The Record Hospital Brings Underground Music to Holden Chapel

On Nov. 6, Record Hospital—the underground music department of WHRB, Harvard’s FM radio station—hosted musicians in Holden Chapel to perform for a local audience from all over the Boston area. The lineup included Haram, a New-York based punk band whose frontman, Nadir Habibi, sings entirely in Arabic, and St. Ripper, a female-fronted punk band from the Boston area. Also in attendance was CYBERBULLY, a solo electronic act, as well as Epoxy, an outfit so fresh that they are yet to establish themselves online.

Roughly 40 attendees were present by the time the show started—the vast majority of whom were not students at Harvard but members of the underground community who had traveled from Boston and the surrounding area. Nicole R. Spector, a graduate student at Northeastern University, found out about the event on Facebook. “I’m here to see Haram,” she said, referencing the evening’s headliner, who have been doing well in the punk scene since releasing a demo in 2015.

Brieanna R. Martin ’18, a member of Record Hospital, explained that much of the department’s motivation behind organizing the gig was to connect with the community in the Boston area. “We try to have events and make our air the best it can be to engage the local punk scene. A lot of people might not be from Harvard or Cambridge but from all over Boston, so they can get their music exposed and widen their audiences.”

Emma I. Weil ’18, another organizer of the event, agreed. “Harvard doesn’t engage with the community, and it’s really important for us that we’re actually not only being a radio station that has airplay but that we’re also doing something productive for Harvard and also for Cambridge and Boston.” Martin added that as part of a Harvard organization, Record Hospital was able to use on-campus venues for free, and they would like to share such resources with people who did not have the privilege.

Epoxy was the first act to perform in the chapel. The three-piece band were well received, the crowd settling into a semicircle around the stage with about half of the attendees wearing earplugs to shield their ears from the loud volume. They were followed by CYBERBULLY, an electronic act so loud that the entire building vibrated for a solid 20 minutes. At 10 p.m., Haram opened their set to a full chapel, the crowd having grown to fill the room. To wrap up the show was St. Ripper, fronted by Amanda Ray. As listeners nodded along throughout the night, a tiny statue of Mozart, gifted to the Harvard Glee Club in 1921 and positioned high on a ledge, cast a watchful gaze over proceedings.

Alan R. Jackson, who performs as CYBERBULLY, spoke favorably of the event following his slot. “It was great. The venue was really cool, and especially around Boston I’ve found that a lot of bands sort of stick together, so to be brought into a totally new scene of people is really nice.”

The lights were brought up between every act, and attendees mingled in small groups, chatting as the bands transitioned onstage. The acts themselves collaborated to share bass amps and equipment. For those who missed out on the event, Martin was quick to point out that it would not be their only opportunity to attend a Record Hospital-hosted evening. “We put on a much bigger show which is two nights in the Spring, [called] Fest,” she said, adding that the local community can also engage by tuning into Record Hospital’s weekly programing.