FEATURE
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year has played with nationally known acts like Peter Bjorn and John, Republic of Tigers and The Appleseed Cast, as well as performing at Austin's South By Southwest Music festival.
It was Lawrence's fabled music scene that drew the band members of Cowboy Indian Bear here from their hometown of Topeka in August 2007. "Knowing that Lawrence had the history in place and regularly touring musicians and acts coming through, we recognized it as a hub for all of that," says band member Marty Hillard.
But the band expected the music community to be more embracing and less competitive than what they found when they arrived, says guitarist CJ Calhoun. As a result, the group members kept an eye out for artists who reflected their passion for music and who saw the same flaws in the community. The Noise FM was one of those bands.
Though musically and stylistically different, the two bands formed a kinship. What began as a "band friendship" soon turned to a firer relationship that may have been the key to the success of both groups.
I DON'T WANT TO SET UP A MYSPACE. I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR!
ROSS STEWART
GUITARIST OF OHOK
The two know if they share the marquee, it's easier to get people in the door. However, the bands also recognize that the number and nature of Lawrence's music clubs and operators provide the springboard for most successful bands. Over the last two decades, Lawrence has had four-to-six national buyers bringing in hot acts and nearly a dozen live music clubs in an eight-block strip of downtown playing local and national bands.
"The venues are great," Hillard says. "You have to pay to play even in St. Louis, a community that's four to five hours away. You get presale, and you have to sell your amount of tickets or you don't make any money on the show." But for many local bands, filling venues is still a problem, even on a national level. "A lot went away as the Internet become more impactful for bands," Hillard says. "We hit Lawrence at a time when all the stuff we grew up seeing here in town was really waning."
Although Cowboy Indian Bear takes advantage of social media, which is almost a prerequisite for any band with the hopes of getting its name out nationally, the
members take pride in the fact that what they value most is putting on a good show.
By urging musicians to support each other, members of Cowboy Indian Bear hope to inspire a new community like the one they remember growing up with. "We try to step up creatively and be recognized as the suc cessors of what we grew up seeing. We want to be counted among that," Hillard says.
A NEW ERA
Formed from the ashes of a previous group, OhOk is a trio best described as toiling in funk rock. Consisting of guitarist Ross Stewart, bassist Peter Longofono and drummer Cameron Pestinger, the relatively new group is no stranger to playing gigs in Lawrence. However, since adopting a new name and homing their style they've been forced to start from scratch.
"We did a lot of benefit shows for a while. And a lot of them had a really bad turn out. At one of them we were playing for kids," Stewart says. "We're a rock band, we're not an easy-listening soft pop group. To play gigs like that and have people come out and say 'Could you turn the volume down a little bit?' is difficult."
Members have spent years developing their craft and musicianship, but have also found their efforts less than rewarded. Though Longofono is a former student of the KU Jazz department, he's found that knowledge less valuable than he hoped in terms of building an audience.
OhOk has found difficulties drawing big audiences because the band's style is different from the modern indie rock mold that has pervaded the scene here and elsewhere. The group also has an aversion toward what it considers shameless over promotion and
unlike some bands, does not want to go so far as to extend individual invitations to people before every gig to get them to come out.
"I find it harder to be successful in a niche style that isn't popular. I don't want to play gigs [if] I have to change stylistically. It's all in the statement," Stewart says. What would that statement be? "Probably sex and disappointment. You have the pure enjoyment of playing but the disappointment of small turnouts," he says.
Mossiman knows better than most how the changes in technology have affected Lawrence. "This last five-to-10 years has been really hard for local bands to find strong fan bases. Sometimes people spend their energy putting up websites, which can't be as gratifying of an experience as being on stage with a bunch of girls singing their songs."
For OhOk that's been exactly the case. "Every time I try to set up a Myspace, it sucks. I don't want to set up a Myspace. I want to play guitar!" Stewart says.
Oh0k members, much like The Get Up Kids and Cowboy Indian Bear, remember a time when audiences were more engaged with live music, when the only way to get your fix was to actually leave your computer and go to a show.
Mossiman is optimistic that Lawrence will continue to value and support aspiring and accomplished musicians. "The live concert can never go away," he says. "There are those magic nights when 800 people are sweating at Liberty Hall and you're talking about it in class the next day."
*Writing on the wall.* Flippers advertising appearances of local bands are a staple decoration in downtown Lawrence music venues. Places like The Bottleneck, Granada and Jackpot Music Hall have helped up-and-coming bands make it big.
