Take 5: The story behind the sound

Green Line Records, Northeastern’s student-run record label, presides over the musical enterprise of 10 college acts, helping them record albums, sell merchandise, and book shows.

The majority of the bands operate out of Boston, studying at schools like Northeastern and performing at local clubs like TT the Bears.

They vary in tone and tenor, ranging from cabaret pop and sludge punk to art rock and post hardcore. Some of them dream of hitting it big, playing sold out shows at venues like Madison Square Garden, while others jam for the pure joy of making tunes and exercising their creative muscle.

With that in mind, here’s the story behind the sound of five Green Line bands.

Best Dressed

This Northeastern quartet recently performed at TT the Bears and released a four-track EP called “Puzzles.” The band draws sonic inspiration from glam rockers of decades past— David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Brian Eno among them—but does not shy away from testing the boundaries of its musical acumen. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a musical idea and thought, ‘We’re not supposed to do this,’” says guitarist and vocalist Charles Perrone, CIS’17. “Anything is on the table and we’re willing to draw from it.”

Dinoczar

This Northeastern trio formed in the fall of 2013 and started recording new material shortly thereafter, releasing an eight-track EP called “Bloody Bobcat” in the summer of 2014. Bands like Black Sabbath and The Stooges have inspired their sound, which guitarist Paul Dunne describes as a conglomeration of “fuzz, sludge, cream, and garage rock.” Dinoczar played six shows in November alone and plans to keep on rocking in 2015. Says Dunne, S’16: “Our goal is to continue playing basement shows with other great bands.”

Grace and the Carnivore

This sibling band formed in 2006 and picked up momentum in 2009, when Grace, John, and Robert Carney started busking on the streets of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and writing “showy” songs based on their newfound friendships with the city’s drag queens. Since then, the chamber pop trio has performed alongside the Boston Pops; released an EP titled “Out of Context;” and started gigging in Boston clubs. They pull ideas from singer-songwriters like Fiona Apple and write original tunes in their free time. “It’s therapeutic to put them together,” says pianist John Carney, AMD’15. “We read each other well, and we hope that familiarity translates into the music.”

Grey Season

This five-piece folk-rock band from Berklee College of Music formed in 2011 and recorded its debut LP in 2014. Over the past year, the quintet has played more than 80 shows throughout New England, including a monthly performance at the Middle East. Jon Bergamo, AMD’17, manages the group, whose members often call him the “sixth member of the band.” He says that Grey Season’s sound is inspired by the synergy of its individual members, who count The Beatles and The Rolling Stones among their favorite bands, and notes that its professional aspirations are pretty high. A few weeks ago, he says, the band members were walking past Madison Square Garden when the bassist remarked, semiseriously, “In a few years, we’ll be here.”

Karmon Voh

This Northeastern duo, whose members prefer to be referred to as Kármán and Voh, released their debut EP in March and are currently working on a full-length LP. The experimental art/dance collective gravitates toward a range of musical acts, running from My Bloody Valentine, the shoegazing Irish band, to Faust, the German krautrockers. “I started playing guitar some time ago, but I renounced formal music training and began messing around with a lot of crazy tunings and playing styles,” says Kármán, the group’s vocalist and producer. His writing style is primarily influenced by his perceptual experiences, he says, noting that “I like to experience my surroundings textually, in the sense that everything is open to interpretation.”