Musicians blend styles to test boundaries
By Emily Baraff
May 19, 2009 10:15 p.m.
Imagine the personal soundtracks of a cornucopia of college students ““ these students all coming from drastically different musical and instrumental backgrounds, each equipped with diverse foundations of musical experience.
Now picture these students coming together to play music ““ all contributing their individual musical styles and preferences ““ in a jam-style format that is constantly changing shape and composition to adapt with grace to its surroundings.
What you are left with is the Fusion Music Group at UCLA, a living, breathing music chameleon.
“Our music is very eclectic,” said Fusion co-founder Dan Kent, who plays bass, guitar and piano and performs vocals. “We incorporate everything from violin, to viola, to accordion, to guitar, to banjo. We’ve come a long way from sitting on Bruin Walk in ’07 playing hand drums.”
Fusion is exactly what its name implies ““ a synthesis of musically, ethnically and stylistically varied students united through their passion for performing and creating music in an atmosphere independent of the music department at UCLA.
The group provides a medium for student musicians ““ not only those formally studying music ““ to indulge in their creative tendencies and explore and test their musical boundaries.
The number of musicians and the instrumental composition of the band changes from show to show, creating a different musical feel at each performance. This format attempts to involve as many members of the band as possible and also allows the music to more accurately reflect the atmosphere of each specific concert setting, Kent said.
“There were no major musical organizations at UCLA outside the music department as of 2007; initially, the idea was to create a student group where kids who had a love of creating music, but weren’t necessarily music majors, could come together and jam,” Kent said.
With this in mind, in spring of 2007 Kent got a few of his musically inclined friends together, and with this came the modest beginnings of Fusion. By fall of 2008, membership at the group’s first informational meeting surpassed one hundred attendants.
“Everyone in the group throws out ideas about what songs we should play. At shows, we tend to tailor the songs we choose to the specific audience and venue,” says Daniel Schraer, a Fusion musician and vocalist competent on guitar, piano, accordion and banjo.
Schraer considers himself one of the more musically obscure members of the group, taking a recent interest in bluegrass and folk music due to his experience with a friend’s jug band in Santa Cruz. Now a member of the UCLA Bluegrass Ensemble, Schraer adds a particularly unique tinge to Fusion’s collective style.
True to Schraer’s word, Fusion has displayed impressive musical flexibility in its relatively short history. The group transitions from the electric-violin-infused danceable beats at a frat-party show, to the more gentle rhythms of such classics as the Eagles’ “Hotel California” and the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (uniquely ornamented with trumpets and violins) at a UCLA Hammer Museum appearance.
In addition to tackling frat parties at Sigma Nu and College Night at the Hammer Museum, Fusion has taken the stage at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center Amphitheater, and just last month expanded into Westwood Village with a performance at Westwood Brewing Company. Sunset Canyon will host Fusion a second time next Friday, May 29 at 1:30 p.m.
“We have grown a lot since last year as a band. We strive to maintain a balance between open membership and dedication to the group as more musicians discover us,” Kent said. “We’ve been working on some new additions to our song repertoire lately and have tended to overbook shows as a result. (The show at) Sunset (Canyon) will be a great opportunity to just relax in a laid-back environment and enjoy some music.”
