Here is the Spin article about Omaha/Saddle Creek/Bright Eyes.

sorry if this is incoherent rambling, but...

i've definitely had the "there's something good going on here..." vibe with regards to the music community for some time. i've also had the same thoughts about all those bands listed above, even adding a few like Templeton and Grafton, that are really coming into their own. artists like O.A.R., The Sun and RJD2 all getting national press (and mentions for Columbus) seem to create the inklings of awareness in people, not just locally but regionally and nationally. i know for a fact that when we play Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, etc., the other bands we play with from those towns always talk about about how many great bands there are from Columbus that come through their town on a regular basis.

the question is, what's it gonna take to build a Saddle Creek/Dischord/Barsuk/Matador/Sub Pop type label that's going to help grow the scene? i guess my take would be that you have to do it slow and deliberate, meaning you don't just find 15 bands, start a label, and release a whole bunch of shit to see what sticks. it really matters that you are focusing on one, maybe two projects at a time, and putting the full resources (re: freetime) of everyone involved into the current priority. from our end (being reverbose), we're trying to carve out a certain niche that we refer to as "indie rock and relevant pop." the "relevant" part is meant to distinguish between pop in the underground sense (ours) vs. pop in the market driven corporate radio sense (not ours). i'm definitely not professing to know anything or everything about this, just pulling ideas and fashioning models from various sources, related experiences, etc., but this is what we're going for in an effort to define who we are and what we're all about.

in a lot of ways it's an exciting time because the major labels are dropping the ball in so many ways it's laughable. indie labels that are smart and cost-conscious can put out a release, and with the right promotion and commitment from the artist to tour consistently, sell a hundred thousand to half a million records. like in the case with Interpol and Matador, who just hit the 500,000 mark, it's primarily based on the strength of touring (3 US, 2 European), college radio support and positive press. there is no reason why any number of Columbus bands couldn't be in this same position in 3-5 years after the groundwork has been laid with a strong label to create and maintain the support system (distribution, promotion, etc.).

The one similarity I see with most of those labels ('cept for the Omaha one, which I am not familiar with) is that they all put out bands from places other than their homebase.
I think it was in an interview with Post and Scott from Dead Canary where they said essentially the main problem with local labels, is just that ... they are LOCAL LABELS. No one is going to go out of their way to find a label that puts out records by bands only from Columbus. National acts with big exposure or local acts who tour constantly gets you noticed, not just putting out records.
The other problem being most of the bands in Columbus are just grown-up hobbies instead of JOBS. Most people are not willing/able to quit their jobs or take 3 months off and tour constantly. I have an 8-year-old little boy, what's your excuse?

rock.

J

I think I probably jumped the gun in my call for a Columbus music revolution. I had the Saddle Creek article fresh on my mind and have really been digging a lot of local stuff lately -- more so than in any of the 13 years that I've lived in Columbus (though my early days are filled with fond memories of Greenhorn, Feversmile, Scrawl, Gaunt, New Bomb Turks, etc.). I guess I just think that it's a shame that we have a great little community here that is really getting no attention. I mean, yeah, The Sun got signed to Warner Bros. but I don't think they are really representative of the "scene".

I will say that I like Banjo's idea of bands getting together, even informally, and talking about music, that sort of thing.

Banjo: I'm going to drop by your Comfest booth to say hey. I checked out some music on your website. Let me just say that I am officially adding Wigglepussy, Indiana to my list of great Columbus bands. See ... this is exactly what I'm talking about ... there is so much GREAT music out there right now in Columbus. We need to do something to spread the word outside of this fair little city.

-Atomic Ned

Thanks for checkin' us out Atomic. Definitely stop by the booth and say hi. I'm-a try to be there as much as possible. If not, whoever's looking after the booth will know where I am. At 8pm on Sat. at the Gazebo, I'll be the one yappin' into the mic.

And yeah, Duff...that's what I'm saying. Nothing formal...I just think it would be cool to have all the serious folks on the same page. Besides, it's always fun to have long, drunken conversations about your ambitions.

