Liz Hoffman is one of the coolest and most authentic chicks I know. Her love of music and dedication to media and production has made a lasting impression at CUA and the greater DC community. Liz Hoffman is a senior Media Studies major with a concentration in video production. Liz recently released a short documentary film for her senior thesis on how college radio is being impacted by streaming services, such as Spotify. Her film focused on live music played on college radio, specifically on UMD College Park’s radio station. Liz is involved with TakeNote, interned with multiple independent concert venues in DC, and followed her passions to jumpstart her future career.
Read the interview below and get to know more about the rising superstar Liz Hoffman….
Q: How did you get involved with TakeNote?
A: I wanted to continue music in college even though I was not a theater or music major, so I am in TakeNote now and I sing acapella with my friends.
Q: What position or vocal range are you?
A: I was a soprano throughout high school and then I came to CUA and auditioned for TakeNote. They made me a tenor, which is the higher of the two male parts just because they needed a guy and I had a range for it. Now I am an alto because there are enough male tenors so I got bumped up to alto.
Q: What is your leadership role in TakeNote:
A: Music President/ Music Director… so I help run the group alongside Cara Costa, my beloved Business President, and I make all of the music decisions. I help teach the group songs, conduct and run rehearsals, and all of that jazz.
Q: What are your favorite genres of music?
A: I listen to a lot of stuff but most of it is alternative indie. I do not listen to country music ever, at least by my own will. Rap is fine. I am not the biggest fan but I do enjoy it. Indie pop has become a big thing that I am very into now but alternative rock in general is nice too.
Q: What is your favorite band and solo artist?
A: It is hard because it changes all of the time. My favorite solo artist right now is Grimes she is Canadian and sounds like a fairy but could kick your ass. My favorite live show by bands would be Phoenix or Vampire Weekend. They are tied for first at this point.
Q: Could you elaborate on your professional musical experiences off of campus?
A: I was a marketing intern at the 9:30 Club/IMP (umbrella booking company) last summer, which was an incredible experience because I got to see so many amazing shows, made really good friends, and made awesome connections. In the fall, last semester I was the media content intern, which was a new position under the media content manager for the 9:30 Club. This semester I wasn’t going to do anything internship wise… but I now have a position at the Rock and Roll Hotel. It is a smaller music venue on H Street. It is a more intimate office, so I have more responsibilities.
Q: What would you tell students who are interested in pursuing the music industry in any capacity in DC? What advice would you give them?
A: I would tell them to do it. I love it. It is really cool because DC is unique with venues like Rock and Roll Hotel, Black Cat, and 9:30 Club, which are all independent, self-run, in house venues. It is a very great environment I think because you are not dealing with super cooperate places. If you want to get into the indie music scene this is really awesome place to do it, especially with DC’s Go-go history and punk culture. NPR is here and so many college radio stations are here too that focus on local artists and more national artists, which creates a utopia of music.
Q: What would you tell women that are interested in pursuing music because it is true that women are not as engaged in the music industry behind the scenes like as producers?
A: You should totally go for it. I know artists, such as Grimes, that are producers too. Grimes engineered, mixed, and created almost all of the stuff on her album just because she did not want to work with any of the male producers she approached because they were all being gross pigs and telling her that she had to give them sexual favors in order to make music. It sucks that this still occurs but two of the three intern supervisors that I had were women. All of them were feminists and in tune with equality in all forms. Yes the music industry has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality but I think you should still pursue music despite that. If you run into those sorts of problems be the person that is the driving force that says, “No this is wrong, lets fix it.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about music?
A: My favorite thing about music is how it can totally change your mood and I know that is lame but if you go to a show you know exactly what I mean. For example, I was at a show this past weekend for my internship and had to do social media. I didn’t really want to go because none of my roommates wanted go and I didn’t want to go alone; but once the music started to play everything was fine. It can totally switch your day around. If your day is going badly in the beginning but you have a show to look forward to at night, then that’s awesome. It’s a full body kind of experience. The music is usually so loud and you can feel it in your chest and everyone around you is happy to be there too. It is just this enormously positive environment, which is hard to find anywhere else.
If you want to bump after reading about music and Liz’s experience, check out one of Liz Hoffman’s Spotify playlists below:
https://open.spotify.com/user/1254702467/playlist/0AMyby71J4GUzo7ncbqoyM