I fulfilled a long-time Fordham University bucket-list item of mine on Tuesday night on Oct. 15: attending one of Rodrigue’s Coffee House’s Open Mic nights. Tuesday’s lineup consisted of a plethora of interesting acts, from sleepy, Halloween-inspired ballads and renditions of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” to eight minutes of electric guitar shredding and a debut performance of an original song performed by a student band formed right here at Fordham!
In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, students were invited to align their performances to a “spooky” theme via Rod’s Instagram, which made for some amazing displays of the creativity of Fordham students. One that stood out to me in particular was the guitar-singer act Livia Weiss, FCRH ’28, and Caitlyn Knohl, FCRH ’28, who sang a duet cover of Lana Del Rey’s version of “Season Of The Witch.” They perfectly emulated Del Rey’s rendition with her signature soft voice and acoustic guitar. Donning dark red berets and black velvet clothing, the spirit of autumn was strong with this duo.
The colorful, CD-adorned atmosphere of Rod’s underwent many transformations as each student performed. Zariyat Ahmed, FCRH ’28, approached the stage, a harmonica harness attached to her head. “I needed to do something fun, and by some stroke of magic, Instagram recommended me ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel,” she said before sitting down on the piano, simultaneously playing the harmonica notes and striking the opening piano keys of the song. She then offered the vocal part to audience members, to which my Long Islander self happily obliged. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have mistaken the coffee house for a typical New York dive bar at 3 a.m. as it filled with an animated chorus, singing every lyric and waving around iPhone flashlights in unison.
The musical energy in the room created by the collective acts was contagious. It was amplified by electric guitarist Tyler Suh, FCRH ’28, who performed the entirety of “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. Suh didn’t miss a beat of his backing track, keeping the audience entertained and head-banging for the entire eight minutes of the song’s duration. I particularly found his ability to adapt to the bends and numerous tempo changes of the difficult song impressive. “If anyone else tries to play an eight-minute song, we’re cutting you off,” the show’s co-host, Chloe Santana, FCRH ’25, joked.
For the last act of the night, I bore witness to the live debut of a student band that started right here at Fordham called the Love Language Collective. The duo, Matt Ellersick, GSB ’27, and Kamalani Soriano, FCRH ’27, performed their original song which was released that very day, titled “Feel Your Love.” Their sound consisted of ’80s-inspired synth-pop, delay pedals and soft-spoken melodies interpolated with catchy ad-libs. I sought to learn about their story and how they started a band right here on Fordham’s campus.
I asked Soriano how their band formed and what aspects of Fordham’s music scene inspired them.
“We both shared that we enjoyed making music together and spent time in Faber Hall listening to each other’s demos and spontaneously came up with the idea to start a band,” Soriano said. “Everything instantly clicked, and I knew that our hobby could turn into something greater. We began hanging out and often attended live music events at Rod’s. It was honestly inspiring to see people like us who made music in college. Additionally, Fordham has some wildly creative people, and it feels so freeing to be a part of that community. Over the summer, we finally found our sound, which spanned from soul music to indie rock to alternative indie pop music. I’m not sure if that’s a real genre; I think we’re kind of creating our own!”
Ellersick said some of their musical influences include Rex Orange County, Kali Uchis, Tyler, the Creator and Clairo. The band even gave me a tour of their guitar setup.
“I used the Logic electric guitar preset and it’s called Spring Theory,” said Ellersick. “Then, I messed with the pedals and the plug-ins to get that crisp, reverb sound.”
Safe to say, Rod’s Open Mic nights will be a regular event on my itinerary. If you want to witness and be immersed in the music-cultural scene right here at Fordham, check out future Rod’s events posted on their Instagram @rodriguescoffeehouse.
