Central Iowa — known for corn, cows, pigs and … music? It’s true, believe it or not. Our local music scene has been going strong for years and is showing no signs of letting up now.As most people know, central Iowa spawned the masked madmen clad in jumpsuits, Slipknot. Two bands from Ames also have gained some big time attention from record labels over the years. 35″ Mudder was the center of a bidding war between labels just two summers ago and, more recently, Mr. Plow left the local scene to try and strike it big in Los Angeles. And although they technically aren’t from central Iowa, House of Large Sizes has been playing in Ames and Des Moines for years now, and at one time the group held a major label contract themselves.And now that some of the harder and more well-known bands have left, blown up nationally — Slipknot was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the Grammys this year — or passed away, new faces in the scene have reared their heads and let the music roar. Pookey Bleum guitarist Patrick Fleming, co-founder of Bi-Fi Records in Ames, says the evolving scene continues to thrive because it has both diversity and quality.”The variety of bands here is really, really good,” Fleming says. “And I think there is like a lot of really, really good bands too. There are so many different bands and none of them sound the same.”Hardcore’s fleeting heydayDiversity hasn’t always been the name of the game around the scene, though. There was a time when central Iowa was ruled by hardcore acts, and this was especially true in Des Moines. But since the demise of 35″ Mudder (the group has since changed lineups and now calls itself just Mudder), the local hardcore scene has taken a bit of a dive but hasn’t completely gone away.”I would say within central Iowa that there has been a shift away from hardcore,” says Tom Brazelton, operator of the Des Moines Music Online web site. “You get out into smaller towns like Winterset and Keokuk and it’s still a big deal.”I don’t think it’s dead though,” he adds. “There are a lot of bands that are still out there. Painface for one is a really good hardcore band. The ones that are good will stick around.”Besides Painface, there are a handful of other hardcore bands that have picked up the slack of attempting to fill 35” Mudder’s shoes in the hardcore scene. Heroic Dose is making a name for itself around the Midwest, and Index Case, 38th Parallel and Marcato are all very promising up-and-coming acts.More than Korn in IowaWith that particular part of the local scene dying out a bit for the time being, the door has been opened for other genres of music, such as indie rock and pop. And much of this music is originating right here in Ames.”I don’t really know what’s replacing it yet,” Brazelton says. “I think maybe just generally pop, just kind of well-crafted melodies; that seems to be what is coming along now.”What has come is a whirlwind of different styles and very good bands. Whether it’s the pop sound of Pookey Bleum, the alternative rock sound of Karma Lab, or the ska sound of the Mediocre Superheroes, other types of music are definitely stepping to the front after patiently waiting their turn for the last few years.Fleming believes part of this is due to college radio and its constant play of many different forms of music.”I think it has a lot to do with college radio actually,” Fleming says. “I think KURE is really good about playing indie music. It’s just kind of in the realm that people hear bands like Pavement, and it’s like a, ‘Hey, why can’t I do that,’ type of thing and they start doing it for fun.”That’s why there are a lot of bands out there like that now.”No matter how many bands are in the scene though, it is always an uphill struggle to get support for local music. Most people don’t realize that they have access to so many talented bands in their area and therefore don’t attend shows to support the local scene.Taking over TVStrong supporters are always trying to get the word out about local music and one of them is the Iowa State’s student television network, ISU9.ISU9 has just recently started a new show titled “Ames Music Live.” The show features live performances from local groups, as well as interviews, music news and upcoming shows in the Ames area.The idea for the music-centered show blossomed out of early failed attempts at shows featuring live music and a demand for a show with local music.”I’ve seen three or four people come in with ideas for live music shows,” says producer Aaron Fister. “I always say that the reason this show happened was out of demand. People demanded it and I supplied it.” The show is open to all local bands, not just those who have members attending Iowa State. So far the show has featured Pookey Bleum and dead by Wednesday. There is also a Web site for the show which features video clips of bands that have performed on the show.”Hopefully this will be just another thing that will add to the local music scene,” Fister adds.Local links, licksAlso providing major support for the scene is Brazelton, who has been running Des Moines Music Online for about a year now.The site, www.desmoinesmusiconline.com, features reviews, band links, and interviews among other things. Brazelton is even planning to release a compilation disk in March. The record will feature many different aspects of the local scene including hardcore bands including Painface and N.O.T.H.I.N.G., rock acts such as Slopsycle and popsters like Pookey Bleum, just to name a few.Des Moines Music Online has been quite successful with the bands in the scene, but Brazelton says he still has some work to do to get people outside the scene to check out the page.”I get a lot of support from the bands. There isn’t really anything like this for Iowa on the web,” Brazelton says. “In terms of getting people who are kind of outside the scene, it’s been an uphill climb because I really don’t have a lot of money to advertise it.”Local music, especially the hardcore scene, has been given a huge boost over the years from Lazer 103.3 DJ and Mudder frontman, Cory Brown.Brown has been one of the biggest players of the local scene, not only in terms of his band, but also through the immense amount of support he has provided.Lazer Local Licks, a show that Brown hosts, devotes an hour of air time every Sunday night at 11 p.m. to local acts. Brown is also responsible for Lazer Live which has been held at Super Toad for the last two summers. The concert was held every Wednesday starting during the summer and going into November, and usually featured three local bands every week.In fact, the Lazer Live Battle of the Bands finale, which Index Case won, brought in over 1,000 people, an amazing amount for a local show.But local acts can’t always depend on others to provide support; in most cases they have to take matters into their own hands, which is the case with MP3.com.Over 30 acts from central Iowa are featured on the MP3 downloading site which allows bands to put their music on the Internet for people across the world to access.”They’re giving their music away for free, and I think that’s what’s cool about it, it’s a really awesome thing,” Bi-Fi’s Fleming says.”I think there has been nothing better to happen to up-and-coming artists, period,” Brazelton adds. “It’s got to be one of the best promotional tools for local bands, especially if local press isn’t willing to give you the attention you want.”Sonic struggleThere are some problems facing the scene, however. Most of those are in the area of venues. Des Moines’ Super Toad just recently closed down, which will mostly affect the hardcore scene, especially Brown’s Lazer Live shows. And in Ames, the venues are limited to about four places. There are even fewer for hard rock/hardcore acts because of the fact that they can’t really play the coffee shop environments such as Boheme and Cafe Diem. People’s Bar and Grill tends to stay away from bringing in local hard rock groups and the M-Shop mainly focuses on national acts, although they have begun to book more local acts.So next time someone asks, “What’s there in Iowa?,” you know the answer. There is pop, rock, ska, metal, punk … and in general a lot of really good music. You just have to know where to look.