The Trunk Space kicked off its Indie 500 music festival this Sunday to celebrate 10 years of art, music and live performances at the venue.
Stephanie Carrico and JRC, the owners of The Trunk space, said they are excited to see a lot of their old friends and to celebrate with people who have supported them.
The fundraiser and festival are excuses to bring back some friends who have moved away or are not from Phoenix originally, JRC said.
“There are a handful of bands who we consider a part of our family even though they’re not from here, and we wanted a reason to bring as many of them as we could out,” JRC said. “The fundraiser helped a lot with that.”
The festival will span 10 days, with the length representing every year since The Trunk Space was up and running. At least 70 bands will play 500 songs, which will cater to all age groups.
“We wanted to have a really big party,” Carrico said. “We are aiming for 500 songs. We did a pre-show and we got 24 songs already towards the 500. 476 to go.”
The festival was funded thanks to an Indiegogo fundraiser campaign that started in January. Through the campaign, The Trunk Space raised over $15,000 for the event. They will also install an air conditioning unit for the venue — something they haven’t had all these years.
A portion of the fundraiser money will also go to mailing posters and other perks people bought through the fundraiser and paying for the air conditioning unit, JRC said.
“When all is said and done (there will) be about $12,000” to fund the festival and install air conditioning, Carrico said. “Our goal is to have it by summer.”
The air conditioning unit will be a relief for the venue, considering a lack of one has limited the venue in the past.
“We can be open during the day and not have people pass out when they come to sing. There are a lot of practical things,” JRC said. “We literally have trouble with some of the art we have on the walls because it warps because of the heat.”
The Trunk Space hoped to have the air conditioning unit done by the festival, but circumstances got in the way.
“We had some people who initially thought they were going to be able to help us try to get a bargain on a really good unit, and that fell through so now instead of having cushion room and having it done sooner we’re now having to run around a lot,” JRC said.
Regardless of not having air conditioning, The Trunk Space staff said they plan to have fun with the whole community.
The Trunk Space’s hope is to make the Indie 500 an annual event, JRC said. They also hope to go beyond The Trunk Space and recruit all of Grand Avenue to be involved in the musical festivities, Carrico said. JRC added that if the festival expanded, it could be a chance for bands to be seen by promoters and agencies.
Beatrice Moore, member of the Grand Avenue Members’ Association, said there have been similar festivals in the past. The Trunk Space hosted Bands on Grand for several years, and the annual Grand Avenue Festival features live music.
The Trunk Space is one of the oldest tenants on Grand Avenue that is run by its original owners, Moore said.
“I think it’s great for someone to last for ten years,” Moore said. “It’s certainly worth celebrating.”
Moore said she thinks that if The Trunk Space expanded the Indie 500 to multiple venues, it would be very successful as well as help the community.
“It gets people to walk along the street. It exposes a lot of different places to the public. The more people can walk around a neighborhood, the safer they’ll feel,” Moore said. “When they actually get on the ground they get a very different feeling. I think a music event that connects different places like that would be ideal.”
Other music festivals in the future are a possibility, but for now the focus is on Indie 500 and its success, JRC and Carrico said.
“Who knows? We’ll do it this time and see how it goes. If it works, maybe we’ll make it a little bigger next year,” JRC said. “You finish the first year, you rest for a week, and then you say, Okay, let’s start planning next year.”
Along with the bands, slam poets, the hosts of the local talk show Grand Avenue Live, and the Strange Family Circus will be in attendance throughout the festival. Bragg’s Factory Diner will be providing food for the event as well, JRC said.
Mike Park, ska musician and founder of Asian Man Records, performed two sets on Sunday with fellow musician Dan Potthast, including a kid’s show at 3 p.m. and an adult show at 5 p.m. He first heard about The Trunk Space when he saw a friend of his with a Trunk Space tattoo on his arm.
“All the people at Trunk Space I’m really down with. It’s kind of like if you think of the United States as whole, everybody wishes they had this (do-it-yourself) spot,” Park said. “Seeing Trunk Space, it’s a pretty cool thing to have. I know a lot kids around the world would be jealous if they saw what the people in Phoenix have.”
The festival began March 30 and will run through April 8. Tickets are $8 per show or $25 for the whole ten days.
Contact the reporter at Jasmine.Kemper@asu.edu
