Occidental College’s student-run radio station KOXY began hosting student artists/singer-songwriters on Tuesday nights at the Branca Patio by the Marketplace, Feb. 10. These “MP Patio Shows” feature sets including covers as well as original songs, typically lasting from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. According to KOXY Station Manager Clare Kennerly (senior), KOXY chose Tuesdays to help create a low-pressure atmosphere for newer musicians to perform, while providing convenient access for students already enjoying dinner.
“I know [Tuesdays are] busy but [it’s meant to] to be a casual part of our everyday week and it [being] low stakes, low pressure, helps a lot of newer musicians feel comfortable performing,” Kennerly said. “So if it’s just during the MP dinner rush, it’s really nice and then we schedule the exact day based on staff availability because it’s a pretty big time commitment.”
Promotional Staff member of KOXY Lily Peskioff (senior), who performed March 17, said she remembers another club previously using KOXY’s sound equipment and staff to plan and host regularly scheduled student performances on the Marketplace patio.
“When I was a first year, maybe a sophomore too, there was a club on campus [that] basically hosted Tuesday night live shows like the patio shows […] and they would use all of KOXY’s sound equipment and we would tag along by doing sound support, but the president graduated last year,” Peskioff said. “Her name was Leslie Garcia, and when she graduated, the club kind of fell apart. We wanted to continue with that legacy of having a really chill place for students to perform.”
According to KOXY programming staff person Elizabeth Oakley (sophomore), KOXY wanted to bring back regular student performances to recapture the relaxing atmosphere they provided for students during dinner.
“We wanted to bring [the performances] back to highlight student artists,” Oakley said. “Our tag line for the MP patio shows is ‘You’ll already be there, so why not enjoy it?’”
Kennerly said during her time as station manager, she has seen students grow into performers and musicians and develop new projects.
“It’s super cool to see people sign up and then after doing it for four years, you start to recognize people and notice when there’s a new band or if somebody has developed from a band to a solo project,” Kennerly said. “I really like seeing what people come up with and then getting to meet them.”
According to Pesikoff, she has been writing songs for around five years. Pesikoff said what qualifies as having written a good song is whether she is able to confidently enjoy it with friends.
“To me, a good song stands the test of time for my life […] and the other thing is playing it for my friends and not getting cringed out by myself,” Pesikoff said. “I love so much of the music I make and then the second I show it to someone, I’ll always caveat it by being like, ‘Oh that’s not supposed to be there’ or ‘Oh my voice sounds bad here.’ But when I’m listening to it on my own, I love it.”
According to Nicholas Martini (senior), who performed in the series March 24, he started performing when he got to Occidental.
“I haven’t done many performances,” Martini said. “I played an open mic night in the Green Bean last semester […] I just sang one song, and that’s the only Oxy performance I’ve done.”
According to Martini, he views his music as a way to help people through daily struggles and obstacles.
“I think to connect with people through my music would be such a gift,” Martini said. “[I want] to be able to have songs out there in the world that people connect with and that help them in some way, because I think music actually can be a really good thing in the world.”
According to Martini, he believes people don’t grow up perceiving music as a career that can help people.
“It helps people get through their daily lives and understand their experiences,” Martini said.
According to Kennerly, students should attend KOXY Marketplace Patio nights to better connect with fellow students and integrate music into their everyday lives.
“I guarantee that you’ll know at least one person performing on Tuesday. It’s really cool to see who walking down the hallway, in your class, in your dorm is actually a musician,” Kennerly said. “The sets are really good, and well put together, and there’s a lot of variety. So if you eat dinner at the MP, which I’m sure you do, you should just make sure you sit on the outside patio on Tuesdays, and there will be live music.”
Contact Arlo Gallati at gallati@oxy.edu
