Since graduating in 2016, MSU alumnus Austin Gullett has created a 40-person musical group that gives back to six charities around the state.
Gullett’s non-profit program, The Radish Friends, is filled with current MSU students, graduated students and community members who have come together to raise money and follow two themes.
“It is one, a musical supergroup consisting of me and whoever else wants to be in it at any given time,” Gullett said. “Two, we are something along the lines of a non-profit organization. We take up smaller projects and devote time to them and sort of advocate through music.”
The Radish Friends released a Christmas project that included 45 musicians and 111 songs recorded on it.
The group raised $360 on their last project and divided the money between six charities. These charities included: Planned Parenthood, Transgender Law Center, Ruth Ellis Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, End Violent Encounters and American Civil Liberties Union.
“After the election I had an idea, like I had an overwhelming urge to record a Christmas song and so I did that and then I thought I should ask some people to sing with me and sort of went from there,” Gullett said.
The Radish Friends are currently working on a Valentine’s Day project titled “From The Radish Friends with Love,” which is set to be released on Valentine’s Day. The group will record songs and will look to raise money.
“I think music is one of the most important social mechanisms we have, aside from maybe food,” Gullett said. “If you listen to our albums, you will see that people mess up and laugh and we talk to each other a lot on the tracks, and those are moments I really wanted to capture and those are moments that are important to me.”
“If we are going to make art and we are going to do it for free, we are going to make sure we can put something out there that can help someone,” Gullett said.
Psychology junior Salena Benavidez is working with Gullet on the album. Benavidez said she has been calling nursing homes in the area and is making Valentine’s Day cards for the residents.
“I think it is really important just to give back because there is so much going on in everybody’s life and you never really know what is going on, and sometimes the best way you can help them is just have something for them like music,” Benavidez said. “It is one of the first things people turn to when something is going wrong. So, when you have a nice collection of music made by people who genuinely care, it is a great contribution.”
She said this project is a good way to donate to the community.
“Just giving our music a listen kind of just empowers us, but also empowers them listening to it because they might find something they enjoy, but it also shows that the support that what we are doing is actually working and motivating people,” Benavidez said.
MSU alumna Ariel Rogers graduated in December 2015 and is working on the project. She will be recording the song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” by the Ramones.
“It is not like I am super talented or anything, but I guess I am just using what I have got to give back to other people,” Rogers said. “It is a pretty easy way to give back.”
