NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2017  
UPCOMING BIRN EVENTS:
Performed LIVE from the Red Room or at the BIRN, and streamed straight to your device!
Maz / Michelle Willis / Riva Saputo
3/10 8PM EST
Tune in to BIRNCore to hear Mike "Maz" Maher, a founding member of Snarky Puppy, with Michelle Willis and Riva Saputo.  
Audire Soundtrack Choir
3/11 4PM EST
The Audire Soundtrack Choir, a Berklee student-led choir, will be be featured on BIRN Alive! 
Listen here

Kaki King
2 Shows @ Cafe 939
4/21 7 and PM EST
Tickets on sale now for BIRNCore Live featuring Kaki King! There are 2 shows at 7 &  9PM, get your tickets here 
($8 with Berklee ID at 9pm). 
For more information about upcoming events: 
                http://www.thebirn.com/upcoming-events/


FEATURED DJ: ZAK KUHN
By: Pooja Aggarwal

This month, our featured DJ is Zak Kuhn! Zak is a guitar player and Music Business major in his sixth semester at Berklee. He has been a part of the BIRN for four semesters. This semester, he hosts The Zak Kuhn show on Wednesdays from 6-7 PM EST. Each week, he brings in different artists for interviews and/or performances. His past guests have included songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Jason Isbell, guitar player Roben Ford, Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band, and even Oscar-winning songwriting duo, Pasek and Paul. 

Tune in to The Zak Kuhn Show, Wednesdays at 6PM EST.

On The Rise: A Talk with Self Portraits
By: Jonathan O'Neal, Music Director

Many Berklee bands strive to stand out amongst the mainstream music that is released. Recently, I caught a performance of the alternative Berklee band Self Portraits at The Red Room and couldn't believe what I was witnessing. The rhythm section was tight and they showed influential chemistry towards each other and to their audience. They opened up with their heavy-hitter, "Played The Fool", which contained a lot of musical depth and dynamic grooves. My personal favorites were the performances of their first single "Be O.K." and the encore of "Barracuda" by Heart, which was their first time playing that tune live. The band consists of Jackie Foster, a recipient of the Berklee Lollapalooza Scholarship, on vocals, John Benoit and Gray Trainer on guitar, Ethan Cate on bass, and Chris Drago on drums. They've recently achieved 10,000 likes on multiple social media platforms and have been able to reach audiences outside the U.S., so I took the chance to talk to the band about their musicianship, rituals, and the importance of marketing yourself.

Jonathan: Thanks again for taking the time to talk!

John: Of course!

Jonathan: John, you and Gray have an awesome relationship on the stage. Care to talk about the details of that?

John: Gray and I like to mess around all the time. He's my guitar soul mate in general because we practice and play together all the time. We know a lot about each other to the point where if one of us does something spontaneous, the other knows how to react to it.

Jonathan: When you guys write songs, what has been the normal process so far for you all?

John: For the most part, it's been music first lyrics second, but now we've been trying to approach things from every angle to adapt our songwriting skills.

Jonathan: Ethan, your bass lines in the songs are very tasteful. What has been your approach on writing your bass parts?

Ethan: When I originally joined Self Portraits, some of the songs had already been written so...

To read the rest of the article, click here

MUSIC REVIEWS: 
Featured Album:
"Elf Titled" by The Advantage
Reviewed by Jonathan O'Neal, Music Director
1985 was a great year for a lot of things: Calvin & Hobbes made its debut as a comic strip, gas costed $1.09 a gallon, and the video game industry was revived by a console known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES for all you cool kids out there). Kids were surrounded by exciting gameplay, with visuals unlike anything else and some of the best music ever composed for a media format. The NES music library contained some of the best soundtracks that still stand the test of time, and The Advantage proved that with their release of Elf Titled. The San Francisco band formed in 1998 with one common theme in mind: video game music. For almost 20 years, The Advantage pushed video game music from the NES library back to the forefront with rock-styled arrangements. In this album, you'll enjoy classics from video games such as Mega Man II, The Castlevania Trilogy, Duck Tales, Batman and much more.

Recommended Tracks: Batman: Stage 1, Duck Tales: Moon, Castlevania: Intro / Stage 1, Castlevania II: Woods

"Elf Titled" is available for streaming on Spotifybandcamp, and download on iTunes.

FEATURE STORY: 
WHAT ARE OUR DJ'S UP TO? 
By: Pooja Aggarwal
Happy March everyone! This semester we have an incredible lineup up of DJs, so why not feature the really cool stuff they're doing? Here are just some of the incredible DJs we have on the BIRN this semester: 

CLAIRE LIM (DJ dolltr!ck):
Show:  ElectriCute!
When: Mondays 7-9 pm
Cool Stuff: On Monday 3/13, Claire won't be having her show, instead she will be performing at her senior recital! The recital will take place in 1140 at 7pm. Check it out!! 

KYSAN KWAN 
When: Sundays 9-11 pm 
Cool Stuff: When Kysan isn't showing us the latest indie hits, he writes online album reviews for Spill Magazine! Check it out:  spillmagazine.com/author/kysan-kwan/

SARAH KHATAMI & JOHN CONLIN
Show: Kidz Table
When: Tuesdays 11 pm - 1 am
Cool Stuff: Sarah and John have just become peeps, so Tuesday, March 14th, will be their first show! On Kidz Table, they will discuss pop culture and play pop hits that range from the 80's to today's! Also, Sarah is currently recording an EP, so keep a look out for some cool tunes from her!

For more information about our DJ's and their shows, visit thebirn.com 

BIRN ALIVE FEATURED VIDEO:
Videography by Felipe Maldonado



Find more BIRN Alive performances:

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Newsletter Designed, Assembled and Edited by:
Pooja Aggarwal, BIRN Communications Coordinator