Berklee's student-run record label creates a buzz with its latest release.

By Toshio Mana
Berklee.edu Correspondent
March 5, 2003

	Nine Eyes opens the Dorm Sessions concert.
	Some Audio • I Won't (Nine Eyes) Listen: slow | fast • Gone in a Second (HRR Electric String Quartet) Listen: slow | fast

Fueled by the success of last year's Shekinah album, this year's Dorm Sessions Vol. 1 has met with early success. After months of aggressive campaigning last year, the HRR staff found themselves with approximately 300 submissions by November - six times as many as Shekinah. Then they tackled a seemingly overwhelming task: put aside friendships and relationships to choose only a handful of songs. The result is 18 tracks highlighting a panorama of the Berklee population.

The staff then scrutinized their selections even further, whittling the roster down to the 11 acts that appeared in the concert. Codirector of HRR Justin Siegel, who drew upon his experiences interning with Interscope, said that this was the biggest difficulty he faced. His ultimate goal was to construct a concert lineup that would be both diverse and high quality.

But the challenges didn't end there. Guided by a Dorenfeld axiom—"if a show fails to sell out, you aren't doing your job"—HRR staffers found themselves on a tight timeline. "We only had two and a half weeks from the beginning of classes to sell out the show," says Kim Gerlach, another codirector of the HRR label and director of promotions. In one 24-hour stretch, she created a flyer and produced more than 5,000 copies. "I didn't know I was capable of doing everything I did to get it all done," Gerlach says.

Gerlach and all of her colleagues not only met their deadlines, they achieved their chief aim. The show was a sell out.

Thirty minutes before the concert's start time, a large crowd of eager friends, family, and fans was already inside the Berklee Performance Center. The 1,200-seat hall was buzzing with anticipation. That buzz built to a roar as Dorenfeld took the stage to welcome the audience. During his brief comments, Dorenfeld said that his excitement at watching the students' dress rehearsal paralleled the feeling he had in 1981 when seeing Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads live in concert for the first time as the group's tour accountant. Then Dorenfeld stepped aside, handing the evening over to the students. The widely varied lineup kicked off with a strong and feisty "I Won't," performed by Nine Eyes and its lead singer, Carrie Turner. Twin sisters from New York shared the lead vocals for Zambri on "These Days," a synthesis of sweet harmonies and punk attitude. Stacy Allyn Baker and a sultry voice of steel stunned the crowd with a sensual "Dance Slowly." Oscar Bravo proved that rock is about having a good time with a laid-back and near-anthemic "In the Calm."

The award for stealing the show, however, went to the zany antics and offbeat music of Apollo Sunshine. The band calls its music psychedelic rock, but you wouldn't be far off if you described their performance of "The Egg" as either Frank Zappa having a nervous breakdown or as the Monkeys with one too many shots of espresso. Bouncing around the stage in pressed suits and tennis shoes, they entertained with abrupt shifts in mood and quirky textures.

Singer/songwriter Derek Trenholm morphed his one-man, one-guitar performance into a full band sound by recording himself live and adding new parts to the recorded tracks. He manipulated a device with foot pedals that allowed him to weave a bass line, percussion, and backing vocals into his song.

A hint of new wave was evident in the polished sound of Violet Nine's "Proposal," a contrast to the raw delivery of indie rockers Lucia Lie's "Car Crash." The Heavy Rotation Records Electric String Quartet—four string players and a turntablist—played two tunes, an original called "Gone in a Second" that featured a rap artist and Michael Jackson's "Thriller." The night ended with "What's Up," a hip-hop tune by the amusing MC2, who were joined by all of the evening's performers on a rousing and infectious chorus.

At the night's conclusion HRR's Siegel found himself standing at the back of the performance center, awestruck at realizing what HRR had accomplished. For others, the positive feelings lingered on. "I'm still on a high," says HRR's Gerlach the following Friday.

In the end, HRR's third Epic Event underscored the philosophies of the Heavy Rotation staff. Siegel, who plays a leadership role for the label by running meetings and overseeing all operations, says that HRR provides a welcoming platform for a wide range of music that can get lost in the perceptions of Berklee as only a jazz school. At the same time, Mike Swartz, director of the A&R team, feels that there are artists that may not have submitted anything for Dorm Sessions because they didn't have an understanding of HRR's open-minded A&R approach.

Heavy Rotation Records faculty advisor Jeff Dorenfeld speaks to the audience before the Shekinah concert in 2002.
Photo by Justin A. Knight

At the same time students get hands-on experience behind the scenes, from selecting artists to organizing and publicizing events. "There's more to producing and releasing an album than just going into the studio and recording," Dorenfeld says.

According to Swartz, one of the biggest challenges is raising awareness of HRR. "Students either didn't know about Heavy Rotation Records or didn't understand what we are." Given the success of Shekinah and the Dorm Sessions, HRR already seems to be overcoming the issue.

Heavy Rotation has several other projects in the future, and although the staff is sworn to secrecy on some plans, Swartz mentioned a few.

"We're tossing around the idea of forming groups and hitting clubs," Swartz said. In essence, they would be touring the Dorm Sessions album and providing artists with opportunities to perform longer sets. They are also hoping to build interest among Berklee students in the next Dorm Sessions volume.

They've raised the bar, says Dorenfeld. Indeed, from here on out the challenges only get harder, but he's confident that his students can handle it. "As long as I have students who are motivated, I am excited."

Toshio Mana, web developer for Berklee.edu, is a freelance bassist working in Boston and New York.

	IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS LISTENING TO ANY AUDIO, VISIT OUR ONLINE TECHNICAL HELP PAGE. All audio and video clips require QuickTime. To protect the rights of artists and performers, all clips are streamed, rather than offered for download.