Nostalgic for a Band Scene

They performed at House of Blues, Yardfest, and on the streets of Harvard Square. They did a whirlwind tour of formals, playing at 11 of the 12 houses. Almost every Harvard student knew their Motown style, their robust, soulful sound. They were the Nostalgics.

Composed of 10 members, seven of whom graduated in the Class of 2013, the Nostalgics came to dominate the Harvard student band scene by their senior year. They played everywhere: at Stein Clubs, at battle of the bands events, at parties for student organizations, and even at Harvard alumni functions. But the majority of the band graduated this spring, leaving a hole in Harvard’s student band scene.

Harvard is a campus full of musicians; many students sang in musicals and choruses in high school, while others auditioned for all state bands or took private music lessons. Yet despite the brimming musicality of Harvard’s student body, the campus still has far fewer student bands than many other universities. There are some bands left behind in the wake of the Nostalgics: the Cantab Cowboys, Semi-Serious, Puttanesca, Birds out of Hand, and LA Jeff, to name a few. Yet members of these bands say that Harvard’s student culture isn’t as conducive to the formation of student bands as one would expect.

A Harvard Mentality

Axel K. Snow ’15 arrived at Harvard his freshman year knowing that he wanted two prioritize music in college. Bluegrass had been a huge part of his upbringing back home in Iowa, and he was determined to keep expanding his repertoire. But Snow soon noticed how small Harvard’s student band scene seemed relative to his expectations.

“We have all these groups like a cappella—there’s a huge music scene—and here we are in Boston, a great center for music in New England and also a center for American traditional music,” Snow says. He explains that while there are some extracurricular musical opportunities at Harvard, he was disappointed at the school’s lack of bluegrass and “old-time music” performing outlets, and even more surprised at the small size of Harvard’s student band scene overall.

Snow believes that perhaps the dearth of student bands at Harvard stems from the fact that many Harvard students are so over-committed. “As Harvard students, we have some kind of mentality, like, ‘we’re so busy’—you hear that a million times a day—that prevents us from taking the initiative to do something like [starting a new band],” he says.

But Snow did not let a busy schedule dissuade him; he joined together with friends to form the Cantab Cowboys, a bluegrass, old-country band, in his sophomore year. “The Cantab Cowboys is a way for me to at least personally keep [bluegrass] alive, and I really enjoy doing that,” Snow says.

“Unless it’s sort of an institutionalized thing, people are hesitant to say, ‘Oh, I’m going to spend this much of my time a week with this group of people, just doing something for fun,’” explains Rachel S. Horn ’14. Horn was a saxophonist for the Nostalgics and is currently in the process of rebuilding the band under a new name: the Intrinsics.

Leah Reis-Dennis ’13, one of the graduated members of the Nostalgics, agrees. “The values Harvard rewards aren’t necessarily consistent with putting your time into a party music band,” she says.

Lacking a Stage

The “all work, no play” attitude of many students aside, a lack of university-provided performance opportunities can make it difficult for student bands to get their start. For the past two years a student band has opened at Yardfest, and formal season at the end of each semester continually proves to be a very active time for bands. But many Harvard musicians believe that the performing environment on peer campuses far outshines the opportunities available at Harvard.

Mike C. Slovenski ’15 and George G. Mills ’15 make up half of the alternative rock band Semi-Serious, which they formed in high school. The other half of the four-man band now attends Tufts University. Slovenski, a vocalist and guitarist, says that Semi-Serious prioritized breaking into the student band scene at Tufts instead of performing at Harvard.

“The Tufts music scene is more vibrant and there’s more of a band culture,” Slovenski says. He goes on to explain that one unique aspect of the performing culture at Tufts is that the school has music collectives, groups of student musicians who share best practices and help each other find the performing opportunities that will help the bands gain recognition. Tufts also has student organizations that organize shows for a variety of student groups.

Slovenski says that even though performing opportunities can be harder to come by at Harvard, they do exist and there are ways for student groups to create those performing opportunities for themselves. He offers example of the Nostalgics: “One thing [the Nostalgics] did was put themselves out there and kind of create space for shows for themselves,” Slovenski says. Inspired by their example, Semi-Serious hopes they will be able to break into the Harvard music scene using a similar strategy this year.

Student organizations are also trying to offer more performance opportunities for student bands. In 2011, the Leverett House Committee hosted the first ever Leverett Battle of the Bands in an effort to select a student band to open for their formal at the House of Blues, and this year they will repeat the event on Oct. 4. The House hopes that the Battle of the Bands will help shed light on some of the talented but lesser-known bands on campus.

Another emerging resource for student bands at Harvard is Quad Sound Studios, a student-run recording studio located in Pforzheimer House. Quad Sound Studios hopes to help facilitate communication and collaboration between musically-inclined students across the college, and many bands are excited about the recording opportunities that this new space presents.

The Search for Recognition

With growing resources and opportunities for performance, the conditions are right for new student bands to emerge this year. “There are bands out there—I think the issue is just getting recognized,” says Horn of the Nostalgics. “People need to know that they’re out there.”

That recognition will come, but it takes time. The Nostalgics list commitment, persistence, work, and, most of all, passion, as the most essential qualities for amassing a following.

“The fact that we started together freshmen year and then we were very consistent was key,” remembers Reis-Dennis of her time with the Nostalgics. “We were all friends and really enjoyed spending time together, but we were also serious about having a successful band.”