Locals Only: : College Rock

In the pioneering days of “Alternative” music, university communities were essential. So much so that bands from R.E.M. to The Smiths were lumped into a genre dubbed “College Rock.” Areas like Chapel Hill, N.C., and Athens, Ga., were routinely producing enough quality bands to nudge the press into calling them the next big hotbed of music.

The University of Cincinnati was integral to Cincinnati getting the “Next Seattle” tag in the grungy early ’90s, and the Clifton/Corryville area surrounding the school became local music ground zero. Today, that once thriving “Short Vine” area near UC struggles and, while local colleges undoubtedly still pump out bands at a steady rate, the connection between “college” and “Rock” isn’t as interwoven as it once was. College kids and music are now linked by the legal quarrels developing over the file-sharing debate. These days, “College Rock” is as likely to refer to the geology department.

Some staffers at Cincinnati State are working to restore the synergy.

Over the next year, the school, located between Clifton and Northside, will be rolling out a series of projects that will attempt to further the local original music scene and provide a valuable, hands-on teaching tool to students in the audio/visual and multi-media design departments. Construction is in full swing on a new Cincinnati State building that will feature state-of-the-art facilities in the new Advanced Technology Learning Center.

The plan is to eventually bring in local bands to record with students, record club gigs with mobile recording units, and create a local-music television program. But the first step is the Cincysounds Web site (cincysounds.net), an all-original, all-local streaming “radio station” site.

Paul DeNu Sr., the dean of engineering (and father of local musician Paul DeNu of Crosley and Clabbergirl), says utilizing local music resources was logical. Joining forces with the upcoming MidPoint Music Festival by featuring some of the performing artists on the site and sponsoring some of the showcases makes the timing perfect.

“It’s pretty obvious that there’s a wealth of original music talent in Cincinnati and our new Audio/Video Program was searching for a focal point,” DeNu says. “The tie just seemed natural.”

DeNu, a self-proclaimed “old rock and roller from the ’60s,” and huge local music fan, says using local artists has been a great way to excite the students about learning.

“They love it,” he says of the creative teaching tools. “Although we get a mix of students of all ages, a considerable number of them are in the 18-25 (age) range. Music is a big part of their lives, and the focused lab work around local music and musicians is a great fit.”

Joel Kneuven, bassist in Crosley, former Cincinnati State student and current teacher at the school, has been helping DeNu develop Cincysounds, bouncing ideas around and helping to get bands for the site. Like most local musicians, Kneuven says he feels frustration with the difficulty of getting the general public to go see original local bands. Early conversations on the topic planted the seeds for Cincysounds.

“We were talking about the reasons why people don’t go to local original music shows,” says Kneuven. “(All of the local bands) seem to be sharing the same 500 fans. I think the local original music fan is smarter than the average person. They like to be challenged. We just think that if we could get an audio site out there, and then actually turn it into a radio station with different kind of shows and DJs, maybe people would listen and go, ‘Hey, this sounds pretty good,’ and then look them up.”

It’s still an uphill battle, but Cincysounds shows initiative and is a promising venture. The idea isn’t unique — UC’s broadcasting department boasts the like-minded Bearcast site (which has less emphasis on local music) — and Web sites, in general, come and go. But DeNu and Kneuven’s hearts are in the right place and their plans are ambitious, but wildly practical.

“The hope is that if students get into some of the original bands, they can bring fans,” says Kneuven. “If I was a student, I’d be like, ‘What a cool way to learn. I get to go to a bar and record a Rock band.’ I think it’s a good way to crossover and cover a lot of bases — students can learn and get interested in a band, and the band’s happy to get a recording done.”

Asked where, ideally, he’d like to see Cincinnati State’s projects in five years, DeNu has Utopian visions. “In five years we should be airing over the Internet and on local cable stations (with) our own weekly music entertainment show Rockin’ on the Hill, Cincysounds will be available over satellite radio feed and every bar on Main Street will be tuned in at night, just before one of the city’s fine local original music bands takes the stage before another full house.

“It’s OK to have dreams, right?”

This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2003.