Volume 124 Issue 118
kansan.com
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wo
des
NC
The
umr
Kan
It's no secret
is a men's b
incredible
cess is almec
Jayhawk
365 days a
as one of th
bases.
During eyes turn to for the first women's be the madness
I'll admit belief that Tournament tee seleccted was a gamb against the of reaching ment. The t er, Carolyn to lose six o her. The Jay .500 in the I and only gaference tou were not were shock tion comm
Before Bonnie H Jayhawks appearance NCAA Tour
She rais gram from took over four conse, which is un such as Kaigram's imp herself in t
Putting verbal bu year and f in the Bir and the at about the p
ENTERTAINMENT
Q&A with:
White Mystery //ALEX TRETBAR
Chicago is home for the red-headed, brother-sister garage rock duo White Mystery, but the band spends most of its time driving and playing shows throughout the country. Miss Alex White and Francis "Scott Key" White tore up the Jackpot last Thursday night with their tourmates Night Beats (Seattle) and local punk trio Up The Academy. Since forming in 2008, White Mystery has picked up increasingly positive press, recently landing a song on MTV's Jersey Shore. They've self-released both of their full length albums and are set to release a new 3-song EP, "People Power," on April 20.
HAS MUSIC ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE PART OF YOUR LIFE?
ALEX: Definitely, from a young age. I started playing shows in Chicago, in basements and garages, when I was 13. By the time I was 15 I was playing clubs with adults and my parents would drive me in their mini-van to play bars when I was in high school. Chicago's the kind of town where you can do that — you can develop as a musician even in your teens, and I think that head start has a lot to do with where White Mystery is now. I also started a record
label when I was 17. It was a mail-order thing when the internet was "new and exciting." I made a one-page website with a PayPal button. That's what kind of birthed my DIY persistence or aesthetic in music.
FRANCIS: I started playing shows when I was 14, but I never made it outside my backyard, where wed play shows with a couple buddies watching us. I was mainly just playing Dungeons and Dragons and helping my sister write songs and formulate songs for other bands — just being a nerdy little doughboy.
IS CHICAGO A COMPETITIVE PLACE TO TRY TO CUT IT AS A BAND?
FRANCIS: Chicago's competitive in the best way possible — where the competition inspires all your friends to do better than you and try to outdo each other. It's not a backstabbing market by any means. It's a really tight-knit community with really great musicians that are all very... incestuous in the bands that they get into. They riff of each other, forming different bands with the same guys. It's like there's that one drummer who drums for every single band, and that one gun-for-hire bass player who's in every band, you know?
ALEX: One thing I've noticed that's unique about White Mystery and a teeny tiny pinchful of other bands in Chicago, in our niche rock scene, is that only White Mystery and one other band are fulltime. We're not bartenders, we're not baristas — we both worked very, very hard and saved a lot of cash to be able to do what we do full time. We quit our jobs (Busy Beaver Button Company) and were able to focus solely on music last January, 2011.
WAS THERE A PARTICULAR PIECE OF PRESS THAT KICKED OFF YOUR RECENT POPULARITY GROWTH SPURT?
ALEX: Well, NPR's "Sound Opinions" show featured us when we got back from our first nationwide tour. It was a big deal for us because the show only seems to cover big, serious-ass stuff like Metallica or R. Kelly rather than independent music. But the big thing is MTV: they've really taken care of us. Pitchfork never really covered us. They gave us a 7.2 for our first record, but stopped covering us after that, so we said, "Fuck it! We're going to MTV, dude!" "cause that is international money-bag stuff — they got a real cable TV station, so many subsidiaries, a movie production company, "Beavis and Butthead" is back on the air — it just way more farther-reaching!
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE WHITE MYSTERY'S SOUND TO SOMEONE WHO HASN'T LISTENED TO YOUR MUSIC?
PHOTO BY DIANE ALEXANDER WHITE (ALEX AND FRANCIS' MOTHER)
PHOTO BY DIANE ALEXANDER WHITE (ALEX AND FRANCIS' MOTHER)
Miss Alex White (left) and brother Francis
"Scott Key" White are White Mystery, a raw rock
duo from Chicago. Their third visit to Lawrence
was last week playing at the Jackpot.
FRANCIS: Dirty, heavy rock 'n' roll.
Get Some Culture:
Spinning Records
Reemerge //RACHEL SCHULTZ
For the first time in decades, Kansas City will host its own Audio Hi-Fi Show, featuring Leland Leard, a representative from top equipment manufacturer Music Hall Audio. Hi-fi, or high fidelity, involves reproducing sound to a higher quality, which is what many disc jockeys use to reproduce their music. However, hi-fi equipment includes a range of items and can also include high-quality home theater systems.
Vinyl Renaissance, a Kansas City original audio equipment and music store, is hosting the show at its 39th Street location on Thursday, March 15 at 6 p.m. Dan Phillips, the owner of the business, says that the idea for the show simply came up in conversation one day. Although Denver and St. Louis host similar programs, Kansas City hasn't seen an equipment show in many years.
"We want to raise awareness of hi-fi equipment in the Kansas City area," Phillips says. "There hasn't been a real, active dealer presence for 20 years, but it used to be done all the time in the 70s."
Back then, companies would come to stores and put on demonstrations to show their products and comment on any recent developments in technology of audio equipment. After a short presentation of what's new and popular in the audio business, Leard will allow time for questions, making the show a true discussion for music fans and recording moguls alike.
