Every year KRUX, New Mexico State University’s student-run radio, hosts a birthday celebration in honor of when they first became the campus radio station. Held at the Corbett Center Student Union outdoor stage, KRUX celebrated on Oct. 18 with three bands.
Adara Walker, KRUX’s music director and the Birthday Bash emcee, shared how she felt picking this year’s bands, as well as her favorite parts of this year’s celebration.
“When you haven’t seen a band perform live, you’re just hoping for the best. You have no clue what is going to happen and all of [the bands] were really phenomenal, they all had awesome energy. They showed out and dressed up and did their makeup, they were all kind and really professional. I think it was really well received by the audience,” Walker said.
In between bands, a costume contest was held for audience members who dressed up. Walker shared how excited and engaged the crowd was for this segment of the event.
“I think that I kind of dictate the energy of the crowd. So, as long as I’m doing a good job and I bring the energy that I want, they usually reciprocate it. Everybody was receptive of feeling kind of pumped up and excited all night. Having an event in the middle for everyone to kind of be excited about helped drive everyone’s energy,” Walker said.
“Even though we had less people [participate] in our costume contest this year, it felt like more people were engaged in the actual event of it. The overall like celebration, everybody seemed more involved in being a part of Birthday Bash and not just being an observer, but an active participant.”
Jude Juzdowski, lead guitarist of headliner Beach Cowboys and sophomore at El Paso Community College, explained how the crowd’s participation meant a lot to band members.
“It was great [playing at Birthday Bash], the crowd was really nice. We had a lot of people dancing to our stuff which I thought was really cool. We don’t get too much of that when we play other places, which I don’t mind, but it was just really nice to have that,” Juzdowski said.
Beach Cowboys is a post-funk dream poppy band, as described by Juzdowski. He discussed how they pull inspiration from bands like The Cure, The Drums, and Current Joys.
Concert goers shared how the vibes set by the opening bands and Beach Cowboys created a fun, easygoing atmosphere.
Czenzci Wilson, an alumna from NMSU, was in attendance and explained what set the mood for her during the show.
“Vibes wise, the concert was pretty lit. I think the atmosphere was cute and the people there were nice. The highlight of the night was probably the costume contest I felt excited because of the participation,” Wilson said.
Walker shared that KRUX will be hosting its annual Love, Student Media concert in February. as well as a surprise that the radio station may have for students to look forward to.
“We have Love, SM coming up and that’s going to be our cozy concert, so hopefully everybody shows up and is really warm, and we’re also going to do a secret show at some point. A teaser,” she said.
Students can stay up to date with KRUX through their Instagram, @kruxfm.
