This Saturday, Oct 18 DIY music collective Mendelsons will host a Halloween bash at the Fairborn Phoenix with a lineup of all Ohio bands and DJs. Doors open at 5:30PM and music starts at 6:30PM. Mendelsons founder Max Lightcap and fellow DIY music curator Fred Groff stopped by the WYSO studios to chat with Midday Music host Evan Miller about the event and to give an insider's look at the Dayton DIY music scene.
"What we have right now is what Brian Eno calls "scenius," which is like scene-genius, and it's just people who want to make music and people who want to keep constructing. When you have people that want to play shows, you can get touring acts to play too because you have the local openers there, and people come for the local openers. It's kind of beautiful, but it's a lot of gears that need to take place. It's a machine that you just gotta keep running, and I think right now in Dayton it's running," said Groff.
The Dayton DIY scene is thriving right now and one of the promoters at the very center of it is Mendelsons. No, not the now-shuttered legendary warehouse store in downtown Dayton, but the DIY music collective that's bringing in bands from all over the ]Midwest.
"When I started putting on events I knew that we had so much music history here in Dayton and it felt like there wasn't a lot going on at the time. So I was like,'I need to provide a third space.' That was like a big reason why I started throwing shows. I just felt like there weren't enough accessible spaces," said Lightcap.
Getting started in the DIY music scene can be intimidating, whether you're hosting events, trying to book your band for the first time, or even just getting out there and socializing with people in the scene. But you're not on your own, from the audience member all the way to the promoter, what makes a music scene thrive is all the gears working together. It's a network of curators, artists, and more influencing and supporting each other. Lightcap and Groff say the key is just to get started.
"When you're new to this, it seems like everything's just an uphill battle and you will never ever get a break." said Groff. "But eventually you will find like,'Oh we can play at your record store or we can play at the laundromat,' and the bill finally comes together. It's right there and you just gotta keep fighting for it."
Get tickets for Mendelsons' biggest lineup of the year consisting of all Ohio bands and DJs happening this Saturday, Oct 18 at the Fairborn Phoenix starting at 5:30PM. Keep up with Mendelsons' events on their Instagram.
