Performances at coffeehouse preview CD

It's 6:30 p.m. in the Duke Coffeehouse, and the student band Makeshift is on stage. Unlike usual performances, however, saxophonist Chauncey Nartey, a junior, is facing the back wall as he releases a quavering, deliberate peal over the riffs of his bandmates and into the head of a recording mic. On the surrounding couches sit juniors Pulsar Li, Alex Cornell, Ian Holljes and Clint Twaddell, among others. Bombadil and the Pulsar Triyo have already performed, and Twaddell is on deck.

"I think I know almost all of them here," said Makeshift guitarist Nick Renner, a junior, after their set. "I've jammed a lot with most of them."

This assemblage of bands from Duke is no coincidence. Each band will have a single track, recorded on-site, for a compilation album whose proceeds will go to charity. The album is sponsored by All Campus Entertainment and produced by Wen Reagan and Stuart Pierce, Trinity '05.

"The bands aren't getting paid, so it's amazing to see them come together to support a cause like this, " said organizer Shireen Khoury, a senior and Chronicle staff member. The compilation album will feature tracks from Running Lights, The Pulsar Triyo, Securitas!, Sonny Byrd, Bombadil, Makeshift and the duo of Chris Sung and Alex Cornell. The CD should see an early April launch, with copies available at many venues in Durham and possibly Chapel Hill.

"Music's what we love," said lead singer Farokh Irani, a senior. "We'd do it for any reason, but it's all the better that it's for charity. But whether it's practicing in a basement or performing at K-ville or recording [at the Coffeehouse], we'd be doing it anyways."

"The music scene at Duke is very intimate," said Cornell, a member of Running Lights. "We often play with each other just because there are so few of us. Actually, one of the big reasons I'm staying to watch all the bands is because there are a few I hadn't heard before, and I felt like I was slipping. Gotta stay on top of these things."

An additional factor for most of the bands is the imminent audition for the Battle of the Bands competition between Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to be held April 8. "I'm fairly certain that most of these bands will be auditioning for [the Battle of the Bands]," said Khoury.

"It's the inclusiveness of this project that makes it good because there are some bands that won't have as much of a chance to get exposure," said the Pulsar Triyo's Li. "It's an entire CD, so that means there's at least 10 tracks, unlike the Battle of the Bands, which is going to include only three bands from Duke. It's also good to see all of your friends in a musical context."