. Chopin’s “Polonaise-fantaisie” uses rhythms from traditional Polish dances. Similarly, Bartók’s “Contrasts” was inspired by folk music, which many at the time considered to be the most authentic mode of expression. “The composers whose works are represented in the concert are building upon very long-standing traditions,” in political situations, most typically, that have serious consequences for their creative endeavors, their careers, and their personal lives.” A different sort of consequences appears within the structure of the music itself. Hanford explained that the title of the December concert lecture, “A Banquet of Antecedent(s) and Consequences,” is a play on words. “That’s a familiar concept in the socalled classical realm, that you have melodic structures particularly that have an initial shape that is somehow repeated or completed by a phrase that follows that initial phrase,” he said. As an example, Hanford pointed to the beginning of Mozart’s famous “Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major.” Many of the pieces to be performed in the concert include antecedent and consequent phrases or similar formats.
While each piece can be considered classical music, the styles and sounds are wildly different from each other. Schoenberg’s “Six Little Pieces for Piano” are short and may be considered atonal, while Hindemith’s “Sonata for Flute and Piano” runs near 15 minutes and ranges from playful to melancholy. The performance will include varying combinations of piano, clarinet, violin, and guitar. “They run the gamut from very inventive said. Though she herself is a celebrated
audience follows our individual parts as they kind of weave in and out of each other. It’s a really cool sort of call and response that we get throughout the piece.” Steven Damouni, who is pursuing a piece is interesting because it’s different “Different sections don’t really seem related, but they all kind of come together for the end,” Damouni said. “This one is interesting because the polonaise rhythm just keeps shifting in and out.”
“I wanted to showcase our students for what they really can do with their own “I kept thinking about what kind of and Max Shaffer, went to the same middle school where both took guitar
“They’re some of the hardest guitar duo pieces we’ve had to put together because the fugues are so carefully and closely written and designed,” Shaffer said. “It’s fascinating for us and I think also great for the audience.” “The music is very complex, and it’s very beautiful, and at the same time I feel like
said. “[Moore] said, what about the issue of immigration, composers and artists who were displaced and had to leave their country? And I thought that idea was just irresistible.” Reach Science Editor Leslie Fisher at
Rainy Dawg builds and promotes communities How they use their platform to support inclusivity and creativity By Charlotte Houston The Daily
es, eclectic decorations, and conversations about whether communism would ever be otic second home: the newsroom. of its value as a campus community, even before I heard their DJs speak about it. I too have found a home tucked away in the
Photos by Alanna Greene The Daily
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pus, and I recognized the passion and care for this institution in the DJs I spoke to,
because I know it so well from my time at The Daily. Dawg, and the community they are trying to create, is what keeps them motivated. been a space where I felt like I belonged,” tion, said. “We use music as kind of this common thing we all love and care about
ever, but they have a place here with us.”
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Arts & Culture — The Daily
That’s really why I joined Rainy Dawg my freshman year. Because I just wanted to share music I liked, and have other people experience, seeing that in real-time.” According to the two, they didn’t set off when they realized that was the direction they were going, they wanted to cement it. “It didn’t start off that way. It kind of naturally happened when I realized the performers I wanted to contact were queer and I was like, maybe let’s not make this an accident, let’s make this a real thing,” Shaffer said. “I want to put intention back into what we were doing by making it more
DJs at Rainy Dawg get a one-hour set per week, where they can play music or have a more podcast-type of show. They gain experience with audio equipment and time to experiment with their public broadcasting. “It’s also just a space for yourself,” Rodgers, the music director, said. “It’s an hour-long show with a soundproof room, so you just get that space to yourself for that whole time and it’s the most relaxing thing ever.” Shaffer’s show, for example, is titled “Self Care” and focuses on “healing through music.” Every week she chooses a different centered on the death of a celebrity, pulling from the emotions that her and many of her fellow DJs felt on hearing about the death of Mac Miller. For the two, who started in their positions this year, their goals center around promoting diversity: of music, in their programming, and in the community at large. This has meant a lot more collaboration with other on-campus communities, something the station hasn’t done much of before. It’s “the year of the collab,” in the words of Rodgers. They started working with The Bean Basket, part of the ASUW Student Food Cooperative, to put on “Tasty Tuesday.” Every week, the station chooses a food item that The Bean Basket sells, and compiles a playlist that captures the essence of that food, as well as a couple recipes including it. They’re also collaborating with the co-op in the winter to host an event that focuses on celebrat-
ing both local food and local music. Rodgers is also striving for more diversity in their programming. As music director, she sorts through all the music intake, either the physical CDs or downloads the station is sent, and she relays them to DJs she thinks could incorporate them into their set. “My goal for this year would be broadening what we play,” Rodgers said. “I’ve been trying to talk to DJs, as well as trying to get a group of new people together who want to play music we haven’t really heard on the station before, whether it be like really niche or really old or super new. I’m trying to get us to play things people haven’t heard before.” Shaffer also feels a need to shift things in a different direction. “I’ve found that Rainy Dawg has a certain reputation among people that maybe we’re not the most inclusive,” Shaffer said. “That maybe we only care about certain people’s opinions, like only certain tastes are valid, and some people have gotten the feeling that we’re a little exclusionary.” Shaffer is attempting to turn that around with the show Rainy Dawg is putting on this fall. This year, instead of having a local hip hop show, like last spring, and another generic show in the autumn, Rainy Dawg is putting on a queer hip hop show on Nov. 29 in partnership with the Queer Student Commission (QSC). “My favorite thing we did last year was the local hip hop show,” Shaffer said. “We put on this whole performance and to have other people love and connect with it …
