Yes, There is Music in Plattsburgh

Since the late 1990s, the Plattsburgh area had a musical vacancy that is hopefully about to be filled

Story by Andrew Beam

There are nearly forty kids crammed into a tiny basement, drinking beer or whatever alcoholic beverage they could get their hands on, screaming the lyrics right back at the band playing before them.

This band is Yo, Adrian! And what is happening in this basement is what lead singer of Yo, Adrian!, Corey Collins, hopes to be the upswing of the local music scene of Plattsburgh. He's certainly appreciative of this evening, and it wasn't just because it was also an Ice Cream Social. "When bands play the house, everyone is just so appreciative," Collins explains, "it's mainly because there usually isn't anything."

Plattsburgh used to be a place where many indie/hardcore/punk bands would thrive and sometimes beg to play. Jay, an employee at the Koffee Kat, has been involved with what was the music scene in Plattsburgh from 1992-1996. In the beginning, hard times ensued. "There was absolutely nothing," Jay mentions of the time period. "The only time there were shows was when they would let kids perform in front of the monument every Wednesday."

With the lack of music that was festering in the area, the surrounding areas of Plattsburgh were the only outlets for people like Jay to go to see live music. Jay and his friends were the kids that were able to develop the scene by going over and seeing shows in Burlington. One of the bands that played there was the band Hognail. One of the band members, Dan Bushey, soon became an acquaintance of Jay and his friend Jay Crack. "Bushey was in one of the pretty significant bands of the underground punk scene," Jay explains. "He put on the first ever punk show at the Strand in the ‘96-‘97 era."

"When bands play the house, everyone is just so appreciative. It's mainly because there usually isn't anything."

This sparked something in both Jay and Crack. They both began putting on shows together at the American Legion Hall along with Bushey who Jay says had "helped them out a lot." Soon, Crack began booking shows at what was then called Something Cool, which has since turned into Taco Loco. They began booking bands such as Atom and His Package, all up until the owner received a noise complaint from some of the tenants upstairs. Soon enough, they were shutdown.

After a time period of not having anywhere for bands to play, the Presbyterian Church soon offered their hall for bands to start playing. Jay says this is where things started to become huge. "We now had a large hall," he says. "We began having grunge shows there from '98-'99." It wasn't just grunge music, which was popular during the 1990s, but soon other music started popping up. "There was emo, grindcore, Christian metal, and even satanic metal," Jay mentions, "bands like Nora, Highball, Indecision and Shutdown, who was actually on Victory records."

This was exactly what people like Jay and the other people who helped him put together shows had needed. Sadly, there was a flaw in the perfect new venue they had found. "We were noticing we were getting all these bands that wanted to play," Jay explains. "The church was the only place we had for them to play, and we only had it for Friday and Saturday nights." This became a problem because the influx of bands that wanted to play in Plattsburgh, wanted to play shows during the week, which meant days other than Friday and Saturday.

Like with everything that seemed to happen to other venues in Plattsburgh, they were soon shutdown. Except this time, it was their fault. "We had a Halloween shows with a band called Goatfuck, and our friend Josh Keeble was in it," Jay mentions in a joking tone. "His mom freaked out that he was in a band like that." His mom ended up getting in contact with the church, which soon ended their reign of shows. Collins even agrees that things just seem to "kind of shutdown."

Now in present day Plattsburgh, where there seems to have been a dry spell for music and especially for bands to play music, there seems to be a new movement brewing in the basements of few buildings lately.

Now there are bands like Verona Violet, Chicago Typewriter, Elephant Bear, Shameless Strangers and the newly reformed Resonator, who recently recruited a new drummer.

"It's like experimental Indie," Collins describes of the current Plattsburgh scene. One band that played the house most recently was a band called Nosebleed Island out of Pennsylvania. They describe themselves on their MySpace page as "The screams of a mother accidentally slapping the sunburned backs of her children, while they're taking shits on their shoes and then she eats them. It sounds like that," or Italian pop, if that's any way to describe music. "They [Nosebleed Island] inspired me so much," Collins notes. "They're clearly just having a good time." Oh, the band also has a weird obsession with robots and Vampires.

Yo, Adrian!, Collins' band, is a little different from the current scene, but they still have the same attitude as the rest of the bands playing in the area. "We started this band just to be a positive hard band," he says proudly. "I try and write happy thoughts, but I had a shitty year, so you write what you know." Their main purpose was to just have fun with the shows they play, and getting paid for playing was just an extra perk.

"Everything is on a cycle," says Collins of the recent push of music. "Right now, it seems there is a definite upswing." This new movement of music is being assisted by places like the basement of Trinity Church and the aforementioned house. Bands as big as the Mathematicians have asked to play at the house, unfortunately the basement of Trinity Church can't hold the crowd they'll bring.

Collins is happy yet surprised at how the place is building a name for itself. "It's so weird how this place is building is a reputation," he says, nearly puzzled. "I think it has to do with the people in our band bringing along all of these people."

"For most of my life I was drug-free. I had shit to do, and I was going to shows."

Liz Allen, a resident of the House on Elm Street, is hoping to open up their own venue for music, an art gallery, an art studio, and a space for alternative music bands to record and practice. They are looking at the abandoned six car garage on Durkee Street. They are buying this house in hopes of furthering the progress they've made with their basement shows.

When walking into the Coffee Camp where she works, Allen is standing behind the counter talking to a customer. She's busy talking to the customer about the house and when the next show is going to be. "Cool, huh?" The word is apparently spreading. The Coffee Camp has the same feeling that the house does, very communal. She directs me to the couch in the back of the store where there a circle of people sitting, doing work while a dog lounges on one of the couches. Another puppy runs in and starts greeting everyone. As I talk to Allen about the house, her roommate, Bryce Brushneski, joins the conversation.

"When we get the bigger venue, it will be open to everyone," Brushenski says of the abandoned garage.

When the house first started holding shows back in June, it began with art shows while bands played at them. "Ever since then," says Allen, "we've been booking shows."

"I know there's not much to do in this town," Brushneski explains. "We want a more positive environment." When Plattsburgh had a music scene back in the 90's, he mentions that his life was a little different. "For most of my life I was drug-free," he says with a smile. "I had shit to do and I was going to shows."

When the topic of bands that more recently have contributed to the rise in the music in Plattsburgh, they mention bands like Theta, Yo, Adrian!, and Hello Control. Brushneski and Allen say that groups like the Slow Natives and Lucid are doing what they can to get Plattsburgh's name out there.

With all of this, the purpose is not just about the music, there is the sense of community that is involved. With hopefully acquiring the new digs, they are trying to create a youth group and an outlet for alternative music. "We're just trying to start a community for people," Allen says. "It's for people looking for a community and good music and an outlet for artists."

The name of this place will be Koinonia, and this place will serve more than just a music venue. "It's going to be a venue, an art gallery, an art studio, and studio space for people to record and practice," says Allen of the newfound place.           

The scene may be growing after all. For the benefit show for Joshua Sztostak at Trinity Church, the SUNY Plattsburgh radio station WQKE raised $850 through donations and a bake sale, proving that the music isn't dead in Plattsburgh.

What's Your Favorite Band in Plattsburgh?