Jim Asplund::  Oh, yeah hi! My name is Jim Asplund and I currently live in Woodbury, Minnesota, and I’m a member of the Grinnell College class of 1988.
Andrew Hopson::  Hi, I am Andrew Hopson, I live in Indianapolis, Indiana and I am a member of the class of 1986.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Okay.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  We were- became friends by playing in bands at Grinnell. I think, between us we probably played in half a dozen bands over time.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yep.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Last night we played over in the new- was it Harris Center? Is that what that's called?
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Mhm.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah, we played in the Harris Center with She Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  While we were here we were in bands, uh, "Shopping with Mom", "Spankfestous", "Free Beer"...
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  "Doctor Boogie", remember that one?
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  "Doctor Boogie", that’s right.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Let’s see, Road Kill.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  "Pretty Road Kill".
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Oh, I forgot about that. Were you in "Debbie Gets Hers"?
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  No, it was not me.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Okay, that was me. Lots of them, anyway.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah, there was a lot of cross-pollination between the bands. There would be-
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  It’s still that way.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Twenty musicians who would create twenty different bands of just slightly alternating orders. Back when we were playing, the main venue we would play in was the Pub-
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Mhm.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  And occasionally the Forum.. what was it, South, North Lounge?
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  North Lounge.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  North Lounge, and occasionally outdoors. They had a big outdoor fest a couple of times.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  I remember we played outside once, a big prospective student weekend. And one of the guys in the band we were in was pretty odd. He was a great great guy but he was just- he was very theatrical. I remember, just remember this picture of the parents, staring at him wondering, “Is this what happens to my…?” We were, I think we were actually pretty good, so that’s why they were watching but then they'd- this guy could somehow do things, move around in ways that didn’t make any sense, y'know, vis a vis, y'know, gravity. But, nonetheless, y’know, and he was talking to them too, so I always thought that was kind of funny. But yeah, we played outdoors right over by that tree. Remember I had-
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  This was back when Darby gymnasium was still there, so we were right behind Darby and there was a parking lot, so the stage was set up right at the edge of the parking lot. Yeah, that was cool.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  I think back then we used to always practice in Norris Pit. There was a- Norris had a basement and there was a band practice room down, I think we would pay ten dollars a semester for the privilege of using that.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Yeah, it was pretty cheap.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Nice.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Later on we moved off-campus and had an apartment where we could practice. We were over a dentist’s office, so we could practice in the apartment over that, after hours.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Long as it was at night, yeah.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Yeah, as long as it wasn’t during business hours. So we would do that.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  And then, interestingly enough, I actually turned it into a career, which is kind of cool. I was a History major actually.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Nice.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  But I realized at some point I was spending far more time practicing in the band than I was actually doing my homework and I have a GPA that proves it. And the school very kindly let me stay here an extra year so I could get a Music minor. So, I have a History major and a Music minor.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Wow, nice.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah, they don’t let people get minors anymore.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  I heard that. That was kind of a… yeah, I had to petition and I thought, “I wanna change my major,” but they said, “Well look, you’re a second semester junior, you’re nearly done. Just graduate and then come back and take an extra year.” So that’s what I did.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  They- I remember they gave you a pretty good deal, too, I mean...
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah, 100 dollars a class.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Wow. That's great.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  So, I just hung out off-campus, took a couple classes every semester and played a lot. Played way too much music.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  And what is it that you do now?
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Now, I teach Sound Design at Indiana University and I teach Recording Technology and I work as a freelance composer and sound designer.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Oh wow.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  So, all of that stuff I did back then has all come back to haunt me, which is really nice.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah, that's great.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  So..
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Anything else we could tell about the music scene of the day?
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Trying to think. You know, it was...
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  I remember getting here and one of the first things I saw was a poster for a band called "Margaret Thatcher and the Supply Side", this is back when I lived in Norris, and they had this great single on it, "45". Do you get that? Probably nobody has 45s anymore, and a quote: “Be nice to your President.” It was about Ronald Reagan, and I actually found it on the web a couple years ago, so I have it on my- one of my playlists.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  I was trying to think of the band, was it "The Ornate Coalmen"?
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  "The Ornate Coalmen", yeah.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Or was it- who was it that played only jingles?
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  That was "The Ornate Coalmen".
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Was that "Th Ornate Coalmen"? ‘Cause they would play, like, the Flintstones theme song, and like- and they would- ear’s burst TV theme songs with commercials.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  And they would always end the show with the Star-Spangled Banner.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Oh, wow.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  It was really, really funny.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  So at fir- y'know, we obviously like playing music. I still play music too although I’m not a professional. And... But y’know we made a lot of good friends, and that’s a lot of the people we're hanging around here at reunion and have talked to over the years, and it was a great way to... kinda become immersed in the society, if you will, right away.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  I was just a kid, y'know, walking off the farm. For me, I mean, that was a great way to just say, “Hey, here’s what I like to do. Anybody else wanna be loud?”
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Y'know, and it was a good....
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Yeah, for me it was a little different because I got here, I wasn’t musical. I wasn’t involved in music at all when I first started at Grinnell, and a friend of mine said, “I’m starting a band and I need a bass player. Do you wanna be it?” Like.... "All right." And when I first started here I was- I played on the football team for a couple of years and I blew my knee out, and so it was- music suddenly became this thing to fill all that time and re-devote my energies into that and, y'know, thankfully, I actually do have a career that I don’t have to worry about a, you know, career-ending injury anymore. “Ah, my ear! My ear!”
