Renee Rosenow“The Hopefuls” have a goal in mind for this weekend – hopefully make students unwind and have some fun.
“We’re out there to play up-beat music and have a positive sort of interaction with the audience so everyone has a good time,” band member Darren Jackson said.
Minneapolis natives, “The Hopefuls” will play at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Council Fire Room in Davies.
“We’re excited to be playing, we haven’t been playing a lot because we’ve been trying to finish up this record,” Jackson said.
“The Hopefuls” have been working on a new album for about a year, Jackson said, and haven’t released a new album since 2004. Some fans may recognize them from the television show The O.C., since the band had a song in the show’s first season.
Senior and University Activities Commission member Ben Rindone said when him and the concert co-chair are organizing a concert, they listen to a lot of different bands at once.
“‘The Hopefuls’ stuck out when we were listening to all these bands,” Rindone said.
He also pointed out how “The Hopefuls” stick out in the pop genre and feature a keytar, which is a keyboard that looks like a guitar.
“They have a fun beat and they seem unique and interesting,” senior and co-chair Nicole Feldkamp said. She added that this is something they usually look for when selecting bands.
“The Hopefuls” are also unique in that they are all in very different places in their lives, compared to similar bands such as “Quietdrive,” Jackson said.
“Lots of people will be influenced by something in their personal lives,” Jackson said. “People bring very different things to the project.”
Some members of the band have other jobs and families, which causes them to draw inspiration from much different experiences than their friends in “Quietdrive.” Jackson said the members of “Quietdrive” are all in their early 20s and primarily focus on the music and touring.
Rindone thinks this adds to how unique “The Hopefuls” are, since they have been together for a while and have a little more experience.
For anyone who hasn’t heard of “The Hopefuls,” Jackson said it is happy and up-beat pop music, similar to “The Beatles” and “Weezer.”
Rindone thinks they vary from their assigned genre.
“Just listening to them, they have a different kind of pop,” he said. “It’s a good mix of music.”
Coming from Minneapolis, “The Hopefuls” expect a slightly different feel at this show. Typically, Jackson said people age 18 and much older attend most of their concerts, but they’re expecting mostly 18 to 23 year olds this time. But they’re excited for this difference.
“At that age, music is a big part of your life, maybe more than at any other time of your life,” Jackson said. He added that they are the most excited about music, which makes playing for this age group all the more fun.
Feldkamp said UAC always tries to keep ticket costs fairly low for concerts so more students are able to go and the concert at Friday maintains this value, as it is only $3.
“We try not to make a profit,” she said. “We mostly just want people to come and see the show.”
For students just looking for a fun event to go to on a Friday night, Jackson said they will find it at “The Hopefuls'” concert.
“I think that if they like to dance, it’s a good opportunity,” he said. “If you want to be sad and depressed then this is not the music for you.”
Jackson knows this is nothing new for the pop genre and his band isn’t concerned with being the newest sound.
“We’re trying to do something that’s been done in our own kind of way,” Jackson said. “And we’re trying to do it really well. We’re definitely playing pop music . we’re not trying to reshape music. It’s more about writing good songs that resonate with people.”
