Friday, October 3, a little known band by the name Friction Farm held a concert at Mother’s. Aidan Quinn and Christina Stay, guitarist and bassist respectively, gave Mother’s and the attending audience a stellar performance.
This duet is far from a stranger to RPI. Both Quinn and Stay are alumni, with degrees in biology and engineering respectively. This also is the second time Friction Farm has performed on campus.
To warm everyone up, the duet started off with the track “What I Am,” a song about being oneself and the odyssey of getting closer to reaching one’s dreams.
The first half of the performance continued with small personal stories told by either member and a performance of a song related to each story.
Some of the tunes were fun and full of light, while others were somber reminders that life is a mixture of both pleasure and pain.
However, no matter the message of the song, Friction Farm performed and sang with an energizing liveliness and consistently displayed thoughtful originality in their lyrics.
After a short intermission the band returned with the same vigor for another 10 songs as they had for the previous nine. The selection of songs came from a mixture of the newer and older material.
One song, “Book of Your Regrets,” speaks of handling and learning from experiences and trying not to waste one’s life pondering on “could haves” and “should haves.” “I’m Free” is about no matter how much life seems like a prison or a trap, one must keep faith. “Whole-heart Broken” was about the conflict between taking advice and gaining one’s own experiences.
“Another Bad Day” speaks of how each and every one of us sells ourselves and how in 100 days you wouldn’t even recognize someone and in 100 minutes it wouldn’t even matter. “Somewhere to Call Home” is about appreciating home and that no matter what you do; your past is always with you, in one way or another.
“Falling Mercury” speaks of worlds turning to winter and the things that come with that. “Louisiana” was about the way life takes us and how sometimes our point of view is left out of those decisions that affect us, an event that everyone has had their share of. The songs run the gamut of experiences and relate those things most precious to everyone.
This small performance brought many experiences to all those attending and hopes for many more in the future.
