This month, we get together with a few bright, wide-eyed students of the University of Oregon to chat with them about their newly formed group called the Music Industry Collective. Game-Changers and go-getters, Allison Del Fium, Aidan D'Angelo, Bobby Schenk, and Sean Thomson, began this extra-curriculor program with shared interests of working in the industry, hoping to bring together like-minded contemporaries and offering outstanding opportunities within the music biz to make their dreams a reality! Pretty cool.
Read our interview to find out more about the MIC, why it's important, who's involved, and what it's doing for the next generation of industry leaders in the October issue of the Original Fuzz Magazine.
Find out more on the MIC and how you can get involved on their website theuomic.com.
"I think gaining the skills to network, intern, and speak with professionals who have developed their own career is a great thing for any college student to have." —Allison
MIC officers Allison, Bobby, and Aidan. Photo by Eric Cech for the Daily Emerald.
Who are you and what do you do?
Allison: I am a current Junior and Music Industry Collective officer at the University of Oregon. I am majoring in Journalism with a minor in Music. Beyond student life, I work in different areas of the music industry as a composer, engineer, and producer; as well as writing for a music magazine called Acentric Magazine.
Aidan: I serve as the President of the Music Industry Collective, and study Advertising at the University of Oregon. While not working with the MIC, I also play in and manage a local band by the name of Spiller, and run a weekly music series on campus.
What is The Music Industry Collective?
Aidan: At its core, the Music Industry Collective is a group of like-minded students, all interested in pursuing careers in the music industry. Through guest lectures, on-site industry visits, and the maintenance of an ever-growing list of opportunities and internships within the industry, we hope the MIC will serve as the key link between members and their dream jobs.
What’s your mission?
Allison: Our main mission is to provide students that are passionate about the music industry a way to connect with each other and offer professional opportunities. I think gaining the skills to network, intern, and speak with professionals who have developed their own career is a great thing for any college student to have, and we are excited to provide those opportunities at UO.
MIC First Meeting.
Who’s involved and who can join?
Aidan: The MIC is entirely student run and we work as a group under University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. The MIC is open to all UO students to join, regardless of your major.
Who founded the MIC? What for?
Allison: Desmond Harvey, who is a recent UO grad, got the process started. During his senior year, the Entrepreneurship Center sent him to SXSW Interactive. The goal of the trip was to have students build knowledge of the current trends within the industry and then turn that into an opportunity for a campus setting. After attending the event, Desmond started formulating ideas on ways to bring these types of opportunities to the University of Oregon and bridge the gap for many students passionate about this industry. From there, he gathered a group of students whom he felt would fit the role to make this idea come to life. That’s where we came in!
With the MIC beginning earlier this year, what have you all accomplished since its inception?
Allison: Personally, I think we have accomplished a lot since its inception. I joined the team around the end of April, and it was immediately noticeable that, as a group, we meshed really well together, bringing different ideas to the table. We have been working on different ways to make the group a valuable resource to students, such as working with well-respected industry companies on partnerships, and providing guest speakers that have a lot of experience in multiple areas of the industry.
What do you hope to accomplish this school year?
Allison: I would love to see the MIC have a huge turn-out in membership for our first year on campus. I think the future is very bright, and I want to see as many students have access to these career opportunities as possible.
What are some events you have planned?
Allison: I am excited for an event we are attending in late October. Our team officers are going to “GRAMMYS in My District.” It’s an advocacy day where members of the Recording Academy come together to discuss music policy. This year they are focusing on copyright law and the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. We are all excited to learn from people who spent much of their career trying to resolve these types of issues within the industry.
"I think we have learned a lot from when we first started. I think the most important thing is what we have learned from each other." — Allison
UO's Music Industry Collective Public Relations Officer, Allison Del Fium.
UO's Music Industry Collective President, Aidan D'Angelo.
What have you all learned so far?
Allison: I think we have learned a lot from when we first started. I think the most important thing is what we have learned from each other. Individually, we all have different goals and career paths within the industry, but because we all share these various passions we have learned a lot. I learn something new everyday from working with this team.
Are you guys involved in the community?
Aidan: We’re currently working to establish relationships with several local recording studios and venues with the hopes of connecting our members to any potential opportunities they may offer. In the future we hope to expand our involvement to support the music community in Eugene as a whole.
If you had a team of two software engineers and one designer, all of them are world class and they could spend a year working for you, what would you have them build to help your organization and further your mission?
Allison: An interactive website, where anyone could go and watch videos on the industry, ask questions, have a blog and learn more about industry statistics. Also to have the website be a place where students can write about their internship and job experiences—how they got where they got.
Bobby: I would help them design our own music streaming service, mixed-in with lectures from industry professionals and an interactive webpage where you could search for job and internship opportunities specifically in the music business. Or build our own music industry robot, programmed with all of our knowledge of the industry up to this point. The robot might try and take over the world, though.
"The more organizations like this that exist, the bigger community we can build, which is what the MIC is all about." — Bobby
MIC First Meeting.
Is there anything we can do to help you?
Bobby: I would say just helping us get our name out there. If that happens, others might try and create something similar to what we’re doing, which would be incredible. The more organizations like this that exist, the bigger community we can build, which is what the MIC is all about.
If you could have a dream job at Original Fuzz, what would it look like?
Allison: I personally have jumped into a lot more A&R/scouting. My dream job at Original Fuzz would be to find new artists for the company to sponsor and find new innovative ways for artists to rep your products.
Bobby: I’ve been making shirts and messing with screen printing since I was a child, and I’d love to get in on the creative process in making some of your products, specifically your t-shirts. We could work together, dream up some sweet, crazy designs that would spark people’s interest in Original Fuzz. I’d love to screen-print them too, if that’s possible.
Sean: I love anything where I get the chance to work with and manage artists.
Music Industry Collective Officers Left to Right: Bobby Schenk, Aidan D'Angelo, Itay Lerner, Allison Del Fium, Mariah Helm, and Sean Thomson.
What’s the best burrito in Oregon?
Allison: As a Southern California native that is a tough question. However, I would say a Wet Burrito with extra sour cream and guacamole from Chula’s.
Bobby: This is an incredible question. Every interview should ask this. I have no clue, although El Pato Verde makes good toasted burritos. I could tell you the best burrito in Colorado for sure—Monica’s, plain and simple.
Sean: A good burrito is hard to come by around here, but I would have to give the title to “The Oregon Burrito” with Carne Asada from El Super Burrito.
Any local artists, designers, or photographers that we should know about?
Allison: Hannah Lewman, UO advertising student—genius. She used to run Siren Magazine on campus. One of the best designers I know is Tin Le, he has really taken his designing to the next level in the last year and, as a great friend of mine, he worked on a few of our MIC flyers. UO Hip Hop Ensemble, they are groovy. Check out Tony Glausi, one of the best upcoming jazz/funk musicians out there.
Bobby: Spiller for sure, great math rock as far as I’m concerned. The Comic Studies program at the University is actually genius. The students in that program will change the future of comics in America, I’m sure of it.
Sean: Phillip Quinn, a UO Journalism student. Shoots for Ethos Magazine. Very professional and high quality photos.
And we all shine on.
Thanks to Allison, Aidan, Bobby, and Sean for chatting with us. MIC Photos by Emily D. Haugbro.
Be sure to visit the Music Industry Collective's website at theuomic.com to keep up to date with all of their happenings.