Radio Club Revives Willipalooza; Promises A Night of Rockin' Underground Music

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor

From left to right are members of the Radio Club E-Board: Kyle Berson; Q Asberry; Jason Salois; and Taylor Ribiero

"People want to come together to make music, and to enjoy music," Radio Club President Kyle Berson said. "And Willipalooza is exactly that."

What is Willipalooza? Though many students might have never heard of it, it's actually an old event. The event was first started around 2010 or 2011, explained Berson, when it was first called 'Willistock', a reference to the famous 'Woodstock' concert first held in 1969. If you didn't get that reference, you're not alone. After an E-Board member didn't understand the name, the event was changed to 'Willipalooza', a reference to another music event, the more recent 'Lollapalooza'.

The event ran at Eastern throughout the 2010s, but started fizzling out at the turn of the 2020s. Now, Radio Club is working to bring it back.

The foundation for the event was found at another nearby venue: The Dog Pound. The Dog Pound was a music venue first started in 2024, bring college students to its Storrs venue (which has since closed) to hear local and regional bands and artists play. Other members of the E-Board, including Secretary Q Asberry (a First-Year CFT Major) and Treasurer Taylor Ribiero (a Senior CFT Major) went there often to hear the artists. Asberry eventually began working there as well, creating connections that would soon come in handy.

The E-Board decided to revive Willipalooza at the start of the year, and began working on the concert around six months ago. Artists who had previously played at the Dog Pound were recruited to come play, including Sympiosa (described as "new-metalish"), JoeyCXP (described as "punk-rock"), Shinomiyaa (described as "jersey-club music"), and Remedies (described as having a "emo hardcore type vibe").

Most of the bands are fairly local. Sympiosa and Remedies are both located here in Connecticut. Not only is Shinomiyaa, an independent DJ, located right here in Connecticut, but they are, in fact, an Eastern student! Jack Neri is a sophomore currently majoring in computer-science. His stage name came from the protagonist of an anime he enjoyed called Kaguya-sama: Love is War, whose protagonist is named Kaguya Shinomiya. As 'Shinoyima' was taken on Soundcloud, he added on an 'a', and 'Shinoyimaa' has stuck since.

Neri describes his music this way: "It's really just jersey club music for the most part. I add my own touches here and there, but I try not to stray too far from what the genre is and their different styles. It's all music that makes you wanna get up and dance."

Coming from actual New Jerse is the concert's largest artist, JoeyCXP. He's the most well-known musician, with over 300,000 streams on their most popular song on Spotify. But Sympiosa has also been "blowing up recently", according to the E-Board.

Even after finding the artists, the concert needed a lot more work. A space was needed, which they eventually found in Geissler Gym. The E-Board's connections with the Dog Pound helped, borrowing equipment where they could. In other cases, they borrowed equipment from friends, such as a drum set. They used club funding provided by SGA's Budget and Management (BAM) Committee, but impressively, the event only ended up costing around $750.

Although the concert was organized by Radio Club, some other students and student-orgs may be seen there as well. Women's Weightlifting and the Gymnastics Team both might have tables out, and local printshop T-SWAP, a business on Main Street owned and operated by Eastern student Caio de Sousa, is also poised to appear. Each of the musicians have also been invited to sell their merchandise.

At the end of the interview, I offered Radio Club a chance to say anything else for the article.

"Come!" Asberry laughed.

"Come see good music," PR Chair Jason Salois (a Senior Communications major) added.

"This event highlights local music and local artists, and that's the whole essence of the event," said Berson. The Radio Club is looking forward to seeing the culmination of their work, and hope to see students enjoy the event, especially so that more like it could be held going forward. "People gotta show up and come out."

The concert will be held on Wednesday, April 15th, between 6PM and 9PM at the Geissler Gym (Sports Center). Admission is free. A photograph of the event's poster can be found below: