Author: MALINA SEENARINE

HOST INTRO: With Pandemic restrictions easing up in NYC, nightlife is back in full swing. This includes live music at local venues and bars. The return to normality has been inspiring to young artists to put out their own music. Malina Seenarine spoke to two musicians about their first albums post-pandemic and what their plans are for the future.
AMBI: Nat sound of ‘Slightly Unsettling’ by Bautista (FADE OUT AS TRACK BEGINS)
TRACK: I’m here with Joel Bautista, whose artist name is Joelcbv on the 5th floor of the Newman Vertical Campus. He is a senior at Baruch College. His first album, Free the Youth comes out on November 8th. Joel talks about the process behind the songs and his plans to celebrate his first music release.
ACT: JOEL: I always wanted to release music I never, I never like eventually did because I would always revise it over and over again.
TRACK: Once pandemic restrictions eased up, Joel finally found the inspiration to make an album.
ACT: JOEL: It wasn’t until shows started opening up like raves and stuff and those underground punk shows and when I would go to these shows it would mostly just be for photography and videography cause that’s what I do on the side but just the amount of energy that the musicians and artists just gave off to the audience inspired me so much and I was like well I want to create something just like that. That can move someone in such a way and create a mosh pit.
TRACK: Joel imagines how Free the Youth will make his audience feel.
ACT: JOEL: I would want them to be able to listen to it in the mornings and get that kind of energy that you see at punk shows. I’d want them to listen to all of them and be like hell I want to listen to this live. So then hopefully someday I can perform these. I think its all about freeing that youth that everybody has inside them.
TRACK: The 8-track album will be released on Joel’s 21st birthday. A decision he made as an ode to his youth. The sound of the album is specific to Joel and can’t be put into a single category.
ACT: JOEL In terms of genre its hard to even tell, its hard to categorize. But from what people tell me its electronic, drum and bass kind of music. I don’t if I should call it EDM but it is electronic dancing music but I would say its experimental because heck some sounds I don’t even know. Some of the sounds I used were like it sounds weird but then I was like maybe its just my sound.
TRACK: He was under the impression that he needed someone to release music with. Joel would help his brother produce synthetic drums for his music but eventually, his brother lost interest and Joel was on his own again.
ACT: JOEL: It all led up to just me making music on my own cause I always thought ya know I needed a partnership someone who raps to be on my beats or maybe my friends what they think of my beats. You know my brother’s guitar on my beats. And eventually it came down I just want to make this for myself because I love doing this so much. I just started making music that I thought I really want to dance to some music and hell why can’t make my own music to dance to.
TRACK: Joel has dreams of performing his music in front of crowds. For now, he is constantly editing and changing his ep to make sure its exactly what he wants for the November 8th release.
AMBI: NAT sound of Twist of Faith by The Resolved (FADE OUT AS TRACK BEGINS)
TRACK: I spoke with Matthew Colorado, lead singer of the band The Resolved. The band formed in the early stages of the pandemic and last month released a 4-track ep titled Beautiful Mind to multiple streaming platforms. Right now the band is performing at different venues around NYC.
ACT: MATTHEW: With the restrictions lifting now we’re able to play a lot more shows so we’re gonna expand by trying to play the most amount of shows that we can getting vaccinated is the most important thing so that we can actually play for people.
TRACK: Even though the thought of more restrictions preventing them from playing shows is a real worry for the band it won’t stop them from planning for the future.
ACT: MATTHEW: If something like this happens again we just plan to use our time to write music and to be ready to play a new show.
TRACK: For Matthew, the pandemic allowed him more time to make the best songs for his band.
ACT: MATTHEW: I was sort of sitting on these songs waiting for the right time to release them. I had more time to really sit down and listen to the song so I was able to add more to them than I would’ve probably if the pandemic didn’t happen.
Track: Both Joel and Matthew have a lot of hope for their music careers post-pandemic. Whether it’s playing shows or making music they are ready to get their songs into the ears of listeners. For Baruch College, Malina Seenarine.

 

Host: Trying to find out more about her classmates’ interests outside of school, student journalist Malina Seenarine sat down with Brianna Levy (she/her), a junior journalism major at Baruch College. They discussed Levy’s hobbies.
Track: I’m here with fellow classmate Brianna Levy on the 6th floor of the Newman Vertical Campus. We are situated in a corner of the mathematics department’s hallway when we start talking about her love for exploring foods.
Act: Brianna: I like cooking, especially from different cuisines.
Track: When it comes to trying new foods Brianna will focus on a specific country’s cuisine. But, when it comes to cooking she will focus on a specific ingredient to figure out the multitude of dishes that ingredients can be used in.
Act: Brianna: I’m currently interested in Mediterranean food but that’s for trying new foods. Right now, specifically, when it comes to cooking at home I want to try cooking with different types of mushrooms.
Track: Brianna finds inspiration for meals on the internet.
Act: Brianna: I saw this one dish of Tik Tok. It was called like Creamy Mushroom Chicken it required like white wine and it was really good. That was the most interesting one I ever had.
Track: She has plans to try even more types of mushrooms.
Act: Briana: I really want to try chicken of the woods and shrimp of woods because I heard they were good for their names like chicken and shrimp. I’ve have tried oyster mushrooms those are really good. They’re delicious, especially when fried it’s a great chicken substitute.
Track: The 19-year-old’s curiosity for different cuisines began at a young age.
Act: I grew up in a Jamaican family and foods that are common within that cuisine is like beef patties, oxtail, rice and peas, stew peas, festival, saltfish stuff like that and when I was in middle school everyone else around me was also Jamaica or some other form of Caribbean so I falsify believed that I had no culture and that my food was boring because everyone else was eating the same thing. From that, I decided to seek more things and I realized- okay- my culture is unique and I do need to appreciate it more. However, I would also just love to try foods from other cultures because my parents are kind of picky – especially my mom – and I don’t want to be picky. I want new experiences.
Track: For Brianna trying new foods means exploring the outside world.
Act: Brianna: I feel really excited especially because I’m usually going outside to try these new foods. A little nervous cause I have to spend money to try them because they’re at restaurants. But usually, I’m by myself and so if I just don’t look at my bank account ya know then I’ll get to enjoy it fully.
Track: When Brianna brings home food to cook she lets her parents try it.
Act: Brianna: I also really like trying to get my parents to try new foods. My parents, they said that they never ate mushrooms as kids in Jamaica and usually they would just kick them like puffball mushrooms they get really big. My mom said that in Jamaica mushrooms were called like duppy umbrellas, duppy means ghost so it like meant to be seen as something creepy and not really within the cuisine at all. It’s kind of funny seeing them squirm every time I bring a mushroom home and trying to get them to try it. Usually, my mom doesn’t eat it but when I brought the oyster mushrooms home she did eat it so I was very proud of that.
Track: Brianna Levy plans to dive deeper into Mediterranean food and try new dishes with mushrooms. Her journey is limitless. From Baruch College, this is Malina Seenarine.

https://medium.com/@lanehear101/climate-movement-the-young-are-fighting-for-the-future-e81d00dfedc7

For my photo essay, I will be attending The New York Show with Brain the Yoyo Guy. Brain usually performs every weekend in Bryant Park. I plan to meet with Brain before his performance and see how he prepares. I want to observe Brain’s show and see how he interacts with his audience.