UNIQUE launched the semester with a Wednesday Nooner at the University Union Redwood Room featuring an acoustic folk rock band known as Be Brave Bold Robot.

UNIQUE Programs Advisor Zenia Diokno was excited to have Be Brave Bold Robot play at the University Union. “Be Brave Bold Robot is a local band pretty well-known in the area. They’re an acoustic rock band, but they’re also really funny in their performances. We’ve had them before and they were kind of a last minute replacement for a band that had canceled, so we wanted to bring them back as an actual scheduled show this time because we’ve really enjoyed them.”

The current members of Be Brave Bold Robot, Dean Haakenson, Matthew Gerken, Heather Phillips, Brian Jackson, and Tony Ledesma all live in the Sacramento area and have been a solid group for a year and a half to two years.

A few bands Haakenson was into when he got more familiar with music were The Counting Crows and Pearl Jam.

“Now I kinda like singer-songwriter stuff. I like lyric-heavy stuff like hip hop,” he said.

The band’s unique name came about when Haakenson heard about some graffiti in the girl’s bathroom at Humboldt State University.

“A friend of mine who was going to school up there told me she saw the name in one of the women’s bathroom stalls at the university and I was like, ‘wow that’s a cool name,'” Haakenson said.

Not only is Be Brave Bold Robot a cool name, but it also has a specific meaning.

“I apply the statement as a metaphor,” Haakenson said. “Sometimes I look at my life and many other people’s lives and I feel there’s a tendency to become robotic about how you do things. You get into these habits and methods of trying to live your life by society’s rules and try and do the right thing. Sometimes it gets you into a rut, so to speak, and you become kind of robotic,” he said. “I know your life’s robotic now, but be brave. You’re bold, you’re full of passion, you’re a robotic human.”

Although Be Brave Bold Robot usually plays at bars in downtown Sacramento at night and weekends, members still felt energized and excited.

“At night people are more willing to get out of their shell and not really care about who’s looking at them, being enthused about music. During the daytime, generally in the morning and at noon people are maybe a little more inhibited, but that doesn’t affect me one way or another,” said Gerken. “I like these things. I love playing here.”

For more information about Be Brave Bold Robot or to listen to some of their songs, visit: www.myspace.com/bebraveboldrobot

Christina Li can be reached at [email protected].