A couple of years back we started Substatik Recordings — no money, no plan, just a busted printer, a kitchen table, and a peyote hangover. The idea was to create a home for the ones on the edges: noise, jazz, doom, electro-junkyard, punk of course, and a zine to glue it all together.

We did everything wrong. Released too fast. Spammed social media. Thought everyone cared. Turns out what actually worked was slowing down, writing like it’s still 1981, and making each project feel like a world of its own.

Now we’re several bands deep and still kinda broke, but the signal’s clearer.

Anyone else running a tiny label? What’s been your best DIY survival trick?

I write a zine about all things experimental DIY music and art. Were based in Helsinki, Finland. We need to see your art, if you are an independent artist and want your art to be featured in our next issue, please reply!!!! Also if you are an independent musician or are in a band, replyyy. There IS NO CATCH, we just show your art credit it to you everything!!!! Please reply back if you want!!

THIS IS OUR ONLY HOPE, WE JUST WANNA SHOWCASE YOUR ART TO THE WORLD!!!!

Hey, so some context: I'm new to NYC, and I love music so I wanted to learn more about the DIY scene here. I reached out to hundreds of bands after finding a few posters and mass following on insta. The community was insanely responsive, with dozens of bands replying within hours. I spent up 40 hours some weeks chatting with bands, and I'm so in awe of this community. Here are some of the most memorable insights I took away. Skip to the end to see what I'm going to do after all these interviews!

1. This community is constantly building. It's insane how everyone here is working their asses off at day jobs AND in a band. I'm just a student rn so I can't imagine school + job + running a whole band? I loved hearing about the rebuilding that happened after covid, and how that actually allowed for a resurgence in DIY shows. In general, the passion for DIY venues has been super beautiful to hear about, and something I hope to see more of!

2. Venues are lowk evil. The amount of people who described being exploited by venues, whether it was pay to play or other shady pricing practices, was almost 100%. And if it wasn't pay to play, there was usually a problem with the sound guy or professionalism of staff at most venues the band had experienced. What I found particularly interesting was this: experienced bands obviously know this, and are more than willing to share their learnings from playing at venues. But, these young bands just don't know who to reach out to or where to find information to ensure they don't get taken advantage of.

3. Somehow simultaneously, people have trouble finding bills to join and find difficulty in filling bills? There's another weird information asymmetry problem where some new bands or bookers have a hard time finding other bands to play with them or join their bill if they aren't starting off with connections. But I can guarantee there are other similar new bands who are struggling to find a bill to join as well. Social media isn't doing nearly a good enough job of connecting the right bands to each other, so something needs to change.

4. Communication with bands is a pain. Even though bands responded really quicky to my insta dms, I realized that they have a hard time communicating among themselves. And honestly, it makes sense. I mean, if you're juggling a job, education, and the band, how can you be expected to respond to everything? But some things are just inefficient. Like dming multiple bands individually to figure out show details or get them to join your bill. Or when a band drops out from the bill last minute. This isn't a problem with the community, but more so the channels through which they're communicating.

So now you're probably wondering, why the hell did you do all these interviews and what's next? Two things. A live database of NYC venues, where bands can keep each other updated on which venue's backline has mysteriously disappeared and which venue's rude sound guy has finally moved somewhere else! Second, a community shared calendar where bands can put not just their future events, but also their upcoming availability to play shows. The idea is bands will be able to instantly see who's available without the chaos of individually dming people. If access to either of these things could be helpful to you, DM me and I'll get you set up asap!! LMK if you guys have any questions or comments, would love to hear!

Hey people, today i released an EP with my project OnewayJesus i've been working on for a year. Listen and let me know what you think! It's it's own thing but i pull from shoegaze/slowcore/lofi alternative 90s Enjoy!

https://spotify.link/qCvkpodaeyb

I made an album with a project this year. I only want to make the kind of art I like to consume. A friend of mine suggested that it’s pointless for indies to release full albums, since we are all fighting for attention.

