On Wednesday night, March 27th, Drew Angus, a Connecticut-based singer/songwriter came to MCLA. The event was hosted by the Office of Student Engagement in the Achievement Lounge. The lounge was decorated with white lights and Student Engagement offered snacks and beverages to students who attended.
“I was maybe 10 to 12 when I first became interested in music,” Angus sys, “In second grade, I was the wizard in our school’s Wizard of Oz musical. I’ve done a few musicals. I was in Fahrer, Urine Town, The Wiz, and Oliver.”
His love for music only grew from there and he was able to perform with highly known artists such as Stevie Nicks, Noah Kahan, Harry Styles, Andrea Bocelli, and he eventually made it on American Idol as a contestant. He grew up mostly listening to the Beatles and The Rolling Stones and influenced by classic rock and pop, he began to write his own music.
“I’ve been influenced by professors and mentors over the years,” says Angus, “One who comes to mind right now is Marlin Sanders, who brought me out of my shell. He also got me gigs, one where I was singing behind Harry Styles on Saturday Night Live, and behind Andrea Eli.”
His childhood friend once gave him an opportunity to sing at his wedding, asking him to sing his first dance, and Angus wrote him a song called “Made to Love You”. Soon others began to adopt this dedicated song as their own wedding song, and people who did not know of Angus also began to cover his songs.
Theo Baker 27’, an MCLA student, claims he had seen Angus perform once, at an APCA convention.
“I went to this convention for student leaders called APCA. There were acts of people performing, comedians, magicians, poets, musicians, and more. Then someone in the group of leaders from our school noticed Drew and everyone was like ‘Yeah we like him’. He seemed like a fun person, so we picked him to perform at MCLA.”
He says he thoroughly enjoyed his performance, and it is why he decided to come to the event and see him sing again.
“He did a lot of fun covers,” Theo says, “I remember him doing a cover of “As it Was” by Harry Styles and also a cover of “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan. He also did some of his own songs which was pretty cool. They reminded me of summer by the pool and being out with friends. He played guitar and sang. In his monologue, fun fact, at this APCA convention event, he said ‘I once performed next to Harry Styles when he was hosting SNL, and I was like ‘What?!’.”
He then added that after the performance he wanted to ask Angus about his connection with Harry Styles.
Like at the APCA performance, Angus played a combination of his own music and covers by other artists. He interacted with the audience, asking them questions about their own music taste, asking them what songs they were familiar with, and having them finish a few lyrics to the well-known covers he performed. His music turned the heads of a few more students and at around the halfway point of his performance more students began to fill the seats.
“I’ve been here once before and played for fewer people than I am playing for this evening. My agent brought me to MCLA in April and I got to pay my rent,” Angus includes. He gestures to the merch he would be selling to students after the performance.
Angus then leaves students with a few words: “Music is life, music is a heartbeat, it’s something that can get you excited for a night out, it can help you heal, make you think, and help you grieve.”
Check out Drew Angus’s music on Spotify.