In my mind, I'm in Goodale Park right now.

everyone is at Comfest right now (even my wife!) and i'm stuck here at work
so i'm going to write about some shit that i thought about after i read all of your posts
on this subject. by the way, why did someone change the heading of this thread?
that's pretty lame...someone getting in and adjusting this board to their own tastes
is really bad; it's supposed to be a public forum. i'm probably being edited as
these words go down. sorry. anyway, i think all of the ideas & plans you guys are
talking about are great, but it will never work unless we want it to work. when i started
this thread, i was really just saying how happy i was that good music is really
happening here now, music that i like, and that i am proud to be a part of it all
and be able to go out and enjoy good songs right here in columbus. i havent felt like
that in a long time...the 'scene' here has always been weird and i think my band
never really fit in with what was going on, but now i feel like there are alot of bands
that are doing things with similar musical ideas as us. i mean, we never wanted
to 'take over Columbus' and that idea itself is ridiculous. anyway, the point i'm trying
to make is this: we decided a long time ago that we were happy with this town, happy
to live & work here, and play music & shows on occasion. we're not trying to be big stars,
we're just trying to write songs that we like and live here and be able to have fun.
we are lucky to be able to do that. and now we are lucky to be in such good company
with all these great bands that are really starting to take off. i think that if other people
in bands feel the same way then it can only be a good thing to support each other by
going out to shows more (i'm really bad at this, but i want to get better), helping set up
good shows (alot of you are already doing this) and just becoming closer knit as a
community of bands. i'm not sure what all this will acomplish, but if it eventually means
you get to quit your dayjob to work on music fulltime, then i suppose it's worth it.
i feel like right now one of those windows is opening but it won't be open forever.
i'm totally down for trying to get this rolling...we should plan some sort of meeting or
something for those interested. i know that's kinda weird, but if we get this thing focused
it could be really great for our little town and for the bands who love it.

sorry this was so long and wondering. i hope some of you understand & feel the same.

rock.

eric

eric:

what i think happened is that you opened up a big can of worms and duffy decided to change the name of the thread to reflect the way the conversation was going. believe me, the last thing you'll get around here is censorship (unless, of course, you do something to deserve it).

i by no means think that i'm part of the scene (i'm 32 years old, have 2 kids, drive a minivan, live in the 'burbs and, most importantly, don't play in a band) but i do think that we have a number of talented non-musicians in town who can help spread the word about what great music is being made here. i don't really think columbus is about to become the next seattle, the next athens, the next wherever BUT i do think that there is talent here that needs to be exposed outside of columbus. i regularly send local band's cds to people i know in new york who think that what we've got going on here is pretty damn special. they are not from columbus and are continuously saying that, from their perspective, we've got a great thing going on. i just think that, as you mentioned, if we all pooled our resources, we could get people outside of columbus interested in many of the great bands here.

i completely agree with what you said about tiara never really fit in with what was going on around town. but, unlike so many others, tiara has done things to make their (your) name known OUTSIDE of columbus. you've toured, released records overseas, etc., etc. while i understand that not many local bands have that luxury, i don't think it's too difficult a chore to try to build up -- at the very least -- a good reputation in ohio. get people in cincinnati and cleveland talking about the great scene we have here.

i sense that many of us have some great ideas and i think getting interested parties together to meet, some for the first time (i don't know that i've ever met you but we have a connection in brian caviness), to throw out some ideas, some past experiences, some future goals, etc. would be a good idea.

after the craziness of comfest is over, i'll chat with duffy and see if we can figure out a time and place that would be good for this get together.

-chip/atomic ned

I spoke with Steve from the Alive about this whole "revolution" taking place. He had a really good idea ... he thinks we should organize a CMJ type festival in Columbus next summer. (Duffy had mentioned something like this to me as well a few months ago). Work with the local clubs to book local shows at all available venues during one particular weekend, have panels during the day ("How to book a tour", "How to get the local press on your good side", "Cheap ways to produce a CD"), bring in some special guest speakers and even try to get some A&R folks to Columbus to check out the great bands.

Just off the top of my head (and I realize that we have a lot of time to plan something like this) maybe we could sandwich it between Comfest and the More than Music Fest.

-Chip

I like this idea, but I would suggest trying to work WITH the more than music festival folks to add more local acts instead of starting from scratch with another festival. If we do our own (yes, it could be wonderful) but it could end up being similar to the label situation, where everyone wants to do their own thing and make their event the best and set the standard and we'll just be the town with a ton of local labels & a ton of festivals that are all relatively known but doesn't have half the press-power as it could if we worked with a large core group.
I think a festival is a great idea. After going to Austin, TX for SXSW, their town is set up very similar to ours and it would totally work with the right organization, sponsorship & bands working together.