The Office of the Associated Students Internal Vice President held Isla Vista Underground, a community-focused event that brought local bands to the University Center lawn on April 23. Bands including Monkfish, The Radar, Dielectric and Corkscrew Michael performed during the event, which featured a beer garden and merchandise.

Attendees were sitting on the lawn chatting and studying while the live performances played on the stage. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus

According to the Associated Students (A.S.) Internal Vice President Enri Lala, a fourth-year history and global studies double major, I.V. Underground is a part of the Associated Students’ goal of utilizing student funds to create events geared toward community-building. 

“[For] students who have nothing to do with the Association, here are the sources we’re providing,” Lala said. “Here’s how we [Associated Students] want to be present in your lives, and we hope this is one small cultural representation of that.” 

Attendees sat on the lawn chatting and studying while the performances played on stage. The singer of the band Monkfish, third-year aquatic biology major Emma Oric, expressed how she was grateful for the opportunity to perform at the event. 

“I feel live music is a lot of people’s interest, especially here. So any chance we [as a community] can get to be outside, I think it brings out a really special part of people — a social part,” Oric said. 

A.S. Internal Affairs Coordinator Valentina Huynh, a third-year economics and accounting major, highlighted the importance of their decision to use local bands at the event rather than mainstream artists. 

“We have Extravaganza where we bring in outside artists, but I think band culture is a really important part of any campus life,” Huynh said. “It’s encouraging [I.V. bands] to come out and play but also giving them compensation for doing this for the community.” 

Mary Hoffman, a third-year political science major and A.S. deputy chief of staff, expressed her hope for I.V. Underground to become an annual event, even after their current office has graduated. 

“We’re really excited about this event, and we hope that it continues into years that outlive us,” Hoffman said. “We want to give I.V. bands an opportunity to be funded by the school because we have so many student dollars that go unspent each year, so we wanted to put it into a community building event.” 

A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the April 30, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.