By Sam Scorup
Some friends grow up playing sports together. Others watch TV or simply hang out. For other BYU students, however, the preferred pastime is making music.
Students'' motivations for singing and playing music vary among performers. But one thing remains constant: they all love music.
'As long as we can make music we enjoy making and people enjoy listening to, it''s worth doing,' said student musician Ben Truman of Nashville, Tenn.
Apparently, people enjoyed Truman''s music earlier this month, as the band bearing the surname of brothers Ben and Chad Truman earned first place through fan voting at the Battle of the Bands campus competition.
Parental influence played a role in Truman''s success. The father of Ben and Chad Truman has traveled and performed for 15 years, and their mother was a member of the BYU Young Ambassadors.
On the other hand, Chad Truman was quick to name some of his famous musical influences, giving special mention to Stevie Wonder.
'Sometimes, your heroes determine what you do,' Chad Truman said.
Nate Young, a media music major from Mapleton, has taken an interest in music since he was a child, when his babysitter brought over music for entertainment. Young, now a drummer for the band Truman, has played piano and guitar and sang in choirs. He said the fact he comes from a musically talented family may mean some of his talent is genetic. However, he still puts in the time to improve his craft, he said.
While some artists see their music as only a hobby, Ben Truman said his band is looking for something more.
'You can''t survive forever doing gigs with 20 people there, so I think that''s a goal one day to get a record deal and to hit the masses,' he said.
And if their best-laid plans don''t work out?
'Some of us aren''t media music majors, so we''ll survive. The other two will have to borrow money from their older brothers,' Ben Truman said, jokingly.
Besides financial motives, many artists want to contribute to the flow of good music in society. The challenge is to rise above the mediocre music and make something fans can enjoy, Chad Truman said.
The difference between good music and bad music is often reflected in an audience''s expressions, Ben Truman said. 'I think it''s surprisingly easy to see what people are thinking when they''re watching you,' he said. 'It''s kind of like in sacrament meeting, when the bishop is looking at everybody, and you don''t think he can see your facial expressions or see you''re sleeping, but he can!'
Ben Truman said he has seen a wide range of crowd expressions at his performances.
'You look out there and sometimes you see people look perplexed, like, ''who are these guys?'' or ''what are they doing?''' he said. ' sometimes they''re like ''cool!'''
Aaron Allred, a psychology major from Gilbert, Ariz., said he values the confidence and energy he gets from performing in front of crowds.
Other artists begin playing music as an alternative to boredom.
Consisting of BYU students from Milwaukee, Wis., the band Zero To Nothing got started when a group of friends wanted something to do in the summer.
Mark Eliason, a senior majoring in English, said he and his friends had nothing else to do, and playing in a band served as an excuse to hang out.
When Eliason and his friends were about 13 yearsold, they listened to a compilation of U2 songs and decided it would be a neat idea to form a band. Dan Jennejohn decided he wanted to play drums, Alan Stoffer''s dad had a guitar, so it was natural for him to lean toward playing that instrument; Eliason, now the lead singer of Zero To Nothing, chose the bass because, well, there wasn''t another instrument left.
'I really had no expectations at all because when we started, none of us knew how to play our instruments,' Eliason said.
Alan Stoffer, a senior in economics, said he originally thought playing music would be a weekend hobby to do with his friends. They would talk about it during camping trips, but the idea of forming a band became concrete when one of his friends bought a bass guitar.
Despite these haphazard origins, Zero To Nothing is still making music a decade after the group''s inception.
Part of the reason for the continuity of student bands, is the feeling of performing onstage in front of rabid rock fans, Eliason said.
'It''s the pinnacle of experience; it is the top of the pyramid of jobs,' Eliason said. 'It doesn''t get better than that!')
Jordan Faux, a senior studying biology, said playing in a band is great for someone who enjoys attention. Although Faux said the dream of playing in big stadiums appeared out of reach, he said he still enjoys the life of a musician.
'It beats playing video games all day,' he said.
The fans'' reactions can add to the fun at a concert, Faux said.
'I think sometimes the fans have more fun just being crazy than actually listening to the music,' he said. 'Sometimes, it''s an excuse for them to throw each other in the air.'
Nothing compares to entertaining a crowd that really gets into a performance.
'It''s my favorite sensory experience so far,' Stoffer said.
Along with the interaction with the audience, Eliason said the cohesion he feels with his band mates-similar to the chemistry of an athletic team-allows him to enjoy performing. Playing with his band raises his performance. If he were to go out on his own, his music would suffer, Eliason said.
Jon Stoffer, the younger brother of Alan Stoffer and a member of Zero To Nothing, agreed the band had a synergetic quality.
'It would be like a cell trying to work without its mitochondria,' Jon Stoffer said.
Ben Truman, on the other hand, may search for chemistry of a different kind.
'If there''s a cute girl smiling at me, I will spontaneously and automatically sing better,' he said. 'So girls, smile. Help me out.'