Students Rap and Roll with Cloud 9
The Stylus
By Allison Kowalski
LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Cloud 9 started out in the halls of Brockport and have gaineed fame and fans as they've performed across New York State. They will be coming to Rochester, Oct. 3 at the Dub Land Underground.
While some college graduates go on to graduate school or immediately enter the work force, two Brockport alumni are inching their way up the music ladder and making a name for themselves with their band, Cloud 9. Mike Tangney and Doug Fredricks graduated in 2005 and they are the only two original members of the band today.
Tangney and Fredricks started making music and writing lyrics in Dobson Hall when they were freshmen and they haven’t stopped since.
Their first show was right in the Seymour College Union.
“Doug and I did the hip-hop thing all throughout college and people made fun of us because we were two white boys rapping,” Tangney said.
Now, you might be wondering where in the world did they come up with the name Cloud 9 for the band? One night, Tangney and Fredricks were in their apartment, above Jimmy Z’s on Main Street, recording music in the vocal booth covered in bleach white egg crates.
Under the influence of creative inspiration, the boys said it looked like they were recording music on Cloud 9, so that became the name of their band.
“It kind of came by accident,” Tangney said.
Now, almost three years after graduation, Tangney and Fredricks have added four more members to Cloud 9, making the final number of the band six. Tangney and Fredricks are the two lead vocalists for the band.
After graduation, the two went home to downstate New York and started to interview people for the band. The other four members of the group now include Mike McInerery on the lead guitar, Steve Bacello on the rhythm guitar, Paul Ferguson on bass and Anthony De Rosa on percussion.
Besides vocals, Tangney and Fredricks play some instruments here and there, though not professionally, they said. Tangney rocks out with a guitar while Fredricks plays a plethora of instruments like the guitar, harmonica and the diggery do. A diggery do is a long, hollow tube that emits deep and rich sounds; it was created by the Aboriginals in Australia.
Cloud 9 performs a mixture of hip-hop and rock ’n’ roll. Tangney said they recently coined the term rap ’n’ roll. All the band members have different tastes in music ranging from country to ’90s alternative.
“Everyone draws off of different things which makes our music better,” Tangey said.
After starting to perform at Brockport, Cloud 9 moved onto other campuses and bars. Some places they have performed are Long Island, New York City, Ithaca, upstate New York and Orange County.
“We try to do at least three shows a month and we are really doing our best to expand,” Tangey said.
The band also handles their own business aspects.
“We really take pride in doing booking and recording,” Tangney said. “It’s a learning process.”
Some favorite places to perform are in colleges and especially bars.
“Smaller bars are a lot more personal,” Fredricks said. “You can draw energy up more, but you take different things from each of them.”
The band will be performing at the Dub Land Underground in Rochester Friday, Nov. 3. They are currently in the process of coming to Brockport for a show.
Cloud 9 would like to especially thank Mike Davis for the promotion and equipment help he gives the band.
Anyone interested in checking out their “rap ’n’ roll” music or CD information, go to their Myspace site at www.myspace.com/upstateofmind.