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Yeah.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  So, it was kind of fortuitous that I blew my knee out when I did and then it just- everything just timed out perfectly. So I was able to segue-way from one thing to another. When I got here I just didn’t know what I wanted to do, and that was a whole... That was a big thing, and I actually ended up in History, which I use occasionally when I teach...
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  Yeah.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas::  But little else.
Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  And what was your major?
Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Math.
Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Okay.
Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  So, I came here as clueless as can be, I think, like a lot of people, and I just didn’t really know what I wanted to do it and so I was trying everything. I kind of looked up after about three semesters and realized I was still taking Math, and Physics, and Math, I guess, I liked a little bit better, so that’s what I wound up doing. And I do that today. I do math, statistical consulting stuff so, it came in handy. And... But you know, I just kind of wandered into it by- I think by accident, you know?
Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Mhm.
Jim Asplund::  Someone told me, before I came here, to just do what you like doing and that seemed to work really well, at least for me. So, classes that I fell asleep in, I didn’t take any more of those, and classes that I showed up for all the time, and did well in, I figure I’ll keep doing that, you know? So it’s a primitive system but it seemed to work and... so that’s what happened then.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  And y’know, it’s been interesting, and you have to think about it, you know, just, with my son, the son who’s going to college next year, and just kind of having to rethink that process, it’s been interesting to kind of- Because of course, you're- giving a 17-year-old advice is a fairly hopeless exercise anyway, but, you kind of wanna do it and see if it works out and I think he’s well set up for school now, but... So it has been interesting to think about how that all happened.
Jim Asplund & Sophie Haas::  Yeah.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Is there any advice you guys would give to young musicians on campus? Anything that you wish you’d done differently, or…?
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah, keep plugging away. I think, it just- if that’s what you feel like you need to do with your life, then absolutely pursue it but you have to be very realistic. It’s a very hard road to hoe. And also- but also that, I had a long conversation about this with someone not too long ago, saying, how you define success has to be very much individual. If you compare yourself to, oh, Lady Gaga, you’re gonna fail. But, if you suddenly realize at the end of several years, "Y’know, I’ve been doing music for such and such long time, and I’m actually making enough money that I can afford to, you know, eat something other than ramen noodles and I’m enjoying it and I actually feel like I’m contributing something worthwhile," That may not be a bad measure of success.
Andrew Hopson::  But on the same token, there’s never, ever, ever a sense that I have made it, I have now officially made it. Because there’s always somebody who’s doing better than you. There’s always somebody who’s got something better going on. So, it’s pointless to compare yourself to anybody else, and it just, y'know, figure out what your own metric of success is and then follow that.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  And then other thing too, not to be long-winded-
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Oh, no.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Be very savvy about the technology and what goes on behind the scenes, because those are the guys that will work day in and day out. I teach Theater, and I tell all the actors, I say, "Understand what it is to be a stage manager, do lighting, do sound, build scenery, costumes, whatever, because those people are in such demand." Actors, 80% of the time, are unemployed. Theater technicians, good ones, never ever ever have to hunt down. People come and look for them.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  That’s true. A bunch of people are here now, and some friends of ours who aren’t here for the reunion, that’s what they do. We’ve got -Louise is a big costume-designer.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  Right.
Andrew Hopson & Sophie Haas & Jim Asplund::  JB is doing a... director of photography stuff, and they’re all working behind the scenes, you know, producing or directing, or...
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Well, Julie.
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Julie is a TV producer and Glenn makes TV commercials and- you know. So they- and, you know, he’s a good example of that because he really walked in through the backdoor by just being able, saying, when they asked him if he could do something he said “Yes!” and then learned how to do it. That’s his- y’know, I'm probably gonna get him mad at me for telling people that but-
Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  It’s a good story.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  But the thing is, he’s good at learning things so he would get good very quickly and work that.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  Right.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  So he is a- and I think, you know, just avocationally since I’m, you know, I'm not a professional musician but I still play, is don't take it for granted, because when you get out of school and you’re not around people all the time who have time, or it’s hard to arrange things and so, finding a group of people to play with or a way to keep playing, if you just do it on your own in your home, or like that, it's been really good.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  I play the drums, so it’s good exercise for me, since it’s hard to get- but also, you know, it’s a good think time. It’s good relaxation time. It’s a good thing to do around your kids. It’s just a good- it makes for a good hobby especially if you wanna be around other people and do some nice things. So, if you keep up it’s- it’s been pretty rewarding in that sense, too.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  Right, and it teaches great discipline.
Jim Asplund & Andrew Hopson::  Yeah.
Jim Asplund::  Professional musicians, professional actors are some of the most disciplined, hard-working people that you will ever meet. Y'know, people are, “Why would I want a Theater degree? Why would I want a Music degree?” Because, you may not end up working as a professional musician or professional actor, but you are going to have a work ethic that blows everybody else out of the water and that alone will take you far.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Great, thanks so much! Do you guys have anything else you wanna add, or...?
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  I mean, obviously, I mean to sort of plug the College slightly, I don’t think I would’ve been able to end up where I am now because at somewhere else, just because the opportunities I got, the people I ran into here, and the willingness of.. well, everybody involved to sort of let me pursue this even though it seemed like a real pipe dream. Y'know, I did not play any instruments when I was 18 years old.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  And yet here I am now, you know. I have my Doctorate in Music and I work professionally all over the country.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Yeah. Great. OK, thanks so much.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Thank you.
Sophie Haas & Andrew Hopson & Jim Asplund::  Thanks.
