Sophomore Axel Olson may be relatively new to the Tufts music scene, but he's already playing a large part. Olson plays guitar in Tufts Jazz Orchestra, in a Jazz Improv Ensemble led by Scott Aruda and with last year's Spring Fling opener, Explicit. Olson is now looking to form an independent band that would fuse elements from rock and hip-hop, giving him an opportunity to perform off campus.
Describing his efforts to break into the Tufts music scene, Olson says he struggled initially to find a network of musicians. "First semester sucked; I didn't know anyone. But by second semester, I started to meet people through different performances and Battle of the Bands, and now I have a good base to work with," he said.
Music has been a part of Olson's life from an early stage: At 13, he was invited, after a concert at his summer camp, to join local jam sessions. Olson started going and performing at these sessions where musicians would form bands on the spot and improvise.
This improvisational collaboration is something Olson hopes to bring to the Tufts scene.
"Improv is more spontaneous," he said. "You see with your ears and listen with your eyes, you're communicating and responding to each other… Everyone should be interacting, it should be fresh every time."
Sometimes these collaborations work and sometimes they fall flat, but for Olson that's a key way to meet people you want to work with.
Olson currently has a few projects in the works. He's started a Tufts University Musicians group on Facebook to help form connections between people interested in joining the Tufts musical scene, and he's currently pulling together the group's first jam session, set to take place this November in Carmichael. Olson has opened up the event to the whole campus, and has high hopes for a new brand of musical collaboration at Tufts.
