A combo of reggae, rock and ska with unique looping from guitar, horns and vocals filled the Aloha Ballroom as Marc Allred, musician, singer, songwriter and BYU-Hawaii alumnus from Hauula, returned to play his first concert for the campus and community on Sept. 28.
That night was the first time Allred returned to Oahu and performed a concert. Allred remarked both of his experiences at Kahuku High School and BYUH. “It was full of people who have known me since I was a kid, who were from my ward, who I grew up with at school. Today was one of the highlights of my trip, spending all day at Kahuku High School, giving back to where the fire was lit for me as a kid and trying to do the same [for them].
“Some of my friends here tonight told me their kids were in the classes that I held. One of them was telling me that her son is a trumpet player. I did this class, and her son was super excited to get even more serious about trumpet. That’s why I do that, to try and really light the fire for them. Between that and [performing] was just a massive highlight for me.”
In consideration of the homecoming concert, Allred kicked off the show with his song, “My Home”. He sang,
“I can hear the memories and they tend to take me, to take me home.
In this wild world I’m never alone, I’m never alone.
I’ve walked a few miles and I’ve seen a lot of smiles in towns that aren’t my own.
But I ache for the place that knows my face – where I belong.
I know my home is where I belong.
“No matter how long I’ve been gone it’s where I belong.
My home, my home.
I won’t go far from where I belong.
I can hear my old friends and the jokes we laughed at, the jokes we laughed at.
Running through the hills, we would never come back, never come back.
I know my home is where I belong.”
On Allred’s website, he is described as having “passion for seamless melodies, energetic riffs and uplifting song structures, echoing a variety of genres, ranging from reggae and rock, to punk, folk and even pop… Marc’s work is particularly forward-thinking and full of personality.
“This charismatic artist is painstakingly working on his debut solo record, carefully crafting his music in order to bring his vision to life in a detailed way. As a prolific songwriter, Marc spends many nights in the recording studio, working on [more than] 30 songs he’s written in 2017, producing them and transforming them into full-fledged productions.”
Jane Grimmer, a freshman studying biochemistry from Nevada said, “It was cool to hear his story [and] how he came here and how successful he has been.”
Allred encouraged the audience to sing along to the covers he sang during the concert. Grimmer shared, “It was a unique approach most artists don’t do, but kept the audience included.”
Background
Allred expressed he has always had an interest and passion for music. Allred started his own band, Upstanding Youth, at Kahuku High School. “When I moved in 2012, I had been playing for over 10 years, from 2001 until today.”
Allred said Upstanding Youth released five records that can be found on iTunes, Pandora, and Spotify.
For the first time in three years, Allred was able to play with his band debuting his solo album, “Life Raft,” at the Downbeat Diner in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Nick Grunberg, a freshman from Pennsylvania studying biomed, said he had been listening to Marc Allred for four years prior to the BYUH concert and enjoys the unique style of the artist. Grunberg said he planned to go to the Saturday night show featuring Upstanding Youth.
Allred said he first studied as a music major at BYUH, but after finding he wanted neither to conduct nor compose music, he shifted his undergraduate studies. “I wanted to perform, I wanted to write the songs… so I became a political science major, but I took more music classes than political science. I played in all the bands, and I went to all the basketball and volleyball games. I was in the pep band, and that’s how I made my way through school.”
Life Raft
Although Allred played with Upstanding Youth the past three years, the musicians started performing solo and taking a spin on his music. In 10 weeks, Allred wrote 30 songs for his album, Life Raft.
“After I wrote those 30 songs, I whittled it down. I chose only 10 that I liked the best then I fully produced those,” explained Allred. “It was conceptual as I started writing the songs. When I went through a period of those 10 weeks writing 30 songs, the theme that became consistent was the struggle of life.
“What is also consistent is that I created a business called Life Raft, because music was going to be my life raft from my day job. So, it would be my life raft from the things that are hard. That concept of a life raft just started popping up in so many different ways.”
Life Raft is the company and record created by Allred and co-supported by his friend, Demitri Marmash from Artemis Audio in Kailua. Allred said he split the record 50/50 with Marmash.
He explained the logo of a boy on a simple raft on the record and the inspiration to writing the record, “I see all of us as that scared little boy. We are desperately clinging to something to make it through the storms in life whether it’s music, relationships, home, or our jobs.
“There’s also a spiritual perspective. After I finished all the ideas and the record was done, I recognized that that’s the same reflection on Helaman 5:12, ‘the shafts in the whirlwind’ and that you cling desperately to Christ. That will be how you make it through the storms of life.”
“I love when songs you [write] mean something later in life. They prove to be even more true because of the experiences you continue to have. I’ve been fighting through a lot of these things again throughout this record, so that constitutes of my life raft. We are all desperately clinging to something to make it through the storms of life. You want to find that raft.”
Stylistic
Allred described the loop style he chose, “It’s hard, not very many people have the skills to do it.”
“When I started out, I knew that Ed Sheeran and other musicians who I loved did it. Like Bernhoft from Norway, Dub FX from Australia, Reggie Watts, and all these guys are just phenomenal. I just watched them over and over again on YouTube to see.”
While watching YouTube, Allred thought to himself, “How can I be different? I’m different from all of them, and the way they try to approach it. So I try and maintain something that is unique while still using that same approach.”
Students and the audience described their favorite part of the concert to be watching the live loop. Reagan Hoop, a freshman from Oklahoma studying history education, added she liked the build from the loops.
“As one man, doing five different parts, I thought that was really cool,” remarked Alena Neuhas, a freshman from Texas studying marine biology. “It was super unique, the trumpet, the guitar and the beat boxing. I’ve never heard of that before.”
Writer: Geena DeMaio