The scene is....

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 4:29 pm

Not a bad idea. Is there a good demand for it or just a lot of artists? Though I call myself an electronic musician I am more of a composer, i dont know jack about spinning and anything related to that, so I would have to check it out and get my hands dirty.

I guess I have always strayed from that scene becuase it has always seemed so closely tied to the HH scene here.. I am not about to get involved in any of that mess ever again. But if that can be avoided then, I am down to get in.

jewlee138 · Post by **jewlee138** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 4:30 pm

kylek wrote:The main thing I notice from the scene, is that there is, in fact, no scene.

Sure there are like 40 or so dedicated fans for some bands, but as soon as those bands play, those fans do the "cool" thing and leave. Also, when playing the bar scene, it sucks because 85% of the people are NOT there for the music. They are meerly there to get drunk.

I agree with some of the points you make & love my drinky-drinks just as much as the next person (usually more) however, last night is just one example where there were several shows in town that received little to no mainstream promotion that were "all about the music."

All ages hip-hop & b-girls/b-boys at FW Hip-Hop Dance - no alcohol and continued on till at least 2AM, Lee Miles all-ages show at his apartment showcasing out-of-town musicians, and so on...

As pathetic as some may think it is, there is indeed a scene.

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 4:41 pm

agreed...

I think the "amount" of scene we have here is determind greatly by personal taste and exposure.

Before I got into Pleasing Melani my exposure was playing in Hard Rock bands that I didn't like and setting up all ages hardcore shows. So to me that was the scene. Then when I opened my world up to all the other genres out there I realized that there is a sh*t load of stuff going on out there. Then you come to a town like Tallahassee and realize that you havent seen sh*t. Its all cover bands and drunk college douches that only care about whether FSU wins or not.

I miss the fact that almost ever night of the week as long as you had a couple of bucks you could find somewhere to go and watch a performance.

Post by **cwallace** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:57 pm

kimaliz wrote:
QWETTY wrote: put out a FWM.com presents CD... like X102 did for so long. <-- this would be awesome. we could have votes for what songs/bands to include.
We could do that and have talk about that in the past but I think it always conflicted with Jericho being involved with x102 at the same time. I will bring it up in my meeting with Wallace next week. That would bee a torch I would like to carry on.

Yeah...we have NEVER released a CD...have we?

ahem..TWO od them...

Most recently 'Deer Park Sessions' and in 2004 'Local Noise'.

Those are major accomplishments AND every showcase from this point out WILL have an associated CD for sale CHEAP at the shows and then in the store...and yes there will eventually be a store. A lot of people don't want it, but like everything else in this world you do not HAVE to be involved or include your stuff...it is for those who wish too...

We will have several big shows in '07 and will continue everything we have here.

Some of the added items to the boards are to take away from the sometimes routine crap that goes on...we are always looking for something new...and if going into the casino or arcade every once in a while takes you out of the madness of the boards or other stuff on the site so be it...it is called diversity...and it gives people another reason to be here other than just reading the boards and doing music stuff...in turn they might find the casino and arcade and get turned on to the scene...

Back later...

Chris

jewlee138 · Post by **jewlee138** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:46 pm

kimaliz wrote:Not a bad idea. Is there a good demand for it or just a lot of artists? Though I call myself an electronic musician I am more of a composer, i dont know jack about spinning and anything related to that, so I would have to check it out and get my hands dirty.

I guess I have always strayed from that scene becuase it has always seemed so closely tied to the HH scene here.. I am not about to get involved in any of that mess ever again. But if that can be avoided then, I am down to get in.

I'm pretty sure that 90% of them have no "real" ties to the local hip-hop scene. I've distanced myself from the electronic crowd, mainly because I don't like techno and have not been partying too much lately. Plus, techno & trance seems to be the majority of what is played out in FW and I prefer house/electro/dNb, etc.

