Outside of the bars and nightclubs that are frequented by Traverse City residents lies another burgeoning music scene that intends to make its mark on the area. The underground rock scene of Northern Michigan is in the midst of growth and, as part of that growth, will feature many of its bands this Saturday, July 31 at a festival being called “Rockzilla.”
“It started as a festival with all local bands, but I added some bands from Illinois and Washington. It’s just meant to foster the scene,” festival organizer Jon Timm says. Timm is in charge of booking for the TC Local organization, which puts on shows throughout the year in Northern Michigan.
Performing at the festival will be a number of local rock outfits, including Escanaba Firing Line and Tanooki Suit, as well as two out-of-town bands, The Building Press (Washington) and Crimson Addict (Illinois).
Diversity is the keyword here as far as musical style goes. In the realm of indie rock, Semblance of Normalcy and ClassOneLaser will be appearing.
Also in attendance will be punk-outfits like Lite FM, Surreal and Halloran. On the heavier end of the spectrum will be metal-core acts in the form of The Drone Report and All Odds Against. The ska of the Upstrokes and glam-rock of Partitions of Poland will also
be heard.
“I’m actually really excited about Rockzilla for that very reason - Jon and the other guys putting it together did a pretty good job with ‘spicing-up’ the bill. Given, it’s an all rock ‘n’ roll show - but they’ve got everything from punk to metal to indie to alternative to prog-ish to mellow to hard rock bands and everything inbetween playing this thing,” says Jesse Younce, guitarist for Escanaba Firing Line. “I’ve heard Tanooki Suit a few times, they’re really good especially considering how young they are. Love Cushion are friends of mine - they’re excellent! Which really surprised me. They’ve sort of got this ‘at the drive-in’ feel to a few of their tunes - which is nice,” says Younce.
There is a lot of potential for the rock community in Northern Michigan and events like Rockzilla are now happening because of increased resources for independent musicians.
“Right now I think Traverse City is at a point for some really exciting stuff to start happening,” Younce says. “Being part of a band or being an artist, you need a way to get your stuff heard or seen. Four years ago all you had to do was WNMC (local college radio), New Moon Records, or the Northern Express - all of whom did a lot to help local and independent arts in Traverse. Now we’ve got D Vinyl Records downtown, which is a great outlet to get local music as well as information about local events. Jacob’s Well is the closest thing we have as far as a “venue” goes, and really is the only place that welcomes local and unknown music. And we have this group known as the TC Local, who do an amazing job with promoting local Traverse City events and they’ve put on tons of shows themselves. The next step is to just get everyone to work together, put aside any differences. We’re all trying to achieve the same thing here: a strong and culturally enriched community.”
Rockzilla fest will be held at the Schneider Farm outside Traverse City near Four Mile Road and Arbutus. Timm also says that, aside from music, there will be a barbeque and pick-up soccer and baseball games for all who attend. For directions visit
www.semblanceofnormalcy.freeservers.com. Admission is $7, or $5 with a non-perishable food item. The festival is an all-ages show and will last from 11 AM until dark. In the case of rain the festival will be postponed.
“It started as a festival with all local bands, but I added some bands from Illinois and Washington. It’s just meant to foster the scene,” festival organizer Jon Timm says. Timm is in charge of booking for the TC Local organization, which puts on shows throughout the year in Northern Michigan.
Performing at the festival will be a number of local rock outfits, including Escanaba Firing Line and Tanooki Suit, as well as two out-of-town bands, The Building Press (Washington) and Crimson Addict (Illinois).
Diversity is the keyword here as far as musical style goes. In the realm of indie rock, Semblance of Normalcy and ClassOneLaser will be appearing.
Also in attendance will be punk-outfits like Lite FM, Surreal and Halloran. On the heavier end of the spectrum will be metal-core acts in the form of The Drone Report and All Odds Against. The ska of the Upstrokes and glam-rock of Partitions of Poland will also
be heard.
“I’m actually really excited about Rockzilla for that very reason - Jon and the other guys putting it together did a pretty good job with ‘spicing-up’ the bill. Given, it’s an all rock ‘n’ roll show - but they’ve got everything from punk to metal to indie to alternative to prog-ish to mellow to hard rock bands and everything inbetween playing this thing,” says Jesse Younce, guitarist for Escanaba Firing Line. “I’ve heard Tanooki Suit a few times, they’re really good especially considering how young they are. Love Cushion are friends of mine - they’re excellent! Which really surprised me. They’ve sort of got this ‘at the drive-in’ feel to a few of their tunes - which is nice,” says Younce.
There is a lot of potential for the rock community in Northern Michigan and events like Rockzilla are now happening because of increased resources for independent musicians.
“Right now I think Traverse City is at a point for some really exciting stuff to start happening,” Younce says. “Being part of a band or being an artist, you need a way to get your stuff heard or seen. Four years ago all you had to do was WNMC (local college radio), New Moon Records, or the Northern Express - all of whom did a lot to help local and independent arts in Traverse. Now we’ve got D Vinyl Records downtown, which is a great outlet to get local music as well as information about local events. Jacob’s Well is the closest thing we have as far as a “venue” goes, and really is the only place that welcomes local and unknown music. And we have this group known as the TC Local, who do an amazing job with promoting local Traverse City events and they’ve put on tons of shows themselves. The next step is to just get everyone to work together, put aside any differences. We’re all trying to achieve the same thing here: a strong and culturally enriched community.”
Rockzilla fest will be held at the Schneider Farm outside Traverse City near Four Mile Road and Arbutus. Timm also says that, aside from music, there will be a barbeque and pick-up soccer and baseball games for all who attend. For directions visit
www.semblanceofnormalcy.freeservers.com. Admission is $7, or $5 with a non-perishable food item. The festival is an all-ages show and will last from 11 AM until dark. In the case of rain the festival will be postponed.
