{"id":3467,"date":"2014-04-16T17:17:51","date_gmt":"2014-04-16T17:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/music\/csulb-s-underground-music-society-cultivates-live-music-scene-with-off-campus-shows\/"},"modified":"2014-04-16T17:17:51","modified_gmt":"2014-04-16T17:17:51","slug":"csulb-s-underground-music-society-cultivates-live-music-scene-with-off-campus-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/music\/csulb-s-underground-music-society-cultivates-live-music-scene-with-off-campus-shows","title":{"rendered":"CSULB\u2019s Underground Music Society Cultivates Live Music Scene With Off-Campus Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"UMS<\/p>\n

Acoustic show presented by UMS at Gina M. Woodruff Gallery. Photo by Oscar Bautista<\/em><\/p>\n

All they want are four walls and an outlet, somewhere\u2014anywhere\u2014where musicians can connect with their audience.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s what Cal State Long Beach students Daniel Speer, Will Torres and several companions were seeking when they began the Underground Music Society (UMS) as a way to create a music-appreciation community on campus that they felt was lacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe originally started because [CSULB Associated Students, Inc.] doesn\u2019t really know how musicians function on and off campus,\u201d UMS President Speer says. \u201cRight now we have Wednesday concerts at noon, and no human on earth goes to a concert at noon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the UMS is doing as much as they can to create a true music culture on the CSULB campus, one that supports local acts and invites medium-sized touring bands to perform.<\/p>\n

But what is a club today struggled for a year to simply earn the title. The group used to throw spontaneous acoustic shows on the free-speech stage on upper campus, only to be scolded by campus officials. After finally having gained the approval of a faculty member, UMS is now an official campus organization.<\/p>\n

Legitimizing the club was only the beginning of their struggles, however. The club was hard-pressed to find places on campus where they could stage even the simplest acoustic show and the two shows they did host at the un-fitting on-campus sports bar, The Nugget, had to end at 9PM, after which the venue costs $2,000 to rent.<\/p>\n

UMS recently moved off-campus for a monthly series of acoustic shows, held on Saturday nights in the back room of the Royal Cup Caf\u00e9 on Redondo Ave. The shows generally attract the same size crowd (around 20 to 30 people) as the Nugget shows, but attendees at the Royal Cup are interested students and community members rather than surprised sports fans.<\/p>\n

Now that the club has unshackled themselves from on-campus obligations, UMS is emerging as a fledgling DIY community in its own right, one with the potential to influence Long Beach music as a whole and connect a wide range of local and college musicians.<\/p>\n

\"UMS\u201cWe want to give bands opportunity,\u201d Speer, who himself is in a band called Struckout, says. \u201cIt\u2019s a labor of love, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMS aspires to bring the underground music culture on campus above ground, into a music-first environment that discourages drug and alcohol use and makes the bands on stage feel like the most important attraction in the room.<\/p>\n

For now, Speer says, the acoustic shows are a \u201cwork around\u201d to the more-energetic shows that UMS would prefer to host, and for that reason they are forced to hold such shows off campus. And yet, venues that support and reach out to local acts while catering to the under-21 age group are still hard to come by in Long Beach. Despite the longevity of DiPiazza\u2019s on Pacific Coast Highway and the recent opening of the Federal Underground, most concerts in Long Beach happen at 21-and-over venues where alcohol is served.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany places [in LA] are pay to play and it\u2019s a trap for budding musicians,\u201d Torres says. \u201cThey sink their money into it but doesn\u2019t offer a really good place for a show.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Speer will be graduating this spring, he says that the club has a core of ten people (an eclectic group of musicians, aspiring promoters and live-music fans) who will continue to pursue the music scene that Long Beach needs. The beauty of UMS, Speer says, is that the community is already proving to be more interested in the music than the party.<\/p>\n

One of their recent shows crammed nearly 100 people into the Gina M Woodruff Gallery on Stearns St. and Bellflower Blvd. With the appearance of Tough Stuff, a local punk band, energy was high enough that the club\u2019s leaders were nervous about whether or not any of the art would be damaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told everyone not to touch anything on the walls, [not to] mosh \u2026 it was really tense but everyone was really respectful,\u201d Torres says. \u201cEveryone knew that it was cool that we were being able to do this, [and we thought,] \u2018lets not screw this up.\u2019 And it was good, it was a really awesome show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UMS<\/p>\n

At UMS’ first Nugget show of the semester. Photo by Oscar Bautista<\/em><\/p>\n

Woodruff had let the club rent her gallery for $150, a fee originally paid out of pocket that, after charging $5 for entry, turned a profit for the club and the touring bands who had played.<\/p>\n

Speer says his greatest goal for the club would be to have a show every week, each catering to a different genre and the subcultures that come along with the music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a springboard for small bands, I want be a cultivator of community \u2026 I don\u2019t want to be an arbiter of taste,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Despite their many obstacles, UMS will continue to host shows as long as they are able.<\/p>\n

UMS\u2019 first hip hop show will be held at the Nugget on Thursday and will feature Melziah Dia and Nick Bates. On Saturday, the club will host its second acoustic show at the Gina M. Woodruff Gallery.<\/p>\n

On May 7, the club will be hosting a \u201cplugged-in\u201d benefit show on campus for PETRA, a CSULB service organization.<\/p>\n

For more information on Thursday’s hip hop show, visit the event’s Facebook page<\/a>. To keep up with CSULB’s Underground Music Society, join the UMS Facebook group<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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