The Maria Mitchell Observatory was illuminated with soft morning light and furnished with books, CDs and other knick-knacks as performers, audio engineers and eager audience members watched Bedlam take the stage. Every semester, the Student Music Union (StuMu), Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE), Vassar College Television (VCTV) and The Miscellany News produce and record student performances in their Tiny Desk series. On Sunday, Nov. 9, student rock band Bedlam became one of the newest groups to immortalize a performance in this format.
Bedlam, consisting of seniors Denver Brown [Disclaimer: Brown is the Live Events Chair for The Miscellany News], Duncan Beauchamp, Kalina Sloat and Walt Schoen, has been playing together since Fall 2022. Fresh off their first New York City show, Bedlam prepared a set of three songs: “Lemon Tree,” “Seen” and “St. Elizabeth.”
Vassar Tiny Desk first began in 2019 as a series of at-home performances and interviews. It served not only as a performance opportunity but also as a chance to reflect on their music and work. However, Tiny Desk was put on pause in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The bulk of the productions before the revitalization were also multi-genre: poets, lots of bands, solo acts and stuff like that,” said ViCE Co-Head Kwabena Adae ’26. “The desire was just to have a space that could be an offering for all those different types of groups to have their voices heard from a Vassar perspective.”
In 2023, StuMu, ViCE, VCTV and The Miscellany News revitalized the project, capturing performances by Margot Gordinier ’24, The Night Owls [Disclaimer: The author of this article appears in this video and was a member of the Copy Staff for The Miscellany News at the time of filming] and 30 Minutes Late. Since then, Tiny Desk has become a space for Vassar musicians to take part in a unique recording and performing experience. Based on NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk Concert” program, Vassar’s Tiny Desk is a fully filmed and edited live concert where student musicians present a short set in an intimate setting.
For this concert, Bedlam chose a more minimalist approach to their usual sound. To adjust for the more casual atmosphere of Tiny Desk, the band utilized acoustic guitars, rather than their usual electric guitars, in the first two songs of their set. They also added more harmonies to the vocal lines in “Lemon Tree.” The band mentioned that these songs adjusted well to this format, as “Lemon Tree” already featured quite a few open strings, and “Seen” was one of their slower songs. Brown, a guitarist and vocalist for Bedlam, said, “I feel like some of the songs we do have really vulnerable lyrics that are drowned out by really distorted guitars. Stripping it back and having the vocals come through a lot makes it more intimate.”
Beauchamp added, “[My favorite moment] was being able to hear the raw lyrics in this stripped-back form, and knowing that the audience could hear them pretty well too and hopefully appreciate them a bit more as a result of that.”
The audience and Tiny Desk team were captivated by “Lemon Tree” with Sloat, Bedlam’s bassist, noting the attentive silence as a standout moment of the performance. Bedlam continued with “Seen,” a fan-favorite ballad sung by Schoen, featuring a more laid-back drum line played by Beauchamp. Sloat mentioned that, besides the change in instrumentation, their live rendition was quite similar to the recorded version.
Bedlam fully leaned into their signature sound for the final song of their set, “St. Elizabeth,” with Brown and Schoen making the switch back to electric guitars. Schoen said, “We wanted to keep our identity as we are an emo-ish alternative rock band, so with the last song we had to get a little bit of the distorted electric guitar in there.” The previously silent audience members were now dancing in their seats and bobbing their heads with a new sense of energy.
Members of StuMu, ViCE and VCTV made it clear that Tiny Desk has been a labor of love for all involved. “I think this experience has been really interesting because every person that’s involved is really passionate about it and wants to make it the best it can be,” said Katherine Bernstein ’27, ViCE’s Tiny Desk Coordinator. Linus Barnes ’27, StuMu’s Tiny Desk Liaison, additionally mentioned that this project has been evolving into an independent effort with the involved student organizations adding designated roles for Tiny Desk. “It can be a lot—it can be very overstimulating, the number of people in such a small space,” said Barnes. “But working with everybody, it’s really cool getting such a diverse set of opinions and interests musically.”
It was obvious that everyone, both onstage and behind the scenes, was passionate about creating a product that would speak to the broader Vassar community. Members of Bedlam mentioned that with their set, they were hoping to reach a wider audience and showcase the variety in their discography. “On our record, I feel like there’s something for everybody,” Brown said.
“I hope they just learn a little more about us,” Sloat said. “I think so far our legacy on the campus of the things we’ve been playing is obviously heavier; we do rock shows, we try to do things with a big audience so people have space to dance and really be part of that, but I hope everyone learns a little bit more about what we want to say and our music. And if they like what they heard, they can hear a heavier version of all of it.”
Schoen added, “Just for us as a band, being diverse in our abilities and being able to adapt to these new situations and still maintain our identity was a big thing. Also to showcase to people that we want to meet them where they’re at… there’s always a way to connect with people.” The release date for Bedlam’s Tiny Desk premiere is to be announced. In the meantime, you can listen to their debut album, “This Too Shall Pass,” on various streaming platforms and keep up with their social media for updates on future concerts.