There is a second Sat. event (that's right, the second Sat. of every month) at O'Sullivans that's packing hundreds of people and featuring 3 local dj's plus rotating out of town guests....so there's more of a market than you'd think. There was a photo collage/write-up in the weekender recently.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Bottoms Up does a weekly electronic night on Wed. PremiseOne will be spinning breaks on Wed. at Legends for awhile. DJ Epitaph spins breaks & some hip-hop at Kaysans every Thursday. Doc spins at Kachmann gallery often & will be playing at the Embassy lobby for the Masquerade Ball on New Year's Eve. Not to mention the electronic bands that have huge followings of hot 'lil ladies like Scotty and the Help.

'Not to open any cans of drama worms, but that just one example of a thriving genre in town receiving little to no exposure by any media. The closest would be www.noizeboyz.net or individual dj websites.

liquidmagazine · Post by **liquidmagazine** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:01 pm

I'm all up for any cross-promotion and partnering you may be into. Hit me up sometime.

-Liquid

jewlee138 · Post by **jewlee138** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:37 pm

Isn't your zine the one targeted to South Bend?

beck · Post by **beck** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:02 pm

For anyone who has been to/played at the Firehouse in North Manchester, it is always the same response. THIS IS THE BEST forking VENUE I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. It is all ages, free shows, and city funded.

Is it possible to do this in Fort Wayne?

Would FWM be interested in finding out/starting it/ or running a place like this. I come to this website to find out what is going on in the local music scene. I would think if anyone could accomplish some thing like this, it would be FWM.

Just curious if anyone has ever looked into this in fort wayne. I know built to shine started working on it, and that fell apart......has anyone picked up where they left off?

Post by **cwallace** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:00 am

They all fall apart..it is a sad trend with this town. Everyone gets into it with the gung ho attitude of making something, but as the climb gets harder and harder they drop like flies.

I have stuck this site out for 7 years with little to no funding. Have stayed off people trying to 'take over' and have paid the bills. I have dealt with the constant bickering and bitching about how we are a bunch of tyrant jackasses who don't care. We have weathered the storm of protests and failed 'boycots'. Still day in and day out a dedicated group of 'staff' are here to maintain and oversee the 'project' and come up with ways of making it better.

If the site ever makes a turn to profitable I have no doubt I will start to invest every extra penny into outside projects. We have to first focus on survival and then focus on growth. I think we are 'surviving' at this point. It needs to maintain that for a while and then the 'growth' will begin.

I see more positive things happening now since the server is 'usable' after my rebuilding. Garr has some cool stuff waiting in the wings. Al has made some efforts to get the graphics pack together. We are turning more pages than ever and have more to offer than we have ever had in the past.

Positive user activity and new people arriving almost daily now shows that things are happening. We have nearly 3000 individual accounts with more than 20% of that logging in at least once a month. Those numbers can improve and will with time. Until you establish that good customer base you cannot move forward much in advertising sales and such. That will come with time. Right now keeping a positive attitude, respecting what is being done, and interjecting with constructive critisism will stimulate what is happening and lead to even more progress.

The constant bickering and bitching about what and who we support is ridiculous. We have the door open for ALL that want to join. As well we cannot without the efforts of many spread the word. You as a genre or 'style' of music must seek outlets and hopefully find this site. We have never slammed the door on anyone for any reason other than negativity and 'trouble'.

We are constantly revisting those issues and when people are 'banned' at break neck speeds anymore there are those that accuse us of censoring and picking on people...that couldn't be further from the truth...it shows that we have been there done that and aren't going to let it get out of hand.

I applaud those that are here for their smart decision to hang in there and to those who wish to point fingers and blame...a big Whatever...

It is late...I am in finals week...g'night and good luck.

Chris

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:25 am

Good statement. C dubya.

@ Local venue.

Wallace is right, many have tried. I myself have been on two committees in the last 3 years to create one. Either funding or politics get in the way of the group itself.

I would love to try again, this time with me heading it up or co-running instead of joining a group of folks that say the are open minded and all inclusive but really were the farthest from that. (rant ends here

)

@ Boycotts

Ha, why waste the time?? Eat this.

