Blank Vinyl Project (BVP) is a pillar of Vancouver’s indie music community.
According to BVP president Ash Hu, the collective is a first point of contact for anyone looking for a way into the local music industry.
“You don't have to be a musician to join,” said Hu. “[And] we don't hold any members or any execs to any sort of standard for what it means to be a musician.”
BVP empowers its members to explore what music and being a musician means to you — it’s a stage to perform, it’s a web of talented local musicians to network and craft with and it’s our campus microcosm where all roles in the music industry converge.
The club has been a defining point in Hu's university experience.
“I've always approached music from a very social place, as I use it as a way to connect and relate to people,” she said.
Now in a band herself, Hu said that her only mistake was waiting so long to join the club.
“It changed my university experience entirely … That one terrifying moment of being vulnerable and being okay [with] insert[ing] myself into this community. I didn't expect it to grab me the way it did, but I am eternally grateful that it did.”
The music industry can be competitive. Though local music infrastructure and resources are expanding, space and time is limited. The fact that most well-established venues are masked by secrecy to the general public — often underfunded, fragile and full of age regulations — does not make starting music from scratch in this city any easier.
To counteract this, BVP approaches art from a place of inclusivity and support. The club offers the rare opportunity for students to creatively challenge themselves in whatever aspect of music speaks to them, whether it be production, performance or business.
“Students [can] explore their identity alongside a whole bunch of other people that are also constantly exploring and evolving their identity [while] using the same launching-off point of creating and participating in live music,” Hu said.
The club is vocal and influential on campus to say the least. Chances are, a wacky sketch of a goose has caught your eyes on a piece of paper slapped to a post around Main Mall — that’s BVP. Subliminal and ever-present. They want you watching. Goosehunt is their main event, and if you’re lucky, you just might snatch a ticket.
The annual music festival is held at Koerner’s in the spring and showcases some of Vancouver’s rising musical talents. It’s making a name for itself as a reputable headline for anyone in the local indie scene hoping to perform live.
Perhaps the most obvious way to get involved with Blank Vinyl Project is through their Thursday open mic session or as a candidate for their Build-a-Band program — UBC’s musician matchmaking machine.
“[Build-a-band] is the initial thing that really grabs people for BVP," said Hu. Amid a massive student body, programs like these make finding "people [to] relate to and create with" a bit more manageable.
And you will never be there to compete. At BVP, there are no trophies to win.
“There's no goals, there's no metrics. It's just [about] being able to contribute to something in a meaningful way that has meaningful impacts for other people,” Hu said.
The art that emerges from a poignant time in your life like university is often the purest form of expression.
“The university experience is so unique, and so transformative,” Hu said.
“To be able to find a community that will support you through all the growth that you go through these years and help you find ways to express it through music, I think is really, really special.”