Junior Elliott Obermaier doesn’t think people’s love of music should die in college. That’s why he created Bloomington Delta Music Club, an IU student music networking organization dedicated to giving local musicians who are not involved in the Jacobs School of Music or a full-time band an option to continue playing music.
“Music shouldn’t die in college and people who want to play casually should and can,” Obermair said.
Due to the group’s growth since its inception in 2019, some BDMC members and groups have started releasing their own music and covers. BDMC has published its cover of “Sour Candy” by Melt the 11th of March. This is the club’s first official single and is available on all major music platforms.
The club first covered and performed “Sour Candy” at WIUX’s Pledge Drive in October. Samuel Boland, senior and BDMC co-founder, said the group then recorded the song on their setlist for the IU Dance Marathon to benefit Riley Hospital for Children. BDMC will be releasing the rest of the setlist in the coming weeks.
The BDMC members who covered “Sour Candy” were Julia Rusyniak on vocals, Briggs Blevins and Obermaier on guitar, Jack Wanninger on bass, John Rusyniak on keyboard, Brian Healey on drums, Dominick Heyob on trombone and Caleb Abshire on the trumpet. Audio engineering was performed by Abshire and Blevins.
Rusyniak said she was the one who suggested playing “Sour Candy”. She said the song was amazing and she brought the idea of reuniting BDMC members to her brother, John Rusyniak. They performed it on a WIUX show and then decided to record it, she said.
BDMC was particularly excited to put its own twist on the song. Rusyniak said BDMC added more instruments and a belt vocal aspect. She also said that she and her brother have been creating their own style of music since they were young.
“We have developed our own style which has notes of jazz, notes of pop, notes of folk and all of our favorite genres in one,” said Rusyniak. “I think the main part was John and I helped incorporate our style into the song.”
Since its inception, BDMC has grown to 166 musicians of various genres and instruments, Boland said. Over the past year, however, the organization has had to maintain strict guidelines to ensure safety during the coronavirus pandemic, Obermaier said.
The members still meet in person, but they stay 6 feet from each other and wear masks, Obermaier said. They also rehearsed outside whenever possible. Obermaier said members had to watch a COVID-19 safety video and take a test before they could attend rehearsals or meetings.
Heyob said horn players should place lids over the bells of their instruments to limit the spread of unnecessary air. He said the covers do not affect the sound quality.
“This whole process, despite all precautions, went smoothly and didn’t feel very limiting and it didn’t look like he was in pain due to COVID,” Heyob said “We were very responsible with that and we were able to come up with a good product. “
BDMC members are always eager to make music during the pandemic because they know it’s more important than ever, Boland said.
“Music is a special way to connect with people in a world where connection with others is quite difficult to find,” Boland said. “I think everyone is hungry enough for music and connection, that they don’t mind playing outside in cold weather because they want to be there to play.”
A previous version of this article misspelled “BDMC”.
