WUSC, the university’s student-run radio station, will launch its fundraising week, themed “Pirate Radio: Make Bank or Walk the Plank,” with a dance party at New Brookland Tavern on Friday and a jamboree at El Burrito in Five Points on Saturday.
Friday night’s fundraiser titled “Buccaneer Bash Dance Party: WUSC Presents Hard Mix & Guests,” starts at 11 p.m. at New Brookland Tavern, 122 State St., with a $3 cover for those over 21 and $5 under 21. All attendees are encouraged to participate in the week’s theme and dress up in their best pirate gear.
Local pop act Hard Mix, or Noah Smith, a second-year digital mass media student at Winthrop University, will be the featured artist of the night, DJing the event. Smith will fill the night with some of his favorite tracks on the turntables, as well as a couple of his original songs.
“This is only my second time doing a ‘DJ set,’ so I’m looking forward to seeing what the crowd is like in Cola,” Smith said.
Columbia DJs Alejandro and Dirty D-Rock will also be spinning at the dance party.
Saturday evening’s “Jolly Roger Jamboree” at El Burrito, a small burrito shop on Harden Street, will start at 7 p.m. with a $3 cover for those over 21 and $5 under 21. The event will feature local bands Coma Cinema, Modern Man and You are Being Invaded by Demons.
Coma Cinema, an indie act out of Columbia, has performed live on WUSC in the past and is excited to play Saturday’s event. As far as the pirate dress code, frontman Mat Cothran said, “Maybe I’ll find an eyepatch somewhere. Or, better yet, maybe I’ll buy a parrot and have him sing our songs.”
A portion of the proceeds from Friday and Saturday’s events will go to WUSC, and there will be a donation bucket present for additional contributions. The station tries to raise around $5,000 each semester to purchase backup microphones and CD players and renew the broadcasting license.
The fundraising week continues through next Friday, with donations being accepted during all radio show slots by phone or through the WUSC website. DJs with shows between noon and midnight have been encouraged to play songs they “cannot live without” in the upcoming week.
WUSC is encouraging students to donate what they can to keep the station running at its full capacity.
“The main purpose of WUSC is to educate the community and provide an array of music that is not heard on any other stations in the Columbia area,” fourth-year film studies student and WUSC Music Director Isaac Sarton said. “With the money raised, WUSC will not only be able to broadcast the music and programs that we do, but we will be able to bring new acts to the Columbia area under the WUSC name.”