Peter McPoland performs, urges SU’s musicians to follow gut at WERW launch
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By the end of Sunday night, singer-songwriter Peter McPoland had built rapport with his audience during WERW’s Fall Launch Party. He traded inside jokes, responded to students and even signed a photograph passed to him from the crowd.
“I feel like I’m going to see a concert when I play a show now,” McPoland told The Daily Orange. “It gives me the same feeling as being in the audience and being on stage.”
WERW, or “What Everyone Really Wants,” welcomed McPoland and SU student-musician Anthony Martinelli for its annual launch party. Students gathered at The Underground in Schine Student Center to enjoy live music, while student-run publications like Overdrive and Jerk Magazine tabled at the event.
For Alexa Walters, WERW’s president and an SU junior, the launch party — one of the independent student-run station’s biggest annual events — is a chance for students to gain experience in the music industry. It allows WERW members to become familiar with the process of planning and executing a performance, Walters said.
Having McPoland, known for songs like “I Love You Too” and “Shit Show,” headline the event was a combined effort between Walters and WERW’s booking team. As an independent station, WERW tries to focus on indie and emerging artists, which led them to McPoland, Walters said.
The same logic applied to choosing Martinelli, an SU junior studying advertising, as the show’s opener. He performed original indie-rock music such as his single “Edge of Vegas” and covered tracks like Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” and Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” while students sang along.
Martinelli has spent much of his time at Syracuse discovering the city’s local music scene. Although Martinelli often performs acoustic sets at restaurants and bars throughout New Jersey and New York City, he was surprised by the number of venues and opportunities for live music when he first arrived on campus, including WERW’s launch party.
“I’ve realized how amazing it is,” Martinelli said. “It really is like nowhere else I’ve been.”
The launch party also gave Martinelli, who normally performs solo, an opportunity to play with a full band for a larger audience.
“I want people to walk away wanting more,” Martinelli said. “I just am here to have a great time, and I want people to have a great time seeing me have a great time.”
McPoland, who said he last visited Syracuse about six years ago, also praised the city’s music scene. He thinks it’s one of the only places left in America that still has a prominent local music scene.
Syracuse University junior Anthony Martinelli and a supporting band jam out during WERW’s Fall Launch Party. Martinelli, the opener, performed original songs and covers like Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire.” Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
He expressed appreciation for college and local radio, describing himself as a longtime listener of local stations. After McPoland’s car’s auxiliary cord stopped working, he became particularly familiar with his local radio stations, he said.
“I love college radio,” McPoland said. “If I went to college, I would have done the radio. That’s what I would have majored in.”
McPoland’s performance featured original songs like “Digital Silence” and “Alright,” and an experimental setup that paired his laptop with his guitar. Rather than a traditional live arrangement, he played some tracks from his laptop and sang over them, occasionally picking up his guitar. He told attendees it was his first time trying the setup at a show.
For SU freshman and WERW DJ Sophia Bonillo, that experimentation was one of the highlights of the night.
“That felt pretty special to almost be like a trial run,” Bonillo said. “It feels like another level of trustworthiness or some kind of vulnerability with the audience.”
Before the show, McPoland said performing for a smaller audience like SU can be more nerve-wracking than playing for larger audiences, like when he opened for Twenty One Pilots.
“It’s definitely a little bit more intimidating to do a smaller audience because you can see a lot more faces,” McPoland said. “It’s kind of like a focus group.”
But that visibility also makes the experience more rewarding, he said. Seeing everyone enjoying the music makes performing feel more satisfying. Between songs, McPoland’s set was equally defined by his interactions with the crowd, laughing and joking with students.
Attendees at WERW’s Fall Launch Party smile during the Sunday event. Held at The Underground in Schine Student Center, the launch party featured live music and student-run publication tables. Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
SU sophomore Ronnie Kabbash attended the show to support her friends involved with WERW and was introduced to a new artist with McPoland’s visit.
“I think my favorite form of artistic discovery or learning the music of an artist is to experience it live,” Kabbash said. “I’m definitely going to be listening to him in the future.”
Jackie Cywinski, an SU freshman, praised McPoland’s ability to connect with the audience, particularly people who weren’t familiar with his work.
“I just thought he’s very personable and good at talking to the crowd,” Cywinski said. “By the end of the show, I felt like I was very attentive and part of a good crowd and experience.”
Before the show, McPoland offered a simple piece of advice for aspiring musicians: “Follow your gut.”
“There’s so many questions about the industry and there’s so much mystique around how to do anything,” McPoland said. “You don’t really get the answer until you figure it out for yourself.”
He carried that advice into the show, encouraging young artists to embrace trial and error after he performed “Romeo & Juliet” — one of his most popular songs, which drew an especially enthusiastic response.
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After performing “Romeo & Juliet,” McPoland admitted to the audience that when the song launched in July 2020, he wasn’t a huge fan of it. Now, the track has amassed over 69 million Spotify streams.
“It’s all bullsh—t ‘till it’s not,” McPoland said to the audience.
By performing at WERW’s show, McPoland hoped that SU students would be inspired to pursue their own careers in music.
“I hope that someone who wants to be a musician comes to the show and takes something and uses it for themselves,” McPoland said. “I think that’s the purpose of a live show for wannabe musicians.”
DISCLAIMER: Ronnie Kabbash is a contributing writer for The Daily Orange. Kabbash did not influence the editorial content of this article.
