Amplified taps on a microphone fell over the beanbag and couch-covered patio as the lights began to dim and the crowd fell silent. Under the rows of string lights and sparkling streamers, student band Coast stepped onto the stage for their debut.
On March 6, the Hive opened its doors for its ninth Tiny Patio Concert — a Claremont spin on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series. The show was hosted by The Soundbox, the Hive’s professional recording space, and featured four performances highlighting the scope of student talent across the 5Cs.
The concert venue itself showcased the Hive student staff’s creativity. An intricately painted banner and disco ball hung above a colorful dance floor, creating a vibrant 70s-inspired atmosphere.
“I’ve been to a few Hive concerts in the past,” Jessica Martinez PZ ’28 said. “I felt like this one was a lot more upbeat.”
One stand-out act was Coast, a recently formed band featuring five students from Pomona, Harvey Mudd and Pitzer. Band members Ben Cerbin PO ’26 and Siraj Saker PZ ’27 only started playing together last fall. This semester, they decided to try to flesh out their music by bringing on new band members: vocalist Alina Shah PZ ’28, keyboardist Noah Ginsberg PZ ’29 and bassist Orion Roven HM ’27.
“We kind of all loved jamming together, and we kind of spent the end of last semester and the beginning of [this] semester … just having fun,” Shah said. “But then we realized this actually sounds really good. And then we decided that we just wanted to perform for other people.”
The group came up with the name Coast after a bit of deliberation. Saker was in favor of a food-themed name, like “French Toast,” while Cerbin described wanting to name the group “The Coasters” to sound more indie rock. Ultimately, Shah’s pick won during their team vote a few days before the Tiny Patio concert.
At the concert, the group played five songs: “Come Together” by the Beatles, “Gravity” by John Mayer, “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5, “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse and “All I Need” by Olivia Dean. Cerbin described how the group chose “Come Together” as their opening number for its classic, big-rock sound, which they felt would be a great introduction.
The Soundbox allowed the band’s plans to come to fruition, and now they hope to move beyond covers and to start playing their own music.
“I think that right now [we] are doing a lot of covers,” Shah said. “I know that Ben is a really talented songwriter as well. He really wants to do original songs that he has written.”
Cerbin was primarily a singer-songwriter before starting the band, so he expressed interest in writing some originals as well.
“Even though we’re probably going to transition to playing more originals, I always love [it] when artists that you’ll see in an actual theater or even in an arena setting, will play a cover,” Cerbin said. “So I think even if we’re transitioning to playing originals, it’ll be nice to work in a cover like that [for] actual gigs.”
The group plans to play for a larger audience at Pitzer’s Kohoutek concert this semester. Still, they noted that the small, cozy atmosphere of the Hive encouraged both audience engagement during the performance and conversations about their music afterwards, giving them a chance to showcase the band’s distinctive presence and sound.
“I think like, you really get a feel for how an audience is responding to you in those moments, like in ‘Gravity’, where [we] kind of paused, and then we all came back in, and then everybody is either cheering or they’re not,” Cerbin said. “And I think we definitely got the vibe that everybody enjoyed it. So, definitely a great response that we’re very thankful for.”
The concert highlighted the Hive’s commitment to sponsoring student creativity. As a hub of innovation, the space served as a great sounding board for several student groups and individual performers to experience playing live in front of an inclusive and excited audience.
“It’s a space you can always come to create,” Soundbox employee Pherell Washington PO ’29 said.
“This is the Soundbox’s big thing,” Washington said. “Our goal was to create a space where people could come and build community. We’re just carrying on that tradition.”
Hive director and Harvey Mudd Engineering Professor Fred Leichter worked with students to develop The Soundbox and the Tiny Patio Concert series. Leichter brought up Ivana Akotowaa Ofori PO ’20 and Brian Bishop PO ’22, who created the first Tiny Patio concert three years ago.
Ofori, a spoken-word artist, initially pushed for a recording space at the Hive. When Bishop accumulated a large audience while performing at the Smith Campus Center, Leichter recognized the need for a community-focused venue on campus.
“We thought, ‘it’s kind of big, and people feel lost,’” Leichter said. “‘Let’s have a more intimate setting.’ So they decided to do it here.”
The long-term collaboration between students and faculty is largely what allowed the show to be so lively. Leichter remarked on the immense student effort dedicated to organizing the concert series.
“I created the small patio, and they did the rest,” Leichter said. “Our student staff and our experienced designers kind of took over and dreamed up this thing.”
He noted that the Soundbox and Tiny Patio Concert, along with the Hive, serve to encourage rising artists by providing a space to learn, record and perform in a supportive environment.
“We have an entrepreneurial mindset, and we have a recording studio,” Leichter said. “We like to encourage artists to have this be a place that builds their confidence as a group, and to have them record and be professionals.”
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