Courtesy of G’Ra Asim

Holmes Lounge is usually a quiet space for student study, occasionally trading its hushed atmosphere for a guest lecturer or a jazz performance. However, on Nov. 5, Assistant Professor of English G’Ra Asim and his boy band, Uppity, filled the lounge with a different kind of energy. They rocked the house with songs from their new EP, “Code Ditching.” The band’s performance was one half of Asim’s “Rock ‘n’ Read” event in celebration of his newest book, “99 Problems Finding the 1: A Love Story (Sort of).”

Asim’s most recent work is a collection of literary nonfiction essays that explore the arduous pursuit of love in our modern world. In the book, he suggests that in order to find love, we must defy our modern social rules that reject earnest vulnerability. While writing, he felt that conveying these ideas through only written work was incomplete and decided to use his talents as a musician to create a musical counterpart to the text. 

“Eventually I realized that in order to fully explore this concept, I needed to tell the story in two formats,” he said. 

He began the “Rock ‘n’ Read” by reading excerpts from his essay, “Are Boy Bands the Cure for the Male Loneliness Epidemic?” The essay is a reflection on his relationship to music and love and how those two concepts inspired “99 Problems Finding the 1.” In the essay, Asim asks himself, “How could I go from passive reflection about becoming more lovable and more loving to advancing that cause through direct action?” He later decides that the best way to do this is to create the connections he seeks through his love for music, writing, “So if I want to be more lovable and loving, I should probably start a boy band.” And so Asim recruited three other musicians, and the art-rock band Uppity was born. 

Together, the band created an EP titled “Code Ditching,” composed of five songs that support the central ideas in Asim’s book. “Code Ditching” represents the abandonment of arbitrary social principles, an idea he also explores in “99 Problems Finding the 1.” In the process of producing both the EP and the book, he set out to “create a band that is an instantiation of the very concepts I’m arguing for in the book.” He continued, “I’m telling in the book, and then I’m showing in the performance.”

For Asim, this connection between music and writing extends beyond his personal projects. He regularly finds ways to combine his talents as a professor, writer, and musician. 

“I’m fortunate that teaching, writing, and rocking are mutually reinforcing pursuits,” he said. “My participation in each of those things teaches me things about myself, about the art of performance, and about the creative process that always goes back into the pot.” 

That connection came to life in Holmes Lounge with a performance from Uppity that culminated the “Rock ‘n’ Read.” The band embodied the themes Asim spoke about earlier through a performance of their new EP. Moving between upbeat art-rock songs and slow jams, the band brought an infectiously joyous energy to the room.

Uppity’s playful energy and unapologetic earnestness with one another were representative of the kinds of meaningful connections Asim advocates for in his book. They demonstrated what it is like to put Asim’s lessons about love and vulnerability into practice.

“What Uppity has taught me is valuing the experience as much as the completion of the task,” Asim said. “I’ve been able to curate an experience of being in a band that allows me to not just play shows and make records, but feel energized, refreshed, and galvanized.”