WERW’s Launch Party Put the Spotlight on Indie Rock

The best art holds juxtaposition; the same can be said for a concert. You have a quintessential garage band and an indie lo-fi band coming together to create an eclectic WERW fall launch party. Magic.

The student-run radio station’s concert began pretty candidly, with The Wisconaut talking to the crowd before falling into a rhythm of song. The band, led by singer Andrew Idarraga, consists of five dudes just being dudes, quite frankly. Andy Horvath and Isaac Silverman play guitar, Gaven Blasier plays bass, Evan Pacheco plays “the cans” as Idarraga says, and PJ Walshe plays the keys. Together, these five SU dudes have become an extravaganza, rather than an avenue of performance.

Idarraga says his inspirations range from a childhood of “bullshit music” to bands with famous front men like The Orwells, Talking Heads, and The Strokes. The Wisconaut plays a lot of music that’s easy to mosh to. Actually, they encourage moshing at their shows. At one point during the set, Idarraga jumped off the stage and climbed the barricade to start his very own mosh pit.

Idarraga told Jerk that “The Wisconaut does not have a single fan,” and continued to describe the excited crowd as supporting friends who come to the shows to have fun, rather than be an audience. He says the crowds make the shows –– not the music or the “fans.”

After the mosh pits, balloons, bright lights and garage band acoustics, LVL UP set up on stage and began their set. With over 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, their fan base is a bit more, shall we say, a fan base. The Wisconaut can rightly claim they are “on-campus famous” but all the members agree that after graduation the band will be buried deep beneath the ground and left there. LVL UP, on the other hand, is currently climbing to fame and does not see an endpoint anytime soon. The band is from Purchase, New York and have a distinct style. What is the opposite of dudes being dudes in their garage? Dudes being dudes in a recording studio. Their alternative indie flavor perhaps created more head bobbing than moshing, but still allowed for a great atmosphere.

Check out some shots from the gallery below with photos by Mary Armstrong

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