![Will Vizuete, 44, and Connor LaMontagne, 25, are the bassist and drummer for The Unsustainables, a band brought together by their mutual love for the environment and the traditional sounds of the Jaimaican ’Ska’ genre. Vizuete is an Associate professor in the Environmental Science and Engineering department at the Gillings School of Public Health, while LaMontagne works in the same department as a PhD student. The band is composed of environmental scientists, engineers and even one EPA employee. According to LaMontagne, Ska is the predecessor of reggae. “It’s a cool mix,” LaMontagne said. “We’ll be playing just a regular reggae tune and then Trent will call out dub style and we’ll [make] what he describes as a ‘subtractive art’. It’s not about making a bunch of noise, it’s more about what you sounds you remove and sort of tastefully messing with the arrangement.” Vizuete agrees that the band’s mutual love for this era of music makes the group so amazing. “What’s really hip about it is that we’re all writing new songs,” Vizuete said. “It’s something new and contemporary, because [we’re] writing about stuff in [our] own life, but it’s within this kind of era of sound that we love. And that’s the fun part, trying to recreate that sound.” The Unsustainables create this sound through the use of drums, bass, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone and conga. They are in the process of trying out a new piano player, according to Vizuete, which would bring the total number of members from seven to eight people. “Just being able to play has really been keeping our sanity,” Vizuete said.](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/dth/7cafc832-b460-45d2-83ab-970325444cf2.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=300&ar=4%3A3&fit=crop&crop=faces&facepad=3&auto=format)
Carrboro band explores the intersection of science and music
By Caroline Nihill | Dec. 14, 2020The band features two members of the UNC community.
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The band features two members of the UNC community.
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While movie theaters are open in North Carolina, a weak slate of blockbuster films and low attendance have made 2020 one of the most difficult and fascinating years in recent Hollywood history.
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The music industry in Chapel Hill has slowed to a near halt in 2020. Live music tends to involve shuttling people into the kind of crowded, intimate space that is now synonymous with risk. Venues and artists alike have had to adapt to a music scene without shows.
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Drew Ellis, commonly known by his stage name of “Drell,” is a junior with a passion for making music. Not music for the sake of combining sounds and creating new genres, but music as a form of personal exploration, expression and evolution.
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Students dressed up as ghosts, put their photos on Vogue Magazine covers and wore colorful wigs to participate in TikTok trends.
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The UNC music department introduced "Do the Work Wednesdays," a weekly series that highlights anti-racism work being done in the department and features BIPOC artists. The series emerged after the department spent the summer reflecting on their internal systemic racism and ways to enact meaningful change.
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The Orange County Arts Commission inducted two new advisory board members, UNC senior Matthew Keith and photographer Sean T. Bailey.
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Pop sensation Ariana Grande isn’t afraid to boldly confront the confusing cross-section of love and lust. "Positions," Grande’s third album in two years, is an exploration of a young woman’s sensual side, with songs openly addressing our generation’s attitudes toward sex, and packing the track list with infinite intimate innuendoes. You’re going to want to take notes.
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Carrboro-based Dwarf Star Studios is holding their monthly virtual concert series at 7 p.m. Thursday featuring The Unsustainables, Fat Bastard Blues Band and Harbors. The three local bands have sounds ranging from ska to the blues and alternative music.
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RDU on Stage, a Triangle-based theater review and podcast site, opened conversations regarding racism in the theatre and arts community in early March, before George Floyd's murder in May sparked a nation-wide racial reckoning.
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Until the end of November, the Orange County Artists Guild is curating online galleries for its artists, and many artists have free virtual studio visits via Zoom and Facetime by appointment. Ross Ford, the publicity chair for the guild, said this event can be the difference between a good year and rough year for an artist.
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"Holding Space for Nobility: A Memorial for Breonna Taylor," created by multimedia artist Shanequa Gay, is on display virtually at the Ackland Art Museum. Gay said she believes this commission is bound to spark some uncomfortable yet necessary conversations.
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Many concert tours in 2020 ended before they could even start, causing music fans and many UNC students to miss out on seeing their favorite songs performed live. Cancellations and postponements have become the new normal, leaving artists and their fans hoping 2021 will be different for the concert scene.
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Clients are traveling from all over to the Critter Swamp in Hillsborough, a Black, trans and queer-owned tattoo shop that was created to combat many issues within the tattoo industry.
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This year, the Pauper Players theatre group will be remotely recording and creating a music video for “Time Warp,” a song from their annual production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." The video will be available through the group's social media starting on Halloween.
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"Out of Darkness," a virtual exhibition at Block Gallery in Raleigh, features photographs and videos inspired by film noir, a style of dark Hollywood film.
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Chapel Hill bar owners have turned to methods such as livestreaming and GoFundMe to provide entertainment and generate revenue as state restrictions have kept their businesses closed.
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LAB! Theatre Company will showcase “Fear of Buildings,” a free virtual production, from Oct. 23-25. "Fear of Buildings" is a comedy about two characters who run into each other on the street. There is an omniscient presence commenting on what they talk about, who they eventually meet.
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Kenan Theatre Company is continuing to provide a safe alternative for theater-goers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their virtual production of Gina Femia’s “The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from Our Lady of Sorrows” will stream on Oct. 23 and 24 with a focus on themes of sexuality, religion and adolescence.
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The spooky spirit is still in the air this season. While there are less people dressed up on Franklin Street, more students have chosen to stay inside to safely celebrate Halloween.
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