On a campus, where apathy permeates every aspect of student life, it’s difficult for an underground music scene to develop and thrive — or even maintain a steady pulse. With a population that seems to be unified by nothing and skeptical of everything, Binghamton University’s music scene is basically limited to a few big hit-or-miss acts in the Events Center, and some sparsely attended Undergrounds shows which are burdened by the Late Nite Binghamton stigma.

So what do you do if you’re a BU student who just wants to rock out and be heard? The housemates of 70 Conklin Ave. are doing their part to create an outlet for the wannabe rockstars of BU.

Last Friday night, the house kicked off what they hope will be a season of mini-concerts at their home, with three student bands performing for about 50 enthusiastic onlookers, whose excitement was fueled by the impassioned wails of student rockers and a steady flow of bourbon (for those who were of age, of course).

Frans Koster, housemate and front man for his band, Fuzzy Logic, said he hopes to use his living room to bring together students who don’t find the kind of music they want to hear at University Programming Board concerts or smaller on-and-off-campus shows.

“It’s not very popular, but we’re a straight rock band,” Koster said. “There’s no reason there shouldn’t be a healthy rock scene at Binghamton.”

And that’s exactly what the boys of Conklin Ave. are trying to create with their homemade venue. However, they do acknowledge that if their project gets off the ground, they are going to have to seek out more viable locales that are better equipped to handle the kind of crowds they hope to generate.

For the time being, Koster and his bandmates are just happy to have a handful of listeners who will get excited about their music, which Koster jokingly described as divinely entertaining.

“If God came down from heaven and played rock music, that would be us,” he said with a laugh. “You would probably describe it as loud,” he added.

Koster described the underground music scene at BU as dominated by jam bands who tend to have a Phish-esque sound, leaving little room for good, old fashioned, guttural, screaming, head banging rock.

But housemate Joe Farrant, who is also the bassist for Fuzzy Logic, said that there is no excuse for whining about the music scene at BU if students aren’t willing to be part of the solution.

“If you have an instrument and you want to rock out, just find people and do it,” Farrant said. “We need support, and people need to stop complaining.”

Housemate David Bittner, a senior political science major who does not play in a band himself, is excited about being part of this small but spirited movement to create an outlet for student musicians and rock enthusiasts.

“We want to do this more often, maybe every couple of months,” he said. And Koster hopes the shows can be even more frequent than that.

“It’s good to get people out for the live music and band culture,” Bittner said as he made his way through his cramped and smoky kitchen.

The house seemed to be at, or around, its capacity, teeming with music lovers, many of whom Koster said he didn’t even know. The boys advertised the event through Facebook, apparently a revolutionary source for fighting apathy toward student artists.

“The communication is really bad in the Binghamton music scene,” Farrant said.

Jason Wise, the drummer for Fuzzy Logic, said that there are a number of people in the Binghamton music circuit fighting against the communication problem.

“There’s a whole group of people trying to come together and revitalize alternative rock, classic rock,” Wise said.

And they seem to be on their way toward reviving the local band scene, one house party at a time. However, the 70 Conklin team is looking for more student artists to rock out with, at their home or anywhere else people want to listen. Eventually, Koster said, he hopes to develop enough momentum to bring bigger hard rock acts to the Binghamton area.

“We want to put Binghamton on the tour map,” he said.

Koster asks that any students who might be interested in rocking out with the guys at 70 Conklin contact him via e-mail at flask85@gmail.com.