February 15, 2005

What does an academic administrator, a classical music composer, a Jewish studies scholar and a German historian have in common? Really loud rock-n-roll.

They call themselves Faculty Lounge, and the play on words is no accident. Members of this self-defined “garage pop” band are vocalist David Imhoof, assistant professor of history; lead guitarist Larry Roth, associate professor of English and Jewish studies; bass player Terry Winegar, professor of psychology and dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences; and drummer Patrick Long, assistant professor of music.

This mélange of Susquehanna University professors formed Faculty Lounge in August 2002 as a simple pastime, a way of shedding their professional skins and rekindling their youthful love of rock-n-roll. But before long the band was playing live and garnering a lot of attention from the campus community.

On Friday, Feb. 25, Faculty Lounge will perform their largest show to date. They’ve even found a professional band to open for them. Raining Jane, a rather popular band from the West Coast is currently on a college tour and agreed to be the warm-up band for these intellectual headliners. “It’s kind of like Spinal Tap opening for Puppet Master,” says Imhoof, laughing.

Students don’t seem to mind, though. In fact, the concert, which begins at 8 p.m. in Degenstein Center Theater, is sponsored by the Student Activities Committee. But while the concert, complete with video imagery, marks a new high for the band, their perspective hasn’t changed much. Playing rock-n-roll remains one of their main means of letting loose.

As Long puts it, “Academia is so Appolonian and this is pure Dionysian.” (Now how many rock drummers do you know that can

Student-Faculty Collaboration:
Dr. Imhoof, singing, and history major Jason Rose, with guitar

reference Nietzsche in a conversation?) More on par with his counterparts in the world of rock-n-roll, Long explains that, “Getting together and playing really loud music is good for your mental health.”

Roth, who played professionally in Los Angeles as part of the post-punk wave of the mid to late 1980s, agrees. “It is cathartic. For me, playing music is a whole body experience, a sort of emotional and creative instant gratification that helps me to keep in touch with an important part of who I am and what I love,” Roth says.

Now, with a Ph.D. and tenure under his belt, Roth doesn’t mind trading the clubs on Sunset Boulevard for a sports bar on Market Street in the small town of Selinsgrove, Pa. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing songs and learning my instrument – and now I can buy the expensive guitars,” he says.

Despite the rural setting of their regular gigs, Faculty Lounge has gained quite a following among the student body. At the end of each semester, students pack a local college hangout to hear the band play their purposefully unsophisticated versions of artists such as The Ramones, REM, AC/DC, Sex Pistols, Prince and Psychedelic Furs. The band has also played an alumni event at the New Jersey shore, a Relay for Life event on campus and numerous other engagements, including a performance at the local YMCA for a rowdy bunch of preschoolers.

And besides their propensity for creating spreadsheets chronicling all the songs they’ve played in different venues, the band members have loosened their collars and relaxed into their new roles in the life of the university. They even graduated to writing and recording original music. Their first CD, recorded at a nearby studio, is simply called Faculty Lounge. “We decided to avoid the pretension of a title all together,” Imhoof jokes. “Yeah,” says Long, “as long as there is no bar code, we didn’t see the need for a title.”

And while they may not be getting rich off royalties, they are finding a fortune in the way students relate to them. “They see us as people,” says Winegar. “We’re more than just those one-dimensional people talking at the front of the classroom.”

Along with the attention they garner from the student body, the band has also earned the admiration of many students. One such student is Jason Rose, a senior history major and music technology minor from Eldora, N.J. Although he is an accomplished musician in his own right, having songs used on MTV reality shows and being in contention for a songwriting contract with a major record label, Rose is thrilled to work with Susquehanna’s faculty rockers. He has done everything from play music with them to act as their roadie the afternoon before playing a major New York nightclub with his own band.

“The last couple years have been great working with Faculty Lounge,” says Rose, “I even was lucky enough to play with them at their last show. It was one of the greatest music experiences of my life.” The band members’ self-deprecating humor would likely brush off such comments as those of a student looking for a solid A, but Rose is quite adamant about his respect for the group. “It has been fun being around them and seeing them play, I really enjoy their music,” Rose says.