A look into the DIY music scene of Western Mass

The scene: an old farmhouse in Western Massachusetts. A house, a barn, and a yard filled with greenery, hanging lights and decorations accompany a driveway full of old Mercedes Benz, the kind that recent college grads could own.

The house is charming in a chaotic way, filled with odd antique trinkets, and numerous instruments ranging from keyboards to stringed instruments nobody can recognize – the Asbestos Farm is an Indie-rock Addams Family house.

This is the home of Kasey Greene, member of “Superbee” and his own project “Carinae,” as well as fellow musicians Roxy Leblanc of “Wocky” and Robin of “Pits”.

While their home is well known in the Pioneer Valley Area, the Asbestos Farm, among many other house venues, goes out of their way to keep their location secret. Overexposed houses can lead to trouble with the law.

Inside, the music skips and repeats, sometimes cutting back to the beginning of the song. This is not a glitch in the stereo – in the other room artists and musicians work meticulously on syncing a music video they created to the song “Carol Coffee” by Superbee (a hyper indie-rock song, with plenty of fuzz and distortion).

Their house, however, is not just a party house with live music. Real art is being created.

Strikingly, every aspect of the project is done by these artists themselves, with no help from professional editors or studios. It’s a ‘Do-It-Yourself,’ or ‘DIY‘ project:

While this video was being worked on, Kasey and the crew of 20-something-year-olds talked to me about their art, making it clear that it is hard work that takes real commitment.

Live-performance videos and music are being created in this home, and Asbestos Farm is a community – one focused around music and art.

This community serves a real purpose, offering something that traditional venues cannot provide. The music coming out of people’s houses and basements is based around emotion and honesty, qualities that are hard to find at your traditional $20/ticket venue.

As Kasey explained it, the traditional venues are about ticket sales, and venues pay close attention to acts they believe will draw a crowd that will “buy alcohol.”

Sometimes bands are asked to sell their own tickets, or the band will have to pay to play a venue. In contrast, having a show at a house or another DIY venue brings a tight-knit crowd, as well as an affordable space for bands to play.

“Having house shows, everybody is there because they want to be…and you don’t need to have $20 to enter,” Leblanc explained.

“It brings honesty. We can express how we’re feeling whether it’s music or just talking. I make no money, I give away merchandise, but I have a killer time,” added Robin.

What keeps the bands coming is the common code of ethics in the DIY scene. Kasey explains that any money made is based on donations and contributions, and is only given to the traveling bands to help them afford their travels.

No money goes towards the locals or housemates. These shows are not in the interest of money, they purely focus on the music. When you avoid financial venues, you also allow artists to really cut loose. The personal, intimate set up of these shows helps bring out the emotions of the artists.

“When people blatantly express their emotions, you break through several walls…it’s all music based on real honest feelings,” Robin said.

The DIY scene thrives on this sense of community, especially since it’s necessary to find places to play across the country. For example, Robin is preparing to go on a two-week tour made possible by connections through the different DIY scenes and shows that he has played and attended. The community also provides things that are necessary simply for the creation of music.

“Because we’re between houses, my band [Superbee] is able to record some albums, the resources are there. You don’t have to reach out to expensive studios… We have the freedom to get away from just working,” said Greene.

Outside of the resources, the DIY shows allows bands to reach audiences they could not normally reach.

“House shows make people realize where they live is a haven for tons of good music. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there are good venues and great bands at the same time,” said Van Kolodin, one of the housemates and people who run “Tubecats,” another local DIY house venue in Western Mass.

At times, the crowds can be massive, bringing bands exposure and fans that they probably couldn’t have found at traditional venues.

A prime example of this is “Hot Dirt,” a band local to Western Mass that has existed for a while but never really had a fan-base until playing a show at one of the DIY house venues in the area.

“Hot Dirt has been around for a long time, but never found their niche. Holyoke had two houses for DIY shows. They played at a house out here and everyone loved it. They found a crowd and got way bigger – that’s the sweetest purpose,” said Van.

Aside from Hot Dirt, there are numerous other bands and houses that are part of the DIY scene: “The list is unfathomable. There are at least seven houses that I know about that either have had shows or are established house venues… Not to mention all the sick bands from around the country and Canada that we’ve had,” said Greene.

Outside of housing alternative music, the DIY scenes and the venues provide a safe space for many people who may be marginalized elsewhere. Hannah Peterson started and lived at the “Retirement Home,” a DIY house venue that was in Amherst, until it burnt down from an electrical fire just this year.

“DIY spaces provide a place for people if they don’t feel comfortable in other public spaces. They also give musicians a chance to show their talent and play for people who may not have heard of them. Or on the flip side, they are playing for people who love them, and that’s powerful too,” Hannah said.

Having this venue also allows artists to target a certain audience through the music and environment, instead of advertising.

“I’ve found the shows [in more ‘established’ venues] around here to be basically all old married white dudes…we need more diversity and fun,” exclaimed Peterson.

What it comes down to is that people want a place they can comfortably watch live music, without being hounded by promoters, or having certain expectations for the number of attendees that come with booking a show at an expensive venue.

“No one is expecting anyone to have their lives together,” Leblanc said.

“And anyone is welcome,” added Greene.

Being a DIY musician has its struggles – sometimes you’re broke and can’t afford to get to a venue. Sometimes, as Hannah put it, your house gets trashed, and none of your roommates are willing to clean. Sometimes the crowds get too big, and you can get fined or evicted from your house.

Despite the difficulties, they continue to host shows and performances for little to no money. These artists will keep giving away merchandise because they want to.

And until these things change, the DIY music scene will continue to “do it themselves.”