In the third of a series of Q&A sessions with SFUAD students, Jackalope Magazine speaks with Contemporary Music Program Sophomore Sam Zickefoose, who illuminates the joy of banjo, Laser Cats and Gypsy Jazz. Jackalope Magazine: What instruments do you play? Sam Zickefoose: My main instrument is banjo, but I play some guitar and mandolin, and a little bit of bass. JM: What got you into banjo? SZ: My uncle played banjo and my family kind of had a blue grass band a while ago, so I grew up with it. JM: What about bluegrass still draws you? SZ: Well, there’s a lot of energy and it’s really a reactive type of music, kind of like jazz. It’s always changing, it’s not set; you can be playing the same songs a hundred times and it will be different every time. JM: What brought you to SFUAD? SZ: To be honest, I was looking for schools that had banjo programs or teachers. There was one here, one in Texas and Berkeley and that was about it. And I ended up here. (laughs) JM: Is there a teacher who plays banjo that has mentored you in any way? SZ: Yeah, Tom Adler plays banjo. He plays clawhammer and is also a guitarist and singer. But I’ve worked with a lot of the teachers and they’ve been really open to relating their concepts to banjo, like Ross [Hamlin], Polly [Ferber] and Scott [Jarrett]. JM: Have you been learning things in general that you could apply to the banjo? SZ: All of our theory classes are really applicable to a lot of different styles of music and writing music in general. In Balkan Ensemble, we learn the theory of the music…and learn new techniques. Even if we don’t use them for Balkan music, we can transfer them...

      By Nick Martinez/ Photos by Chris Stahelin  In the first of a series of Q&A sessions with SFUAD students, Jackalope Magazine speaks with freshman Performing Arts Department student Emma Baker. Baker muses on SFUAD, coloring books, and the new Jesus Christ. Jackalope Magazine: How does it feel to be in college? Emma Baker: It’s been really fun so far. Been real crazy. I’ve met lots of people, which is awesome. I love meeting people. It’s one of my favorite things, besides performing. Overwhelming for sure. We’ve already had auditions for the first show. That was really exciting and fun. It’s like a new audition process. Much different than high school, and I got two call backs, and one of them was for the part I really wanted, which is awesome. JM: Why theater? EB: That’s sort of a hard question. I’ve always loved to perform, and acting is my favorite kind. I started in dance. My mom is a dance teacher. She owned a studio all throughout my childhood and that’s kind of how the whole performance thing started. When I got older I started getting into musical theatre and acting, because it’s all those things: dancing, singing, acting. Now it’s just what I do and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. JM: What actor or actress do you admire, or try to emulate? EB: Sutton Foster. Do you know who Sutton Foster is? JM: No, I don’t. Tell us about Sutton Foster. EB: She is like this generation’s Broadway Jesus Christ. Everyone loves Sutton Foster. She was the original Millie, in Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway. She was the original Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical. God she’s been in everything. She was on a television show–I think on...