My new post at Impose Magazine is finally up. After feeling a bit hustled by Ghosthustler, I felt obliged to finally write about the shifting Austin scene. Go here to see it in its natural environment, which I recommend for the sake of authenticityor I suppose I shall make it easy and just post below.
Perched at the top of Red River, the Mohawk has been patiently
eyeing Austin’s music scene for the past year. The young venue hosted
blowouts during the SxSW and ACL festivals, and the kids at Austinist.com tagged it early on as their preferred party host, but most of the time the narrow brick club has kept a low profile.
Over the past month, the Mohawk marquee has been glowing a bit
brighter. First, dedicated fans and savvy scenesters swarmed to secret
shows put on by Spoon and the Decemberists. Then, the bands you would
expect to see at Emo’s or the Parish, fresh indie acts like Starlight Mints,
popped up on the schedule. This past week, they scored two highly
anticipated shows and began the renovations that could make the 900
block of Red River the hottest spot in a sizzling city.
Welcome to the Transmission Transition.
On June 27, “the independent alternative to booking in Austin”
officially opened for business. Headed by former Emo’s lead booker
Graham Williams, the Transmission Entertainment
collective also includes James Moody, the owner of the Mohawk, and Rosa
Madriz, who has been consistently booking the Mohawk with Green Potato Ventures.
Add in the resources of the neighboring Club deVille, whose co-owner
Michael Terrazas has also partnered with Transmission, and a heavy
hitter is born.
Can the Mohawk handle the weight? Ghosthustler,
a baby-faced buzz band from Denton, began their two-week residency on
Tuesday. Though the music seemed interesting, it was hard to get a good
read on the boys after a mere five songs. The crowd seemed a bit
shocked when they actually put down their instruments and sauntered off
stage. Since when does five songs amount to a grand Austin debut? And
how does the bar make any money when the music is done before midnight?
Sound Team’s homecoming the
next night was a smooth but pedestrian affair. A collection of inspired
EPs led to Capitol picking them up for their first full album in 2006,
the middling Movie Monster, and supposedly dropping them.
It’s not surprising that Sound Team has lost some of their captivating
spark after a lengthy tour supporting the mediocre record.
Sure, these things are not the venue’s problem, but it was still the
scene of the crime. Austin is still a fickle frontier. In a town of
tried and true cowboys like Charles Attal of C3, rogue gunslingers need to get off the perfect shot.