Research - Stage 1

So currently I'm attempting to start looking up the venues that I plan to visit next year. This part of the process seems to go both simultaneously really slow and also really fast. Occasionally I'll find a website that dedicates itself to the same goal that I have. I've known about the All-Ages Movement Project for a while now, but last night I discovered a similar group geared towards houses that have DIY shows called Do DIY USA. If you're not familiar with them (as most people don't seem to be... and to an extent it looks like they're not familiar with each other) let me give you a little bit of the info that I've gleaned off of their websites.

The All-Ages Movement Project (or AMP for short) is a non-profit grant funded organization run out of San Francisco. Shannon, the project manager, has big dreams. She's currently creating a network of all-ages non-profit music and art collectives all around the United States. Her goal is to have a continually updated database of not only these collectives, but also tools that anyone can use to make their non-profit all-ages collective a reality, something permanent and reliable. She hopes to have a book out next year with stories from ten successful collectives and also at some point wants to mount a summit for these collectives. Like I said, big dreams.

Do DIY USA appears to be (and I say appears because I haven't talked to them like I've talked to Shannon, all I have to go on is their myspace) attempting to create a network of DIY venues across the United States, similar to AMP except with a different focus. They currently have listings of more than a few DIY house venues all over, from Iowa to New York, but it appears that there are only one, maybe two, legit venues on their list. They say they want to help bands book all all-ages tours and share resources. More power to them. I sent them a message and wait for a response back, maybe we can help each other.

As far as the research is going, it's somewhat tough. Although I can be sure to find venues in areas I plan to visit, there's no way that while it's still October I can discover who's going to be playing the night that I stop in these cities. After I conduct my research here I think I'll be a little more confident about contacting people and telling them what I'm about. But as a booker I know it can be somewhat intimidating to have something planned so far in advance when there are so many variables. Then again, maybe I should just bite the bullet and suck it up, stop being so timid about this.

Research - Active! in Lakeport

So Dao is just incredibly awesome. She forwarded me this message from a girl in Lakeport about a group called Active! that does all-ages shows down there. It seems they've been putting stuff together since 2005, had a lot of shows at a bowling alley, but as the bowling alley wasn't doing enough business they had to stop doing shows there. They still have a yearly festival called Rocktoberfest, which I can only assume is also at the bowling alley. Lakeport is, after all, next to Clear Lake. The aformentioned girl is moving with her family up here and is interested in helping out The Placebo after she moves, or at least that's what I understand out of the message. Which, of course, is totally rad.

I want to see if I can do an interview with her or more people from this place, maybe talk to them when I'm on my way down or back from Tahoe this year. T'would be rad. I'll have already done my interview with Russ by then, so I might have a better idea of what I want to ask.

Preliminary Planning Stage 2

I feel it's time to move on to stage 2 of my plans. Not that I've accomplished everything from stage 1, I still have a bit of shopping and learning how to drive and such, but I can do that intermitantly. what's necessary now is research. I've just started researching the music of these areas, starting with Vancouver. Why Vancouver? Even though I'm going to have been through four cities before I get there? O yeah, because I already have a basic knowledge of what's going on in Oregon and Washington. So I'm starting with Vancouver. The only awareness I have of their scene is They Shoot Horses Don't They, this crazy band with more precussion than can fit in a suitcase.

I put up the placeholders and dates for the secondary route (which is actually first priority, but it's called route 2 because it was made-up second) with dates on the map. So there you go, Tab.

If you know of a particularly great band or venue from one of my cities, now is the time to tell me. I honestly don't have that much of an idea how to do this research bit besides Google-searching "[city name] all-ages music," which doesn't always turn up the best results (vancouvermusicscene.ca? Fuck that website. There's like, nothing there!).

Preliminary Planning - Interview Questions

So I went out and bought myself a good mic from Target (and still, every time I even think of Target the song "Target has my Heart" by SOJH runs through my head). Okay, so maybe it's not a "good" mic per say, but it was $10. It's omni directional (which was pretty much my only requirement) and I can either use it in a stand or plug the mic-head directly into my laptop, which is good because I seem to pick up less static that way. As far as the other equipment goes, Gaura, my computer guru and roommate, suggests that I wait 'til Black Friday. Although the process of this scares me it would also be a good opportunity to grab some winter wear that I'm sure to need, just as long as I don't get trampled.

In any case, I'm writing today to brainstorm some good interview questions for Russ. He's going to do some recording for my sister tomorrow and maybe I can kill two birds with one stone and do an interview in another room or something.

Objectives to learn:
-How did you get involved in the scene?
-What are some of the positive experiences you've had with all-ages music?
-What are some of the negative experience you've had?
-What's kept you involved in all-ages music?
-How does playing an all-ages club feel different from playing in a bar?
-How does playing at a house feel different from playing somewhere else?
-What's your favorite all-ages club and why? How do the clubs differ?
-How do you think the community as a whole feels about all-ages music?

