On Saturday, September 13th, music filled the air as Make Waves had their first concert of the year.
Make Waves is a student run record label here at Hamilton. Founded in 2016, this marks the 9th year of them on campus. From the artists themselves, to the technical team, and marketing teams, everything is student run, promoting hands-on collaboration. “Solstice”, marks their first concert of the ‘25-’26 school year.
The lineup for the night ranged from new and upcoming artists to established ones on the label. Ben Gonzalez (Ben Dorres), an AMPA junior and second year artist, spoke about his musical journey. “I like making music. I believe that it’s fun to work with people and mess around [with it]” he said. Even though he’s only been creating for two years, he’s really taken a liking to the process, and accredits the label to helping him grow his craft.
Behind the scenes, major work is put in to ensure the quality of the production. Students have to manage everything, including the lights and sound system. Lights manager Kim Escobar, an AMPA senior, shared her experience in the technical field. Over the years, she has helped to put on many performances at Hamilton as a stage manager. Having never worked with Make Waves on a project before, she didn’t completely know what to expect. However, the level of professionalism displayed by everyone helped ease any nerves she may have had. “It gives that touch that’s like ‘hey, we’re kids and we did it on our own’ ,” Escobar said. She is hoping to work with them in the future for more shows.
Finding their own footing hasn’t always been easy, but letting the kids take the wheel shows their sense of ownership and responsibility. Students are the ones giving and receiving orders from each other, helping create a community based atmosphere. Main Producer Dereon Deshield, also an AMPA senior, commented on the skills putting this concert together helped him learn. “It teaches you how to be accountable … you are accountable for those people and you have to make sure everything is in order,” he said. “We had to really build this show from the ground up.”
With all this responsibility, guidance is always necessary. This is where Larenz Tolson comes in. Mr. Tolson has been with Make Waves since the beginning, helping lead students throughout their journey with the label. “My role is to keep them focused, but as far as all the decision making … they’re getting a taste of a little bit of everything. I’m just here to let them make those mistakes and really … you know, be proud of what they put on, ” he explained. Though Mr. Tolson has been a role model for students to look up to while working with the label, he doesn’t claim to take any credit for their success. “If they feel that I have done that, then I’m doing my job. But again, this is a student run thing. I don’t do anything other than be a guiding light for these students.”
If you’re interested in hearing more, you can listen to the label’s newest album, “Make Waves Vol. 7: Memento”, on Spotify.
