Local scene involvement

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I was listening Harsh Truths podcast interview with Stefan Aune and he was talking about local scene noise. To put it short, the guys who play shows or fool around with gear, but are not interested nor involved in the nationwide or global "scene". He concluded not to be very interested in such stuff, which I may agree to some degree. It may appear as somewhat elitists, but I certainly felt quite odd to play noise set among local artschool / performance art crowd. Not even mentioned as actual Grunt gig, so perhaps considered more like just solo set, hah...  Both organizers and audience is something that was somewhat interested in experimental sound, yet being 100% different crowd who comes to actual noise show. Some of them perhaps could perform too, but there would be no ambition to actually make something worthy to be bough.


How you feel about it? IF local scene exists where you happen to live, do you intentionally seek to be part of it, or keep distance or just "naturally" co-exists when paths may cross occasionally... or not?

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

Depends if the local scene is worth getting involved with or not. Where I live, let's call it the London area/region for want of a better word, it was cliquey and stuffy so I decided to bypass it and do my own thing. After a while other people turned up and wanted to be involved. And that's the thing, a place can be barren but one person becoming active can set off a whole new scene.

[Vermin Marvin]

I am pretty sure ROTAT will not ever play on Böndebileet even i want.. Rockabillies and 90`technoheads are pretty hard target to Harsh Noise anyway.

[Johann]

I can only speak from an American perspective on this. I've always thought of local music/art is code for circle jerk, criticism equals lost opportunities, where it's endless back slapping and support (granted we have some great stuff here done by people I honestly respect and admire). In Michigan at the moment there seems to be some HN stuff popping up around the local punk scenes, but because of little or no crossover I don't go to these shows. I don't really wanna hangout at an 18 year olds costume party personally (harsh judgement sure, but I prefer to be at home) especially when I go to hangout and talk noise with fellow fanatics as much as I go for the performance.

I've noticed via Instagram that there seems to be growing art kid noise scenes growing around the country and it seems that these kids are kind of divorced from what interest me in noise as well. So I don't keep up.

[Balor/SS1535]

In my area (Southern California) the local noise scene seems to center around hippie/artist types.  I saw some ads for a big show, but it looked like it was intended to be weird rather than extreme.  They even had someone doing palm reading or something during the sets.  It doesn't sound like my kind of thing or my kind of people, but I would still be interested in going to a few shows if I am able.

[Stipsi]

In my town there is nothing.
I m not sure, but I'm probably the only one that plays harsh noise.
I only played once in a little festival in my hometown with other musicians and they were pretty shocked.
There is a couple of places for "arty experimental music", but the only time i went to one of this "event" I was disappointed (obviously) and i prefer to don't have nothing to do with them.

[Lazrs3]

In my town in the Midlands,UK there is Rammel club (promoters) where they do experimental, noise and PE stuff regularly. Sometimes it's just ok, now again something amazing can happen where you're hooked afterwards. Sometimes stuff like Pharmakon, Whitehouse, Ramleh, Prurient has happened years back via other promoters. Birmingham has more frequent events, but the drive there is tough at night, but the events there do tend to be gritier so are rewarding. Tend to go to London for good new stuff too once or twice a year.

The mentality here is older more popular names draw bigger crowds and small venues will suddenly be ram packed.

[martialgodmask]

In my town in the Midlands,UK there is Rammel club (promoters) where they do experimental, noise and PE stuff regularly. Sometimes it's just ok, now again something amazing can happen where you're hooked afterwards. Sometimes stuff like Pharmakon, Whitehouse, Ramleh, Prurient has happened years back via other promoters. Birmingham has more frequent events, but the drive there is tough at night, but the events there do tend to be gritier so are rewarding. Tend to go to London for good new stuff too once or twice a year.

The mentality here is older more popular names draw bigger crowds and small venues will suddenly be ram packed.

Contrast with Derby, where I am, just 15miles away and I can count on two fingers how many people I know that are "into" this stuff. Me being one.

I'll be honest, I don't go out looking for comrades as I'm happy to enjoy in isolation for the most part and I'm really not a social going-out kind of person anymore - maybe there are people out there locally that would surprise me, but to my knowledge there's no gigs or outlets going on where I could turn up and find out. This isn't a new phenomenon, Derby has been like this for a long, long time.

Incidentally, I met you once at a Rammel show at the Chameleon (CE, Cremation Lily and Sleaford Mods I think?).

