Local Santa Clarita emo-punk band Bluedive played a set at Golden Valley High School during lunch for the second time this Monday.
Two of Bluedive’ band members are current Golden Valley High School students: lead singer and lead guitarist Aidan Dixon is a senior and forward on the Golden Valley basketball team, while drummer Riff Gordon is a junior and Golden Valley drumline captain. Bassist Sebastian Landa is a recent Golden Valley High School graduate.
New addition to the band, Beck Garcia from Los Angeles, joined Bluedive as their second guitarist in August 2021.
The band played a full set during lunch for a crowd of students in the school’s amphitheater, as students filled its steps, wearing Bluedive t-shirts and dancing along.
Bluedive’s performance was organized by the Golden Valley High School Associative Student Body (ASB). ASB Executive Vice President Danielle Charlotte played a key role in getting Bluedive to play occasionally at lunch.
“Bluedive’s drummer, Riff Gordon, actually reached out to me asking if Bluedive could play at Golden Valley and I absolutely loved the idea,” said Charlotte. “So I talked with our advisor about what were the needed steps to allow a band performance at Golden Valley and set everything up. Our advisor told us that there had not been a band performance at Golden Valley since the early to mid 2010’s, and she was super excited to see the band perform.”
ASB’s main goal, according to Charlotte, is to unite the Golden Valley student body. Charlotte believes that having Bluedive perform is a great way to accomplish this goal, by bringing in students from all areas of campus to connect through music and have fun.
Throughout the set, assistant principal Brian Necessary stood on the sidelines to watch and supervise. Necessary expressed his enjoyment for having the band perform at lunch.
“Everything you do adds a little supervision element, but they’ve obviously been a good band to play and good guests, so it’s worked out real well,” said Necessary. “When everyone plays their role then you get to do more fun things like that.”
“It was really good, all the guys are really nice and really great performers. They did a great job,” said senior Sophia Fayne. “It’s good hype, and it’s fun. It’s nice to have a little break from education to just relax and listen to some music.”
“It’s really uplifting to see so many familiar faces enjoying [the] music I write,” said Dixon “When everyone asks to take pictures at the end it feels really great, and it’s just awesome to get recognized.”
“Bluedive playing at lunch is so great for the morale at Golden Valley because the support is authentic,” said Dixon. “Everyone who shows up comes because they feel like it, since attendance isn’t required. The music doesn’t come from a school program either, but rather from everyday Golden Valley students who enjoy creating and showcasing their art together.”
Bluedive will likely be playing at Golden Valley High School at lunch again during the second semester, according to Charlotte. The morale boost that comes with having a live band of students performing for students with original and unique music is unmatched.
“My favorite thing about having Bluedive perform would definitely be the energy that the band is able to bring to our school,” said Charlotte. “I’ve been to a few of Bluedive’s events and the one constant pattern I’ve noticed with them is their ability to encourage and excite the crowd. This makes for a really open and enthusiastic environment, which is something that school doesn’t honestly always carry in itself. That change in energy, that uplift in energy, has to be my favorite thing.”
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Quynn Lubs
Quynn Lubs is a journalist, born just outside of Detroit, Michigan and currently residing in Santa Clarita. Quynn’s interest in pursuing journalism began when she first started to attend backyard punk shows, realizing that there were so many talented bands and artists who deserved recognition. Quynn made it a goal to give these creatives a voice. Writing and publishing her own punk zine, JUNK! magazine, sparked Quynn’s interest in pursuing journalism and she began writing more and more, quickly discovering a passion.
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