Eclectic album showcases Bruin talents

  Daily Bruin File Photo Mona Tavakoli
(left) and Chaska Potter, of the band Raining
Jane, play on the steps of Ackerman Union last year. Raining Jane
is one of the 18 bands featured on "Bruin Rock."

By Chris Young
Daily Bruin Staff

In front of Moby Disc in Ackerman Student Union, even more
prominent than the Beatles’ stand, lies a new album, a
compilation of UCLA student musicians called “Bruin
Rock.”

“Bruin Rock,” a play on Bruin Walk, features student
bands of various musical styles performing original songs.

Skaska Productions is holding a free concert at noon today in
Westwood Plaza to promote the album. Seven of the 18 bands from the
album will play, including Marko, Raining Jane, Superdevoiche,
Christie Burns, Sami Feldman, John Ritchie Quintet and Likwid Kiwi.
Moby Disc will sell CDs at the event.

Skaska producer Rossanna Skupinsky, a fourth-year
ethnomusicology student, said that the album is a means for UCLA
students to gain exposure for their musical talents.

“Universities are places with really progressive thought
and music, and that’s why I’m zoning in on this
market,” Skupinsky said. “People are surprised at how
eclectic the music is, and they’re also impressed with the
production and quality of the recordings. The musicianship is at a
very high level.”

All album profits benefit UCLA Unicamp and a scholarship in the
ethnomusicology department. Neither the artists nor Skaska
Productions, an official student group itself, receive any money,
but the artists do keep the rights to their songs.

“I chose Unicamp because everybody loves it and it’s
such a universal cause,” Skupinsky said. “When some
people saw on the posters that the proceeds go to Unicamp,
that’s one of the main reasons they donated their music.
People are also buying the CD now because of Unicamp.”

The album is unique in its homegrown talent.

“Putting all these bands together on one CD is a new thing
for college music,” said John Ritchie, a second-year music
student whose group, the John Ritchie Quintet, is featured on the
album. “UCLA has a large band scene; I didn’t know we
had so many bands until I heard the finished album. The groups are
so diverse, there’s even a Bulgarian women’s choir
““ that’s about as diverse as it gets.”

Despite the album’s eclectic mix of bands, there is still
a unifying theme.

“These are all groups who play because they love it
““ they’re all unpublished,” Skupinsky said.
“They are still in a state where they can produce stuff they
love, and it’s very honest. They’re not being
controlled by a record company. It’s raw and
untapped.”

For most of the bands, the album is their first experience
having work sold in retail stores.

“It’s a big thing to be published and sold in stores
““ that’s a major step for musicians,” Ritchie
said. “We’re getting the exposure that so many bands,
regardless of their genre, yearn for.”

The album also has the added support of professors in the music
and ethnomusicology departments.

“The head of the ethnomusicology department loves this CD
and the professor who’s the faculty advisor for this project
has been enthusiastic about this from the beginning,”
Skupinsky said.

When Skupinsky went to the licensing office of UCLA for the use
of UCLA’s name, she was surprised at its response.

“The woman working said that they had never done anything
like this, that this was the most ambitious student project she had
ever seen,” Skupinsky said. “There have been student
films before, but nothing commercial like “˜Bruin
Rock.'”

Moby Disc, the album’s main vendor, was generous in
helping “Bruin Rock” get into the public eye. As the CD
was being produced, Skupinsky went on UCLA’s lead to Moby
Disc to try to get vending space.

“I thought they were going to take a big cut of it,”
Skupinsky said. “Once they found out it was for a charity,
they said, “˜Why don’t we give you 100 percent of sales,
premium shelf space, all the signage you want, we’ll
distribute it to all Moby Disc stores in L.A.’ After I picked
my jaw off the floor I said, “˜Sure.'”

As a UCLA-based production, “Bruin Rock” includes
other references associated with the university. The voice of URSA
makes a cameo appearance on the CD. The liner notes for the album
feature a crossword puzzle using the bands’ names and songs
as clues and answers. Skupinsky said since the crossword puzzle in
the Daily Bruin, ubiquitous in lecture halls everywhere, is a part
of UCLA culture, she wanted to incorporate it into the CD.

From the creative content of the album to the business end of
the production, “Bruin Rock” is a unique product.

“”˜Bruin Rock’ doesn’t look or sound like
a student production,” Skupinsky said. “People are
surprised about that.”

MUSIC: Bands from “Bruin Rock”
perform at Westwood Plaza today at noon. For information on
“Bruin Rock” and the individual bands, go to www.bruinrock.com. The album is sold
at Moby Disc and through the Web site.