From conception to execution, UC Davis community members share the immense effort that goes into creating a successful show
By EMME DUNNING — features@theaggie.org
Live music is a vital part of the social lives of many UC Davis students. A hub for backyard concerts, underground raves and local community music events, the Davis music scene has long been celebrated as a cornerstone of student culture. However, while many students and community members attend these events, far fewer truly understand the full extent of what it takes to put a show together.
Caden Velasquez, a UC Davis alumnus with a Bachelor of Art (B.A.) in international relations and the founder of the local music collective DRC Creatives, previously known as Davis Rave Company, is acutely aware of just how much is required to create a memorable show. He also understands that this hard work is often unnoticed by the average attendee.
“[Attendees] buy their ticket, they show up, they have fun and then they leave,” Velasquez said. “You’re maybe seeing 5% of the entire show.”
So what accounts for the other 95%? Velasquez asserts that the entirety of a show is a major production that can take weeks, if not months, to coordinate.
“It takes a lot of people and time to put on a show,” Velasquez said. “The first step of the timeline is the concept. What you want to do, what kind of vibe you’re going for, who you want to attract and what kind of product you’re trying to create for people.”
This stage of planning is crucial, Velasquez asserted, as all elements of a show must work together cohesively to be successful.
“It has to mesh very well, and a lot of that goes into comprehensive planning,” Velasquez said. “You just want to make sure everything is compatible, comprehensive and complementary because, in the end, that’s what’s going to make a really good show.”
After a general vision is established, organizers start coordinating more granular logistics.
“Once you have a location and a date and an artist and really a concept, you can start to reach out and get other third parties involved — like vendors,” Velasquez said. “A few days before the event you start getting more into meticulous itinerary planning and who’s gonna be doing what, at what time and where, with who — so you want to make sure that you’re orchestrating a team really well.”
Velasquez said that although this planning is essential to the success of a show, the most successful shows never let on to this massive effort.
“If you’re at a really good show, you should feel very immersed in the experience,” Velasquez said. “Never should you feel like you’re anywhere but that show.”
For Katya Jane, a UC Davis alumna with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, this behind-the-scenes work is a personal passion.
Jane is a former member of the locally renowned band Cowboys After Dark, her involvement in which propelled her into her current career as the founder and lead show producer for Velvet Red Productions. In this role, Jane is responsible for much of the logistics that go into creating a successful music event and is all too familiar with the sometimes lengthy planning process it brings.
“There are so many layers that go into it,” Jane said. “I personally like to have about a month in advance to plan all the gear, make all the arrangements and get a really good flyer that’s engaging and easy to follow.”
During this month, Jane also takes time to introduce performers to their potential audience through social media.
“On Instagram, I like to do spotlight posts,” Jane said. “I like to highlight every band and kind of talk about them individually before the show so that people know who they’re going to see.”
As the show gets closer, pressure to perform well can mount for both musicians and crew members. To combat the expected stress from this, Jane noted that having a solid and compatible team is essential.
“It’s a lot of people working on one thing so it’s really important to have camaraderie with the people that you’re working with,” Jane said. “There are so many moving parts, and it can get very chaotic. You have to make sure you’re able to communicate things efficiently and get a lot of people on board to do one big event. That’s how these events become big and awesome and so much fun is when everyone comes together and does their part.”
Nola Zimdars, a fourth-year design major, has taken a particular interest in creative marketing and poster design for local music events, particularly with ASUCD’s Whole Earth Festival. Zimdars asserted the importance of design in shaping the underlying message of a show and attracting a key player — the audience.
“Design is so important,” Zimdars said. “A good design catches people’s eyes. If you don’t have a good poster, who’s going to come to your event?”
Being part of the music scene through designing flyers and other promotional content allows Zimdars to engage with the creative community, despite not being a musician herself.
“I get to be creative,” Zimdars said. “I’m not musically inclined, but I get to participate in the process and then I still get to just be in the crowd and also feel like I’m involved in the creation. It’s super rewarding to work hard and see your efforts come to fruition.”
For Zimdars, a major goal of promotional design is to expand the reach of the show beyond those who might typically attend.
“We’ve been trying to make a much bigger effort to diversify where we put posters up because the music scene is for everyone, and everyone deserves to participate,” Zimdars said. “It shouldn’t just be the group that’s involved going and we’re trying really hard to make a broader range of people feel included and welcome in the space and just give more exposure to groups that might not normally have wanted to come.”
Once a show has been planned, booked and effectively advertised, the focus shifts to the performance itself and how to effectively capture the hard work of organizers and performers on and off the stage.
During the show, photographers and videographers play a vital role in ensuring the show is documented thoroughly and professionally, providing future promotional materials for artists and immortalizing memories for attendees.
Nik Wylie, a UC Davis alumnus with a B.A. in history, and JJ Noel, a former UC Davis student and Davis resident, work together to capture the unique energy of local shows. The pair work as full-time UC Davis staff members, shooting marketing content as a videographer and photographer respectively, but also hold a strong passion for the local music scene. Like many other players, they have a primary goal of contributing to the overall success of the show for both the artists and the audience members.
“Especially here in Davis, we’ve been pretty blessed with a lot of really good local bands who can play a really good show and a really fun show,” Wylie said. “Being able to take videos of those shows and how fun they can be — it’s really cool being able to share that kind of stuff.”
As a musician himself, Wylie hopes to accurately portray the atmosphere of a show through his videos to truly capture the experience as if it were live.
“I want to make it as representative as possible of what it’s actually like playing onstage,” Wylie said. “I’ve been in the crowd and I’ve been onstage, and the nice thing about video is being able to capture what it’s like being on stage and then representing that on social media. I think it’s very special to be able to do that.”
Noel echoed these statements and emphasized the importance of photography in capturing the true essence of a show.
“My motivation for doing photos of the local scene is really to shine a spotlight on them and show people how exciting these shows are,” Noel said. “Being able to do that for people who are students and just doing it for the passion of it […] is a really special thing.”
Noel asserted that the right visuals go a long way in making a show look professional and, in turn, elevating the perception of local shows and artists.
“[We want to] take something that [is] super grassroots and elevate it to a level of, ‘This could have been Green Day back in the day,’” Noel said. “It could’ve been anyone. It could’ve been a national act, and making it look and feel that way is our goal as marketing photographers and videographers.”
While Davis continues to be a hub for local artists and creatives to thrive, Noel fears that fourth-year planning members graduating and a recent loss of long-standing venues could pose a threat to the future of the local music scene.
“We’re losing houses that are willing to put on shows, and we’re losing music venues in Davis,” Noel said. “A lot of the people who made these incredible memories for us graduated and moved on.”
Although this shift presents undeniable challenges to the beloved music scene, Noel remains hopeful about the future. To keep this special scene alive for future generations of Aggies, he said that it will take initiative from everyone.
“This is something that anyone can do,” Noel said. “If everyone contributes to the community and everyone puts in a little bit of effort and believes in it, really amazing things can happen.”
Written by: Emme Dunning — features@theaggie.org
