When I spoke to key actors in the local music scene about where Phoenix was headed in early 2015, their responses did not reflect concrete images of our city’s future. Instead, the key words they used were the names of other locations: Austin, Los Angeles and Nashville.
This tells a story of the many lingering desires to encapsulate elements of America’s great music cities in our downtown. One of the prime examples of this is Viva PHX. While the local music festival is a great event, it was built based on the multi-venue concept of Austin’s SXSW, displaying the extent to which our city’s major defining events rely on out-of-state influences.
While looking up to successful role models is a healthy pastime, the game of comparisons is a dangerous one to play. Because we are evaluating our city based on others, a larger problem has come into play: we are not becoming Phoenix either.
Our music scene is not building an identity that can be nationally known and distinguished from the masses.
Downtown Phoenix music is a scatter of events, lacking a central point for fans to gather in or refer to. Crescent Ballroom is on Second Avenue, whereas Valley Bar is on Central. To get to McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Hance Park or the Trunk Space, one would have to travel significantly farther west. Even Roosevelt Row has a hard time representing itself as a music hub, despite claiming ownership The Nash, Revolver Records and First Fridays.
While location is not likely something we can resolve in the near future, another issue is the inconsistency of fan support.
This past week given us a perfect example of inconsistency.
On Jan. 23, $8,000 worth of gear was stolen from Phoenix band Sundressed while they were touring in Utah. When the musicians created a GoFundMe campaign the next day, asking for help with their gear recovery, over $4,000 was raised within 10 hours.
The support of Phoenix fans was quickly noticed, thanks to innumerable shares on social media. On Jan. 25, the campaign expanded further from Arizona, with well-known Kansas-based musician Andy McKee donating $500.
All of our gear and merchandise was stolen. Please help us get the word out. https://t.co/PePukdFzja via @gofundme
— Sundressed (@sundressedband) January 24, 2016
The same night of the Sundressed theft, a keyboard was stolen from Tyler Broderick of Diners in Oakland. A mass of supporters aided the singer by calling for supporters to purchase music. Broderick’s problems were soon resolved, and he soon called for philanthropic fans to help Sundressed instead.
Sundressed gained over $6,000 in two days, and is currently nearing the $7,000 mark.
While this sudden support is extremely positive, its benefits are not long-term. Over 200 people are willing to help out in drastic situations, but when it comes to the average local show, self-proclaimed supporters of local musicians and venues seem to disappear into the virtual affection of a Facebook like.
A thumbs up is far from enough. When fans do not consistently show up to shows, musicians do not get launched into headlines outside of our locale, and they are not perceived as equals to local bands of American music hubs. Venues do not get recognition for the rarer large-scale shows, and they do not receive the income needed for maximized marketing. People do not travel to Phoenix for music.
In the end, it all comes down to one unfortunate fact: downtown musicians and venues do not get the chance to contribute to the solid, nationalized Phoenix identity that we need.
Phoenix is lucky to have sprouted Alice Cooper, Jimmy Eat World and various other popular musicians. But those names, while nationally present, are mostly in the past for Phoenix’s local scene. Instead of clinging onto them as proof of what our city has brought, we should focus on what our city can bring. We need to nurture our current, local talent that is ready to grow by buying albums, purchasing tickets to local shows and providing musicians with an enhanced opportunity to get their name — and therefore a piece of the Phoenix music scene — into the real world.
This, I believe, is the only way our city will become Phoenix, with musical connotations.
Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu
