Walking into the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, one can hear the sound of a microkorg  keyboard, acoustic guitar and human beat box booming from the M Lounge.

The stage and the crowd welcome all talents with a comfortable atmosphere every other Thursday night starting at 10 p.m.

Program Council and the Talent Recruitment Entertainment Agency Team (TREAT) offer Open Mic Night because they want the event to be “an alternative to going out and drinking on Thursday night,” TREAT leader Evan Kasper said.

The original reason for the open invitation was described by Trigg Burrage, president of TREAT, as an opportunity for “students who aren’t Meadows majors to perform for other students casually.”

For those wanting to take part, all they have to do is show up and be prepared to perform.

And from that night on, TREAT puts the performers name in their system.

TREAT’s purpose is to act as a talent agent.

 “Students can be nurtured, and TREAT can turn part time artists into professional performers,” Burrage said.

Amid 10 to 20 acts each, Open Mic Night strives for great variety.

“We have tons of musicians, poets, singers, beat boxers, dramatic readings,” Kasper said. “We’re up to anything.”

One of the recent acts was freshman Andrew Pinkowitz. He showed off his beat boxing skills in both solo and in collaboration with Kasper.

“Open Mic Night has a cool environment, with open minded, artistic people. It’s a fun [environment] where you can feed off of people,” Pinkowitz said.

Also among those performing was sophomore Jen Nguyen who sang and played guitar to her original song, “Free.”

Other acts included an instrumental song, a poetry piece and various collaborations.

If you have gained some skill from Guitar Hero, have some crazy talent that you have not found a place for or want to sing somewhere other than your shower, the stage and microphone are open.

If you are just interested in seeing what your fellow students can do, you can also stop by and steal a seat on one of the leather couches.   

The next Open Mic Night will be on Oct. 28. Burrage told The Daily Campus that they are “booking headliner acts, which will either be SMU students or acts from around Dallas.”

TREAT will be serving free Pizza Hut pizza and drinks for performers and the audience.

The Oct. 28 event is sponsored by Epic Funding and will be the first officially recorded Open Mic Night.

“Every Open Mic Night will be filmed and put on the TREAT YouTube channel,” Burrage said. “It’s a great way for students [and] musicians to get exposure.”  

If you cannot wait that long to get involved, TREAT is hosting a talent show, Stage Rush, today in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center.

Attendance is free, the event is fully catered and there is prize money for the winning performances.

You can either sign up at the door at 7:45 pm tonight or e-mail TREAT at [email protected] to perform at Stage Rush.

The only requirement is that your performance is campus-friendly.

You can also visit the TREAT Facebook page to get Open Mic Night, talent show or general information.