Energy shook the walls of room UU-120 last Saturday night, and it was brought to students in the form of up-and-coming musician Skylar Spence.
With doors opening at 8. p.m., students ushered themselves in to be entertained by the electronic artist. Opening for him was one of Binghamton University’s own, (exitpost), also known as Ken Herman. Herman, a senior majoring in English, started the show off with dank beats and live guitar playing in front of a receptive crowd. Students were free to dance, talk with friends or just stand and listen. Cool multi-colored lights brought in good vibes, and students bounced around inflatable guitar-type instruments. One of the show’s highlights was the video projected behind the performers. Vintage-looking Nesquik commercials and Pacman clips, among others, were all shown on the wall, providing something else to look at while taking in the music.
Daniel Kadyrov, general manager of WHRW 90.5 FM, said he wants to bring more diverse musical acts to BU.
“We want to try to bring a different thing to campus,” said Kadyrov, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. “Saint Pepsi is a really good mixture of electronic music and more of the indie-electronic styles that we’ve heard from BUMP [Binghamton Underground Music Presents] before.”
At around 9 p.m., Skylar Spence walked on and kept the liveliness up. Formerly known as Saint Pepsi, Skylar Spence’s real name is Ryan DeRobertis — he played for a little over an hour, and used that time well. You can tell from Skylar Spence’s and (exitpost)’s body language how much effort they put into their craft. Moving their whole bodies as they mix, they look just as excited about the music as the crowd.
DeRobertis changed his stage name earlier this year. After being signed by Carpark Records, PepsiCo Inc. pretty much demanded a name change. Despite the new moniker, DeRobertis’ success is only growing. This year he’s playing at two big name festivals: Firefly in Dover, Delaware, and Electric Forest in Rothbury, Michigan.
For those who find electronic music utterly mystifying, here’s a little info on what he brings to the table. Skylar Spence’s style is described as vaporwave, which emerged from the indie-dance scene in the early 2010s. For those who still don’t understand, vaporwave was described by Kadyrov as “heavy sampling of goofy 80s music with a lot of reverb.”
If you aren’t familiar with the music, it’s well worth taking a listen. Even if you don’t think it’s your style, you might surprise yourself.
“I went because (exitpost) was playing but found myself looking up all the music on SoundCloud after,” wrote Sam Catalano, a junior double-majoring in management and cinema. “It made me realize how many great opportunities to ‘do stuff’ on campus there are – as opposed to just wasting minutes until it’s time to go out.”
Release staff writer Ken Herman was not involved in the publication of this article.