‘The safest place possible’: TMUsicians foster community at open mic nights

By Mitchell Fox

For aspiring musicians at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), the opportunity to perform at TMUsicians’ open mic nights at the Met Campus Pub means a lot more than an opportunity to improve—it’s a chance to unite in a collective passion. 

TMUsicians is a student group dedicated to bringing people together through music and performing. The club hosted an open mic night on Wednesday and a songwriter circle for Halloween on Thursday. Some participants and organizers came to the open mic in costume, while all came to make the most of their moment on stage.

Fifth-year marketing student Raphael Schmitz Mayer is the open mic host for TMUsicians. He helps set up for the performances and introduces each act, making people feel comfortable with his cheery demeanour. Mayer said going on stage is “scary for everybody” so the open mics aim to help students develop confidence. 

“The idea of the open mic, it’s basically to be a safe environment that people can practice or just have fun. But a lot of people go there to show their talent, to show music that they compose themselves,” he said. “It is the safest place possible.”

Mayer said when he learned of TMUsicians’ open mic nights at the end of his second year, he found a place to apply his experience in events and marketing along with his passion for music.

“It’s really important to find a community. To find a place where you can meet over folks who have the same interests as you and appreciate what you do,” he said.

Daniel Shatil, a second-year Global Management Studies student, played at the TMUsicians open mic for the second time on Wednesday, performing “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Though he has played guitar since he was 13 years old, singing is relatively new for him—this was only the fifth performance of his life.

 “I was thinking I wouldn’t like this or it’s not kind of going to be my thing…but the minute I did, I felt this rush of energy and support and really, the next level of my music journey,” he said.

Shatil said he found the club when looking on social media for music groups at TMU. Now that he has progressed from being comfortable performing in front of his family to doing it in a bar, he wonders if he could move onto a bigger crowd.

“Get out of your comfort zone. That’s the one lesson I learned from doing this,” he said.

Christina Kennedy is the social chair for TMUsicians and a recording artist. Her job is to engage with people and grow the community. 

“There’s a lot of artsy musicians here and not enough people know about it,” she said.

Kennedy said the open mic nights provide a non-judgemental space for people to make important connections as musicians and community members. While some may be looking to build a career and network, others might just be there to jam.

“If you’re honestly just looking to meet like-minded people, it’s the best place,” she said.

Sia Prasad, a fourth-year RTA media production student at TMU, and Rania Makhlouf, a University of Toronto student, performed together as “The Barbies” on Wednesday for the second straight week. Prasad heard about TMUsicians while working at an open mic with the RTA Media Production Course Union and decided to bring Makhlouf with her.

“I’ve invited all my friends, from RTA, from TMU and from other universities, because I love the environment,” she said. “The vibes here are amazing. Once you start singing, and you get up there, everyone else starts cheering you on.”

Mayer told “the Barbies” as they got off the stage that they should try creating and recording a song. He said they were already friends and having fun, so he wanted to push them to do something more. For him, that reflects what the event is all about.

“One of the best ways of creating engagement… it’s from music,” said Mayer.

Prasad said music has played a pivotal role in her life, as she learned violin as a child, performed in an international choir and has always liked to sing.

“I’ve had a very close relationship with music and just going to these open mic nights, it just brings me back to my childhood.”

Original post can be found at: https://blogs.journalism.torontomu.ca/jrn305-fall-2024/2024/10/31/the-safest-place-possible-tmusicians-foster-community-at-open-mic-nights