If that’s not a BIG question I don’t know what is. I think people grow every year of your life. If you really reflect you change as a person over time….and it happens so quickly. It really does.
Three years ago…..I finally got my life back together after letting it fall apart….like WOAH. That’s when I moved to Indy, That’s when I went back to school.
Two years ago is when everything started. Before school started that year I decided music was what I wanted to do for my minor. I landed an internship at WRTV6. While I was interning, I went down to Purdue for a weekend where I met one Josh Randolph of News From Verona. We met through a mutual friend from my home town.
We got to talking he told me about his band and how Genuine had come across them at the mall. I told him he had to let me pitch the story to the station. He said not until anything was set in stone. The moment it was he let me know. I ended up doing a web story for theindychannel.com and it made it into featured content for the weekend.In the first day it had over 6 pages of comments. It got an incredible response and when I went into the station on Monday every was like “Way to go intern.”
More importantly Justin and I decided that since the station didn’t have time to have them on air, that we would do an interview and try to get them to run it. The NFV one. I believe they did end up running a clip from the interview over the weekend. Never the less we turned it into something for IUPUI student media. Then we had a thought why not do it ourselves. That is when we created IndiMusicScene. The response was huge and the first video had over five HUNDREAD views.
Then we did a second one with Same as Sunday. That one went incredible and people really were responding, I was like we can do this. We can start local and branch out.
We were averaging one a month which isn’t too bad. Then I landed a video interview with Gwen Stacey I was pumped this band was huge. For our third interview AWESOME. Then Justin bailed on me and I didn’t have a camera guy. It didn’t work out we went on hiatus and IndiMusicScene never reformed. I was bummed.
I got very lucky and was able to get tons of experience in the field at RTV6, I was the one that covered the FFA kid falling at Circle Center Mall it got turned into a package and went national..that was amazing, even if a different reporter turned into a package it was still my interview that went nationwide.
The producer in charge of interns approached me about a country duo joey + Rory (joey is from indiana) that was nominated for a CMA she said I had a niche for music writing and should see if I could get them to do an interview. I tried for a month and half, I left voice mails, I called and they kind of gave me the go around.
The day before the CMA’s I called first thing in the morning I figured one last go. I got their direct publicist no assistant. She was gushing OH MY GOSH I hadn’t even heard you contacted us about this Joey likes to make Indiana her first priority when it comes to this we will make sure you get your interview today! I was so pumped. Even if it was country it was a big deal.
I landed the interview with barely anytime to spare.
After RTV was over all I could think about was music writing, and re-starting IndiMusicScene. A guy I go to school with started his own thing My Indy Underground and I got totally behind that and supported it, but I was just heartbroken it wasn’t me.
I got asked to work on a movie that summer for behind the scenes interviews. It was just a short film but an honor none the less. It was an amazing experience. I ended up being a DA/PA/Acting coach, and two of my poems got used for the film. It was an incredible learning experience.
That fall however I was sitting in class when a girl in my class named Hiba had a website up. As many times as I begged Justin about IndiMusicScene he couldn’t afford to do something that wasn’t bringing in money.
So when I saw this site that said Indyconcerts.com I go “Whats that?” she told me about the site and her internship. I was like ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I HAVE TO DO THAT! DO THEY NEED ANY INTERNS.
I told her about IndiMusicScene and how I was a jour major with a music minor. So she connected me with my boss. I sent him my writers resume and he told me that I had more experience than pretty much anyone and he knew he wanted me.
I started at indyconcerts on October 31st 2010. Nearly nine months ago WOW! The last nine months have been nothing short of amazing. I have met and interviewed so many of my musical heroes. In the last month I got to head the team for Warped tour, and I get honor and respect from my boss to do almost anything I want.
Better than anything I got to bring IndiMusicScene into IndyConcerts. My boss had heard about it prior to me contacting him (we only had the thing two months!) so we talked about it from the get go.
Thats why the video interviews say IndyConcerts MusicScene. I have been doing that the last few months again and I love it.
I also fell in love with photography when I use to say I am a writer I will never take photos.
I also truly immersed myself in the Indianapolis Music Scene. It has been AMAZING! I have met so many kids with amazing dreams and drives. Kids that don’t say they want something and do nothing, but go after it. It boggles my mind how Lexi Mathioudakis is in high school and takes some of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. That Cody Almond of Comeback can write the way he does. That the kids in Comeback all have incredible stories and are amazing kids. That Chris Bauchle of Same as Sunday has influenced so many young kids in this scene. How the guys from NFV are so supportive of younger bands. That Rose Maylie and Ironsides are hardcore that is amazing which is hard to find. That Breaking New Lines built a fan base never posting a song til recently. That 14 year old McKayla Willever of violet skies sings like a 20 year vocal vet. That Glorious Rebellion has so much heart and that they give it 110 percent at shows, especially little Brook Voils. That Kyle stock was started by high schoolers and they do an amazing job organizing it. That Nate Adams and Dan Inskeep from Sweatshirt Weather are so freaking talented its ridiculous. Whether its recording and editing something, doing sound at a show or what they do with their own band. How I was stopped in my tracks when I heard Indian City Weather the other day.
I spent an hour going through purevolume accounts in Florida the other day, I was hard press to find something good and if I did they were already signed. Indianapolis is one talented city and I think its just a matter of time before a lot of you reach your dreams.
Whether you all see it or not, whether you feel like this scene is failing and that some people ruin it for everyone else. I look at all of you and see heart. You all love this and you all are good. More importantly whether you realize it or not I see you supporting one another. Especially the young kids, they find a way to support each other in a way that is beautiful.
The vets in this town are for the most part good at supporting one another. I just think some bands need to learn to support the new wave. To find a way to remember what it was like to be new kid on the scene. To stop hating when bands land on Warped Tour and congratulate one another. Sucks it wasn’t you but hey that band that made it they’re a part of your scene, give them some cred. This scene has the potential to be one of the most incredible scenes in the country. Every city has their moments….why not make this ours.
That totally left how I have changed…but whateva
