Local New England Promoter, Anders Mar tells Bones about the 

North Eastern Scene.. 

VOB: Hey.. How are you?

Anders: Doing okay, I guess. Preparing for the next round

of shows coming up in July at the moment...and of

course, The New England Punk, Goth, & Metal Fest in

October, which is an enormous undertaking.

VOB: Tells us a bit about yourself, where you're from,

how long you've been in the music industry.

Anders: I count Rochester, NY, as my hometown of sorts,

but I have lived in Canada, Maine, and now Boston.

I've been performing semi-professionally as a vocalist

since adolescence; my first major band was Solace, an

Upstate NY grunge outfit circa 1993-94. Dark Sky

Productions is my current company. Gallows Hill is my

current music project.

VOB: What do you do as a promoter? What bands? What

Avenues do you use?

Anders: I book bands, manage bands, set up nights/series,

issue press releases to the local media, do internet

promotion and flyering/postering, and try to revive

the New England underground music scene. I currently

handle booking/promotional/managerial duties for the

following bands: Lilac Ambush, The Leon Rich Band,

Amun Ra, and Motherseat, with more signing onto my

production company's roster every week.

VOB: What got you started? Any Inspirations?

Anders: I started working in listener-supported radio when

I was a teenager. That gave me the opportunity to give

obscure bands, especially local bands, airplay and

exposure. In the early 90's, along with some friends,

we booked all-ages punk shows in church basements. But

that was pretty much the extent of it. I didn't expect

it to blossom into the point I'm at now.

As for my rise in the Boston scene, I credit the

launch of DARK SKY PRODUCTIONS to one Lauri Murphy, of

the band Lucretia's Daggers

(http://www.lucretiasdaggers.com). She began hosting a

darker music series at The Skybar in 2003, and was

booking my friends' bands, so I was out at all the

shows. In May of 2005, Lauri decided she needed to

concentrate on Lucretia's Daggers, who were starting

to get some acclaim in the New England scene, so she

approached me about taking over the series. The rest

is history. I'm building an empire. ~laughs~

VOB: Is band promoting tied in with your running shows?

Anders: Yes. I take a 12-mile walk every Saturday to drop

off flyers for my shows at coffeehouses, record

stores, college campuses, bookstores, clubs, etc. I

need to get the word out there, esp. in the Boston

scene. Bands here are paid based on how many people

they draw at their shows. It's my job to ensure that

my people get paid. I'm the advocate for the little

guy, totally DIY.

VOB: Tell us about the offerings of Dark Sky.. What is

it? Who gets booked? Where is it?

Anders: We host at The Skybar (http://www.skybar.us) in

Somerville, Mass. (a suburb of Boston). I deal with

the "darker alternative genres" - goth, industrial,

deathrock, synthpop, ethereal, etc. Every 3 months, I

will do a metal show. I am basically looking for bands

who can draw, and not with a crayon, either.

VOB: What bands have you worked with? Any memorable

stories worth sharing?

Anders: Probably close to 100 by now. Lilac Ambush stands

out, because I first booked them for a show on

6/17/04, and that night as I was giving them their

payout, they wanted to hire me on as their manager!

I'd never managed a band before this, and I told them

I'd give them my answer the next day. I wrote a

heartfelt email to them, expressing my concern and

trepidation that I might not be qualified for the job,

esp. not having the connections they might need in the

Boston scene, being from Rochester and all. I was

honest with them about my qualms - I never want to

misrepresent myself or my abilities, ya know? That

just wouldn't be right. Spleen (the guitarist) emails

me back and tells me, "Oh, we're from Rochester, too!

Small world!" and I kind of took that as a sign of

sorts. I've been managing them over a year now and

they've been wonderful people to work with. I'd love

to see them get signed. They're at that level now.

VOB: How do you feel about bands that use the stage or

microphone to convey their beliefs?

Religious,political, etc.

Anders: I'm less concerned about that, than I am about the

professionalism of the live performance, and the music

itself. Certainly, I've had bands that some venues

have found "a little controversial" and asked me not

to bring them back - KLONE, for instance - where the

band's members dress up as political figures and do

skits involving the audience, but I believe in the

right to freedom of expression and entertainment. I

stand by the bands that Dark Sky Productions hosts and

works with 100%. I've also dealt with alot of

"shock-rock" bands - Voodoo Screw Machine and AbSynthe

come to mind. I actually love theatrical bands like

that.

Frankly, I'm more concerned with substance, than

content. People come out to see a show, they want to

be entertained. If they are entertained, they tell

their friends and I get an increasingly larger turnout

at my shows. I've taken chances on bands that other

venues won't even touch, and it's boded well for me.

