Last December Marcus Neal, a sophomore computer engineering major, attended a concert called Blush. The show featured three Syracuse University students as the headliners, rapper Jordan’Jay Foss’Foster and Chemicals of Creation, an electronic and dubstep DJ duo.

Mainly organized by Ade Coker, founder of Act1v Music Agency and an SU graduate student, the show was co-hosted by experience design company Enormo.us, the brainchild of two SU graduate students, David Chenell and Eric Cleckner. The pair worked on the marketing, production and overall theme of the show.

‘An artist in that show did a song that I was on, so I jumped onstage, did the hook for it quick and jumped right back offstage,’ said Neal, better known by his rap persona Indo. ‘After the show, I was like, ‘Yo, I gotta get in on the next one,’ and Ade was like, ‘We’ll make it happen.”

Coker kept his word. On March 4, Act1v Music and Enormo.us will host their second collaborative show, Revival, at the Spark Contemporary Art Space in downtown Syracuse at 8 p.m.

The show’s lineup once again features Jay Foss and Chemicals of Creation, with the addition of Indo. The partnership provides a platform for SU students to collaborate, network and share their passion for their work.

‘There are so few outlets for performance outside of just house parties and rapping with friends,’ said Foster, a sophomore communication and rhetorical studies major. ‘This is a cool way of knowing you have a set show.’

The idea behind Revival came from an effort to revitalize people’s energy and enthusiasm through a cohesive blend of different sounds as the warmer spring season nears.

‘We’re all students, but we all have different lives, different styles, so it’s a chance for good music from all over to come together,’ Neal said. ‘We all love to perform and want to get our music out there and have fun with it.’

Coker’s business focuses on doing just that. Act1v Music helps promote and manage talented musicians and provides them with outlets to perform. The alliance with Enormo.us comes from Coker’s belief in the importance of live performances.

‘The idea behind this kind of collaboration is that a concert is more than just showing up and listening to music,’ Coker said. ‘There’s a whole experience, it’s a whole environment for creativity.’

Chenell, an information studies graduate student, said Enormo.us’ work as a storytelling company has helped create that experience. Enormo.us helped develop the overall feel for the performance by designing posters, setting up a website and creating the show’s theme through color, lights and stage setup.

‘We’re trying to make the show different from just another concert by branding the show,’ Chenell said. ‘What’s it like when you get there? Where is the stage put? Where are the lights put? Just taking in the whole experience and directing it beyond just a normal show.’

This kind of collaborative spirit among students plays an increasingly valuable and necessary part in furthering their careers. Several students recognize the importance of building a reputation and relationship with those in their same field. 

‘I think a lot of students understand that if you build yourself as a hard worker and a good performer, people are going to want to work with you and pay you to do what you love,’ said Devon Stewart, a senior film major and one-half of DJ group Chemicals of Creation. ‘If people are willing to put in the same time and effort, that’s a worthwhile relationship you need to pursue.’

Foster agrees and claims the effort to collaborate springs from a desire to not only show off personal work and skills but also to learn from one’s peers.

‘Collaboration is important to me because I love to see how other people express themselves in terms of art,’ Foster said. ‘It’s a beautiful thing to mash different perspectives of art together and get something unique out of it.’

dmodiama@syr.edu

Published on March 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Danielle: dmodiama@syr.edu | @daniemarieodie