St. Thomas voices featured at KUST Sampler party

This year’s KUST Sampler release party will feature 6 performers, ranging from hip-hop to indie rock to instrumental music April 25 in ASC Dance.

Mackenzie Garrett, Station Manager for KUST, hopes that this year’s show will be exciting and engaging to all students on campus.

“We are branching out this year. We want (the sampler show) to be open and appealing to all students and community members, not just the tight-knit music community,” she said.

At the release party, there will be food, performances as well as giveaways of KUST merchandise and the sampler CD itself.

Senior Joe Wacker and his band, Syrup Finger, are just one of the acts featured on the sampler with their song, “New Car Smell.”

“It’s really humbling to see all the students that are extremely talented playing on this sampler and submitting their songs,” Wacker said. “We are really honored to be up there on stage and be on the CD with them.”

Wacker has been consistently featured on the sampler since its inception in 2015.

“I’ve been around since the first one a few years ago and it really just keeps getting bigger,” Wacker said. “I hope that eventually it goes beyond St. Thomas, maybe another venue picks up on it. I just want to see the sampler get really big so that artists can get recognized in the Twin Cities.”

Genres on the sampler include indie rock, instrumental, hip-hop and electronic.

“We want to show the talent that’s here,” Garrett said. “You can be in a class with someone and not even know that the person sitting right next to you is an amazing musician.”