VOB: What are your plans for your role in the music

industry? Within 5 years? Beyond 5 years?

Anders: My joke is, I plan to be running the Boston music

scene within 5 years. Perhaps I'm not joking!

Actually, if you want my flat-out vision, I'll tell

you what it is: My goal is to bring ethics and

integrity back to the Boston underground. I'm tired of

seeing bands getting ripped off by clubs, promoters,

managers.

Do you know that out of town bands, esp. West Coast

bands, often boycott Boston because we have such a bad

reputation? They'll go play in Northampton (some small

podunk town in Western Mass.), or adopt a

we-don't-travel-any-further-north-than-NYC policy,

because news on the street travels, and Boston has

been tainted in the eyes of many musicians. That, and

a few other factors (lack of all-ages shows being one

of them), have been killing our scene since the

mid-90's. It's got to change. Or we won't have a music

scene left at all. I hope to be the catalyst for

change. If I accomplish nothing but that, I'll have

succeeded.

You get kids hooked in young for the local music

scene, they'll be live show-goers for life. 

VOB: What is the independent music scene like where you

are?

Anders: It has been dying since the demise of Homestead

Records (who carried such artists as Dinosaur, Jr.,

Salem 66, and The Volcano Suns) in the mid-90's. The

cutoff age for people leaving the house to go to shows

around here seems to be 26. After that, many live

music fans claim that this horrible disease called

"dayjobitis" has killed their show-going life.

Frankly, I think it's an excuse - I'm a suburban

homeowner, I have a dayjob that I sometimes work 50-60

hours a week at, and I have to be up at 6:00 am every

day...and yet I'm out at 2-4 shows a week! I've heard

every excuse in the book - some claim it's too

expensive to go to shows. Excuse me, when is $5-7

going to break the piggy bank? You know some people

spend that alone for a froofy coffee drink at

Starbucks. I've heard every excuse in the book. None

of them valid in *my* book. It's all a matter of

priorities. I have a huge task before me - I don't

need to change the scene, I need to change MINDSETS.

The "ban" on all-ages shows in Boston is a killer too.

Kids have the highest amount of disposable income, and

they love live music. They will buy a band's merch at

a show - CD's, T-shirts, because if they love a band,

they want some memento of the "local heroes" they so

passionately adore. Almost every venue in Boston is

now 21+. That kills my turnout. There's some state

policy here that won't allow minors in a venue where

alcohol is served. I'm trying to overturn it. Teens in

this town that go to alternative shows are so

militantly straightedge that I don't think there would

ever be a problem with having under 21's in a venue to

see a show. Our shows in Rochester are all-ages/21+ to

drink. They mark your hand with a big black "X" if

you're not legal to purchase beverages. I don't see

what the problem is. Boston needs to adopt a

Rochesterian mindset if our scene is ever to survive.

You get kids hooked in young for the local music

scene, they'll be live show-goers for life. Case in

point: my mom sent me to my first concert at the age

of 11.

There is a ray of hope, though. Recently, one of the

local bands here, The Dresden Dolls, developed a huge

cult following and somehow, got picked up to go on

tour with Nine Inch Nails. I believe that if anyone

can do for Boston what Nirvana did for Seattle, it

will be the Dolls. All it takes is one influential

band from a city to turn the eyes of the nation toward

what else is going on in that city. I believe it's

just a matter of time.

VOB: What do you think of the mainstream music scene?

Anders: As someone who worked in the radio industry for 11

years (both listener-supported and non-commercial),

I've seen things...trends...that have contributed to

taking popular music downhill. Circa 1997, major

labels started refusing to sign artists over the age

of 25. That's why you have so many Britney

Spears/Ashlee Simpson/Backstreet Boys and their clones

dominating the airwaves and MTV. We live in a society

that is obsessed with youth and beauty. And don't even

get me started on Clear Channel, because we'll be here

all day. ~laughs~

VOB: What advice do you have for Indie bands?

Anders: Be industry and business-savvy, so that no one

will take advantage of you. Don't offer to play shows

for free, unless it's a benefit - otherwise, word will

get around, and venues will think it's okay to stiff

you - at least get gas money/travel expenses, if

nothing else. Copyright your music with the Library of

Congress. Have a positive and respectful attitude in

regard to venues and promoters - it really does make a

big impressions. And honestly- don't quit your dayjob

- it's not the 80's anymore, where that would have

been a feasible option.

VOB: Thanks for your time.. Any parting words for the

readers?

Anders: If you're even in the Boston area, I'd love to see

you at one of my shows!!!

Ms. Anderson "Othniel" Mar

Independent Boston-Based Band Promoter

Email: Othniel77@yahoo.com