Name: AJ Ka-e
Year: senior
Major: biology, pre med
Hometown: Yonkers, NY
HCSB: What are all the activities you are involved with?
AJ: “I started as an employee at USG and working for the Tabler Arts Center, which is where we are right now. I started a recording studio, which we are sitting in right now. Last semester I became the director for USGAV, which is the audio-visual company on campus that provides all the clubs and organizations with speakers and microphones. So if you ever see a fashion show, spotlights, or sound and music and stuff, we are usually behind it. I also help with GSO, which is the graduate student organization and Rock Yo Face. They do free shows on campus. I also help with the Javits Audio-Visual organization.”
HCSB: What are you studying?
AJ: “I am a biology major, pre med track; this is my last semester here. I’m taking 23 credits. I’m a digital art minor and a music and technology minor. I originally wanted to go to art school, but my dad kind of talked me out of it. Then I applied to Stony Brook on the last day and got in, fortunately.”
HCSB: Can you tell us about your band?
AJ: “I play drums for a band called Nice Shot, Kid. We formed when I bumped into Matt, our guitarist through a mutual friend and they tried me out as their drummer. We are a Stony Brook based pop-punk band. We play easy-core pop like Blink-182, 4 Years Strong, and the Wonder Years. If anyone enjoys those bands they would enjoy our music and should check us out.”
HCSB: How have all the activities you’ve been involved with changed your Stony Brook Experience?
AJ: “I am really happy that I am preoccupied with all the things I’ve found on campus. It’s been positive because I’ve been able to leave an impact here instead of just a student that kind of walks into class and eventually graduates in however many years. It’s cool to look back at everything I’ve done and been a part of and just say, ‘Hey I put on that cool show.’”
HCSB: What was your favorite accomplishment?
AJ: “Oh man. We opened Brookfest last year for Lupe Fiasco. That was an experience, just playing in front of 1,500 kids. And then this pop-punk band called Carousals came and we booked them on the Pop-Punk show last semester. It was a cancer benefit show/ pop-punk show with free pizza and they actually let me play a song with them. That was really cool. But the best thing I’ve done here is the studio I guess.”
HCSB: Did you start Tabler Studios? This was your idea?
AJ: “It was an idea. This used to be the drum room and that was my outlet my freshman year. All I wanted to do was just play drums when I wasn’t in class. But it was only open on weekends and you could only book 2 hours at a time. So eventually they just shut it down and were like, ‘we’re gonna make it a studio” and it never really went anywhere. Then because I was involved in the digital arts program here, I knew the people that were in charge of making this a studio except they just weren’t very motivated to make it happen. So once I got involved I came in here and tested all the equipment, ordered some new stuff, and got it all running. I also created the website and reservation system for the studio. It is free to everyone. Kind of like a big deal but I don’t want to brag.”
HCSB: Who do you think here has helped you the most?
AJ: “Oh that’s hard. My friend Joseph Kickbush has really been there, I used to live with him. He’s graduated now. He was my partner in crime for all this stuff and USGAV director before I took over. Now I’m doing everything without him and have all the weight on me. So Joe has been a big help. Saeed, who plays guitar in the band, has been a big influence because he’s also on the pre med track. My whole band has just made me more motivated to be a good academic student and meet people. They know that it is a good release. Margret Schedel in the cDact department has always been pushing me to do cool stuff in this kind of environment. She gave me the confidence to go out of the no-flex zone and take on different challenges on campus.”
HCSB: How do you want to be remembered?
AJ: “I want people to laugh, like remembering something I’ve done. I just want to put smiles on people’s faces through music, playing or recording, or putting on concerts. Or doing something in the digital arts like making posters. I just want people to laugh and smile.”
Nice Shot, Kid’s upcoming gigs:
Opening for Streetlight Manifesto, Stony Brook University, April 20th
Woodbury Pop Punk Fest in Connecticut, May 29th
Help Nice Shot, Kid get on Warped Tour!