“Life on Venus” and “Caliche”, two KSC alumni bands, performed in the Zorn Dining Commons on Saturday Oct. 1 as part of homecoming weekend.
“Caliche” is made up of alumni George Barber, Owen Davis and Andrew Johnson, from the classes of 2011 and 2012. Their band was formerly called “Lake and the Lion” during their time at KSC.
At the event, “Caliche” performed songs such as “One More Feeling”, “It Doesn’t Get Better”, and their new single titled “Long Swamp Bridge.”
The band also performed songs from their time as “Lake and the Lion.” Coming to Keene State, Barber didn’t know that music would be his passion. “When I came to Keene, I didn’t plan on playing music or being in a band and then it ended up being all I did for four years,” Barber said.
After graduation, Barber moved out to Los Angeles and collaborated with other friends that were musicians.
“I was running a comedy theater out [in Los Angeles] and a friend of mine at the time was looking for a guitar player for a project and pitched me for that,” Barber said. “And I ended up playing guitar in her band for a while.” Barber also explored other genres of music while in California.
“While I was doing music [in California] I was writing the whole time and I ended up playing in this other band [that] was a doom metal band where I was a guitar player,” Barber said.
“Everything that I was doing, it was joyful and it was a grind out there… It was positive but music opportunities kept coming up.” It was a grind. It was a grind out there, you know? But I mean, it was positive, but it was a grind. But the thing that kept coming up with these music opportunities Soon after, Barber moved back to New Hampshire to continue making music with the band “Caliche.”
“My wife and I moved back from LA and I had all these songs that I had written so I jumped back into that head first when I got back home,” Barber said.
Barber said he was excited to perform again at the place that heavily impacted his life. “I met my wife, my best friends, and the guys who I still collaborate with and play in bands at Keene State,” Barber said. “The place itself had a really profound effect on my life as a person and as a musician, so I think I’ve had a pretty exceptional experience.”
“Life on Venus” is an acoustic cover duet consisting of alumni Paul Kohler and Julio Del Sesto from the classes of 1998 and 2007. During the performance, “Life on Venus” performed covers such as Vance Joy’s “Riptide” and Frank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
