Local Mojo Offering Place To Enjoy & Expand State College’s Music Scene

Throughout 2024, Penn State students Kat Osuchowski and Ava Plachter have been working on bringing Local Mojo from UMass to Penn State.

Local Mojo, started in the fall of 2021 by Charley Blacker at UMass, was a way of promoting local musicians by booking shows and interviews in the Amherst area. Now, Osuchowski and Plachter want to start a Local Mojo chapter in State College to promote local artists and musicians traveling through the area looking for places to play.

Osuchowski, a member of the band Cherry Grove and president of Local Mojo, said there’s a lot of potential in the State College music scene.

“It’s hard to get into the music scene, so we wanted to make a music scene that was more inclusive,” Osuchowski said.

Since its start in May, Local Mojo’s begun interviewing and scheduling bands with Penn State students, such as Hot Fudge Yacht Club , which opened the Movin’ On festival last spring.

While taking direction from Blacker, Osuchowski felt hopeful about the growth of Local Mojo so far.

“There’s so many people rooting for us, so it’s a network we’re growing that’s new and exciting,” she said. “We all do it because we love making music and want places to play, even if we don’t make much money.”

According to Osuchowski, though, money isn’t even a priority for most of the bands who perform.

“Most of the time when we hand bands the cash at the end of the night, they forget they’re even getting paid,” she said.

Although they’ve only recently begun in State College, Local Mojo has already amassed over 300 followers on Instagram and a steady stream of attendees at their live shows. However, Osuchowski is wary of the group becoming too large to be manageable.

“There are growing pains, but my main job is to make sure we don’t move too fast but still have stable growth,” she said.

Osuchowski also noted that while Local Mojo wants traction, with a larger audience, its mistakes will become more noticeable, so it’s important to fix those mistakes early on.

While now hosting general body meetings, Osuchowski is hoping to spread the distribution of events to those outside of the executive board.

“As the executive board, we are bearing a lot of the work right now, but I think it’ll be really beneficial to have the general body members start learning and become more involved in bookings, marketing, and video production,” she said.

In regards to the growth of the club, Osuchowski said most of the people who learn about Local Mojo are already somehow involved in the music scene or found out via word of mouth.

The group has also begun partnering with Asylum Music Club to help host events that draw in not only Penn State students but also locals from State College and the surrounding area.

Osuchowski, who already had experience with bookings, has hosted successful concerts at Websters Cafe, 3 Dots, and the attic in State Theatre, and hopes to add more venues in the future.

The main concern right now is for the executive board to have a more comfortable flow and to “not let anything slip through the cracks.” One benefit, though, is that Local Mojo is not a Penn State-affiliated club, therefore giving it more leeway instead of having to adhere to campus policies, so members of Centre County can join the growing community.

As for the potential of Local Mojo, Osuchowski felt the group can grow into something bigger and welcomes all who want to join.

“We want absolutely everyone to join, the only thing we want is for you to actually try,” she said.