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Music by current Bennington students and recent alumni
Composing and performing are both major parts of studying music at Bennington: Both the state-of-the-art recording studio in Jennings Music Building and the stage in the Student Center get plenty of use. But you don't have to exclusively study music to make music here, and the music that students make spans the genres from classical to traditional folk to jazz to rock.
Like any good music compilation, this one has a theme and is lovingly assembled for your listening pleasure. It's a collection of music composed and performed by current Bennington students and recent alums—a lively (but by no means exhaustive!) sample of what we're playing and listening to right now.
Thanks to Sarah McAbee '07 for compiling this mix.
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Oh Mandy
The Spinto Band
Click here to listen.
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Thomas Hughes ’06 and Sam Hughes ’08 are two members of the wildly successful Spinto Band. The Spintos first materialized in 1996, and after their single “Oh Mandy” caught on by being used in film and television, they’ve continued to make Bennington proud, touring in 2006 with Art Brut and the Arctic Monkeys. The Spinto Band headlined Bennington's annual Sunfest festival last year. Read an article about them here, and learn more about them at spintoband.com.
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The Prettiest Grey
Liana Lewis
Click here to listen.
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Liana Lewis ’07 studied Music and French at Bennington, plays the guitar and piano, and puts these all together in her songs.
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Bada Ba Ba Ba
Tall Ships
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Tall Ships is “a group of rough 'n' tumble scavengers from Bennington, Vermont”: Trevor Wilson ’08 (vocals, piano), Sam Clement ’08 (electric guitar), JJ Beck ’06 (drums), Maia Friedman ’09 (vocals, water glasses), and Alex Powell ’07 (violin). They are bound together by the facts that they are “undeniably human, undeniably good willed, and undeniably excited about sounds, the emotions they convey, and the lives they are taken from.” Tall Ships appears on the Eugene Bennington label, and you can keep up with their tour dates at myspace.com/stemcellrock.
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Cherokee Blood
Look Alike
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Look Alike is Malcolm Perkins ’08, and he explains: “Look Alike is a stock character concept found in fiction (especially soap operas, science fiction and fantasy). Look Alike is someone who is equal to an existing character in all respects, except for a radically inverted morality, which makes him or her evil.” “Cherokee Blood” was collected on SILO 2006. The look alike lives at myspace.com/lookalikemusic.
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Mexico
Nate Luce
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Nate Luce ’09 is from Waterbury, CT, but considers Nashville, TN his spiritual home. He says, “my musical influences are old-timey music, Randy Newman, and the songs from ‘Fraggle Rock.’ I study Hermeneutics, and weigh 138 pounds. Tell them that I once put on one of Johnny Cash's boots.”
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Corn on the Macabre
Matt Scott
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Matt Scott ’06 is an excitable Vermonter who, since graduating, has been organizing a summer music camp for St. Johnsbury-area teens and aspiring musicians. His influences include Stevie Wonder, AlasNoAxis, and quality hip hop. “Corn on the Macabre” is from a forthcoming album titled “Toward the Red Glow of the Moon.” Look him up at myspace.com/matthewfire.
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Peter Parker
Pegasissy
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Pegasissy is the stage name of Rose Melia ’09. When she’s not rocking out on her mandolin, Rose works in Admissions, as a member of the Community Outreach Leadership Team, and on her work in Literature and Ceramics. She’s from Eugene, OR.
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I Have a Car
Sam Rich (and the K.N.O.)
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Sam Rich ‘07 says, “I began writing and recording songs when I was fourteen. According to my iTunes, I've recorded almost 300 to date, but until recently it's been a pretty private process. The Bennington music community has really helped me overcome my anxiety about playing my music for/with other people, though, and I plan on releasing my first real album before I graduate.” He played everything except the drums (courtesy of Adam Schragin) on “I Have A Car.” Sam focused in Literature when he was a student at Bennington, but also studied Sound Design, Social Sciences, and Sculpture. (Say that three times fast.) Hear more of his music at myspace.com/knucklesnoses.
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Bludgeon with Blunt Objay
Spencer Masterton
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Spencer Masterton ’07 is a very mysterious character who appears only to those working in the Jennings Music Building in the dead of night. Or at least he did before he graduated.
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Bullet Train
Jesse Alejandro Cottrell
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Jesse Cottrell ’06 has recently moved to the Big City, where he continues to play and record music under a variety of identities. “Bullet Train” was recorded live at the old Downstairs Café (now the Game Room), with Dimitri Sled ’07 and Bennington String Quartet alums Heather Sommerlad, Marie Valygorsky, and Adele Mori.
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Curriculum and Areas of Study
