Planet Rump could have been a regular band — the type of act that practices music in a stuffy garage before finally making it big on a full-blown stage.

 

But thanks to certain band members’ time at Syracuse University, Planet Rump is also the heart of the party scene. And they’ll be bringing the party back to Syracuse when they perform at the Trexx Nightclub Friday at 10 p.m. and Funk ‘n Waffles Saturday night.

 

When Dave ‘DJ Tantric’ Moore was a student at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry four years ago, a drag queen ripped off his shirt at a drag show in Schine Underground in front of hundreds of students.

 

‘The drag queen took off my shirt and threw it to the crowd,’ Moore said, ‘Probably the best musical moment to this day.’

 

Moore will be looking for that same excitement when he and his band, Planet Rump, come this weekend. Tayisha Busay, Great Tiger and local group Mouth’s Cradle are other electronic dance bands that will join the party.

 

With electronic techno music, nobody knows what to expect — not even the band members. The bands choreograph and make new mixes live on stage. It’s just as unexpected as the fraternity parties Leyla Heckrotte said she used to attend at SU.

 

Heckrotte, known as Planet Rump’s ‘Miss Strawberry,’ graduated from the university four years ago. Coming back to Central New York after living and performing in New York City, Heckrotte said visiting the campus will bring a feeling of nostalgia.

 

During those years at SU, she developed a kind of liberation as she went to dorm and off-campus parties to ‘get down.’

 

‘It was a party time,’ Heckrotte said. ‘I could rock out being a student.’

 

Grier Dill and Stephen Minasvand, band members of Great Tiger, are ‘super-stoked’ to rock out their music this week. Minasvand is known to frequently go in to the crowd in the middle of a performance and dance with random audience members.

 

Dance breaks aren’t the only twists of Great Tiger’s concerts. By using Ableton software on his computer, Dill chops music and mashes jams on his computer live on stage.

 

‘People always say, ‘Oh wait a second, he’s bashing on this arcade box, wow,” Dill said.

 

Tayisha Busay and Great Tiger are bands from New York City. It will be the first time they leave their home nest to perform at a different city.

 

The performance away from home doesn’t deter the band’s partying attitude, however.  ‘Kids know how to party,’ Tessa Greenberg, a member of Tayisha Busay said. ‘Syracuse kids are going to kick a** — they know what’s up.’

 

Greenberg feels like she’ll be attending ‘Partying 101’ when she visits Syracuse. She said she’s pumped to bring her music to a live college audience.

 

Moore agrees. With parents nowhere to be seen, he said he achieved a feeling of ‘breaking through’ while he was at ESF. They hope to bring a similar liberating experience to the SU crowd with their music.

 

Vanessa ‘Nasty Ness’ Miller, a member of Planet Rump, heard great things about the city she’s never been to from Heckrotte and Moore. She hopes to bring a ‘voice you’ll never forget’ to this ‘cool town.’

 

‘I heard everyone’s super awesome,’ Miller said. ‘That’s enough for me to know it’s a great place to cultivate minds.’

 

It is a type of unique music people don’t usually hear of, Miller said, and that’s exactly what the bands wanted.

 

‘We’re doing something out of the box,’ she said. ‘We can take you to outer space.’

 

ekim13@syr.edu