From hip-hop to art rock to classic country, these Musicheads just keep spinning
This Northeastern student group is a place for musicophiles to share hot takes on deep cuts.
The Talking Heads’ first album, “Talking Heads: 77,” was met with critical acclaim when it came out in 1977.
Nearly 50 years later, the art rock band’s work received a similar warm reception among Northeastern University students when it was discussed at a recent meeting of Musicheads, a student organization that describes itself as “Northeastern’s premier club for music enthusiasts.”
The concept behind Musicheads is simple: The group picks an album or musician to listen to beforehand and then they come together to discuss at a weekly meeting. They might also get together to visit a local record store, create zines or share presentations on their niche musical knowledge.
Either way, Musicheads serves as a space for students to come together and talk music, whether it’s debating hot takes on playlists or the best record store in Boston — much like a book club, but for musicophiles.
“It’s really fun being able to talk about a different album and explore each week,” said junior finance major and current Musicheads president Patrick Dunn. “It’s opened my eyes. I feel like I’ve been able to become a better critic.”
At a recent meeting, the members came in having listened to “This is the Talking Heads,” a playlist compiled by the music streaming service Spotify that highlights the band’s greatest hits. The group recently expanded to listening to “best of” compilations from music streaming services as a point of discussion.
After sharing their thoughts, they split into smaller groups and came up with their own takes on what tracks they thought should be on a “Best of Talking Heads” playlist. They then voted on the best selection, a contest ultimately decided by a tie-breaking game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
“I love the Talking Heads so much,” said Kat Krieg, a second-year business and design major who does social media for the club. “I was so happy that people were recognizing them and giving them credit.”
Dunn said Musicheads began two years ago as a space for students to talk music. He joined last fall after seeing a poster for Musicheads while leaving class one day. Music has always been a big part of Dunn’s life, from listening to British rock band Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album with his dad while driving home from Boy Scouts to enjoying rap and R&B on the way to meets or at practices with his crew, cross country and wrestling teams in high school.
So the idea of having a place to discuss it appealed to him. Plus, his finance major required more technical classes, but he wanted a space to do something creative.
Editor’s Picks
“It was fun to explore music that I didn’t really know that much about at the time, get to meet people and explore this academic thing that didn’t really fall in my curriculum,” he added. “I really wanted to expand my taste and get into different genres.”
Similarly, many of the other members aren’t music majors. Dunn estimates the group is the music club with the fewest number of actual musicians.
Musicheads listen to a range of genres, from underground hip-hop — 2004’s “Madvillainy” by hip-hop duo Madvillain — to pop — like “Virgin,” the latest album from New Zealand singer, Lorde. Dunn’s favorite album that he discovered through a meeting was “At Folsom Prison” by country singer Johnny Cash.
The club plans themes or genre weeks in advance, but picks specific albums based on member suggestions. Dunn then does research into the music choices each week to add an educational component to meetings. The group also gives each album a score at the end of meetings.
“I feel that really gets people involved,” Dunn said. “That’s where the heart of the club is.”
More than just a space to find new music, Musicheads has also paved the way for friendships. Krieg joined last semester as a way to meet people after spending her first semester in Madrid and found the meetings to be a reprieve from her classes. She’s now met a group of like-minded people through the club.
“It was like a fun little break during the week where I could go and talk about music with my friends and meet other cool people who had similar interests as me,” Krieg added. “I feel like the people there just tend to be the absolute coolest because we like a diverse mix of albums.”