@ Other Genres

Like Wallace said, we have never pushed anyone away for their genre. I will admit that every once in a while seasoned users may gang up on new users sometimes, but that is not the staff.

@ Profit

I have heard criticism in the past on this. Hey you can volunteer all you want but when you can actually allocate funded time to a project many other beautiful things can come of it. Plus as stated above, we can then focus on more outside functions and ventures.

@ The staff

It is a bit smaller then it was last year. With the absence of Anderson, Jericho and technically myself; events have somewhat halted temporally. I have a much better head on my shoulders since taking a vacation (is 6 months a vacation?) from Fort Wayne.

I am ready to take the bull by the horns when I get home. As I have stated in the past, after living in this boring sh*t hole (which is not much smaller then Fort Wayne) I realized how much great stuff was going on back home.

There isnâ€™t anyone else on the staff right now locally that does the events portion (that I am aware of anyway), so hopefully can find a job (hint. hint) soon back home and possibly recruit someone else to assist with the events.

got to go to the office. I will continue there

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:45 am

I would love to participate more, but as long as I am stuck on third shift, it's very unlikely.

As I've said a hundred times, and will say a hundred more, the scene STARTS with the people. . .the bands are really secondary. You can have the best bands in the world, but if the population doesn't give a sh*t, it's all for naught. I think the key to developing a stronger scene in Fort Wayne is to find a way to get the general populace more involved and more excited in the talent that the area has to offer.

jewlee138 · Post by **jewlee138** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:07 am

Garr wrote: As I've said a hundred times, and will say a hundred more, the scene STARTS with the people. . . the key to developing a stronger scene in Fort Wayne is to find a way to get the general populace more involved and more excited in the talent that the area has to offer.

SO, THE ANSWER IS GROUPIES! WE NEED MORE GROUPIES!

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:10 am

f**k yes. Oh my god, yes. I can't tell you how wet that makes me.

Oliver's Army · Post by **Oliver's Army** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:16 am

jewlee138 wrote:
Garr wrote: As I've said a hundred times, and will say a hundred more, the scene STARTS with the people. . . the key to developing a stronger scene in Fort Wayne is to find a way to get the general populace more involved and more excited in the talent that the area has to offer.
SO, THE ANSWER IS GROUPIES! WE NEED MORE GROUPIES!

This is ALMOST the answer.

Keeping in mind that I am not referring to "music fans" or friends of the band, both are minorities on any given weekend.

The formula is this:

Any band that attracts a female fan base wins.

Girls go where they will comfortable around other girls, especially if they want to dance.

Guys go where the girls are.

This formula has worked for the Freak Bros, and others for years.

Dance+girls=guys and a crowd.

It (almost) LITERALLY has nothing to do with which band is playing.

Take any one element out of this equation and it falls apart.

LC Pwince · Post by **LC Pwince** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:51 pm

My humbly submitted 2 cents:
Figure out what YOU can do for the scene and do it. You guys know what time and financial constraints you are under, so it's up to you to decide what can and can't be done. Then try and stay above the fray by not getting into shouting matches with others on the board, even if you are totally in the right. Don't stoop, because like it or not the message boards are the "face" of FWM.com, at least for right now. For every dude that rants on here, there are at least a dozen others that appreciate what you do in the silent majority. No need to justify anything. Find out who you want your audience to be, and find out who your current audience is. Tailor the site to your target audience.
Going a step further, I'd like to see more original content. Perhaps team up with one of the local papers and do your own features on local bands and local happenings. The reviews that were on here for a while were fairly well done, and I liked reading them. Remember, content is king! A few features on the locals will put a much more positive tilt on this whole site. Adding a store is a great idea, as is sponsoring shows. People will always come on here and say "this and that sucks", so be it. Kill them with kindness, and having a wealth of local content that highlights how many options the locals have when it comes to quality music. What about having a few popular locals create some sort of music column/blog? 3 guys, updated different days of the week, equals 3 new pieces of content per week.

Bottom line for me is to avoid getting wrapped up in posts like the pissing match above this one. That doesn't do you guys or your site justice, and is a big turn-off to the casual observer.