On March 28, indie-rock band Hippo Campus and singer, songwriter, and rapper Danny Brown performed at the Breslin Center for Michigan State University’s annual spring concert.
But while the audience’s attention is focused on the talents on stage, many others are hard at work behind the scenes doing jobs that often go unrecognized.
For years now, Impact 89FM, the Universities Activities Board (UAB), and the Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) have collaborated to make this concert happen for the students, faculty, and staff of MSU as well as the public.
Jeremy Whiting, general station manager at Impact 89FM, said “the majority of the funding comes from UAB and RHA, but ASMSU and Impact 89FM also help support it financially in a smaller way.”
When it comes to choosing who will headline the concert, Delaney Rogers, station manager at Impact 89FM explained that there is a concert committee created in the fall involving members from each organization and that “the community does play a role in what artists” are chosen. They send out surveys to the MSU community and ask “what genre students would want to see.”
“In those meetings, we talked in great detail about what music and musicians students would like the most and how we can accommodate the community interest into something that everyone can enjoy,” Rogers said.
Within the concert committee, each person takes on a different role leading up to the day of the concert.
“I work along with the advisers of the other organizations to facilitate what the committee wants to achieve. That typically means helping with communication, planning out logistics with the venue, dealing with some of the various financial responsibilities, and making sure everyone’s voice is heard,” Whiting said.
Through the years the concert has created a space where students can enjoy a night off from their studies and come listen to some music and even get to learn more about these different organizations that make the concert come to life.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to reach students that don’t typically attend UAB events. The concert committee itself has been a valuable avenue toward collaboration with other student groups,” said Andrew Miller-Thomas, Music Coordinator for the UAB. An article can be found on Impact 89FM’s website highlighting photos taken at the March 28th concert, recorded backstage interviews with Hippo Campus and Danny Brown, and more information about these artists.