As much as Triangle college towns are great incubators for music students are often not the main audience for the bands.
Duke University senior Corina Apostol is out to change that.
As president of the university's Campus Concert Series" she has expanded the lineup this year to local bands and more shows.
""A lot of people on campus want to hear something else. They don't want to hear everything that's on MTV"" Apostol said, explaining why she thinks students will be receptive to local music on campus.
Apostol has led Carolina Campus Seriesto expand its lineup to include 14 weekly shows at the Armadillo Grill on Duke's West Campus this semester. Shows are on Fridays from 5:30 p.m. to about 10 p.m.
The series kicks off Friday with the Hey Man! Festival, featuring Durham's Red Collar, Chapel Hill's I Was Totally Destroying It and Raleigh's The Secret Theatre, in addition to Duke-student band Panda Force.
Chamindra Goonewardene, president of the Duke University Union which funds CCS, said that he supported the expansion because it will help to remove the divide between Duke and the rest of Durham.
Especially at Duke (students) tend to be sort of distant from the music scene"" he said. We're trying to build that bridge and make sure students are exposed to local music. That's one thing that we really want for them to do.""
The series's funding for the year was expanded to$15""300 to facilitate the expansion.
Apostol said she was excited to include local bands because of the great experiences she has had going to local shows.
""My first semester here I felt really trapped on campus"" she said. I wanted to go out there and see something else.""
Some of her friends began taking her to off-campus concerts and she was hooked immediately.
""There was a lot of live music. All the musicians came and talked to you" she said. I thought that if I put in the bands that I really liked if I brought them here people would think 'Oh this is a really good band" I want to listen to these people.'""
Goonewardene said he is also supportive of the initiative because of the opportunity it gives student bands to share a bill with more established local groups.
""The idea of having a local band and a student band was actually thought of by Corina" and I think it's fantastic he said. You give exposure to bands on campus" and you give exposure to local bands.""
Jason Kutchma" lead singer of Red Collar" said he's excited for the series as an opportunity to get students excited for local music.
""It's important that you go where they are"" he said. They simply don't know what's out there. You have to bring it to them first. You can't expect them to necessarily leave their comfort zones.""
Kutchma also emphasized that he thinks CCS is an example of how possible making this happen can be.
""A lot of universities say" 'We should get local music playing here' but they look at that as such a large pain in the ass he said. All it takes is one person who's willing to work a small amount of money and somebody who's hopefully tied into the local scene" he said.
Apostol is hopeful that the series will get Duke excited about local music, using herself as an unlikely example of a student who didn't.
I'm from Romania originally. I had no connection. The only thing we watch is MTV. If I came to the point where I love what's going on here and want to support it"" I think it's possible.""
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
