WERW’s Spring Launch Party marks beginning of new leadership with live music
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Syracuse University and SUNY ESF students danced with friends while listening to Frankie Cosmos and Froggies Friday night at The Underground in the Schine Student Center. Colorful lights illuminated the stage as guitar chords and drum beats reverberated throughout What Everyone Really Wants (WERW) radio’s launch party.
“It just feels like everyone is having fun. Everyone is laughing. Everybody’s enjoying the music,” said Chandler McCoy, a freshman in the Newhouse School of Public Communications.
The event marked the transition into a new era of leadership, moving from 2024 spring general managers Peri Friedman and María Nido to next semester’s crew made up of Evan Fratantuno and Polly Hoffman. However, the main goal of the Spring Launch Party is to showcase up-and-coming talent, said Nido, who is also a member of Froggies.
Froggies, an indie folk rock student band, opened the event with their 2023 single “Empty Movements.” Made up of Nido, Corey Chun, Sam Parrish, Grady Collingbourne and Sam Ronan, the band performed several never-before-heard songs along with their hits. All being graduating seniors, their performance marked the beginning of “the end of an era,” Nido said. The group is also set to release an EP this May.
“It’s going to be a really cathartic moment for all of us,” Nido said before Friday’s performance. “It is the music that’s going on our farewell album because we’re seniors, we’re graduating, we’re entering a new chapter in our lives and saying goodbye to the Syracuse chapter. These are all songs that reflect on these past two years that we’ve been a band.”
After Froggies, Frankie Cosmos took to the event’s stage. Throughout their set, they performed some of the group’s most popular songs such as “Sappho,” “Abigail” and “Fool.”
“I love dancing and I love Frankie Cosmos,” said Jamie Christensen, a freshman in Newhouse. “Their song ‘Outside with the Cuties’ was my summer song so when I saw that we were having Frankie Cosmos for $3, I lost my mind.”
Lars Jendruschewitz | Asst. Photo Editor
Greta Kline performs with her band, Frankie Cosmos. They played at Schine Underground as part of many performances at college radio stations.
WERW, which runs its digital webcast in the Women’s Building, is the only completely independent student-run radio station on SU’s campus, according to the station’s website. Students can apply to become DJs and curate their own shows based on their individual interests, which the radio station prides itself on, Nido said.
WERW features over 115 student DJs and gives them complete freedom with their shows, whether it be filled with music or the hosts’ conversations. Christensen was initially drawn to SU for its opportunities within radio broadcasting, especially WERW’s independence, she said.
“WERW is kind of like a space to be able to play what you want, when you want it and there’s no rules, no boundaries,” said Chloe Kiser, a freshman DJ who is on the station’s social media team.
Jaden Wilson, a magazine, news and digital journalism master’s student, wants to focus on music journalism, but said that, so far, she hasn’t had opportunities to follow the path in her classes. So, she turned to WERW and now works as the station’s TikTok social media manager.
“WERW is a community brought together by the love of music,” Nido said. “I wouldn’t say we are categorized by one specific genre because our DJs are very multidimensional. Everyone is playing different music from country to rap to hip-hop to rock. It’s a diverse musical community.”
Student organizations University Union, Reel Magazine and Jerk Magazine among others tabled the event alongside local businesses such as Awkward Fish, Just Bros Vintage, Flower Skate Shop and Eastcoast Bandits.
Nido said the Spring Launch Party aspires to cultivate “a diverse music-loving community” where all students and music lovers alike are welcome to share their passions.
“We don’t want WERW to feel like it’s exclusive,” Nido said. “It’s a tight-knit group of people that come from various backgrounds and various musical tastes and to us that’s really important.”
