Quadstock 2015

Posted by Serafima Fedorova in Music

Sandy’s Garden band members left to right: George Morrison Jr., Caleb Garvin, Blythe C. Brooks, Daniel Mench-Thurlow, Frank Quatrone, and Max Callahan.

Quadstock started as an informal music festival when SFUAD was still the College of Santa Fe. There have been many changes over the years, but the goal of the event remains the same: to unite artists and individuals in the community through music. This year, Quadstock will feature new and well-known bands from SFUAD, Albuquerque and California, playing from 4 p.m. to midnight on May 2, and from 1 to 10 p.m. on May 3.

“Organizing artists is like herding cats…with an invisible lasso. It’s difficult but it’s worth it to have people connect with each other,” said Caitlin Brothers, a Contemporary Music Department major, who is one of the major event organizers. She experienced her first Quadstock in 2012 and decided to uphold the tradition a couple years later by contacting bands and musicians to perform at the event. Brothers talked about the aim of Quadstock, which is to give artists an opportunity to interact with one another and the audience. “Music and art became separate from culture and became career focused, when really it’s such an intuitive and integral part of life.”

Thieves and Gypsys will be playing at Quadstock for the first time, but Jared Garcia (the vocalist and guitarist) has attended the event before. “It’s brilliant. It inspires music, and inspires people,” he said. “It’s great to see what others are doing musically, and to meet the emerging bands and different performers.” Along with Aaron Jones on bass, and Adam Cook on drums, the band will be showcasing its new album “Chasing Giants,” which comes out in June.  The band’s music is on the spectrum of rock and roll, and Garcia describes it as “Wave Rock or Beach Punk.” One of the songs, “Take Me To The Sea” has been nominated for ‘Best Indie Rock Song’ and ‘Best Instrumental’ for this year’s New Mexico Music Awards. “I stick around, and talk to people,” said Garcia, “see what kind of connections we can make. Each show has its own vibe and its own unique moments.” He mentioned looking forward to playing with bands such as Tone in Georgia and Storming The Beaches With Logos In Hand.

Sandy’s Garden is also playing for the first time at Quadstock, but unlike Thieves and Gypsys, it is relatively new to the scene. The emerging band shows great promise and has talented members: Galeb Garvin on guitar and vocals, Daniel Mench-Thurlow (Dirty Dan) as lead guitarist, Frank Quatrone on Bass, Blythe C. Brooks on trumpet and vocals, Max Calahan on saxaphone, and George Morrison on drums. Its style can be classified as modern blues, with rock and grunge elements. “Kind of like Black Keys meets John Mayer Trio,” explained Thurlow. Quadstock will allow the band to gather an audience and show off their original songs.

“It’s about having fun, and communicating with others through music” said Caleb about the main goal of Sandy’s Garden performing at Quadstock.

The band’s enthusiasm will hopefully carry over to the audience as well. “We want people to hear us, and make people feel how we feel when we play the music,” added Brooks. “Fucking great.”

Shar Clay, a sophomore, and a contemporary music major, poses with his guitar.

Shar Clay is a solo artist who will be playing guitar at Quadstock. His music is a mix of reggae and psychedelic rock, which is a change from his previous experience as a guitarist for punk bands. “I didn’t have room to say the things I wanted to say and this is a chance to do so,” he said. His performance will feature his own lyrics and compositions. “It’s about the good vibes, channeling love, wisdom, and understanding,” said Clay. He talked about how Quadstock focuses on the positive and helps musicians appreciate both their art and the world around them. “It’s good that everyone gathers together for music, which has been around since the beginning of time. For two days we just chill out and focus on it.”

Massively Parallel band members left to right: Nicholas Hudson, Nicholas Quintero, Spencer Vandevier, Anthony Hester, and Max Callahan.

Massively Parallel will be playing modern progressive rock and will feature most of guitarist Nick Hudson’s lyrics and compositions. “A lot of it’s very melodic and groovy,” he said. “Stuff people can move to. Parts of it are heavy though.” Hudson described the music as inspired by atmospheric rock and heavy metal. It will be the band’s first time showcasing its music to the students and audience, and hope that the new pieces will get a reaction. The meter change in one of Massively Parallel’s untitled songs will definitely appeal to other musicians.

“We hope people dance, and have fun, and really enjoy our music,” said alto-sax player Max Nathan Callahan.  This summer the band members plan on playing gigs over Santa Fe, and sending out a demo CD to a recording label.

Left to right members of Spacemob Spacecadets: Planet Lex, R.E.D SupaNova, D Liteyear, and Ridd Spac3L33 PRIME.

Ridd Spac3L33 PRIME, R.E.D SupaNova Ronin, D Liteyear, the vocalists for Spacemob Spacecadets, talked about their extra-terrestrial origins and their message for positivity called Operation Breathe. “Its message is to make music, art, love, peace in any shape or form,” said PRIME. The band members plan on challenging the audience at Quadstock to create what they want to see most in the world, and to do whatever they love no matter what other people say. They identify as intellectual rappers and discussed their multi-faceted lyrics for songs such as “Mary Magdalene” and “Villain.” Both songs allude to violence, drugs, and sex, but contain hidden messages that people can find if they listen closely.

“We all crash landed here for a reason,” said Ronin. “We care about the planet, we only want positive messages around us.” The song Demension X is basically the band’s origin story. Members will also be doing a freestyle performance called point-and-shoot, where they point at a musician, and have them play a few notes. PRIME, Ronin, and Liteyear then improvise a rap to the music.

There are numerous other bands that will be playing the first weekend of May that SFUAD students should come see. All of the musicians interviewed thanked Caitlyn Brothers for the opportunity to play their music. In order for Quadstock to continue in its full glory and expand, there is also a suggested pay-what-you-can donation.