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April 05, 2005
Genre, not race, takes precedence in EOYP’s headline band selection
A rumor has circulated recently that Hamline’s Entertainment and Activities Team (HEAT) made a decision not to allow white males to be part of the headlining acts at the End of the Year Party (EOYP).
Shannon Malone, president of HEAT, which organizes the EOYP, said the rumor is untrue. This year,
HEAT hopes to represent groups that haven’t been represented in the last four EOYPs, all of which have featured white-male alternative rock bands as headliners.
“[They all] seemed to target the same audience. This year we want to go in a different direction,” Malone said.
Last year, local singer-songwriter Mason Jennings performed, and the prior year featured the pop-punk band the Ataris. Alternative rock bands Semisonic and Fastball have also played in recent years.
HEAT entertainment chair Kristin Falde also said the choice for this year’s headliner was based on genre, not race.
“This is definitely a genre issue; we want more people to enjoy the show,” Falde said, adding that HEAT is considering hip-hop artists, among others, as potential headliners.
Malone believes another way of diversifying the show is getting artists of different racial and social make-ups.
“We feel that a large percent of people are not reflected at the show, including women, people of color, and the GLBT community,” she said. “We want more people to feel a personal connection to the stage and be able to enjoy the music. We want to represent the underrepresented.”
According to Malone, this doesn’t mean there won’t be alternative bands with white males at the event;
there may be white males performing at the event, but they will not be headlining the event.
Picking the players
In previous years, artists were selected during a HEAT meeting that was open to all students. Students would come in and give suggestions. However, Malone said, not many people came to the meetings, so this year, HEAT tried a new approach.
On March 14, they held a listening party. At the listening party, students listened to sample pieces by potential artists and ranked the artists.
But Malone added that this doesn’t guarantee that the artist voted for will be able to play. Sometimes, artists have scheduling problems, or their appearance price is higher than what HEAT is able to pay.
“The listening parties are a new avenue that gives the students a stronger voice in the selection process,” Malone said.
HEAT hopes that their plans to diversify the headlining act will attract more people to the event.
The choice for this year’s bands at EOYP will be announced Friday, April 22, at the Battle of the Bands.
Last year’s event was attend by nearly 900 students and their guests, according to HEAT figures.
Posted by msveum at April 5, 2005 08:58 PM
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