Ange Ngansop, a senior from Doula, Cameron, who spends his spare time playing music in Mixtrack, plans on attending the event to further his knowledge on hi-fi equipment and
as DJ Mixtrack, plans on attending the event to fu sound quality. "Whether it is for DJing or personal use, I expect my audio equipment to deliver a crystal clear sound." Ngansop says. "If you are an aspiring DJ, producer or just a music lover it's better to learn from experts."
Good news for those aspiring music lovers of the Midwest; Phillips plans to have more shows like these in the future, to truly revive what has been lost from the 1970s.
PHOTO BY RACHEL SCHULTZ
Vinyl Renalissance in Kansas City is home to 50,000 and new used vinyl records, CDs and tape.
People who towon the women's basketball team placed a de facto ultimatum on Henrickson this season. If the Jayhawks failed to advance to the NCAA Tournament this season, Henrickson should lose her job.
Kansas can build off this. Say what you want about how the Jayhawks have performed since Davis's injury, but for them to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament after losing its star player is impressive and a testament to Henrickson. Kansas finally reached its goal of making it to the NCAA Tournament, but now it must strive for bigger goals and build for the future. Henrickson could and should be the coach to lead the Jayhawks.
You could sense the excitement and relief from Henrickson and her team. The Jayhawks finally earned their moment of glory.
Edited by Tanvi Nimkar
into Thursday's game has not changed.
"Strike one," Morovick said.
"Strike one and that's all I need."
"When you have a bad outing like that, and he's a highly competitive individual, he's looking for a chance to redeem himself". Price said. "I was really pleased with his performance in that first start, and I know him well enough to say that he wants this chance to redeem himself."
Morovick and the Jayhawks face an Indiana State team that is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Sycamore's 8.7 runs a game leads the Missouri Valley Conference, and Thursday's starter Dakota Bacus is 2-1 with a 2.32 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched. Coach Ritch Price says that Morovick's competitive nature will be crucial in the freshman's rebound start.
A key aspect of the lajahwks' success in the nonconference has been the near-flawless defensive. The Kansas defense ranks ninth nationally with a .983 field percentage, and out of the 58 runs allowed this year, just three are
being down only one run at the end of the lilth inning
unearned. The strong defensive play enables the pitching staff to attack the strike zone more effectively, but the middle infelders' performance has taken the defense to an elite level.
"I thought we had a chance to be good defensively, and it all starts with the kid at short-stop," Price said. "Kevin Kuntz along with the second baseman Eldredge have played exceptional on defense, and anytime you're solid up the middle like that, you are going to have a great defensive team."
The defense even stepped up to the challenge of playing at the MSFC Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., last week. While the white roof and indoor lighting could cause many college fielders to lose sight of the ball, Kansas handled to new element well. Freshman center fielder Connor McKay said that his prior experience in indoor venues helped make a difference.
"About a year ago, I had the chance to play down in Florida
Offensively, the Jayhawks are showing more signs of improvement. Sophomore second baseman Ka'iana Eldredge led the Jayhawks in Big 12 batting average last season, hitting .356 in the final month of the year. However, he is off to another slow start with a batting average of .190. Eldredge recorded a multi-hit game against Minnesota, and Price is optimistic that the sophomore can find his swing heading into Thursday's game.
"For us to be good, he has to be productive," Price said. "He's been a good hitter as by his First Team All-Big 12 Conference selection as a freshman a year ago, so we need him to keep making progress."
at Tropicana Field," Mckay said. "So I had been in a domed field before, and I liked it. The field was nice and the lighting wasn't too bad."
Edited by Pat Strathman
"They have had an awesome year," Jacobs said. "Every year for me we would be the team that was always on the bubble and Monday would come and we wouldn't make it. So I was so happy to see that."
Jacobs and 2010 graduate Porscha Weddington keep in touch almost daily and they connected after the announcement. Jacobs said Weddington has been trying to get her back to Lawrence for an alumni weekend and this announcement made it seem more urgent.
Jacobs said the memories of her playing days came rushing back when she thought of the struggles the team has faced this year.
LaChelda Jacobs, a 2010 graduate, wasn't watching, but found out through a tweet from fellow 2010 graduate Kelly Kohn. She grabbed her phone and sent coach Bonnie Henrickson a text.
it has been 12 seasons since Kansas made the tournament, so this experience is uniting the alumni who still describe the team as "we" and started planning reunions by catching up through texts and tweets over the last several days.
Weddington is finishing up graduate school at Kansas and has been
bonnie is a great catch, Morris said.
"She came here to turn the program around and that's what she's doing."
All three players said they would tune in on Sunday night to watch the game. They will continue planning a reunion and cheering for the current team who carries the legacy of their program.
They were also entertained with the assignment to play Nebraska, a former B12 two Igee, in the game. Weddington talked about how assistant coach Tory Verdi coached at Nebraska for five years before coming to Kansas. Jacobs talked about the recent records like splitting the series last year and described the game as doable. Morris turned to strategy outlining the familiarity of the coaching staff and players.
From the early excitement of the tournament selection to the return of a series that has been played every season since 1974-75, these proud alumni are still cheering for their younger lajhawk counterparts.
"It is definitely a doable game and I see them advancing on to the second round so I definitely have my fingers crossed," Jacobs said.
Edited by Amanda Gage