The City & the Scene
The Indianapolis music scene is one that is rich with a sense of community and love, where bands and fans alike are brought together without a standard for social acceptance. It's a music scene where the members have gone out of their way to help one another and keep eachother safe despite what may come.
It's no secret that the Indianapolis music scene is an open and welcoming environment. The sense of belonging and community is felt throughout the music scene, and those who belong to it, like a shockwave. Errick Easterday, well-known local photographer in Indianapolis, provides another perspective on the scene, "I get to see all sides of the scene, since I shoot a little of everything. No one is ever inherently mean to outsiders here, which I think is tight. We're always very welcoming of new kids."
The diversity of the music itself is unlike any other scene in the state, with genres ranging from post-hardcore, to solo indie artists, to easycore and pop punk. The size of the scene allows for many genres to mix together, as described by Joshua Hall, bassist for Nothing Is Sound, "It's a midlevel scene. It's not a juggernaut like Nashville, Atlanta, or Seattle, which allows it to have several different genres going rather than one big one like in most big cities."
Jon Dusenbury, guitarist of Now and Then, adds more depth to the subject, "Those who attend the local shows provide for eachother. There's no sense of competition. Everyone is just there to have a good time, check out some new bands, and spend time with friends. I very much appreciate how you can go to a local show and see a pop-punk band, a metal band, and an acoustic act, all in one night. I think it speaks to the open-mindedness of everyone. It's very diverse and I'm glad I've been able to get involved in it. I think the Indy music scene is something that grows a little every day. It's not stagnant or stale. It's a breath of fresh air, really."
Bassist for The Day After, Collin Fiol, perfectly summarizes Indianapolis' local music scene and what it's all about, "I've been to nearly every American state and Canadian province performing music. And there are few places that even come close to being as awesome as Indianapolis, more specifically, the Hoosier Dome. Everyone has some shows where hundreds of people show up, and everyone has shows where only 5 people show up. Regardless of the number of people, Indy always has people moving and having an awesome time. Nowhere else in the country have I seen people regularly stage dive for acoustic shows, and that's just an average Thursday night at the Dome.
The bands that Indianapolis puts out are nothing short of amazing. I honestly can't think of a single bad band in this city. There are some younger bands that need to work on some stuff, but they aren't by any means bad bands. Everyone in this city is so beyond talented. And it's about time we got bands like Forevermore and ForeverAtLast jumping on Solid State and Victory Records. I'm so proud to call those bands my friends and every time I get to play with them as well as the many unsigned bands in the area is nothing short of an unbelievable privilege.
And lastly, the people who run this scene, all the sound engineers, booking agents, venue owners, this scene would not exist if it weren't for them. They make this entire dysfunctional lifestyle functional. If it weren't for Piradical people like Stephen Zumbrun, Liv Mayes, Chris Keaton, Sam Kirby, and a ton of others, the Indianapolis music scene wouldn't even be 1/10th as amazing as it is. The fans and the bands owe everything to these people like the Pirad team.
Our doors are open to everybody. Black, white, young, old, heterosexual, homosexual, smokers, nonsmokers, Christians, atheists, potheads, straight edge kids, literally everyone. We are all one big happy family.
Indy is home."
It's no secret that the Indianapolis music scene is an open and welcoming environment. The sense of belonging and community is felt throughout the music scene, and those who belong to it, like a shockwave. Errick Easterday, well-known local photographer in Indianapolis, provides another perspective on the scene, "I get to see all sides of the scene, since I shoot a little of everything. No one is ever inherently mean to outsiders here, which I think is tight. We're always very welcoming of new kids."
The diversity of the music itself is unlike any other scene in the state, with genres ranging from post-hardcore, to solo indie artists, to easycore and pop punk. The size of the scene allows for many genres to mix together, as described by Joshua Hall, bassist for Nothing Is Sound, "It's a midlevel scene. It's not a juggernaut like Nashville, Atlanta, or Seattle, which allows it to have several different genres going rather than one big one like in most big cities."
Jon Dusenbury, guitarist of Now and Then, adds more depth to the subject, "Those who attend the local shows provide for eachother. There's no sense of competition. Everyone is just there to have a good time, check out some new bands, and spend time with friends. I very much appreciate how you can go to a local show and see a pop-punk band, a metal band, and an acoustic act, all in one night. I think it speaks to the open-mindedness of everyone. It's very diverse and I'm glad I've been able to get involved in it. I think the Indy music scene is something that grows a little every day. It's not stagnant or stale. It's a breath of fresh air, really."
Bassist for The Day After, Collin Fiol, perfectly summarizes Indianapolis' local music scene and what it's all about, "I've been to nearly every American state and Canadian province performing music. And there are few places that even come close to being as awesome as Indianapolis, more specifically, the Hoosier Dome. Everyone has some shows where hundreds of people show up, and everyone has shows where only 5 people show up. Regardless of the number of people, Indy always has people moving and having an awesome time. Nowhere else in the country have I seen people regularly stage dive for acoustic shows, and that's just an average Thursday night at the Dome.
The bands that Indianapolis puts out are nothing short of amazing. I honestly can't think of a single bad band in this city. There are some younger bands that need to work on some stuff, but they aren't by any means bad bands. Everyone in this city is so beyond talented. And it's about time we got bands like Forevermore and ForeverAtLast jumping on Solid State and Victory Records. I'm so proud to call those bands my friends and every time I get to play with them as well as the many unsigned bands in the area is nothing short of an unbelievable privilege.
And lastly, the people who run this scene, all the sound engineers, booking agents, venue owners, this scene would not exist if it weren't for them. They make this entire dysfunctional lifestyle functional. If it weren't for Piradical people like Stephen Zumbrun, Liv Mayes, Chris Keaton, Sam Kirby, and a ton of others, the Indianapolis music scene wouldn't even be 1/10th as amazing as it is. The fans and the bands owe everything to these people like the Pirad team.
Our doors are open to everybody. Black, white, young, old, heterosexual, homosexual, smokers, nonsmokers, Christians, atheists, potheads, straight edge kids, literally everyone. We are all one big happy family.
Indy is home."