Southern California-based band The Denouement joined Seattle native Johanna Chase to support the Cal Poly Music Industry Studies program at a benefit show on campus Friday.
The Denouement was last year's winner of Cal Poly's Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association's battle of the bands.
The event took place in the Music Recital Hall and all of the ticket proceeds were directly allocated for scholarships for music industry studies students.
The MIS program encompasses half of the Music Department's undergraduate students. The program aims to provide a solid knowledge of music theory, history, performance, production, recording and business.
Chase and members of The Denouement are students at Azusa Pacific University. A crowd of their colleagues joined Cal Poly students at the event.
The show opened with Chase, whose melodic and often rhythmic style influenced a peaceful ambience that lingered throughout her performance.
The Seattle-born singer/songwriter was enthusiastic about playing a show supporting a music program.
Chase took the time to share what her songs were about and their titles before becoming completely engaged in her performance.
"It's a place for me to talk about my emotions," said Chase. "I talk about why I am feeling emotional, whatever that is."
Dara Faso, a first-year apparel merchandising and management student, met Chase through a mutual friend.
"The whole experience was overall enjoyable," said Faso. "She's very passionate. Her lyrics really mean something."
During the 15-minute intermission, a group of unnamed hip-hop dancers took the stage. They showcased their skills in a brief performance, giving the crowd a change of pace.
The Denouement then claimed the stage for around an hour and changed the setting back to its original state of peacefulness with frequent bursts of energy.
Malachi Ward, lead vocalist for The Denouement, did not take any breaks between songs, which made the beginning and end of each piece nearly indecipherable.
Miguel Dualan, a first-year graphic design student, saw the event on the music department's schedule and decided to go after going to The Denouement's MySpace page.
"I loved the show, especially The Denouement," said Dualan. "Their instrumentals were really great, and there are a few live bands I really love the vocals for and Malachi's vocals were really great. I also liked the drummer, who kept sticking out his tongue."
Dualan decided to attend the event because he liked the musicians performing, but did not know what the benefit was for.
"I was here for the band mainly. I didn't know the proceeds went to the music department," Dulan said.
Matt Starcher, guitarist of The Denouement, graduated from Cal Poly in December and since then has been recording and playing shows with the band.
"We spent the last four months doing this record ['Low Tide']," said Starcher. "We recorded some of it [at Cal Poly] and had a lot of studio time at different places. Then we came back and mixed it here."
The band has had different influences ranging from Radiohead to Cursive, but each member has his own emphasis that helps create its varied sound.
"Robbie plays jazz, and I play classical here in the department," said Starcher. "I think we draw from different things. You see groups or hear some world artist, and when they do something cool, you steal it. Over the years I think we just pieced it together."
Robbie DeLong, drummer of the Denouement, agreed to play the show as a favor for Starcher and hopes to play more shows in the area.
"We're going to play some music other places besides here," said DeLong. "Hopefully some on the West Coast and eventually on the East Coast and some states in the middle."
Winning the battle of the bands has opened up new doors for the group, and they hope to continue what they're doing.
"As long as we can keep writing and recording I think we'd be happy. If we have to keep working day jobs to do that, then that wouldn't kill us," said DeLong.
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