photo courtesy of Kyle Long
Sometimes, when the “grass is greener on the other side” mentality leaks into my thoughts, even as I stare off into the beauty of the distant city lights of LA from the concrete walkway behind the library, I think about the things that Malibu doesn’t give me. Lately, I’ve been wishing acutely for more of something I really miss from home: a place to celebrate cheap, local music.
Before I even start, let me make a bit of a case for why LA isn’t our music scene. If you have to buy tickets six months in advance to drive two hours away to a venue you might’ve seen once before in your life, that’s not your local music scene. Plus, the acts in LA are often coming at you from all across the globe, which is wonderful in moderation, but where can the smaller local bands go within our area? What about student singer-songwriters? I feel pretty contained to the campus sometimes in terms of where I can see student songwriters play. The Sandbar can only take so much.
This is why I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard about a house show run by and featuring Pepperdine students to be held at a local house named “The Hide Away,” hosted by residents Constance Egli, Jean Hartley, Mia Shinseki and Melinda Marchiano. For readers who don’t know, a “house show” is basically what happens when the members living together in a home decide to throw a tiny concert in their living room, booking tour or local musical acts, often friends.
I had to go, even if just to check out what fellow students had to offer in musical talent. Everything in this house was Pinterest. Strings of lights framed the windows behind the makeshift stage, crowns of little silk flowers for purchase hung on a wall in the kitchen. Notably, if the performer wished to sit during his or her set, there was only a tree stump available onstage. The entire living room, kitchen, hallway and overlooking balcony were packed with students, a few faces familiar to me. Most prominently, the performers, students Wilson Howard, Akela Newman, Andrew Duff, Karianne Lawson, Ryan Ericson and John Anderson, sang and played beautifully as they shared pieces of themselves, much of the music being their own work.
They sang about their experiences with love, humor, family, loss and God. I took a lot of pride in hearing people from my school express themselves in the way they did, and I was really thankful to the house of women who hosted them (P.S. to the admins reading this: There wasn’t a drop of alcohol anywhere).Constance Egli spoke on behalf of the women of the house and told the Graphic, “Pepperdine is filled with richly talented individuals who have a passion, but are in desperate need of a platform. We thought that we could be that for them, and at the same time welcome people into our little Hide Away where they can be inspired and loved on. It is a blast watching these people we love so dearly come to life doing what God gave them the gifts to do. Really, we just want people to have a good time and leave more well known than when they came.”
Within this experience, I saw our school’s wish for and effort towards local, cheap and personal music.
“I thought the show was awesome and beautifully put together,” junior Ty Erickson said. “I love the fact that it was in a home; that really contributed to the cozy feel to it. I would love to have something like that in Malibu.”
Like Ty, this experience also made me long for a place for these students, and so many like them, to freely express themselves for both our community and our fellow students. Its ironic, in my opinion, that we call on-campus student-songwriter events like these “coffeehouses.” Why isn’t there an actual coffeehouse for miles? No, not Starbucks or the Coffee Bean… those don’t really apply. The coffeehouses in my experience have always had plentiful seating, an area that could at least try to be a stage, and yeah, coffee. And probably Wi-Fi, too.
House shows are amazing ways to share music, and should never go away, but I’ve wondered since I got to Malibu where the students of Pepperdine, a huge population in the area, are supposed to go when we need some creative, yet social room off-campus — maybe even to throw shows without having to jump through a million hoops or fear denial from business-owners if they can’t bring in a crowd yet (that, of course, requires the opportunity to start a local following first). We need a free and inviting space within the sometimes exclusive and expensive climate that makes students pay up and shut up. I’m just sayin’ Malibu, if you build it, they will play — and I’ll come for the coffee.
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Follow Haley Laningham on Twitter: @haleylanz
