BANDS
FOR a moment, put aside the Trojans and the Bruins, the private versus state school and all that other junk, and listen to the music. Both of these institutions can bring the rock -- as well as the singer-songwriter thing, and plenty else. Among acts that hit it big, UCLA can count the Doors (Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek went to film school there), while USC has the Offspring (Bryan “Dexter” Holland was working on a doctorate in microbiology).
No guarantees of such stardom, but here are promising bands and musicians with ties to UCLA or USC. You might see them on campus or in the clubs, or pick them up on the college radio stations at www.uclaradio.com and www.kscr.org. In any case, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
They bring the funk
Let’s start with UCLA. Barely a year old, Kazai Rex is a quintessential college band -- fun-loving and always up for a jam. The students deliver funk-based rock with dueling lead vocals by bright-eyed sophomore Stacey Capoot and band founder Danny Langa, whose high school band, Another Man’s Trash, won the VH1/School of Rock/Battle of the Bands contest in 2004. Kazai Rex plays frequently on campus and will be lending its spirit to today’s Beat ‘SC Pep Rally. (myspace.com/kazairex)
Pete Holland, class of 2000, is a former co-captain of the Bruins football team who received a full scholarship for his ability to clobber the enemy (position: defensive tackle), but don’t think jocks can’t shed a tear or two. The finger style guitar player and singer-songwriter has performed his folksy, thoughtful compositions at Temple Bar and Genghis Cohen, but his big dream is to play Hotel Cafe. Though he can’t lend his brawn to the team anymore, he could probably make the cheerleaders say “aww” with his wistful song “Life Is Precious, Life Is Cheap.” (myspace.com/peteholland)
Local band Aviatic has packed houses at the Viper Room, House of Blues, Troubadour and the Henry Ford, and last year its song “Goodbye Beautiful Day,” from its self-released CD “Arrival,” raced up the charts at Yahoo Music. Drummer, co-producer and co-songwriter Barrett Yeretsian, a 2001 graduate who formed his first band just to play the university’s annual Spring Sing, says the band is “at that breaking point. We have so much momentum right now.” (www.aviatic.us)
Hands on learning
As for USC, it’s swarming with Danger Bees. When six young dudes who all live in the same house cite bands such as Can, Captain Beefheart and Dungen as influences, you can bet the music’s in experimental, psychedelic territory. And here’s something novel: All majors in the music industry program, the band members actually discuss their classes and apply what they’ve learned. People do that in college? Must be why the barely twentysomethings have already played shows at the Roxy and Malibu Inn. (myspace.com/dangerbees)
No college can deny the populist spirit of emo, the ruling genre of undergrads seemingly everywhere. The energetic trio Full Switch Coma fronted by junior Andrew Brewer has ramped up quickly, following in the footsteps of punk-emo heroes Thrice and AFI: Since forming last year in a humble Camarillo garage, Full Switch Coma has self-released a debut album and is opening for phenoms All-American Rejects at Ventura’s Majestic Theatre on Sunday. (myspace.com/fullswitchcoma)
Finally, there must something in the pipes at USC that compels students to start, of all unmodern things, a cappella bands -- by our highly unofficial count, there are something like seven. But Reverse Osmosis, with 17 members, is one of the few to a cappella-ize recent indie pop hits by acts such as Postal Service and Ben Folds. Listen to its version of Nintendo tunes from Super Mario Brothers and the like for the ultimate geek-tastic a cappella experience. (uscreverseosmosis.com)