Last week, the crowd at Cambridge's Catch A Rising Star learned what the the Harvard Community already knows--the University's rock music scene is alive and well.

Men of Clay, a band made up of three Harvard undergraduates, performed last Wedenesday at the club before a sellout crowd of 150 people. During its set, the band played a cover version of the U2 hit "With or Without You" and a new Sting tune called "Rock Steady." The group also showed off some of its original melodies, including "Deep Blue Glow."

The Rising Star engagement was "very successful," says Benjamin M. Hammond '89, the bassist for Men of Clay. "People off to the side were dancing. [The performance] felt good because people were listening really hard," he says.

Although Men of Clay was the only Harvard band at Rising Star that night, it is far from the only band at the University. While Men of Clay features a fusion jazz sound, Christian and the Infidels say they play "strictly rock and roll." The Rhythm Method concentrates on pure pop music.

Most undergraduate bands get their start playing on campus at house committee parties. The busiest times for bands on campus include Halloween, Valentine's Day and Head of the Charles weekend, says Nevin D. Steinberg '89, who plays bass for Christian and the Infidels.

"Playing for the students here is my favorite part of being in a band because the audiences are really receptive," Steinberg says.

Once bands become better known, they begin playing off campus and can pick and chose among the on-campus parties. When selecting their gigs, the Infidels place great importance on what organization sponsors the event and who is acting as the event's organizer, Steinberg says.

"You have to be careful about the organizers of an event," Steinberg says. "You have to make sure they have their act together in terms of advertising and other stuff so that you can just do your job. "The group will be playing at Lowell House on Saturday.

When playing on campus, the bands tend to play cover tunes--songs made famous by other groups--because students are more interested in hearing music that they know, band members say. "It's tough, because Harvard students don't want to hear original music," says Michael R. Greenspan '88, who plays with Christian and the Infidels.

Says Lowell House committee chairman Megan K. Jenks '89, "We usually hire Christian and the Infidels because they play covers with a few originals."

The Rhythm Method does not cover the music of other artists, preferring to play original tunes and their own versions of other groups' songs, says lead singer John N. Axelrod '88. "We perform covers in the same way that Van Halen does Roy Orbison." As a result, The Rhythm Method generally does not play at Harvard functions.

By contrast, The Quick, a recently defunct campus band, attempted to capitalize on undergraduate music tastes by playing only established hits. The group was founded this fall by members of Men of Clay, because a number of popular dance groups had recently disbanded, and many student organizations were looking for new bands to play cover tunes at their functions.

Sources of Inspiration

The student bands may not get to play very much of their original music on campus, but even so, they spend a lot of time writing and practicing it.

Axelrod says he usually comes up with an idea for a song and presents it to the other two members of The Rhythm Method. The three of them work together on arranging the tune to fit each member of the band in the best way, he says. When writing music, Axelrod says, "We are a triangular nucleus. We are each interdependent on each other. You have to be selfless rather than selfish."