Max Gosling wishes the East Lansing music scene were more developed.
That’s why the business junior invited New York-based record scratch-master DJ Logic to the Erickson Hall Kiva tonight.
“This type of show usually doesn’t come to East Lansing,” said the program director of POP entertainment. “It’s the kind of show that I’d like to see come here more often.”
POP entertainment is a volunteer student-run organization that puts on concerts for smaller bands just breaking into the music industry, Gosling said.
“It’s been around for over 40 years and used to do the big shows before Breslin (Student Events Center) came in,” he said. “This year we did our biggest show in a long time, Ben Harper.”
DJ Logic meshes electronica, space rock and psychedelic jazz fusion, Gosling said.
“He spins his own stuff and mixes his own set,” he said. “He spins all over the world from New York to Tokyo.”
DJ Logic will be backed by his band, Project Logic.
“I guess Project Logic is kind of like a work in progress,” Gosling said. “It crosses all kinds of musical boundaries and the group switches things around.”
Gosling said DJ Logic’s set will be a high-energy dance and hip-hop fusion with sounds that everyone can get into.
Opening the show is Soulive, a soul groove organ trio consisting of Alan Evans on drums, Neal Evans on Hammond B-3 and Eric Krasno on guitar. Their music melds traditional funk and soul with a strong enthusiasm for jamming improvisation.
“We all have similar loves for similar music and have backgrounds in funk, jazz, hip-hop and reggae,” Evans said. “Another thing that helps is the willingness of everyone to be open to what everyone else is digging at the time.”
Gosling expects the show to be crazy.
“The bands are going to play for awhile and have very high energy,” he said. “I know the kiva is a very small room and the energy in that room is going to be really high for sure.”
Evans said the members of Soulive attempt to get the crowd in the performance as much as they can with their improvisational music.
“We don’t just sit there and play,” he said. “I think it’s fun to watch and that’s what people have told us. Everyone really gets into their playing and we try to be entertaining.”
Gosling hopes to see more shows of this caliber in the area in the future.
“We need more shows like this so the music scene here could be more developed,” he said. “But it’s up to the East Lansing people to decide whether or not they’ll support it. The more shows that come like this one, the better.”
Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for nonstudents. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.
