The Fraternals, an Orlando indie rock band, play during a “Knight Shift” concert on Nov. 10 at the Tivoli Apartments of Orlando.
Laura Daniela Pineda Vásquez
UCF’s Pegasus Music Group launched “Knight Shift” this fall, a new monthly concert series that highlights local Central Florida artists in an intimate, acoustic setting.
The series invites local artists to participate in a special session and be featured on the student group’s YouTube channel. The idea originated at the beginning of the semester, and the artists perform at a student apartment complex near UCF, the Tivoli Apartments of Orlando.
The event gives performers a space to share their music and the stories behind it, creating a close connection with the audience. Organizers said it’s all about celebrating creativity and strengthening the sense of community through music.
Miranda Arnold, a senior majoring in entertainment management and director of recruitment for Knight’s Shift, said that she and her team received inspiration from NPR’s “Tiny Desk.”
“We really wanted to find a way to showcase Orlando bands outside of the shows that we produce, and we decided to come up with Knight’s Shift, which is a spin-off of Tiny Desk, which is super inspiring; we all love the program.”
The Pegasus Music Group is the largest music industry organization at UCF, according to the RSO’s website. The organization’s purpose is to provide its members with opportunities for involvement in the music industry and networking. The organization’s leaders said the goal of Knight’s Shift is to bring together local artists from Orlando and the Central Florida area to showcase their songs and have special Q&As to learn more about the band.
Kaitlyn Chao, a senior majoring in advertising and public relations, said that the idea came up because they wanted to innovate the way they do things at the Pegasus Music Group.
“We were coming up with new ideas for the semester — we wanted it to be fresher and more involved with the music scene,” Chao said. “Then we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be so cool if we did something more inclusive with the local Orlando scene?’ And that’s how it started. We pitched the idea to the rest of the e-board, and it was awesome.”
According to the Pegasus Music Group YouTube channel’s description, they bring different bands every month. In October, they featured Lily of the Valley, and in November, they featured The Fraternals.
Chao said she oversees recruiting the bands, and as soon as the idea was approved by the board, she started looking for local artists.
“Now I am primarily a booking coordinator; I booked the last two bands for previous episodes, all of them incredible bands,” Chao said.
Arnold said showcasing local bands is very important for the community.
“I think it’s important because there are so many underground local amazing talents that need to be more recognized, so we wanted to find a way to bring the talent home to people so they can watch whenever and discover their favorite band,” Arnold said.
Chao said exposure is key for artists to have more possibilities to shine.
“Hopefully, when we get more consistency and more views going, we can give exposure to these super talented bands that are residing in Orlando,” Chao said.
Arnold said this can benefit the UCF community because of the diverse bands and backgrounds they present in Knight’s Shift.
“I think this can definitely benefit the UCF community because there is so many bands and so many ways to get involved, and we really want to reach to anybody,” Arnold said. “We are trying to aim for different genres so that everybody can feel that they can find somebody to listen to, somebody new that they can add to their playlist.”