Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
This past semester at SUNY New Paltz brought out a live music renaissance that the students and residents have been thirsting for since March 2020. However, for the new kids in town who just started their university experience in the fall, it was their first glance into the wonderful world of New Paltz DIY and all of the experiences that come with it. This was exactly the case for Crimson Crush, a band made up of first and second year students that began their formation at the start of the Fall 2020 semester. The band is made up of lead vocalist Gabbi Bush, guitarist and vocalist John Roy, pianist and vocalist Jimmy Purr, drummer Taylor Setterstrom, bassist Sarah Hock and guitarist Matt Florio. When I Facetime called them, the band was sitting around in John’s room, in the middle of one of their practice days. The members hail from both Long Island and the Hudson Valley. They described their sound as “a combination between progressive rock and classic rock.” “I have a friend of mine who saw us at the Blueberry Fields and he said, ''It’s like Robert Plant and Joan Jett played together,” Roy said. Florio brought up Nile Rodgers, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Corey Wall and Audioslave as inspirations as well. Even though it plays a huge part, it’s not just classic rock that inspires the original music of Crimson Crush. Purr cited theatre as a huge influence on his live performance. “We want to incorporate more showmanship,” he said. “We're gonna [play] some different songs next semester, and it'll get to be more interactive.” With multiple members of the band having done theatre in high school, the band values audience engagement and putting on a performance that is more than just the music. They’ve been very active on their Instagram account, @crimsoncrushband, posting introductions of the band members and clips from their live performances. They even have a Spotify playlist, “The Weekly Crush,” where the band adds the songs they’ve been listening to that given week. “I definitely think what sets us apart is that we're very multi-genre,” Bush said. “We try to just do what we want to do and I think that makes us a little bit more unique.” As the lead vocalist, Bush brings a special talent to the playing field, since she is classically trained and has been doing opera her entire life. “I think my relationship with music is a little bit different than what's probably expected on a surface level,” she reflected. “I like things that are vocally complicated for me to do because I'm classically trained, but I really do aspire to have that level of expertise when it comes to heavier rock.” Crimson Crush is working on a slew of original songs, but likes to include covers into their setlists as well. In 2021, the band performed at a couple of campus talent shows, but their first big gig was on May 9, opening up for Moonuitt at the Blueberry Fields. “It went well and I also think it set us up for a lot of things we needed to get better at after running a show,” Florio said. “It’s a learning series, but it went well.”
“It was just so great because we had all been waiting for so long to get to perform again,” Hock added. “It has been like over a year for a bunch of us so just being able to perform was such a good feeling, regardless of how well we did.” The band had friends and family come up to support them during their first big gig, and it definitely made all of the difference. “Just seeing all those people, it was just all of this excitement, and I’m still taking in a lot of emotions,” said Florio. The band has a long and productive summer ahead of them, but could not be more ecstatic for the promising series of shows that awaits. “I’m very excited, and it's really good that we got our first performance in before the tail end [of the semester,”] said Purr. “When we start the next semester, it's kind of a different story because they already know us.” “It's exciting, to be able to go up there and see this almost every day,” Setterstrom said. She is an incoming freshman, and next semester will be her first semester living and playing in New Paltz full-time. “We’ve got a lot of plans.” Check out @crimsoncrushband on Instagram for more information about the band!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |