Editor’s Note: Madelyn Bracken started working on this article before she was hired as an Academic Peer Mentor for the 2023-24 academic year in the Botsford/Swinford-Johnson Complex. A previous version of this article misspelled Colin Bell's name, it has since been updated.
In 2022, for the first time, Ball State University’s Equinox Music Festival took place on the Botsford/Swinford Patio. After its success, the festival is back for round two.
“It went really well, so we decided to continue it this year,” College of Communication, Information and Media (CCIM) Living Learning Community Academic Peer Mentor (APM) Colin Bell said.
The brainchild of Bell, Equinox is set to take place March 25 after months of planning.
“We actually started production for this in October,” Bell said. “Any residents in the building who were interested in participating could come to the club meeting.”
The festival itself is geared towards showcasing student ability and giving them opportunities they might not have elsewhere.
“Just having students gain their experience,” Bell said, “Last year we had multiple bands whose first live performance was at Equinox.”
Not only are students able to gain experience in performance, but also in their career fields.
“Sophomore year I saw the poster for a music festival and I was like, ‘Oh, that’d be a good thing to do,’ because, at the time, I wanted to do live sound a lot,” recording and technical director Quincy Carr said. “Now I think I want to do more studio engineering, but this is still a very engineering-applicable concept because it’s in an open space."
Bell also highlighted students' ability to enjoy the music scene in a safe and controlled environment.
Audio Discrepancies is one of the bands participating in the festival that is already part of the Muncie music scene. Playing frequently at Be Here Now and various house shows, the band is ready for the next step: a festival.
Carter Minton, Muncie local, Ball State student and drummer for Audio Discrepancies, is prepared for this step.
“We’re also going to be playing to some ears that haven’t heard us before,” he said.
This is the band’s first Equinox, however, they were almost on the bill last year.
“We wanted to play it last year, but dates didn’t work out,” Minton said. “We’re actually playing this festival without our normal bassist, Gentry, we’re playing with our very good friend. He’s filling in on bass guitar because we wanted to do it so bad.”
Along with Audio Discrepancies, bands on the bill, such as Man of the Flood, Namen Namen, Seventh Cloud Society, and Studio Band are all new to Equinox. Returning artists include The Namby Pamby, Secondhand Denim, and Peacehead.
All of these bands are selected precisely for the festival to develop an aesthetic and showcase students.
“We try to pick a vibe for the concert,” Bell said. “So we kind of went for an indie-rock pop fusion, but our main focus was student bands. I believe six of the eight bands are student bands.”
The festival is a free event and is set for March 25 from Noon to 9 p.m. on the Botsford/Swinford patio.
Contact Madelyn Bracken with comments at madelyn.bracken@bsu.edu.
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