Interviews by Josh Bell, Rachel Heisler, Spencer Patterson, Pj Perez
Nicole Sligar
Owner, Shoestring Promotions
"I think [local] bands should work together and support one another. But I also think that the venues, especially the ones Downtown, need to support one another. The scene is too small for the venues to be so exclusive. I would love to see the Downtown venues get together and create combo flyers or even maps. I would like to see them allow flyers from the neighboring venues to be left or passed out at their places. I think that what is developing down there could happen faster if they worked together to create their own scene. Maybe the club owners could get together once a month and plan out some collective Downtown-scene marketing campaigns. They could work collectively similar to the way the galleries are doing for First Friday. Finally, I think it would be great if someone opened another all-ages venue down there as well!"
Michael Soli
Singer, songwriter
"I think people need to realize how hard it is to make things happen with original music. I think people need to support the bands and artists they like by attending shows, buying CDs and EPs, visiting websites, inviting friends out to shows. I think people need to appreciate vehicles like YourLocalScene.com, Laurie Steele's HomeGrown Show, Unplugged, and support venues that support original music artists. I think people need to realize that almost every artist they hear on the radio today was at one time a local act somewhere, playing for free, opening up for somebody else and doing whatever it took to get the music out."
Jeff Higginbotham
Owner, yourlocalscene.com
"I think the Internet and myspace.com have totally helped bands be able to stay in their hometowns and gain a following in other places. I don't think Vegas bands have to go to LA to become a big deal anymore. With all these bands taking advantage of the Internet—like Ashbury just winning the Bon Jovi contest by telling their friends to get online and vote—the bands can stay at home and focus on their music and writing and do their branding and marketing campaigns via the Internet. They don't have to spend the money to travel. And knowing that bands like the Killers and Panic! at the Disco are getting picked up out of here and knowing people are watching the Vegas scene has got to be a confidence builder."
Kim Garcia
Former marketing director, the Huntridge, Sanctuary, the Castle, Tremorz
"Coming from California and listening to KROQ and 91X, I'm really into Area 108 because they're playing so many different things. We finally have a station that's more into developing bands, and I think the station's gonna make a big impact in this town.
It's introducing kids to bands like Sonic Youth, bands they never would have heard or even seen on MTV. We've got a ton of R&B stations and country stations here, so kids have been growing up in Vegas thinking that's all there is out there. But I see Area 108 out there promoting shows that X-treme Radio never would have attached their name to, so the station is gonna give more hope to kids who are thinking about starting a band or playing music."
Laurie Steele
Deejay, host of The Homegrown Show, KOMP 92.3-FM
"I think that losing Pink E's really hurt the live local-music scene because they never screwed over bands. I was looking for another venue to continue doing that, and I didn't realize how flaky a majority of these club owners are—you invest time and energy to make it happen, and then they say, 'We don't see it happening.'
"These new clubs popping up Downtown—like Icehouse, Celebrity, Art Bar—I think they're going to make a difference. That's something that I'm sure Oscar Goodman didn't see in his grand scheme of things.
"The sad part is that some of the other places had to close or change what they were doing to drive people into those places."
Mike Stratton
Former manager of the Huntridge Theatre; guitarist for 12 Volt Sex
"What I'm seeing is what happens with any scene—once there's a spark, that spark becomes a gathering ground for everyone to look for. We were the first ones that really happened to in this town—once that spark gets started, there's this talk and people sniff around this scene. It perpetuates the idea of a music scene. We were right in the middle of Vegas becoming a place where people were sniffing around. The local scene started to thrive.
"I think conventionality is out the door. I don't think there is a status quo on how bands are signed or how bands get successful once they are signed. Panic! at the Disco is a testament to the legitimacy of alternative marketing. Someone can get a demo or CD—and once the buzz hits on the Internet and myspace—record and marketing companies understand they need to move with this, not against this.
"Maybe we're not so behind the times anymore. You can hear anything from anywhere across the world. We were always behind the curve. When there are good songwriters, people really notice. It's a rarity, but I think it's legitimately great."
Poizen Ivy
Webmaster, sincitysounds.com; booker, Divebar
"I'm pretty impressed with some of the bands I'm coming across right now. Bands that I didn't even know about that other bands have turned me on to. It's like, 'Wow, how come I haven't heard of these guys?' Have you heard of Par? They're very interesting. Existo, I found out about them through a friend who had one of the band members as one of her students. They pulled 60 people into Divebar the first show they played there. That's what I like, when a band brings in a different crowd than what we normally have. What's important to me is to get a different bunch of faces in there, a broader exposure."
Homie
Deejay, cohost of It Hurts When I Pee on X-107.5-FM
"To a certain extent, I really think that—and I've felt this way since I got here five years ago—what's happening in this town was inevitable. You can go back as far as Slaughter if you want to, but realistically, 12 Volt Sex, Clockwise, these other situations—it was only a matter of time before this town had a success story of its own, and then from there just kind of spun out into other opportunities where we would have multiple successes."