Somehow through this interview I want to steer towards talking about Out of the Sun's closing and re-opening, The Placebo, and a few other venues around here.

O, and on a last note, I think I'll officially here and now set the departure date for February 22nd. I'm tired of being wishy-washy about this. February 21st is my mom's birthday, so I kinda want to be here for that, it's a better marker than most as far as when would be a good time to leave. By my newly created schedule I should get back home by April 9th (just in time to file an extension on my tax return!)

I'm going driving again today, I already have my permit in my pocket. I've got a long way to go before I can feel confident shifting onto the freeway and heading north for Eugene.

Review - The Vista 10-17-07 rough

A rough draft of a review of The Vista I was working on Wednesday night before, during, and after the show...

Imagining a Legend

I had never been to The Vista before re-opening. I had heard the tales, of course, the legends of former glory from Humboldt scene giants speaking of The Vista and some of the epic shows they used to have. In my mind I pictured a dark club with a stage in the back and a bar lit up on the side. Rockers filling the dance space wearing Docs and band t-shirts, milling about outside smoking cigarettes and drinking 40s of PBR. A punk rock paradise. Something more fitting in San Francisco, perhaps.

So I was at the re-opening show. I wanted to see the rumors for myself, to get some experience at The Vista for myself, to come out of the dark about this place. We get to the building, looking in the front door I can see it looks, for the most part, like a restaurant. A bar curls around and sea-oriented objects adorn the walls. I follow my more experienced friend to the music space by walking toward the kitchen and then into a wide hallway. A long window exposes dishwashers still cleaning the day's dirty wares. The band is set up at the end of this hallway in front of a window facing the bay. The ceiling is low, and the patrons of the venue stand around and talk in front of the band who are setting up. I can hear voices from outside, there's a door halfway through the room that opens into an "outdoor" area: a wood floored and walled deck with chicken wire roofing. The overheard fluorescents are turned off and two colored bulbs of blue and red provide the light and ambiance for the room. This isn't what I pictured.

Now I know that my report could cast a somewhat dismal light compared to my imagined beacon of rock 'n roll, but there's an important distinction between the two: the white hallway of The Vista is real. My flattering dreams aren't. The Vista has been booking way more shows than it can handle lately, and good shows too. There's always a local act on the bill and the price is usually $5 or less. The people are friendly unless you cause trouble, but the scene there is uneasy and unestablished. It's young. But full of old E-town scensters who remember the way things used to be. Given time, and a little help, The Vista will soon be once again the stuff of legend, and this time I'm going to get to be part of that.

Preliminary Planning - Map v. 1

This is what I've come up with based on hints and suggestions as far as a map of my route goes. If you have comments or tips or some bullshit like that that you want to throw-out there, now is the time. I plan to later go through and edit the descriptions of the placemarks and add dates and specific bands and venues to them.

View Larger Map

Preliminary Planning - Local Interviews

Although I don't have a good mic yet, I know where I can get the equipment around here to conduct an interview and actually record it with some quality. So I'm currently planning out my own local interviews to start to get a handle on this thing. Instead of focusing on The Placebo (my first inclination, obviously) I'd like to get a better, more well-rounded picture of the all-ages scene in Humboldt. And really, I want to talk about the thing in the scene that I feel gave me the most joy (and maybe the most pain too, but in very personal ways). This is not The Placebo, but rather The Professional Superheroes. I plan to connect them to a good number of the local all-ages venues and the all-ages scene in general. To cover this story I plan to interview them (or at least Russ, maybe Devon and Oliver), people from The Placebo (Willoughby, Julie, Dao, Mike, Eva, etc.), and Tina from Out of the Sun. To round out the all-ages scene around here I plan to talk to someone pretty unrelated... John who books at The Vista and lives at The Firehouse, just to do a bit more coverage on house shows and for-profit venues.

I also started to write a rough piece about The Pro Heroes when I was bored in history...

"When it comes to the all-ages experience, it's first easiest to talk about my won experience. And when it comes to my own experience, it's first easiest to talk about The Placebo, but that wouldn't be really giving the whole picture, a picture talking about The Professional Superheroes would more easily provide. The Professional Superheroes (or Pro Heroes for short) were an indie rock cover group that I palled around with. Through the band i had experienc ewith many of the all-ages venues in the area, as well as somewhat playing without a tradtional venue. Most of he group's shows were all-ages, as most of its fans were under 21. They played the come-back show for Out of the Sun. They played Thee Parkside, which spends most of it's time being a 21+ bar. They played people's birthday parties. They played out on the street at Arts! Alive with a generator. And even removing the young fanbase, most of the members were models of the people passionate about the all-ages scene..."

Not much, I know, but perhaps to give a better idea why I'll focus on telling that story to tell the story of Humboldt all-ages music.