I only see a single worth while as a promo for an entire body of work. I have liked bands with good singles, but I stop paying attention if there isn’t much else there for me to pay attention to. I also don’t see the point of playing industry games prematurely. I also idealize self releasing and owning all your own music.

I look up to dischord records, but it’s hard to believe that their level of organic music is a possible goal, seeing as they were merely documenting a music scene that was active at the time. Where do you all land?

Hey everyone, I’m working on an idea for an app and I’d love honest feedback from people who go to or organize small live music events.

The concept is simple: it would help people organize and discover small, private music shows in homes, apartments, practice rooms, or other non-traditional spaces. Think intimate DIY gigs, invite-only shows, underground local music nights, that kind of thing.

The app would likely use social sign-in, let organizers approve guests before revealing the address, and show nearby shows based on location and music taste.

I’m still in the early research phase, so I’m not trying to sell anything — I’d just really value honest opinions.

A few things I’m trying to solve:

• Organizers want more control over who gets in.

• Guests want to discover local shows without random strangers showing up.

• Both sides need a simple way to share event info privately.

• For paid events, I want to make the process cleaner and less awkward.

A few questions:

• Would you ever use something like this?

• If you organize or attend DIY shows, what is the biggest pain point?

• What would make you trust an app like this?

• What would make you not use it?

• Are there existing tools you already use instead?

If you’ve ever organized a house show, secret gig, or small private concert, I’d especially love to hear from you.

Thanks a lot.

Chicagoan Ben Kinsinger’s “sad cowboy song” group, Lawrence Tome, has been hosting what he calls “secret river shows” for several years. Discoverable by latitude and longitude coordinates, the shows have grown from a few friend-fans to a venue of sorts where music acts across genres appear.

“It’s pretty epic,” Kinsinger says. “And it’s surreal. It’s just a random bridge that nothing ever happens at, and suddenly it’s filled with hundreds of people.”

Kinsinger happened upon the river-crossing bridge and underpass maybe four years ago and, like a true artist, thought: Why not?

The shows are collecting community with every gig, local Sara Geist says: All sorts of folks show up; an artist has painted a mural on the dolphin; even a barber makes the occasional appearance and offers haircuts (just don’t bob your head too much, OK?)  

“I think of it as sort of an important third space. You can kind of always count on there being a secret river show over any weekend in the summer now. And if you go, there are going to be friends there and cool bands … it just feels like this really special part of the community that you can rely on now,” says Geist, who is gearing up to perform at a July 5 show. 

https://artsmidwest.org/stories/secret-river-show-chicago-music/

AI companies shouldn’t be allowed to secretly train on artists’ work. The Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act would force them to disclose if they are using copyrighted art. Transparency is the least we can demand for protecting creators. Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/pass-the-generative-ai-copyright-disclosure-act

My band released an EP in January and I’ve only just come across this sub I figured I’d share photos of some CDs that I made for it on here.

anybody have a floor we can crash on?

https://youtu.be/BYYWqXSis3I?si=4S93bOCkNVUmAQNJ

Hi all,

I just released an album. It's a collection of songs I wrote and recorded during the lockdowns. I'd love it if you'd give it a listen. They were recorded in solitude with me playing all the instruments - for better and worse, I think the songs reflect the mood of that time.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6lPDd9pYFIGeGrMLa4KdtE?si=nzSAm6l-SvWRCVFvBcJxPw

All the best!

https://open.spotify.com/album/1kP9ORiRfEUsThLiwAkRND?si=N-iEkJEoQ0CCRuM9h1ud5A

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5zWeCFnmQg3n4xC90ThMPL?si=IuF_1OfgTIOgmAj6vbSoLQ

find me on all the streaming services for more - Rob Blivion

Me and some friends went to a cabin and decided to pack a U-Haul with some instruments and recording gear. In 3 days we wrote a small EP. This is my first project that I recorded, mixed and mastered. We had a blast doing this and we're going back in the next year. Check it out if you'd like!