Hey there dudes and dudettes,
Webmaster Bill here for one last and final time. It may be a whole year since I was last officially webmaster and we are now onto the second elected webmaster post-me, but this summer brings on much reflecting and I feel I must make this one final post for so many reasons that would simply bore you should I list them all here. It is highly likely that what you are reading right now is not the work of a single night but will be the compilation of many moons that I spent before entering that terrifying territory known as the “real world.” Having spent this past year as SOMA’s VP it is an incredibly surreal experience to look back on it. It was a trying experience but ultimately I feel we did the best we could and added another fine year to the SOMA legend. Much was performed to bring it to that level of awesomeness so with that let’s get on with the recap.
This year saw an increased focus on guerilla art and as such it was only appropriate that we started the year off with the Annual MP3 Experiment. Taking place on parent weekend, we once again gathered together for the purpose of entertaining befuddled passerbies by mindlessly following the directions of that wise, disembodied voice in our headphones. Good times were had by all as we started out in front of Thomas and zombie-walked down to the HUB Lawn where we jammed out before ending such shenanigans. A big thanks for this event goes out to secretary Nathan Larimer who worked tirelessly on the MP3. He did a superb job helped us kick off the year in style!
Next up was yet another HUB concert open for you Penn State student’s enjoyment. Not wanting to get pigeon-holed into a specific genre, we decided to mix it up a bit this year and held a hip-hop show. Rapper Shawn Chrystopher fit the bill perfectly, an up and coming rapper that had worked with the likes of Kanye West, he put on a great show with unique lyrics and a backing track of only an IPad. Opening for this show was Penn State rapper and former SOMA Open Mic mainstay The U. The U demonstrated the excellent talent that can be found in the Penn State community, using mostly live backing music. Overall we were glad to have broken out of our “indie-only” label and are excited to have a more versatile portfolio for the club!
As a member of the arts community at Penn State, we have always admired the school’s radio station The Lion and are excited to work with them in any way we can. When they came to us to cohost a listening party last November for the Flaming Lips unique record, Zarieeka, we were ecstatic to jump at the chance! Zarieeka is a record that is split into 4 different cd’s meant to be played simultaneously. A fun experience was had by all as we crammed into Chronic Town to experience this record as it was meant to be. November was also marked by yet another strike of the guerilla art kind when we made and hung up motivational origami cranes to relax the mood around campus. Each crane had an easter egg of a message should a student have opened them up. We hope this perked up the PSU community as they neared the end of their semester!
It wouldn’t be a SO’mester (get ready for many more of those with our new PR officer 
) without at least one show dedicated entirely to the local bands of the school. We held that this last December with a show at the always fun Abba Java Café! Scratch Papyrus, Natalie Plumb, The Ghost Appeal and The Exclusive Document all showed what the underground scene is all about. These bands gave the underage live music lovers a chance to come out and watch them in downtown State College and we are all grateful for that.
One thing I would like to mention that was prevalent through this past year was fundraising. Tired of being starving artists, SOMA truly stepped up it’s game and upped those funds in creative new ways so that we are now merely I-can-kind-of-use –a-snack artists! We held acoustic shows at the Food Network-famous Sugar on Top cupcake café (btw the lady that runs this place is awesome and you should go buy as many of her cupcakes as you can, they’re delicious to!), had our usual date auction affairs and even got a bit of that internet money with Kickstarter! On top of this were a series of acoustic shows held at Jamaica Junction, making this an awesomely unplugged year as well! Combining this uplugged vibe with the previously mentioned guerilla art theme, we finally enacted the idea of bringing instruments and jamming out on the loops. This occurred twice in the spring and will certainly occur much more in upcoming years given the great feedback they received!
Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our signature annual event, the SOMA/VASA Arts Crawl. In what should no longer be a surprise, it was once again most excellent! The pride I felt walking around as a senior was indescribable, seeing how this event has grown in the past 4 years is one of the best experiences I had at Penn State. The Bands and artists put their best performances/works on display and I think everyone that came will agree they walked away better for it. Headliner Future Islands put on an excellent end to the night, giving everyone a fun 80’s dance vibe to rock out to! A big ol’ set of props goes to those at the center of organizing this year’s spectacular crawl. Ryan Purcell, Jarrett Hyarlak and Maddie Tyska slaved away to make this happen and the fruits of their labor were much appreciated!
With Arts Crawl, another excellent year of SOMA was experienced at Penn State; we co-hosted a couple of other shows with The Lion and Roustabout but mostly spent time thinking of awesome things to do with the aforementioned internet money this upcoming year. We officially ended with a great send-off event, hosting a CD release party for now fellow SOMA alumni and a good friend of mine known only as DWD at Sugar on Top. His solo project, known as the Hourglass Orchestra, was first introduced through it’s EP our freshman year four years ago and it was surreal to watch him perform it’s first full album two weeks before we graduated.
Overall, this will be a year I look back on with great nostalgia and pride. Hell, that’s how I will look back on all of my years with SOMA. I can honestly say that getting involved in this organization was one of the best decisions I made in college and joining was probably the first good one I made. I was a kid in high school who never really got involved in clubs or activities so this special group of people really left a mark on me. If you go in with an open mind and laid-back attitude, you could soon find that these people will be some of your best friends for the next four years and maybe even beyond that as they have become for me. I say this to any newcomer that may happen upon this and decide to actually read this ridiculously long diatribe, I implore you to really check out this club, even if it takes a month for you to see it, this is a group of kids that will accept you for who you are and will appreciate your perspective. So as not to end on my old man schpeel, I will now introduce you to the 2011-2012 SOMA exec board!
Vice-President: Abby Bacon afb5069@psu.edu
Secretary : Nathan Larimer nrl5042@gmail.com
Treasurer:Julia Rodriguez jrr5210@psu.edu
PR Chair: Amanda Earle ace139@psu.edu
Webmaster: Kyle Donnelly ktd5049@psu.edu
This is a great group of kids with grand ideas that will keep SOMA awesome for this year and the following ones! While I wish more than anything to have been able to list my name amongst that group of people once again, they have my full faith and will do an excellent job. And with that, for the final time, I am finished!
Forever at heart,
Webmaster Bill
