Burnight Theater became the stage for a showcase of student talent; the student band “Out of Nowhere” and student dancers performed as accompanying acts for director of commercial music Andrew Maz “Entropy” album release concert, on Friday, Feb. 3.
“Entropy” is an alternative electronica album that took a year and a half to complete. It is a creation that combines Maz’s music and song lyrics with Cerritos College Commercial Music Program student’s recording, editing, and mixing abilities.
The proceeds from the album’s sales will be use for the purchase of instruments and equipment for the music department.
For Maz “Entropy” the album is “a love story between two people.”
The song Entropy is the title track for the album and it is also the first song that Maz wrote for the album which set the tone for the 13 tracks that followed.
Entropy’s lyrics evoke imagery of two people discovering their love for each other throughout the chaos in the world around them or the chaos that falling in love itself creates.
And suddenly stars appear
And dance above my head
Leading me to a magic place
I’m standing still before your grace
The truth is here
I’m in love with you
I’m in love with you
Together forever
You and me
Tossing and turning
In entropy
Maz performed all of the album’s tracks having “Out of Nowhere” vocalist Emili Romano also singing vocals for the songs.
Maz’s and Romano’s voices added a melodic element to the alternative electronica music.
During the concert it was only at times that Romano’s softer voice was overpowered by the sound of the live drums.
However, on tracks like Infinite and Calamity the combination of Romano’s voice, Maz’s lyrics and command of the stage made the audience engage and cheer.
Graphic design major, Karen Ventura, whose favorite song of the concert was Orbital said, “It was fantastic. I loved every single set overall from the visuals to the musical performance, the vocals I thought it was all well done.”
Linda Cortes, graphic design major, was at the concert to support and cheer for her boyfriend Eric Orellana her favorite song of the concert was Calamity.
She was pleasantly surprised by “The way they brought everything together, the dancers, the visuals and the music overall.”
Ventura agreed and said, “I liked how they integrated dance with music because it’s usually just the dancers on stage and the music would be like a background but I really like how they incorporated both of them together. That way you visually saw both the music and the dancers instead of focusing on one. I really liked the integration.”
The concert had the participation of four dance majors Marisol De La Torre, Ismael Ramirez, Teresa Segura and David Yoder. The dancers created their own choreography to the songs that Maz picked out for them to use.
Ramirez volunteered for the opportunity to choreograph and collaborate with the music department.
“Maz spoke with Rebekah Hathaway [dance instructor] about his ideas and she relayed that to us and once we got that it was pretty fun. To take his ideas and interpret them our own way and he seemed very happy with the results.”
Ramirez was looking to give a performance he could “Be happy with, be satisfied with what I show on stage and leave it all on stage. To be within myself when I dance so much so that I captivate the audience.”
De La Torre believed the concert to be a wonderful experience for the dancers that participated.
She said, “It was a wonderful experience for us dancers to collaborate with the music department. In the dance world it’s normal for us to dance with musicians, but for us here at Cerritos this is the first time. It’s something new for us it’s good it’s helping us get our names out there and getting more people to come see our shows. I really enjoyed it, it’s an opportunity for the students to showcase our choreography as a creator.
Other students that were able to showcase their talents as musical creators were opening act the band “Out of Nowhere.”
Maz said, “I threw out the challenge to see what their [“Out of Nowhere”] potential would be, they’ve done great work they’ve lived up to their potential and beyond. They’ve all surprised me they’ve all done really amazing work and they’ve worked really well together.”
“Out of Nowhere” pianist Su Ha said it was her first time being a part of a group and working on writing songs. “It was fun, I would play simple cords and they would sing a melody we worked together.”
The bands enthusiasm showed on stage.
Gary Pangelina who was there to support his son in law Maz liked the band’s inexperience.
He said, “they were more into what they were doing.” The inexperience added charm to their performance as they asked the audience to sing with them and clap their hands to the rhythm of its song.
Maz said, “It’s completely different [from Entropy] they have their own sound, their own style, their own personalities I let them go their own way,” the band’s musical style is pop-rock.
“They write the songs, and I listen to them, I make suggestions, we work on instrumentation and arrangement. I’m merely a coach in that sense,” Maz concluded.
Hathaway who was in charge of the dance portion of the student collaboration was pleased with the results that her students created.
She said, “They were so responsible taking on additional rehearsal hours. Their pieces exceeded my expectations, from the choreography to the costume design. They designed their own costumes working off Maz ideas […] and used that as a springboard to their own creativity.”
For her the concert was proof that a successful collaboration between dance and music departments could be established for years to come.
“I’m glad that Maz and I have done this [concert collaboration]. It sows the seeds to do this again next year, and to build a good relationship between the music and dance department and a good collaborating relationship between his composition students and my choreography students,” Hathaway concluded.
