Dorian

I know, I know - I haven't been on here in months and I feel terrible.  This post was from May 1st, but for some reason I never posted it.  So, more than two months later, here it is.  And expect more posts from me!


So on April 29th, Blue Hawk Records (a student-run record label) released their fifth compilation album.  The Applied Music Industry II class put together this entire album - from holding auditions (and choosing the five acts for the album), to promoting the most innovative album of Blue Hawk Records' releases, this album is such a nice reward at the end of all of the grueling work.

The album was recorded at Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park, and was produced by Erik Romero and our professor, Joe Rapolla.

[Source:  photos.nj.com]

I was the Online Director for the label, handling Facebook and Twitter over the course of the semester and making sure everyone was always updated on what was going on with the label and recording at the moment.

Here's the track list:

1. Calendar Pages - Lily Anne Riche (folk)
2. Competition - Tatiana Walia (soul)
3. I Found Gold - Shoreline (indie)
4. You'll Never Be - Brian Perrino (alternative)
5. Dorian - Tympanic Plexus (instrumental)

Aside from being the Online Director, I was also part of the A&R team, so I sat in on the auditions and had a say on the acts chosen for the record.  Lily was the first person to audition, and the second she left the room was her song was over, everyone immediately knew they wanted her to be on the album.

Shoreline used to be known as a duo called Joe and Dan.  With Kathleen now part of the group (the girl singing the harmony), they became known as Shoreline.  They came in and auditioned with two songs:  "I Found Gold" and another song about a piano (I'm sorry, I can't remember the name).  They were on last semester's album, so we were a little hesitant to pick them, but everyone really enjoyed their performance.

Brian Perrino also auditioned two songs.  His songs were both very angsty, and that's what we liked.  We wanted this album to be different from every other BHR compilation, so having an emotional act like him helped us to achieve that.  His energy and performance took us all away and we really liked him.

Tatiana Walia was an act that completely blew us away.  She walked in and had no music, so she sang two songs acapella.  Her song "Competition" was extremely powerful to the point where I started crying.  The amount of passion she put into her audition was so inspiring and all ten of us fell in love with her faster than we have anything in our lives.

Despite my feelings towards Tatiana, Tympanic Plexus is definitely my favorite act on the album.  The woman who signed them up, Heather (who plays the electric violin), is a current student at Monmouth, while one of the others in the group is an alum.  The other band members are just friends of theirs.  They're an instrumental group who came in and auditioned two songs and we ultimately chose "Dorian," even though both were fantastic.

The album is available to purchase on iTunes and is available for streaming on Spotify!  It would mean the world to us if you bought the album!!