Above, several students from the University of the Pacific's music scene. At front, Musical Fusion treasurer Andrew Landgraf. Photos by Ariel Zambelich / 209Vibe. Additional photos by Ariel Zambelich and Michael McCollum / 209Vibe. University Center photos by Clifford Oto / 209Vibe.

Video: Ian Hill; Editing: Hani Yang.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This story also appears in the September edition of the 209Vibe newspaper. To find out where you can pick up a copy, click here.)

If you want to check out the 209's best new music and entertainment venue, you'd better get to know a University of the Pacific student.

The school has spent $38 million on its new university center, which features a ballroom and student pub with state-of-the-art performance spaces. The fall lineup for the pub, named The Lair, includes local bands like The Icarus Jones Collective and The Second String Quintet as well as Sacramento's Push Push Pull.

You have to be either a Pacific student or a student's guest to get into the shows. Still, Pacific and other local colleges and universities appear ready to have a bigger impact on the wider local music scene this school year – by providing needed new venues, hosting shows and offering a home to student bands and musicians.

At Modesto Junior College, English instructor and musician Optimism One is looking to re-form the Dead Punks Society, a student club that promotes on campus public punk shows. MJC also has a newly renovated and expanded media and performing arts center that will host Modesto singer-songwriter Rachel Renae Sept. 19. San Joaquin Delta College, meanwhile, continues to contribute to the local jazz scene through the work of jazz director Brian Kendrick. The Stockton band Brassai, bassist Brian Clark, Outlaw Dance Society singer Jon Gretsinger and rapper Diz-E Da Blackat also have furthered their education at Delta.

Then there's Pacific, which musically is best known for having a top conservatory and jazz program. But the university also is having a growing impact in other areas of local entertainment.

Over the past few years Pacific's student government has brought the rappers Common and Talib Kweli to Stockton as well as the Irish punks Flogging Molly for concerts open to the public. Meanwhile, two student clubs have been making contributions to the music scene. Last school year the music management club booked several on campus shows featuring bands ranging from Ligeia to Portugal the Man. Some of the shows were open to non-students.

“Last year was sort of a banner year,” said Keith Hatschek, director of Pacific’s music management program. “At some of (the shows) there were a couple dozen people, at some there were a hundred or more.”

The Musical Fusion club also organized shows on campus last year. The club works to organize and develop on-campus bands.

"People say there's nothing to do (at Pacific) but drink," said Brad Roan, 21, a Musical Fusion member who plays in the Pacific bands Sick Boy and Alida. "We want to change the attitude from, 'hey, it's Friday night, let's get wasted' to 'hey, let's go see a show."

Musical Fusion offers booking services and works to obtain practice space for its bands, which include Alida, Avon Union, Sussurus Rex and Awesome: The Band, among others. The club's members noted that organizing the scene hasn't been easy.

"There's a lot of apathy" from Pacific students towards on campus rock bands, Roan said. Musical Fusion treasurer Andy Landgraf added, "people want to hear Top 40."

And Hatschek added that Pacific or Delta most likely will never give Stockton a traditional college music scene. Those scenes grow in towns like Chapel Hill, N.C., or Athens, Ga., where students make up a large portion of the community and, as a result, can make large contributions to local culture.

“For Pacific, we don’t have a big enough population to create a critical mass,” Hatschek said.

It’s even more difficult for a college music scene to develop through Modesto Junior College, which can lack a sense of community because many of its students are commuters.

“It seems very fragmented. It’s been frustrating,” Optimism One said. In addition to being an MJC instructor and alumni, Optimism is a punk musician and member of the band Sometimes Sober. He played guitar in the well-regarded Modesto punk act D.S.F.A.

He said the Dead Punks Society started about three years ago, after his students organized a concert for his punk power class. Dead Punks shows were a success; despite facing competition from other events in the busy Modesto entertainment scene, some concerts drew about 100 fans, Optimism said.

The shows gave students a reason to hang out in a safe environment on campus, he said, and they raised money for social causes in the area.

Optimism is committed to building the Dead Punks again this school year. He feels that the club - and college music in general - play a necessary role in culture both on campus and in the wider community.

“The club, it’s going to happen. 100 percent,” he said.

email: ihill@209Vibe.com

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