Piping hot tea an array of Halloween-inspired cupcakes and an eclectic line-up of musically gifted Pepperdine students brought a huge crowd out to the Sandbar Friday Oct. 30 for a unique Coffeehouse experience.
Coffeehouse at Pepperdine is a chance for students to experience up-and-coming musical talent while enjoying camaraderie and usually free coffee (although last Friday night was a special exception with Crumbs cupcakes and tea being served instead).
Though Waves aren’t the only musicians allowed to perform Coffeehouse co-organizer Kiersten Dunn a junior said that the focus recently has been on encouraging Pepperdine students to showcase their talent.
“We’re actually really trying to do more student-led Coffeehouses because we have so many talented artists on our campus Dunn explained.
This most recent Coffeehouse was just such an occasion, as every performer on Friday was a musician from Seaver College. What resulted was a presentation of diverse musical genres, ranging from indie folk to R&B covers from the 1990s.
Eight acts were slated for the Coffeehouse session, each allotted 15-minute sets, not including the special performance of the song I’ll Be” by the Daniel Lim Band that kicked off the night.
Junior Matt Deseno performed next starting off with an impressive mash-up of pop songs played on guitar with the help of Katharyn Blair’s vocal stylings.
Following Deseno was the group of juniors Stephen Lambert Bonnie Hancock and Catherine Yager. This trio took on the challenge of performing covers of such artists as Sufjan Stevens Iron and Wine and the Beatles.
The duo of juniors Jeffrey Wright and Andrew Hagen was next punctuating their set with an enthusiastic performance of Katy Perry’s “Waking Up in Vegas which the audience joined in on.
This gave way to freshmen J. Rae Brown and Alan Holley impressing the crowd with their rendition of Kina Grannis’ Message From Your Heart.”
The events that transpired next deserve special recognition. Amid a night of talented singer-songwriters the trio of senior Bryan Farley senior Keith Cantu and Brian Morales took to the stage to perform their best 1990s R&B music.
The group wanted to stretch the traditional limits of the Pepperdine Coffeehouse in a coolly offbeat way.
“We’re being serious about not being serious Farley said of the performance.
These artists absolutely accomplished their goal: Coffeehouse has never before seen a performance of its kind, which included dancing and a fog machine for added effect. Event planner Dunn was surprised by the unique execution of the performance.
I had no idea. It was a shock to me Dunn said.
Their shocking performance was followed by junior Andrew Hagen, who started off his set with a cover of Radiohead’s Creep” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.” Keeping in suit with the originality of the night Hagen played these songs on the ukulele. Hagen has been playing the ukulele ever since he received it as a high school graduation present.
“It was the best graduation present ever he said. His last two songs were originals that he played on the guitar and harmonica.
Senior Donovan Brambila then served up original compositions Rhythm and the Rain” and “Ain’t a Damn Thing (Changed) before teaming up with and eventually handing the stage to Cazz Brindis, the main attraction of the evening. After the two performed a cover of Ryan Adams’ Two which they claimed to have learned a scant 10 minutes before performing, Brindis stepped into the spotlight.
The senior served as the final act of the night in order to promote his new EP, titled Nights and Windows.” Though the multi-talented musician who performs under the name “Cazz is a four-year veteran of the Coffeehouse scene, he said Friday’s show was the largest audience he has ever seen turn out for the event.
Cazz explained that a lot of times I’ll play towards the end of a Coffeehouse and many people will have left by then. But this show was really packed until the end and was undeniably energetic.”
Experimenting with loops and beats throughout his set Cazz treated an enthralled audience to songs both old and new including “Someday Someway off of his new album. But students wanting to catch more of Cazz’s live performances may have to wait until his next Coffeehouse appearance.
I’ve gone back and forth wanting to tour— to go ‘pro’— and now it’s gotten to the point where I’m really into film writing said the musician of his new focus. I really want to get my music into films— not necessarily scores but songs to be used in the film and on a soundtrack.”
Cazz closed out the show which was packed with originality a little bit of humor and of course huge talent. This year promises to serve up even more engaging musical acts that will absolutely be worth a listen.
The next Coffeehouse will be held Saturday Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Sandbar when Pepperdine’s own Rob Shogry who goes by the stage name Nevin James will open for popular indie artist Jason Reeves.
