Student groups team-up for open-mic event in Surrey

KPU creatives take to the stage at the Grassroots Café

Guitar-wielding warriors sacrificed their vocal chords to the heavens above. Verbally-armed poets lifted the spirits of enthused onlookers. On Feb. 4, The Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild, in conjunction with the Multi-Faith Centre, hosted an open-mic artisanal spectacle at Grassroots Café.

“I was trying to think of ways to make KPU a rich place for students to spend time together,” says Ethan Van Der Leek, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus chaplain and one of the head organizers behind this intriguing event.

Van Der Leek figured that the best way to accomplish his oft-sought goal was to let students speak for themselves in the form of an open mic. This event allowed for various Kwantlen-based artists such as spoken word poets, writers, and musicians to creatively express themselves in front of their peers.

According to Van Der Leek, the open-mic format served as, “a way for people in the campus to get involved in the arts,” and to encourage students with little to no experience in performing to create something and share it on stage. To this end, he claims the choice of venue was a natural one.

“Grassroots is a great space and needs to be used more,” says Van Der Leek. “An event like open mic is perfect, it’s a very social environment. I just want to encourage student life and community.”

“I want students of any level of talent or experience in music and art, anyone has the chance to perform here.”

Van Der Leek worked alongside Winston Le and the Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild in organizing this event. According to Le, it “wasn’t a difficult decision”  when he and his guild were asked to help.

In addition, Le claims that Van Der Leek and the Multi-Faith Centre found common ground in the way that they “both share a mutual passion for art of all kinds.” He hopes events like this will help students to “express themselves creatively in a comfortable environment.”

One of the performers at this event was Wonsucc Lee, a rather enigmatic figure in KPU lore. Lee, in the minds of Surrey-goers, is perhaps known from a profile on him published in The Runner last year, which dubbed him Surrey-campus’s resident “Guitar Guy.”

When news broke out of this particular event happening it likely wasn’t a shock to many that they’d end up see this perplexing young bard emerge to entertain the masses at Grassroots.

“I consider myself a closet guitarist,” says Lee, “but I did this because I wanted to perform in front of a crowd and get a different insight into performing music. My friend and I played ‘Let It Be’ and I felt like George Harrison.”

Of course a conversation with Lee wouldn’t go unfinished without him cryptically reminding everyone that he is a philosophy major. With regards to the power of his particular craft, he claims that, “music and art in general is, in my opinion, about taking parts of people’s brains without any boundaries or socially-constructed constraints like gender, race, sexual orientation or religious beliefs, and sharing the very basic human emotions.”

According to Lee, the opportunity to portray one’s creative passions on the stage is a reason why this event was ultimately successful.

“We are only exposed to big musicians who take all of the limelight. Music and art is a thing that everyone knows, not just those with money. It’s supposed to be accessible to everyone. Art is a basic human right, you should be able to choose to express your emotions and convey your thoughts and feelings in any manner possible. Smaller events like this gives people a chance to express themselves without having the resources that a major musician would.”