The time has come to support local music.

These were the words echoed by Sophia John, music director and radio personality for KKDM 107.5, as well as one of the sponsors of tomorrow’s Together Fest.

The all day festival is the creation of Ames Area Artists, a local organization in which Ames musicians have “come together” to build up the local music scene.

“I would like to create our own local scene, kind of like the grunge scene that gripped Seattle,” John explained. “But the music here is much more diverse.

“I think that there is enough talent here to do it,” she added. “All it takes are a few dedicated people and I think that Ames has those people. Ames Area Artists is certainly a great effort — but the whole community needs to be involved,” John said.

This sentiment is echoed by everyone involved in Ames Area Artists, from Medulla Oblongata to The Groovers. The situation is particularly perplexing to Justin Means, the founder of Ames Area Artists.

“I’ve noticed that the community isn’t very receptive to local music,” Means said. “There is a horde of talent in this city. People have to realize that. They also have to realize that being in a band is a full-time job. It is a lot of hard work. I think that it is unfortunate that these bands aren’t getting the respect they deserve.”

Means created the Together Fest to try and correct this problem.

Ames Area Artists

“It has taken me two years to get my roots down,” Means said. “I’ve spent this time becoming more familiar with the scene. There is a lot of good music in this town. At first, the music scene was underground, but now it is exploding.

“I’ll bet that I see a new band every week,” he said. “I see people playing in the streets and in front of campus buildings. I see groups opening at the M-Shop and doing open mics at the bars. The most interesting thing I’ve run across is that, with Ames’ sound, it is different every time,” Means said.

Ames Area Artists is a collective of information designed to promote and assist bands. The organization has a vast selection of information on local bands, including a list of bands looking for replacement members, and several opportunities to book performances or create publicity.

The greatest accomplishment of Ames Area Artists, however, is the creation of the Together Fest, an all-day event which showcases ten Ames-area bands: Entropy, Gentle Hearts Advance, Brian Calek, Standard Modesto, Great Big Freak, Flood Plane, The Groovers, Medulla Oblongata, One More Roadside Attraction and 35″ Mudder.

“This selection of bands is just the tip of the iceberg to the amount of Ames artists that wanted to play at the festival,” Means said. “But there simply wasn’t enough time to allow every Ames band to play, so we had to pick and choose. It was a really tough decision, but I think that I picked the most diverse selection of groups possible.

“The festival is really geared to fit everybody. We want people to make a day out of it. Come and relax, unwind and enjoy some free, live music,” Means said.

The music is out there

The Together Fest will take place at the Iowa State Arboretum tomorrow from 11 a.m. until sunset. The price of admission is free, but those who attend are asked to bring donations of food or clothing for Mainstream Living, which provides homes for mentally-challenged and handicapped individuals.

The festival, which was put together and sponsored through a lot of hard work by Rob Weise and the GSB, will have plenty of vendors selling everything from food to clothing to art and CDs (it is alcohol-free, by the way).

Professional club DJs will be spinning during the band changes, so there will be continuous music all day long.

“We want people to hear the music and see the bands,” Means said. “We want them to appreciate the hard work that [the bands] have put into turning the music scene around.”

One thing every group involved agrees on is the festival is going to be a great opportunity for local artists to bring their music to a wider audience.

“The festival will show that there is a music scene out there,” John said. “It will build up the unity between the bands and will wake up some people to the scene that didn’t know it existed before.

“There needs to be support of the music scene,” she said. “People need to spread the word about how great it is. Word of mouth is the quickest way to promote a band or a scene. The community should go see the bands at the bars and buy their CDs.”

KKDM has done a lot to help the festival come together by running promos every hour and encouraging people to attend the event. The radio station will also be at the festival talking to fans and introducing the bands before they hit the stage.

Ceasing the opportunity

“Right now, there isn’t much of an opportunity for most people to listen to local bands,” Chris Rohret, the 17-year-old drummer for Medulla Oblongata, said. “The bars and clubs in Ames are getting better. They have created more all-ages shows and they are letting more locals play and gain some recognition.”

Rohret’s situation in the local music scene is interesting, since he hasn’t graduated from high school yet. He goes to a school where “every kid and their dog has a Grateful Dead shirt and they only listen to what is being played on MTV.”

“I feel really uncomfortable playing in a high school crowd consisting of my peers,” he said. “I’d like the opportunity to play for a different crowd, like Iowa State students.”

Every once in a while, Rohret has his chance. But he is looking forward to the day when People’s Theater, an 800-seat capacity venue, opens up in the heart of Campustown.

“It will create more spots for local talent and make people really psyched about the local scene,” he said.

Benn Hussmann, lead singer and guitarist of Gentle Hearts Advance, has a different idea on how to expand the music scene. He’d like to see the bars in Ames go the route Iowa City took and start allowing people 19 and older inside.

“That has really helped the scene in Iowa City,” he said, “and it would definitely help the scene here. It would prevent our music scene from becoming stagnant because more people would have the chance to see more bands.”

Sophia John would like the local scene to focus on national recognition. Among her plans on helping the scene along is the production of a CD which spotlights local talent. She would like to distribute the CD across the entire country.

John Yaunders, lead singer of One More Roadside Attraction, has simpler goals in mind when he thinks of the future.

“In the past, the scene has been pretty lethargic,” he said. “But there are a lot of really good bands here now. Most of the people playing at the festival aren’t well established. I’m really happy that the festival has been set up this way.

“After all, there are other bands in Ames besides the Nadas and the Bone People,” Yaunders said. “These bands are pretty well established and people know who they are. But a lot of the groups playing at Together Fest haven’t had a chance for people to hear them or see them play.”

As for the Together Fest, Justin Means would like to set up another this winter using completely different groups. However, plans are still up in the air at this point in time.

“I’d like to do something like this for Veishea,” Means said. “I think it would be really cool to do it in the fields across from Towers. Then I could have more than one group playing at one time and I could have more bands play.

“Every attempt in the past few years to get a musical act together for Veishea has failed,” Means said. “I think it would be a great deterrent to drinking alcohol all weekend. The administration wants to curb this problem on campus and I think that Together Fest is one way that we can do this.”

The Arboretum is located west of the Iowa State Baseball stadium off of Hyland.

Other sponsors for the event include Thomas Hill, vice president of student affairs, and an incentives grant from the GSB.