Students experiment with art and sound outside of Hopkins

WILL SCERBO, musician and music director of WJHU

Sophomore Will Scerbo is an experimental musician known as WRS, the music director of WJHU and a fan of the Baltimore music scene. He attempts to balance all three while still doing his schoolwork.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

The News-Letter: How would you describe the music you make?

Will Scerbo: It starts out as me improvising and constructing beats from strange sounds I find on the Internet and recordings I make. From these beats I write lyrics and chords to go over them, constructing songs out of them. Genre-wise it’s like lo-fi experimental pop music because I write songs with choruses, and I write songs with hooks that might not have pop structure but I like catchy melodies. I like weirdness too, and I guess my interpretation of something catchy and fun might sound weird to other people. Recently I’ve tried to make music, like remixes and straight party music but sort of adding my own touch to it. I like to think it’s insane party music.

N-L: Is Hopkins Underground really a thing?

WS: To be honest, I don’t really think it’s a thing. It’s more of a group of friends, and I know a lot of scenes start as groups of friends. I would say that Hopkins doesn’t really have anything, but I’m looking to start something. I would say there’s a lot of artistic talent here, and there’s not necessarily room for the school to get involved but I think it’d be nice if there were a space for us to play on campus.

N-L: Do you think WJHU helps shape the Hopkins music scene?

WS: Yeah, because, to a certain extent, I don’t think it’s the sole catalyst. I think it’s extremely important as are other organizations like Film Society, which is a great club for promoting film to students. At Neil [Mallinar]’s [Tradition Scarf] show, the members of the one live band that played are on WJHU Executive Board, and I’m on WJHU Executive Board.

N-L: Do you think it might be easier to get involved in arts now than it was four years ago?

WS: I guess I don’t really have a perspective because I wasn’t there. I think it’s all a matter of how you feel because a lot of people say, “Oh I don’t want to go to these shows because I don’t want to go out into the city.” I think it’s a matter of getting out there and seeing what’s going on. I think the DMC promotes weird art s*** a lot. I think they’re pretty good at that. Jimmy Joe Roche is an experimental musician and a professor here and at MICA. He made me realize last semester I should go to more of these things because Jimmy is always inviting me to his events. I’m busy a lot, but that always feels like an excuse of sorts rather than a valid reason. I have a huge passion for arts.

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FRANCESCA D’UVA, musician and comedian

Senior Francesca D’Uva majors in computer music composition at the Peabody Institute and performs music in the Baltimore area. She also performs comedy as a member of Throat Culture.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

The News-Letter: How long have you been making music?

Francesca D’Uva: I think I remember writing my first piece on the piano in first grade before I started taking lessons, and then I started piano lessons and made my final transformation into an uncreative pawn in the classical music game. I remember writing my first hook in sixth grade on a family vacation, and the lyrics were “I party in the club every day and night, and I like to shoot the whiskey.” The lyrics don’t read that well; you have to hear me sing them.

N-L: What contributions do you think Hopkins students can make to the Baltimore music scene?

FD: I think Hopkins students are the same as all other children, and I believe children are our future! Really, I think what’s important is not that they’re “Hopkins students” but that they’re all individuals who have something special and unique to contribute to the community. I think it’s important they approach Baltimore in a friendly way, genuinely trying to establish relationships with people in the “scene” and seeing what comes out of those relationships instead of trying to penetrate “the scene” just for the sake of penetrating “the scene.”

N-L: Are you working with anyone else in the Baltimore or Hopkins scene? If so, what’s the process of creating via collaboration like?

FD: Well my BFF from high school goes to MICA, and he’s working on some visuals for my senior recital which is cool. I’ve worked with him a couple times on video projects. I also did the music for another high school friend/MICA student’s fashion line in the experimental fashion show.

N-L: Do you have anything exciting coming up?

FD: My senior recital is coming down my pipeline on March 30th — I’m gonna graduate! Hopefully I’ll get some gigs for April and May before I have to leave Baltimore.

N-L: Are there any other Hopkins or Baltimore artists you’d recommend?

FD: So many! All my peers at Peabody such as Robby Neubauer, Matt Sullivan and Edwin Huet make good, good music, and I think more people should listen to that. Check out their soundclouds. From Baltimore in general I think TT is obviously amazing as well as Nudie Suits, Horse Lords, Sneaks and Dad’s Chain. Also people should go to the BSO [Baltimore Symphony Orchestra]!

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TATIANA FORD, actress, singer and artist

Tatiana Ford, a senior cognitive science and Spanish major from Chicago, has been creating art since she was young — she won the Chicago Kids Day Coloring Contest when she was four. In the years since, she has acted in and directed a number of Witness Theater productions and taken her musical abilities off-campus.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

The News-Letter: How long have you been involved in the arts?

Tatiana Ford: I have always loved to be on stage or showcase my work. It’s very cathartic. I feel like I am really awkward and private in person but once on stage and once I show people my art, I feel free.

N-L: How would you describe yourself as an artist?

TF: I like to use myself as a medium. I am my favorite medium of art. As an artist, I think I am very incognito: private but open. I like to put my work out in any form, and usually folks don’t recognize it as mine, and I like that. I like my art to stay simply as art. As an artist I like my work to have varied themes of anxiety and neurosis, which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing.

N-L: What inspires your art and music?

TF: I draw inspiration from my chaotic mind and how the events and people in my life have made me who I am. I like to use all of the negative experiences I’ve had with people and plaster it to my art. I like to see all of the negative as something tangible, exposed to the world.

N-L: Do you collaborate with other artists and musicians at Hopkins?

TF: Not as much as I like. Art should be that, though. Don’t you think? It should just be a collaboration of people’s minds and experiences. Art makes the ugly pretty even if it is still ugly.

N-L: How did you get involved with Tradition Scarf and the student-run Arts Night?

TF: I got involved in Tradition Scarf because of a friend, Neil Rohit Mallinar, who hosted the event. I think I have a pretty and smooth voice, and I love when I can hear it.

N-L: Have your experiences at Hopkins shaped your work?

TF: My work at Hopkins has made me more proud to throw everything out of me. It has made me relaxed in my work. Hopkins has connected me with more artists, and I am thankful for that. Being stuck in this joint has made my work more grimy. I like that.