AU's CS5 takes up residency in GARC

Media Credit: DAVE STONE / THE EAGLE LETTS ROCK - Guitarist Al Smith (right), bassist Keith Ingram (left) and Corey Schneider (front) of CS5 jam out in the GARC in Letts Hall. The band practiced in the Letts 1 South lounge until noise complaints necessitated the move.

On one gloomy day in early February, three young men make their way into the back room of Letts Residence Hall's first floor and begin to set up and tune their instruments. Band practice will start with or without all five members today.

Corey Schneider, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business, turns from his keyboard and cues for drummer Geoff Malloy, a freshman in the College of Arts and Science, and saxophonist Robert Lutz, a freshman in the School of International Service, to begin. Practice is underway.

Their name is CS5, but to a select few in the AU community, they shall always be known as the "GARC Band." Yes, it's true - there is a band whose very existence can be traced to the AU's beloved Games and Recreation Center.

After Schneider's solo songwriting garnered some immediate attention last semester, "everything just came together through word-of-mouth," he said.

Some Letts South residents will remember the band fondly for its heartwarming, albeit loud, practices in the first floor's lounge last semester. Now, thanks to a collection of noise violations and complaints, the five boys have relocated their efforts.

"Could you imagine having a full band playing next to your door?" said John Quast, resident director of Letts Hall.

"The bass used to shake the wall behind my bed," said Tom Ports, a resident assistant on Letts South Terrace and a junior in the School of Public Affairs. Ports had even received noise complaints from second-floor residents while minding the front desk. "I'd always have to ask [the band] to turn it down."

Prior to their prime setting in the GARC, this alt-pop quintet was running dangerously close to ruin, lacking an appropriate place to practice its music.

"Corey e-mailed me a while back and asked about practice space," Quast said. "They had looked all around campus, even in classrooms, for a good spot and had no luck." Quast offered up the GARC as a possible venue, and CS5 jumped at the opportunity.

Continued...

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