MSA has a wide variety of clubs, ranging from fashion to films to community service. Students present clubs to the faculty, and if approved, they get set in motion as soon as that week. The club that I’ll be talking about, however, is one that I started myself.
Music Appreciation is a club I had wanted to start for a very long time. My love for music, and even more for sharing it, brought me the idea of starting a club where everyone could share their own love for music. For the past few Wednesdays, we’ve gone over a vast amount of different genres in only a matter of weeks. Each week, we share our experiences with the album that was chosen the week before. We talk about favorite songs, specific lyrics, the inspiration behind the album, and the concepts the album may go over.
For instance, one of the first few albums we went over was Unreal/Unearth by Hozier, an Irish artist well known for his lyrics. Students from all disciplines came to share their own thoughts and feelings about this album. Many of the students caught on that this album had an underlying theme aligned with Dante’s Inferno, and it was very interesting hearing everyone’s personal thoughts on what certain songs had to do with the album as a whole.
One of the members, who suggested the album, was very well-versed in Hozier’s discography. Since I knew about his knowledge of the artist beforehand, I chose to create a fun little experiment, where he would have to go over every song in under five minutes. For reference, Unreal/Unearth has sixteen total tracks. Which gave him only seconds to express his love for each and every song. Seeing people light up talking about their favorite artists, and explaining the history or meaning of certain albums, is exactly why I started this club.
At first, to choose albums, I thought we would implement voting. However, quickly after the first meeting, I realized that it wouldn’t work very well. So I introduced the idea of a spinning wheel, and it immediately caught on. Almost all the members had suggested an album to put on the wheel. Michael Jackson, Allison Morissette, Alex G, and so many others. The wheel does more than choose an album at random, it puts all of our tastes on the board. And I can’t express enough how amazing it is seeing people light up talking about their favorite artists. Watching them go into detail about every little thing, surrounded by people who want to listen.
Even though our club has only been active for a short time, we’ve covered a wide variety of artists, some being, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Hozier, and The Beatles, and only more to come.
It’s sort of bittersweet starting this club. I started it my senior year, so I only have one year with it. I’ve already talked to a junior I had in mind to take over, and he said he would be thrilled.
I have loved creating a safe space for people to express their love and opinions. A place where we can give into other genres that we might not have explored otherwise. That’s why I hope this club lasts longer than my time here at MSA.