[Lazrs3]

Incidentally, I met you once at a Rammel show at the Chameleon (CE, Cremation Lily and Sleaford Mods I think?).

I kind of love Derby, even though our football teams are rivals, ha ha. I did go to that gig, I never miss Cremation Lily as I love that project and have seen CL in Notts four times. .

[DSOL]

Buffalo, New York

small scene here, 3 mainstay projects and a couple from about an hour away. lately we've been having at least one show a month with somewhat decent turnouts.

[Soloman Tump]

How you feel about it? IF local scene exists where you happen to live, do you intentionally seek to be part of it, or keep distance or just "naturally" co-exists when paths may cross occasionally... or not?

I would like to help propogate the Oxford experimental scene.

There are a couple of promoters / artists who would put on experimental artists as part of their repertoire of gigs but nothing solely focused on it or regular in terms of events.

Have considered networking with existing people in the area to try and put something on of my own, but time and energy have so far limited this.


Ref:- Rammel Club.
Looks fairly unique for the area, have been impressed with some of the lineups at the venue over the years and have often considered visiting.  Venues like this should be cherished and looked after.

[New Forces]

Perhaps to clarify, I think people in your area that are making "weird" music should be encouraged, invited to shows, and included in what's going on... I'm certainly not advocating isolation or holding oneself aloof from anything that isn't harsh noise / PE. I think a variety of "experimental" music is great, and I'd rather have that variety - a nice avant-garde percussionist one week, slamming heavy electronics the next, a bill with a mix of drone and harsh noise after that...

I was more-so speaking about the people that show up to tinker with their gear if they get put on a show, and otherwise show no interest in touring artists, or even noise music in general. I think it's really valuable to try and build up a local experimental music community, but if people show no interest in that beyond their own tinkering (they're not interested in touring acts, they're not interested in good music that is coming out of the genre, they aren't listening to the classics) then I'm less interested in what they're doing. And it usually shows in their musical output - these are the projects that tend to stagnate in mediocrity, opening for a touring artist they've never heard of 4 times a year with the same boring performance.

Basically I'm not advocating isolation or elitism, I just think people should be encouraged to be excellent. Good noise artists in the same area tend to mutually reinforce each-other's output, you see that over and over again.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Perhaps I also assumed that people use to local scene bands with same between-the-lines meaning. I'm pretty sure that most people know the music bands, who play locally and their friends or bar regulars go to see it. Very few would buy their stuff or travel to see them. Most often guys are not into networking. Not into knowing what others do, not interested in records nor artists beyond being sort of replica of some relevant band. There is very specific social function for band, barely artistic ambition.

Quite similarly, when you look the difference of artists that make comic books.... Local comics scene & workshop scene is quite different compared to things you buy out of being interested in it, and the other thing you may buy out of "support", hah... Only occasionally it may happen to be local artist.

This leads to notion that some people have had that it is foolish to support local for sake of being local. Unless it is really good. Creating this local bubble where everybody and their friends celebrate their own mediocrity while listening couple releases from elsewhere would probably set things in perspective...

Ideally, it would be great that there would be flourishing local art, and some places do. Yet I do assume that there is a reason why ultimately best things exists in worldwide form, that often enjoy little or no local interest, but people around the world are willing to buy to hear & travel to see.

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

Personally I'm not interested in mixing genres for my events. Other styles have plenty of places they are welcomed at while us industrial scum don't get many other opportunities. I aim for a total experience when I put my events on and I don't want to dilute things.

Supporting local and in general UK industrial/PE is a given of course. The two standard criteria apply though. Be serious about what you do and no fucking cunts.

[PTM Jim]

I was more-so speaking about the people that show up to tinker with their gear if they get put on a show, and otherwise show no interest in touring artists, or even noise music in general. I think it's really valuable to try and build up a local experimental music community, but if people show no interest in that beyond their own tinkering (they're not interested in touring acts, they're not interested in good music that is coming out of the genre, they aren't listening to the classics) then I'm less interested in what they're doing. And it usually shows in their musical output - these are the projects that tend to stagnate in mediocrity, opening for a touring artist they've never heard of 4 times a year with the same boring performance.

This is what I was thinking as well. I have witnessed many times a random local (middle of the line up for a show often) come late, play a forgettable set, then leave immediately after playing. Not caring is fine and all, but why even bother doing that. It's just a big waste of time.