Q&A with Questionable Authorities

Glenn Geher (Psychology), Peter Kaufman (Sociology), Maureen Morrow (Biology), Brian Obach (Sociology) and Anne Roschelle (Sociology) are best known by academic personas, but add a few guitars, drums and a flute and they become Questionable Authorities – the only all-professor band on campus.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, the band will take the stage as part of the Office of Student Development’s Saturdays @ the Terrace programming series, which provides students with free weekend entertainment. The show runs from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Tara Sestanovich, coordinator of first-year programming, said the event will provide an opportunity to bring the faculty and student communities closer together in an atmosphere outside of the classroom. “Glenn and his band mates have shown a lot of enthusiasm for their upcoming campus show and I’m very eager to see Questionable Authorities perform for their students,” she said.

As the band members prepare for their upcoming campus show (and maintain their teaching schedules), the members took some time to share their thoughts about the band’s creation, rehearsal schedule and more.

News Pulse: How did band come together?

Questionable Authorities: Brian and Maureen started learning how to play guitar. They found out that Peter used to play drums as a kid and they cajoled him into getting a drum set. Around the same time, Annee picked up the flute after a 20-year hiatus. We played like this for a few years and then Glenn joined in to add some musicality to our cacophonous din.

NP: How did you come up with the band name?

QA: Three of us were on our way to lobby State Assemblyman (and New Paltz alumnus) Kevin Cahill ’77 when we came up with the name. Since we always encourage our students to question authority, since we have a self-deprecating sense of our own importance, and since we are unquestionably questionable musicians, the name seemed more than appropriate.

NP: What are rehearsals like?

QA: We perform in Magnolia Studios—the name given to the drummer’s basement because his dog, Maggie, often runs down and dances to the music. The fact that we even have rehearsals is somewhat of a miracle, given that we try to juggle five different teaching schedules, office hours, campus meetings and family obligations.

NP: Who are some of your influences?

QA: Given that we are composed of three sociologists, an evolutionary psychologist and a micro-biologist, we believe that we are influenced by our evolutionary history as a species, our upbringing, various microbes and our social environment. And Elvis.

NP: What was the best venue you performed in?

QA: We once opened for Dar Williams in Studley Theatre. Although we only played five songs, our last song, an anti-Bush punk version of “We Shall Overcome” has become one of our many signatures and elicited a spontaneous standing ovation.

NP: What is your dream performance venue?

QA: The roof of the Jacobson Faculty Tower with the whole student body as a mosh pit down below. At the end of the performance, we would stage-dive into the pit and body-surf. (EDITOR’S NOTE: News Pulse readers should not try this stunt on their own!)

NP: Describe the band in 10 words or less.

QA: SUNY New Paltz’s best all-faculty, punk-rock cover band.

NP: If you went on tour, what would the show’s name be?

QA: Yes, This Will Be on the Exam.

Tags: band, professors, Questionable Authorities

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Feature Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.