Since 2014, WERW has put on a bi-annual concert, called ‘Launch Party,’ intended to feature up-and-coming artists and celebrate another semester of WERW radio stations. Located in Schine Underground, the event features a headliner and a student opener, along with tables of vendors, WERW merchandise, activations, and other student organizations.

Throughout the years, WERW’s Launch Party has brought in a variety of up-and-coming artists, including Claud, Del Water Gap, Faye Webster, Coco & Clair Clair, Rebecca Black, Coucou Chloe, Devon Again, Frankie Cosmos, and most recently, BETWEEN FRIENDS. 

        

FALL 2024

2024’s Fall Launch Party featured BETWEEN FRIENDS & Nancy Dunkle.

BETWEEN FRIENDS, led by siblings Brandon and Savannah Hudson, pushes the boundaries of pop with their eclectic, glitchy soundscapes. Known for standout hits like “affection,” which garnered over 600 million streams, the duo quickly rose to fame by capturing the rawness of adolesscences in their synth-driven tracks. Since debuting in 2018, they’ve expanded their sound with projects like CUTiE, which paired lo-fi visuals with futuristic sounds, and their sould-out tour, culminating in a Governor’s Ball performance. BETWEEN FRIENDS continues to evolve, exploring themes of love and connection in a digital age.

 
︎: Annie Knobloch

Nancy Dunkle is an indie folk songwriter from Buffalo, NY. As a child, she always had an overwhelming love for songwriting, and when she began studying music at Syracuse University her interest in writing and performing became her every day. Whether its writing with her friends or playing basement shows, she’s always trying to immerse herself in music wherever she can. She draws inspriation from artist like Big Thief, Briston Maroney, Indigo D’Souza, and Slow Pulp. Her lyrics are familiar and honest, describing particularly emotional moments in her life in an intimite way. 

 
︎: Annie Knobloch

︎: Kieran Romano & Bria Lewis


︎: Polly Hoffman 

SPRING 2024

2024’s Spring Launch Party featured Frankie Cosmos & Froggies. 

Guided by the succinct, sweet, and self-conscious tendencies of singer/songwriter Greta Kline, indie pop group Frankie Cosmos started as a prolific home-based solo project in the early 2010s. As a young teen in the late 2000s, she tapped into the quirky vibes of New York’s SideWalk Cafe anti-folk scene, which had given birth to the Moldy Peaches early in the decade, as well as the D.I.Y. ethos of K Records. Growing in popularity and influence, Frankie Cosmos made her studio and label debut with Zentropy in 2014. Two years later, Next Thing was her first Top 40 independent album. Though Kline had been recording with a backing band since Zentropy, the project’s first official outing as a quartet was 2016’s Next Thing. Their next album, Vessel, was the first official release on Sub Pop Records. Following a pandemic hiatus, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta’s songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline’s musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she’d loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite “droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality,” as well as “‘70s folk and pop” as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their “ambient” or “psych” album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline’s penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance.

 

︎: Maya Lockwood & Hannah Stein

Froggies is a female-led, folk rock band comprised of Corey Chun, María Nido, Sam Parrish, Grady Collingbourne, and Sam Ronan. The band met and formed at Syracuse University during a 2020 pandemic college semester. Bonding over their shared love of rock bands, 90’s R&B, and folk singer-songwriting, Froggies has established themselves as a genre-bending band marrying each individual’s personal talents with added layers of the girls’ whimsical three-part harmonies. 

 ︎: Maya Lockwood & Hannah Stein

︎: Francine Lorraine 


︎: Hannah Stein