Make Believe | I love this scene

By Garret Schuelke
Western Herald

My intro to Kalamazoo’s underground music scene came when I attended a basement show on Locust Street—located in the heart of the of the Vine Neighborhood (a.k.a. the “Student Ghetto”). I do not remember if the house had a name, nor the two other bands that performed that night, but I do remember instantly becoming a fan of Toro and the National Guard (R.I.P.), and watching the police shut the show down from the sidewalk.

Later, I saw The Spits perform at Papa Pete’s. In the pit that night, I knew then and there that I was in love Kalamazoo’s underground music scene.

There are essentially two parts of Kalamazoo’s underground music scene that I think makes it what it is: the music and people. The variety of music it features is about as eclectic as it can be—any and every type of genre, including punk, indie, folk, jazz, blues, country, shoegaze, electronic, metal, hardcore, rock and hip hop are present. It is almost overwhelming, considering that, while a big city, Kalamazoo is nowhere near the size of cities such as Chicago and Toronto (I have traveled to both cities, and had the pleasure of experiencing their various music scenes).

What I dig most about the scene are the people involved. Throughout my experiences as a participant, spectator and reporter, I have met—and usually befriended—numerous creative individuals that are passionate about their musical endeavors, who stand strong by their political and social ideals (many I met are in some way associated with alternative political groups such as Food Not Bombs, Vine Collective, Kalamazoo Collective Housing Critical Mass, and, I imagine, the recently-born T.O.A.D. Bicycle Collective); and who are, all around, kind and welcoming to everyone, including newcomers.

Hailing from a small, northeast Michigan town that has no strong underground music scene (and many of the people that I knew who were in punk, hardcore, and metal bands were, based on my interactions with them, not exactly friendly and tolerant folks) it was initially hard for me to adjust being around these type of people. After a while, I became one with them after realizing that they are the exact embodiment of the people that Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac wrote about in his novel “On The Road”—the type of people I have been searching since I was a teenager:

“They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “’Awww!’”

I really could go on, but my suggestion to you, dear reader, is that, if you are not familiar with Kalamazoo’s underground music scene and want to be a part of it, simply check out a show—any show—taking place at either a house venue (No Fun House, Frontier House, etc.) or one of the local cafés or bars (The Strutt, Papa Pete’s, etc.). You will be having fun in no time.

True story: I was attending a show at Frontier House a couple of months back after a long absence from the scene. I met up with Alex Young, a member of the local rock group Pan (I honestly do not know any other way to describe their sound). Upon greeting him, he gave me a big hug, like he did everyone else. We conversed, during which he proclaimed “Yeah, it’s just like Kalamazoo has just had this big infusion of love!”

I feel it every time at a show. I love this scene.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=19809

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 8 2010. Filed under Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com