Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Our graphic designer, Sarah Conrad, is taking over this week's SCOPE Selects! Without her, we wouldn't have any of the personalized graphics for SCOPE Selects and would not be able to highlight SCOPErs the same way every other Thursday. Sarah takes care of all the graphics for SCOPE as well as these, and we are constantly coming to her to whip up a new design.

Name: Sarah Conrad (she/her)
Hometown: Papillon, NE
Year: Senior
Field(s) of Study: English and Creative Writing
SCOPE Position: Graphic Designer

Hiya! I’m Sarah Conrad, and I have the most righteous duty of cranking out graphics for SCOPE. For the last year, the majority of SCOPE designs and memorabilia you’ve seen -- graphics on Instagram, band posters, hoodies, etc. -- are all things that I’ve wept, bled, and obsessed over in a caffeine-induced haze from the confines of my bedroom.

ANYWAY here’s the link to that sweet, sweet playlist. It’s a mess, I’m a mess, all is as it should be.

Listen to SCOPE Selects: Sarah Conrad on Spotify

Three Favorite Albums: This question physically pains me. At the moment, the albums I have on repeat are Courtney Barnett’s “Tell Me How You Really Feel,” Post Animal’s “When I Think Of You In A Castle,” and “Future Me Hates Me” by The Beths.

Favorite Concert Experience: Post Animal and Ron Gallo at Blue Moose Taphouse (R.I.P.)

Hobbies/Interests/Fun Facts/Campus Involvement: Along with the work I do for SCOPE, I am a student manager at one of the convenience stores on campus and also an intern for a local marketing company. I’m invested in the DIY music scene, so I spend a lot of my weekends attending different shows around town. When I’m not running around town for one of my jobs, I’m usually hunkered down in a coffee shop drawing.

The Deep Cuts: As is the case for most people, my taste in music can be a tad all over the place. While in the past couple of months I’ve been moving into more mellow, psychedelic-inspired tunes, I’ve done my best to compile a playlist here of some of my all-time favorites: artists new, less new, local, and international. These songs have carried me through some of my best days and lowest points of the last several years. They are the songs that I never skip, the songs that my friends have played in my car, or that I’ve danced to in dimly lit kitchens, and the songs I listened to as I trekked across campus. Here is a little bit of background on a few of them:

✩ Notable Tune Alert!! Bangz // Penny Peach: Not only is this one of my favorite songs of all time, but it is one that I’ve gotten to hear live countless times thanks to the fact that Penny Peach is a local artist who performs around town both frequently and for a low price. I can’t remember the first time I heard this song -- maybe it was several years ago in someone’s basement, or at a pop-up show downtown, or at one of the countless times that she’s played at Gabe’s. What I do know is that this song never fails to make me feel the same way that it first did all those years ago -- warm, understood, and desperate to reach for a pair of scissors to cut my bangs. This song is the anthem that I never knew I needed, and one that I return to as often as possible (even more often, now that it’s finally been released on Spotify.)

Related to this, I’ve also included “Sad Stories” by Anthony Worden on this playlist! He’s always playing around town with Penny Peach and the Illiterati. If you get a chance to see a show of theirs, DO IT. They put on the best shows, and their music is perfect for dancing. Do your ears a service and give ‘em all a listen.