In its most popular year in recent history, the Newcastle University Rock Society is trying to do things a little differently.
Historically, the society has been for meeting new people and enjoying music together, but this year the society are changing things up, with plans to host events to play music and build bands together.
The society’s president, Finley James, said that he ran for the role since he “thought I could bring something new to it.”
The changes to the society are largely inspired by Durham University Rock Society who host battle of the band events, something the Newcastle society’s committee are hoping to replicate with their 120 members this year.
But the essence of rock society is still there. At its core, like many societies, the rock society is a way “to find likeminded people and go out and make new friends”, in Finley’s words.
This includes weekly socials that mainly consist of “nights out” but can also include sober socials such as quizzes and cafe visits.
Though nights out are the primary form of socialisation in the society, Finley says that drinking is not a requirement of the society since “obviously you don’t have to [drink] in order to enjoy the events.”
“We do a lot of things that tend to have drinking attached to them naturally anyways, such as gigs, such as quizzes, but obviously you don’t have to in order to enjoy the events.”
Finley James, President
The ideologies Finley expresses are clearly echoed by the society’s members, who expressed a great sense of community when they discussed the society.
Emily Cowan, a first year at Newcastle University said that she joined the society to “find a group of like-minded people who are passionate about the same music.”
She commented on how welcoming the society was and, like Finley said, the sense that though the events tend to be in drinking spaces, “I don’t feel like anybody would every try and push drinking onto you.”
Other members of the society echoed these comments on community, like Grace Cottle, who is also a first year at Newcastle University, who said that “even if you don’t like the music that much, there’s so many nice people here.”
“It’s really easy to make friends. Even if you don’t like the music that much, there’s so many nice people here.”
Grace Cottle
A membership for the society costs five pounds per year, which is the minimum price charged for a society membership by NUSU.
There are some additional costs that come along with the society, such as club entry fees on their ‘night out’ socials, however the committee pointed out that attendance to events such as this one is optional.
The secretary of the society, Megan Bilton, is striving to make the society “even more financially accessible”, so membership with the rock society now also includes a discount card which gets members additional discounts at certain clubs and venues in Newcastle.
Finley added that the membership therefore “pays for itself very quickly, if you’re to be anywhere involved in the scene in Newcastle.”
So, whether you want to play albums in your headphones or guitar to crowds of people, the rock society is striving to make that happen for their members.
Memberships for the Newcastle University Rock Society are available on the NUSU website for all Newcastle University students.
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