08
19
10
student involvement
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
nroesler@kansan.com
A new student organization on campus is trying to bring sustainable energy issues facing the country to students at the University of Kansas.
Loving, along with co-president Brian Larkin, a senior from Garden City, sought help from the KU Energy Council in establishing this new club.
The KU Energy club aims to educate students about energy by bringing together students with key players in the energy field, such as industry leaders, policy makers and academic faculty, to openly discuss all methods of energy reform and the energy issues today.
The KU Energy Council is a group of 15 distinguished professors from the schools of engineering and business. Its main goal is to heighten the awareness of energy research at the University. For three years, the Energy Council has studied fossil fuels and worked with policy makers to affect how Kansas handles its energy.
"The coal plant is a big issue right now," said Greg Loving, KU Energy Club co-president and a junior from Salt Lake City. "So we could have somebody from the industry, a government official, and somebody who's protesting it. I think when you have all that dialogue is when you really get some positive interaction."
SEE ENERGY ON PAGE 3A
GOALS OF ON-
CAMPUS GREEN
GROUPS:
Environs:
KU Energy Club:
• Promote the collaboration of academia, industry leaders, policy makers, and students with interest/expertise in the energy field
• Encourage positive discussions on solutions to energy challenges
tal awareness
• Encourages sound environmental practices within the university and Lawrence
- Promotes environmental awareness
- Source: http://www.
ku.edu/students/orgs/
Emerging_9499.html
- Opportunities to gain experience towards the same end
- Provide KU students with educations supporting environmentally sustainable design
Source: http://groups ku.edu/~environs/
Jill VanCoevern, operator of the Jahawkh Ink Print on Demand, assembles a textbook from scratch in less than 8 minutes. VanCoevern explains that it took less than a day to get trained on the five-step process in assembling the textbooks.
Emerging Green Builders!
Howard Ting/KANSAN
New program offers cheaper books to students
BY KELLY MORGAN kmorgan@kansan.com
This summer, Hewlett Packard selected KU Bookstores to house a pilot for its Print-On-Demand book printing program. The program brings a publishing center to Jayhawk Inc. on the second floor of the Kansas Union and now allows them to quickly create textbooks and other course materials for a fraction of the cost. While only a few months old, the program has quickly gained popularity among departments on campus.
"It has been a much higher volume than what we intended," said Estella McCollum, director of KU Bookstores. "We've probably produced around 5,000 books in a month. It's been incredible."
The draw for many of these departments lies in the removal of the hassle that comes with printing books off campus.
"If I were to go off campus to another place it would probably take about a week to 10 days to get," said Robin Holladay, administrative associate senior for the English department. "Here it was done in four days."
"If a student were to come up to us and say that we were out of a certain textbook that they needed, we could just tell them to go grab a coffee and when they come back the book will be ready for them to pick up," McCollum said.
Books not bought individually can be created in as little as eight minutes.
The final product is a neatly bound book complete with a laminated cover.
Holladay said.
“What sold me on it is the fact that you can take your file, send it to them and they download it and do whatever they do with it printing-wise, and it really comes out clear and crisp.”
"The cover is a lot better."
"One example of a course where we were able to significantly decrease the cost of the books was with Professor Holmes' psychology
"We've probably produced around 5,000 books in a month. It's been incredible."
For students, the Print-On Demand program means cheaper book options on the shelves of the KU Bookstore.
ESTELLA MCCOLLUM Director of KU Bookstores
and his course packs," said Rachel Barnes, custom materials buyer for KU Bookstores. "It used to be $45, and we've gotten it down to $22."
The price decrease comes
from the bookstore's ability to cut production costs by not having to pay for shipping or labor.
"We are really here trying to provide a good service." McCollum
said. "We don't want students to feel like we're robbing them, ripping them off. It's just kind of changing that perception of what we're here for."
In the future, KU Bookstores would like to expand its services to further accommodate the needs of students and members of the Lawrence community.
"Wed like to go past even publisher and custom course materials, into individual creative works," McCollum said. "Whether it be for a class project or just personal interest, we want to allow students the ability to come in and easily print their own materials in a bound format."
Edited by Abby Davenport
index
Classifieds ... 6B
Crossword ... 4A
Cryptoquips ... 4A
Opinion... 5A
Sports... 1B
Sudoku... 4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
Students keep smoking despite statewide ban
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New bill poses fines for smoking in designated public areas. Despite the proposed benefits, many smokers are dissatisfied. STATE | 2A
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