For the Love of Music: Changes in Boston’s DIY Music Scene

Change has come to Boston’s underground, DIY music scene in recent weeks. A Boston Globe story posted November 14 explored what it called a “thriving underground concert scene,” purportedly created by “dozens of young people” in recent times. According to the story, the greatest challenge in this world of underground and illegal concert venues is simply keeping them underground and covert. 

Fallout from the article has been swift and severe. Multiple basement venues in the area have shut down their social media accounts and closed their doors, canceling shows and leaving bands and concert goers alike disappointed. 

“There are venues that have been open for like, 15-plus years,” says Noel Rudloff. Rudloff is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the Modern Faces, a Massachusetts based power pop/punk band that has performed at many popular underground venues in the Allston area and beyond. In speaking with Noel about the DIY scene in Boston for the better part of a day, his passion and knowledge on the subject were immediately apparent, as was his frustration with the Globe’s story and the danger it poses to a community he is proudly a part of. 

Detailing an underground music scene in a major media publication seemed hypocritical to Rudloff, who compared the talk of keeping it under-the-radar to announcing it “from the top of the tallest building with a megaphone.” 

Attending DIY shows has been an important part of Rudloff’s life. He started going to shows at around 14 years old with older friends, before venturing out by himself around Allston at 16. He recalled changes in the genres of music played at underground venues over the years, as garage rock and indie music slowly made way for the current emo and pop punk found commonly at basement shows in Boston. 

Boston is a unique location for such a music scene, he explained, as people from all over the country and the world come to the area to take advantage of its lifestyle as well as its elite hospitals and universities, including the renowned Berklee College of Music. All of this culminates in many people “bringing a bunch of different sounds with them,” to the area, he said. 

One can expect a typical Boston-area DIY show to be located in a run down basement, with audience and performers standing mere feet from each other, all together under one roof due to a common appreciation for music. 

“The thing I like about it… is when it really is a place where everyone is accepted, it’s a beautiful thing and I’d rather spend my nights doing that than out drinking at a bar or a bigger concert venue,” he said.  

As we discussed various memories from basement shows in the past, I was reminded that the accessibility and welcoming nature of the scene is a major reason why I love it so much. 

Noel agreed. “There’s just something nice about it… Being in a gross basement that’s littered with juul pods and white claw cans, and a loud band that’s poorly mixed… There’s something that’s endearing and nice. It’s just really stupid in a cool way,” he said.

Another major benefit within DIY venues for artists comes in the form of compensation, an aspect of the scene of which I was previously unaware. Rudloff explained how every house show he has played resulted in him getting more money than any traditional music venue. DIY show attendees are usually prompted to donate money to the house and bands upon entering. Perhaps this encourages more generous payments than enforced cover charges at Boston area bars, combined with expensive drinks. Rudloff told me about a big-earning night at a house venue where each band made $400, while on quieter nights playing at a bar, “there’s been times where we’ve been paid $14.”

As much as Noel appreciates the value of the underground scene in Boston, he told me how the Globe article highlighted some of its weaknesses, namely the “gatekeeping” among some venues. Many venues in the area repeatedly host shows featuring a bill selected from a group of around 20 local bands, leaving little room for others with the same talent and work ethic but who lack the connections to venue runners or Berklee. 

“I don’t really get that mentality, you put yourself into an echo chamber of people doing the same shit over and over,” Rudloff said, before adding that he knows of a number of talented bands who will never be able to play at basement venues because they “just don’t fit.” He continued to tell me how he has reached out to certain venues for years from his band’s account and has gotten no reply when he’s asked about playing. 

Rudloff has even been left on read by venue accounts when asking for addresses to attend shows. Many venues point to safety and protecting their houses from damage as a reason for limiting their responses to potential attendees and bands. Noel responded that turning a basement into a music venue with no security and adding drinking to the mix can result in bad things happening sometimes. 

This isn’t a reason to shut people out though, as measures can be taken to improve safety. These can include wristbands for attendees, utilizing people as lookouts to survey the crowd, and kicking out any troublemakers the night of the show, rather than waiting to post about it on social media the following day. While these methods aren’t airtight, they can allow for reasonable expectations of safety and for all people to be welcome, which to Noel is part of the ethos of the scene. He was reminded of a motto that to him represented the best of DIY, “all are accepted, none are rejected.”

Besides, he said, “You think I’m gonna put my reputation on the line to trash your basement?” 

Despite its current state of uncertainty, Noel stated proudly that the scene will live on, as it has for a long time. “Boston is a resilient place,” he said.

To protect the scene, he suggested venues make their accounts private on Instagram to protect themselves for the time being, and block people who are known to misbehave. Finally, he espoused the benefits of booking artists at these shows from outside of Massachusetts, exposing more people to more sounds.

With his band The Modern Faces, Noel Rudloff will look to continue making music and booking basement and traditional venues in the area as well as those in New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and beyond. 

A final word of advice from Noel to music enjoyers everywhere? “Listen to Kiss.” 

FOR LOCAL MOJO BOSTON, 

MATTHEW DIPESA