F E AT U R E S TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017
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MUSIC
Student indie band performs at PhilaMOCA Americanadian released a single earlier this month on Bandcamp. BY VALERIE DOWRET For The Temple News Nina Fuchs, the drummer of DIY band Americanadian and a freshman music industry major at Drexel University, could feel the difference between playing on a cracked, concrete floor in a home basement and the inside of a mausoleum. Americanadian, an indie dream rock band that includes two Temple students, played a
show at PhilaMOCA, a mausoleum-turned-music venue, on Friday. The band released the track “Peachy” on Bandcamp, an online platform for posting music, earlier this month and plans to release an EP this year. The band got its start in Philadelphia’s DIY music scene, which often means playing music in house basements and makeshift venues. “[The PhilaMOCA show] felt more powerful,” said Nick DeFabritus, the band’s bassist and a freshman music education major. “I felt like I was actually almost like taking control of the audience in a way, like pulling them in.”
“It was cool to see how everyone’s eyes were on us the whole time,” he added. “This time I’m able to see a lot more reactions from people.” DeFabritus added that at most basement shows, the audience consists of mostly friends, but at PhilaMOCA, he saw several new faces, which he hopes will increase the band’s exposure. Serena Scalzi, now Americanadian’s guitarist and lead singer, started talking about forming a band in Summer 2016. Scalzi, a freshman psychology major at Bucks County Community College, became interested in music when she was in middle
OLIVIA O’NEILL / THE TEMPLE NEWS Jeff Weingarten (left), a junior media studies and production major, and Nick DeFabritus (right), a freshman music education major, play in the DIY indie band Americanadian. The band performed original songs at PhilaMOCA last Friday.
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DAUGHTERS and women. “Absence can also be a relationship,” Johnson said. “People don’t understand that even if your father was absent from your life, that still defines your experience with him. Relationships centered around absence can create lasting issues related to neglect, abandonment and worthlessness.” The absence of fatherhood in the Black community has become normalized, Johnson said. “We’re used to the ‘superhero Black mom who does it all’ trope, and we don’t talk about the impact that has on mothers and kids enough,” she said. Johnson said she often hears girls say that not having their fathers present didn’t really affect them. “I can see how that could be easy to believe at times, but as you mature you might realize that you attract emotionally unavailable men, or you tend to feel neglected easily,” Johnson said. “Being involved with someone who isn’t available to you, emotionally or physically, can continue a cycle of absent relationships that started with your father.” Sophomore sociology major Yasmin ElZaher reached out to Johnson to be part of the project via social media. She recognized some of the faces featured on the the “100 Other Halves” Instagram page, where Johnson uploads photos of her with participants after she interviews them. After her conversation with Johnson, which she described as “overwhelming and enlightening,” El-Zaher reached out to her father. Before that day, she said she never really had an intimate conversation with him. “It can be hard to acknowledge that you’ve been hurt by or feel resentment toward someone you love,” El-Zaher said. “After talking to Kyshon, I was able to really open up to my dad about things we’d never discussed before, like my sexuality and my mental health. He was way more understanding than I ever imagined him to be. I cried.” In the caption under each photo she
school and first picked up one of her dad’s guitars. She taught herself how to simultaneously sing and play guitar. After being introduced through mutual friends during their sophomore year in high school, Fuchs and Scalzi became close. Fuchs planned on recording Scalzi’s music for her senior project, so they began working together. With only a lead singer and drummer, the duo reached out to Jeff Weingarten in search of a lead guitarist. Scalzi met Weingarten at a house show in Philadelphia and then found his solo music on Bandcamp. “We all became really good friends out of it,” said Weingarten, a junior media studies and production major. DeFabritus joined the band this past June. After rehearsing nearly every day that month in Fuchs’ basement in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, the band performed its first show in early July at The Pentajawn, a nowclosed DIY space in North Philadelphia. The band has performed at several other DIY spaces in the city, like the Pharmacy, a coffee shop and music venue in Point Breeze. DeFabritus said there’s more energy at DIY shows in Philadelphia than at venues. “I feel like at venues like [PhilaMOCA], a lot of people are checking us out for the first time, a lot of people who haven’t seen us before,” DeFabritus said. “But at basements it’s more people who have seen us. ... It’s also cool to get out there to have a lot more people see us, and
it’s a really good experience.” In high school, Weingarten developed songs from being “alone in [his] thoughts.” Now at Temple, he said he draws from his many new relationships. “When I get to college, there’s so many people here,” Weingarten said. “That’s more influence to write my music about.” Americanadian’s latest single, “Peachy,” was written by Fuchs, Scalzi and Weingarten about their friend Elizabeth Hazard, a freshman art major. The song discusses the band members’ love of her personality. “Every time I hear it gives me a little bit of secondhand embarrassment just because I know it’s about myself,” Hazard said. “But at the same time, every time they play it I get so happy because I’m like, ‘This song bops and it’s about me.’” The band is currently recording its EP with Donato Pignetti, a Philadelphia musician who helps local indie bands, like Fred Beans and Earthboy, record their albums at his house. This is the first time the group isn’t self-recording in Fuchs’ bedroom. “We’re getting used to having someone else listen to it as we record it,” Scalzi said. “The first day we were all shy. … We’re just comfortable with it now. “I’m just excited to get out my mind through the music and the music that we’ve all been working on and mixing, recording and all the time and work we put into it,” she added.
valerie.dowret@temple.edu
uploads, Johnson includes each woman’s response to the question, “What positive characteristics did you develop from your father?” She said the question usually challenges those who have unhealthy or absent relationships with their fathers to examine how it has shaped the women they are today. “Most women think about that question for a bit and then blurt out ‘independence’ or ‘strength,’” Johnson said. “It makes sense. They grew up in single-mother households and watched their moms work and raise multiple kids, often without enough additional support. They may have learned not to rely on other people and to work hard to provide for themselves. ” The project has also allowed her to explore the benefits that come with having a healthy paternal relationship. Rabiyah Mujahid, a 2017 Arcadia University international studies and pre-law alumna, was the 61st person to share her story with Johnson. She currently serves as a fellow at the Education Law Center, an organization in Center City that tries to ensure equal access to quality public education for Pennsylvania youth. Mujahid, 22, said she draws her confidence from having a strong bond with her father. “My dad is very in tune with his emotions,” said the South Philadelphia native. “He’s a crier and unapologetically expresses how he feels about everything. So in my relationships, I love when people are comfortable expressing who they are and how they feel with me.” For Johnson, “100 Other Halves” isn’t simply a collection of experiences, but a celebration of healing. When she completes 100 interviews, Johnson plans to host a celebratory event with all 100 participants. Johnson said each story and interaction is special to her. “These women may not realize it, but they pour so much wisdom and knowledge into me,” Johnson said. “It’s a powerful exchange of energy. For those of us who need to heal, we can start to heal together.”
khanya.brann@temple.edu @_AfroKhan
KHANYA BRANN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sophomore sociology major Yasmin El-Zaher (above) is the 36th participant in senior international business major Kyshon Johnson’s “100 Other Halves” project. She aims to speak to 100 women about their relationships with their fathers.
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