Face Time with Sydney Hutchinson

By Sarah Schmalbruch

We caught Sydney Hutchinson at one of the only times that she wasn’t moving to the music or making it herself. With a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from NYU and two knee surgeries from too much dancing, it would be an understatement to say that she’s musically inclined. Her advice to students: don’t go on stage at an air guitar competition without at least three beers in you and take a year off before grad school. She may be the first professor we actually listen to.

In one sentence, what do you do all day?

I teach, I grade, I advise, I write, I think, I read; I also eat and sleep which are two things I greatly enjoy, and I play music and dance.

How do you practice the air guitar?

Excellent question. I attended an air guitar training camp in Finland and learned some good techniques there. It’s a full day workshop for aspiring competitors. You learn things about improvisation, you learn to laugh at yourself and at one another. You also learn about choreography and stage presence. I think it’s important to watch a lot of other air guitar performances. Thank God for YouTube. Watch some excellent air guitar performances for inspiration and entertainment.

Describe the atmosphere of an air guitar competition?

Drunken debauchery. Actually Björn Turoqüe said one should have at least three beers to go onstage at a competition. People with less than three beers in them will probably not win. There’s always a general sense of camaraderie. Air guitarists like to hang out together, act silly, admire each other’s costumes. Backstage, people are certainly nervous about going onstage, but it’s definitely a different feeling than going onstage for another type of music event.

What’s the best thing to wear in orange?

A hollowed-out pumpkin. You could pretend you were the headless horseman.

What do you hate/love the most about SYR?

I have the same answer for both. The snow. I hate it and I love it. I’m from Arizona so I didn’t grow up with snow at all. On one hand it’s horrible because I don’t know how to drive in it, but it’s great to go skiing.

Guitar Hero or Rock Band? Why?

Good question. I have Guitar Hero at home but I have to say that the people who made Rock Band are really clever because they hired an actual air guitar world champion to do the motion capture. I think that was very savvy. They recognize the value of air guitar and the knowledge air guitarists have as fans of music.

Last movie you saw in theaters? What did you think?

This weekend I saw “In Time.” I thought it was an entertaining take on the current disparity of wealth within the U.S. It was more entertaining than our current political situation and yet it commented aptly on it.

Freshman year at college, you were the kid who:

I was the kid who spent too much time dancing. I sure paid for that too. I’ve had two knee surgeries, but it was fun while it lasted. I took dance classes, but it was mostly what I did outside of classes. I was a piano major and there was this idea that if one is going to do music you had to only do music. I was one of the only ones who chose to do both dance and music.

What is your Starbucks order?

I try to not go to chains, but I think I’m more of a cappuccino drinker. Although if we go back to the freshman year in college question, I was always having hazelnut lattes, but we didn’t have Starbucks then.

Best advice you could give a college student/something to do before graduation?

The advice that I would give to a college student is going to be advice that every parent will hate me for. I think that every student needs to take time off after they graduate. I would never advise going right into grad school. People need diversity of experience. You can’t know what you want to do before you’ve had experiences. Travel around, try some strange jobs, follow your dreams.

What did you want to be growing up?

When I was a child I wanted to be a biologist. I was really interested in animals and animal life. I thought that would be fun until I found out biology involved dissecting things. Then senior year of high school I was registering for college and I just wrote down music as my major and I didn’t know why. I think I thought if I didn’t study music then I would never do it. And now I’m a musicologist, so it seemed to work.

Biggest pet peeve?

That’s an easy one. I’m a grammar freak and I hate when people confuse its and it’s. It makes me crazy. I get papers all the time from people who do that.

Most embarrassing teaching moment?

There are so many. How can I choose? Everyone makes mistakes. That’s not so embarrassing, right? I’ve probably blocked them out because they’re too painful. Everyday that you teach there’s at least one embarrassing moment in there.

What’s on your Thanksgiving table?

I’m going to say tofu loaf. I’m vegetarian. I make mushroom gravy too, which is really good. The rest is the usual: stuffing, pies, my sister’s broccoli casserole, which she insists is healthy but I’m not sure because it consists of mostly cream and cheese and just a little broccoli.

Favorite dance move?

The double dream hands. Look it up on YouTube. Actually, one of my students last semester showed us that video in class. It was great.