Stevens’ largest event for the Spring semester is on Saturday, April 29th on Palmer Lawn, from 5 to 9 p.m. There will be giveaways, raffles, food, and activities.
Student entrepreneurs. artists, designers, and writers will have their goods on display at the Duck Market during the first half of the event, along with a variety of activities. These include inflatables, games, souvenirs, a photobooth, and other fun surprises. Student performers Sofie Lopez, Butane, and Dale will take to the stage throughout the night, starting shortly after 5 p.m. Closing out the night will be our headliner Peach Tree Rascals, best known for their breakout 2019 hit “Mariposa.” The Stute will continue to collaborate with the Entertainment Committee (EC) and the student performers in the lead up to Techfest, and a brief introduction to some of the performers is as follows.
Sofie Lopez (she/they) is a Music and Technology (M&T) major who sings and plays piano, guitar, and ukulele. They describe music as an integral part of their life, “I started piano lessons when I was 9 and began vocal lessons a year after that. It was the only extracurricular I ever gravitated to, and I loved the expressiveness and creativity of it.” Lopez is influenced by artists like dodie, Billie Eilish, and The Drums, and describes her sound as similar to Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo.
Butane was formed in Fall 2022 and has been playing gigs in the NYC area for the past several months. The group is made up of six Stevens students: founder Jack McDermott (CPE 4/4) on guitar, Alec Pagano (M&T 4/4) on rhythm guitar, Michael Hoovler (M&T 3/4) on lead vocals, Mark Huggins (M&T 3/4) on keyboard, Sam Sherwood (M&T 3/4) on bass, and Jack Piccirillo (M&T 3/4) on drums. Their influences include The Backseat Lovers, Hozier, John Mayer, Ween, and Led Zeppelin. They describe themselves as “a proto neo soul occult blue collar emo indie boy band from Hoboken, NJ” and have just released their first song “Credit,” available everywhere.
Peach Tree Rascals formed in 2018, composed of five Bay Area Californians, singer-rappers Isaac Pech, Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq, Joseph Barros, producer Dominic Pizano and creative director Jorge Olazaba. Their music is characterized by beachy melodies, introspective rap-singing, and a blend of pop, R&B, and indie rock.
