Kind of Wavy: Thomas Wincek and Lün Perform Alternative Music
Thomas Wineck Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

Kind of Wavy: Thomas Wincek and Lün Perform Alternative Music

Eerie echoes, looping tracks, and a strong beat defined the feel of the alternative music in the Encore on Thursday night. It was music that sounded like the reverberations of life.

Thomas Wincek, member of the bands Volcano Choir, Field Report and All Tiny Creatures, performed solo in the first Centertainment Productions show of the spring semester.

LUN Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

LUN Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

The concert opened with a set by Lün, a local, four-member, electro-soul pop band.

Bridget Pintz, Alternative Sounds Coordinator for Centertainment Productions defined alternative music.

“It’s anything that isn’t what would be considered the mainstream wants of campus,” Pintz said.

Whereas mainstream music contains the genres of bluegrass country and rock, where alternative genres include hip-hop, electronic, pop, punk and metal.

“I do more… stuff that isn’t really represented that much in a smaller area such as Stevens Point, trying to get more diversity in music genres to campus,” Pintz said.

The opening band, Lün, brought a sound characterized by a mix of serenity and power, as if the sounds from a generic meditation music CD had been thrown in a blender, poured back out in a smooth blend and had the volume cranked up.

The sparse bursts of lyrics in their music come almost as an afterthought. Their sound takes precedence, and the vocals set into place.

Joe Molle, junior paper science and engineering major, attended the show and later described the music.

“It’s a little bit melodic, kind of wavy,” Molle said. “You just have to go with it. As soon as you get a feel for it, you can kind of follow it and really get into it.”

After Lün, Thomas Wincek took the stage.

“He usually does work with bands, but he is touring solo, kind of doing live electronic music that’s completely made up on the spot,” Pintz said.

Wincek recorded sounds on stage and mixed them together with the mountain of sound equipment piled on the stage.

Thomas Wineck Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

Thomas Wineck Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

Singing extended notes into the microphone and using the music of his guitarist, Wincek worked at his soundboard to take what at first sounded like an indistinct mixture of strange reverberating tones and whistles and made them into music.

“Nothing rehearsed,” Wincek said at the show. “All improv. All live… I literally have no idea what’s going to happen right now.”

“It’s improv,” Pintz said. “I think that’s really cool because we don’t have much of that on campus, so I’m excited about that.”

Charity Hentges, senior arts management major, explained how the musicians worked together to bring one, cohesive show.

“The opener had really good energy,” Hentges said. “And then being followed up by the main band was a lot of fun to see how different it was and how all the sounds came together.”

Hentges continued by analyzing the specific feelings each type of music evoked in the audience.

“The opener, you were definitely able to move your body to them because they were really instrumental and gave you the feels and let you vibe out,” Hentges said. “The main act is so edgy and experimental and doing what they know to do and what they like. It’s so cool to see that because it’s unique compared to other sounds that are normally at the campus.”

Hentges and Molle look forward to what other alternative music Centertainment will bring to UWSP throughout the semester.

“I think it was a good choice of artists they had come here tonight,” Molle said. “We got to hear some really great things. It was a lot of fun and a great experience.”

Kathryn Wisniewski

Reporter

kathryn.e.wisniewski@uwsp.edu

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