show that just happened to have queer people in it, because I want to clearly send the message that Rainy Dawg is for everyone.” For her, putting intention back into Rainy Dawg and having more meaningful programming are her two big goals for the year. They’re partnering with the QSC in order to facilitate a more welcoming environment. “We’re looking to the QSC for most of the stuff outside of the music, like the experience of the show and how to make it more inclusive for people we haven’t seen a lot at our shows, which honestly could be because we’ve never worked with or talked to these communities when planning our shows,” Rodgers said. The show is going to be at the Ethnic Cultural Center and will feature Michete, Guayaba, and one other artist that was unfree to UW students. “The reason why I work here and where is the community and the people I work with everyday,” Shaffer said. “We go to a big-ass school and the UW can feel really lonely. It’s nice always having this room I go back to every day.” While Rainy Dawg has long been a community for DJs and music enthusiasts, it seems certain that the coming year will see the station opening up to a broader audience. “But I don’t want to just say all these things, I want to put it into action and show that I recognize that music is political like all other art, and I want to take stances that show that I’m welcoming and support people in this community through music.” Reach Opinion Editor Charlotte Houston
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The Daily — Arts & Culture
Seattle’s rich literary history Beyond Roethke and Hugo -
By Grace Harmon and Alyson Podesta The Daily Last year, the United Nations Education-
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Writers’ Workshop. This title honors the
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and our independent bookstore scene is Seattle’s literary scene has historical-
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the UW.
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Reach writer Grace Harmon and Special Sections Editor Alyson Podesta
Arts & Culture — The Daily
Photos by Caean Couto The Daily
The UW improv troupe that’s been entertaining for 20 years By Andreas Redd The Daily For two decades, a rotating cast of
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The Daily — Arts & Culture
it comes to the group, and I’d say that we have a really great bar,” Ikeru said. “Every new member is challenged, because the bar for the group is much higher than the average college group.” With biweekly, two-hour practices, you really have to want to be there. New members are not only expected to know the fundamentals of improv, but they should show potential for growth to meet the high standard. out, okay would this person succeed, would they blossom, improvising with us?” Ikeru said. “Do they want it that badly that they would be at that bar by the end of the year?” Another contribution to The Collective’s success is how each member meshes with the group dynamic. This acting out the words another improvisor is saying, or playing on someone’s character development. “A big part of [rehearsal] is getting comfortable performing with one another, and getting to know each others’ styles and pacing,” Ikeru said. “We call it ‘group mind’ when everyone is on the same page about where the scene is headed.” Beyond the synergy of the group, every improvisor needs a love for the art and storytelling. sort of external stimulus to provoke an internal response in the audience that Ikeru said. “And I think that’s exactly what improv does.”
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According to Ikeru, you have more of a personal connection to the direction and meaning of a scene. For him, this is among the chief reasons he keeps coming back. “I feel like with improv you get a lot more stake in the story being told,” Ikeru said. “I get to take a more central role in telling the story. I get to show off my personality, and my artistic side, and I feel more connected with the audience.” If you go to a show, you’d never notice that technology also plays a role in the progression of a scene. You’d think that the dramatic music in the background of a character’s monologue was almost planned, or it was meant to be there. But that’s just another moving part in the show: a testament to the extent that they go to make their improv the best. “I’m just another improviser, just like anyone else that’s onstage, but I’m just using sound,” Alejandro Montañez, a sophomore and tech improvisor for The Collective, said. “I have the ability
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The Collective put on a show, they know it’ll be a blast. “Comedy is entertainment, it is a nice thing to watch, it makes people feel good, and it does serve this purpose of being comforting,” Ikeru said. “That was another big thing that drew me to improv. It’s a good time; that’s like the baseline guarantee.” There’s another aspect that anyone who’s been to one of their shows immediately notices: at its core, The Collective is a group of friends making jokes. And when you walk in that theater, they make it feel like you’re in on it too. “I think we try to build each other up.” Ikeru said. “I think we really value community. And we try to share that with our audience every show.” The other members feel the same way. “I feel like a part of this group, and I feel like all these people are so amazing and I could already tell it’s such a family,” freshman member Claudia Valenta said. “And it’s really, really cool to be two weeks in and already feeling that sort of connection.” And perhaps the success of their friendship has contributed to the success of their group. “The performance of the entire group is Ikeru said. “That’s sort of why we’re called The Collective.”
to change the way scenes work, add suggestions … [and] set the mood.” Artistic expression aside, comedy is fun –– it’s all in the name. At the very least, when Ikeru and other members of
Reach Editor-in-Chief Andreas Redd
Arts & Culture — The Daily
A Cheap Date,
but Classy! UW Music at Meany Hall
$10 tickets for uw students
Nov. 30: Percussion Ensemble · Dec. 3: Gospel Choir Dec. 4: UW Big Band & Modern Band · Dec. 5: CarolFest Dec. 6: Wind Ensemble & Symphonic Band Dec. 7: UW Symphony with Robin McCabe info: music.washington.edu Arts UW ticket office: 206.543.4880
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The Daily — Arts & Culture
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Cover by Caean Couto The Daily