Thousands of students have recently descended upon Charlottesville, eager to pursue all the fresh starts a new school year promises. And for those already hard at work on their fall semester playlists, new music listening club Hoos Listening offers surefire opportunities to make new friends and explore musical interests in a low pressure environment.
Founded last semester, the club provides a space for people to come together and share their love of music through events like listening parties, picnics, playlist swaps and more. Fourth-year Engineering student Nylaa LaRose, co-founder and president of the club, explained that she and her co-founder, fourth-year Engineering student Marcus Dupart wanted to create a community where students can talk about music regardless of genre.
“I’m part of other U.Va. music communities, and I enjoy the spaces that they have … but I wanted more community within them, and for more genres to be seen,” LaRose said.
Additionally, LaRose said she feels as though those organizations often center around making music, so she wanted to make a space outside of those organizations for music lovers of all genres who may not be musicians themselves.
LaRose also shared that Dupart’s hope was for people to be able to have critical discussions where they could rank and compare albums and artists with like-minded individuals. Merging the two ideas, the pair created Hoos Listening.
After forming the club in January, the executive board has already put together several successful events, including a social on the Lawn with student radio group WXTJ and an Earth Day picnic at Hereford Residential College.
Fourth-year Engineering student Stacey Luki, who is in charge of the club’s graphic design, says that the picnic event was a success. Attendees both old and new shared pizza, drinks and their favorite music as they watched the sunset from Hereford Hill.
“The picnic was very chill and relaxing,” Luki said. “It felt as though a group of friends were hanging out.”
The group has also held playlist swaps, facilitated by LaRose, where club members decide on an overall theme and a length for their playlists. Individuals then create playlists according to those shared parameters and exchange them with others. This activity can be done virtually, making for a convenient way to hear new music and connect with other people during the often hectic school year.
LaRose said that the executive board has many event plans for the upcoming semester. Along with more playlist swaps, the board hopes to hold album listening parties as well as record listening parties, where people gather together and trade vinyl records.
Additionally, the group will be at The Source Sept. 1 in the Newcomb Ballroom, an event hosted by the Black Student Alliance intended to give new Black students an opportunity to explore various Contracted Independent Organizations and clubs on Grounds.
Fourth-year Engineering student Andrew Spencer operates each of the club’s social media accounts and says that students can get involved by joining the club’s Discord server, filling out their interest form and following their Instagram account, @hooslistening.
The club’s interest form — which students can find linked on their Instagram account — reflects its values for openness and acceptance. The form asks students both “what are some genres of music you like?” and “what are some genres you would like to get into?” According to LaRose, the executive board considers both of these questions equally important as they think about their goals for the club.
“Our club is different in that it inspires people who already love music and want to find music to do it without being judged,” said LaRose.
Additionally, LaRose noted that the club’s interest form has gathered a lot of diverse responses, ranging from R&B to hip hop to indie pop, which she sees as aligned with the diversity of music taste within the club’s existing membership.
“Within our executive board, there’s a lot of variance [in taste],” she said. “I listen to everything — I used to play music a lot too, so I’m kind of everywhere with it.”
Illustrating the wide variance in the music tastes of the club’s membership, LaRose says that some of her favorite songs recently include “Spite” by Omar Apollo and “You Only Live Once” by The Strokes — which fall into the genres of alternative and indie rock, respectively. Meanwhile, Spencer has been listening to a lot of hip hop artist Childish Gambino’s last album “Bando Stone and the New World,” and Luki has been a big fan of Chappell Roan’s pop ballad “Good Luck Babe.”
“Each of us individually has a preference in terms of music genre, which is great, because as a group that allows us to have … all types of people,” Luki said.
LaRose said the club members care about music not just in terms of its artistic qualities, but for how it can elevate our lives and enhance our ability to relate to one another.
“When people are able to share what they like and how they feel about what they like, it gives us more opportunities to learn about each other,” LaRose said.
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