BY ALEXANDRA ESTRADA
M
onday February 8th’s performance at the Middle East Corner was Ice Cream Orphan’s first as a full band outside of their North Andover high school. Lead singer Cam Pulaski had reached out to Lysten Boston after noticing other local bands booking with the company. Lysten Boston’s owner, Alyssa Spector, manages the Middle East Corner’s calendar Monday and Wednesday nights and was able to give Ice Cream Orphan a slot there. Spector also gave the band complete control over their lineup, so Pulaski and bassist, Eric Ouellette, contacted Ricecrackers, a four-piece of Berklee sophomores. Ouellette, a long time fan of Ricecrackers, introduced Ice Cream Orphan to their music. Pulaski also contacted Fenn Macon through a Facebook group called Non Denominational Emo, which, according to Pulaski, “has over 3,000 members from all around the world who play/listen to Emo music and collaborate with others to create a community.” All three performers were included in the show Pulaski booked through Lysten Boston. On Monday night, Fenn Macon took to the stage first with songs that would be comfortable on the set list of a Front Bottoms concert. His shouted lyrics and energetic guitar play did little to pump up the nine people in the audience, but he delivered a solid performance in spite of the lackluster crowd with the help of a well received XX cover and an ode to Taco Bell called “Bell of Dreams”. Ice Cream Orphan came next and, despite it being their first performance together, they commanded the attention of the tiny crowd. Pulaski, although only a high school student, conducted himself with the professionalism of a seasoned performer. Ice Cream Orphan played seven original songs and Ouellette stepped in with the lead vocals for a cover of “Green Eyes” by Wavves. Following Ice Cream Orphan were Ricecrackers to close
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out the show. Although vocalist Olivia’s lyrics were often drowned out by the music, the impact of her words was still felt in songs like recent single “5 Golden Rings”, which she described “as a way to say materialism and social climbing is not cool” after a falling out with a close friend. Ricecrackers also played the entirety of their Kolohe Kid EP from June of last year. Ricecrackers have booked through Lysten Boston before with the help of fellow Berklee student Keegan Farara of Red Mill. When asked about this trend, she tells me, “it’s as simple as that: friends book friends shows.” Alyssa Spector, founder, owner, manager, and the only employee of Lysten Boston, is keyed into this networking nature between local musicians. Though she herself is not a musician, Alyssa has always been involved in music as a listener. In Lysten’s early days, Alyssa was booking one show a month but through continued networking she has grown her business to the point where she books as many as five a week. Lysten has recently become a permanent booking agent for four local bands: Florio, Let’s Wait, Radclyffe Hall, and Le Roxy Pro. Her goal is to “bring together talented musicians and the city of Boston”. To do this she needs the cooperation of both the musicians and the city. The musicians have been pulling their weight for decades, creating a collaborative and supportive music scene that gave us acts like The Pixies and Aerosmith. But speak to the musicians and they’ll tell you the city isn’t doing their part. When asked about the livelihood of the local music scene, Alyssa said, “we do have a music scene here but it’s very limited unless you’re directly involved [as a musician, agent, etc.]” Locals don’t come out to see shows anymore. Pulaski of Ice Cream Orphan, and the mastermind behind Monday night’s lineup, said, “What I would like to see is peo-