Don Frame and Tim Shores are musicians living in Columbus. They recently moved from the suburbs surrounding Dayton to the heart of Ohio State’s south campus. Their band, As of late, has started work on its debut album in their attic, where Frame has built his own home studio on his computer.
“One advantage of living in this city that is obvious is the campus area here,” Frame said. “A lot of college-aged people are exposed to a wide variety of music in general. There is an age group who are very active in music.”
“A lot of college kids have money to spend on going to shows,” Shores said.
With a much lower cost of living expense than bigger cities like Chicago or New York City, smaller “big” cities like Columbus provide music fans and musicians the opportunity to nurture their creative needs in a variety of ways. For example, a band can afford to rent out an apartment (or in some cases, a practice space) and live on a part-time job, devoting the rest of the time to creating music. This is why you might find a technically more tight outfit such as The House of Heroes in these kinds of cities, simply because they have more time and money to spend on perfecting a sound.
The House of Heroes is a refreshingly original rock ‘n’ roll band with a pop sensibility. It possesses the complexity in songwriting that anyone who has ever picked up an electric guitar can appreciate. Some of it’s better songs start in a traditional pop-punk format, switching styles just when you get comfortable with the hook. It’s newest album, “What You Want Is Now,” is filled with undeniably catchy and simply well-written songs that are candy to even the novice music fan’s ear.
“It’s hard to find that balance between complexity and melody,” said A.J. Babcock, bass player and main songwriter. “Because you don’t want to just be complicated to show off. You have to have a purpose to the complexity.”
The band has enjoyed a bit of national success, thanks to Vanishing Point Records, an independent label based out of California. The label is paying for most of the expenses involved with playing in a traveling band. The band has taken full advantage, playing everywhere from California to Louisiana and Tennessee.
However, the glamour of traveling to exotic spots in the country and meeting with top-notch music industry executives has not dampened the trio’s opinion of Columbus as a music scene. In fact, the band said it views the town as a viable, open-minded venue, with a better audience than some of the places they have visited.
“It seems like people in places like California are jaded because they are so over-saturated with new bands,” said Tim Skipper, the band’s guitarist and singer. “I think there are a lot of good bands right here in Columbus, and a lot of room for creativity.”
A lot of good bands could mean a lot of competition in some areas where gigs are hard to come by. But Columbus features a variety of music venues that are known across the country as favorite stops by national acts. The opportunity to catch a local band is endless at bars like Little Brother’s, Bernie’s and High Five. Skully’s on High Street recently hosted trendy A-list group The Kings of Leon, with local act The Jive Turkeys opening. Tracy Zollinger-Turner from www.columbuscitysearch.com said the Turkeys may have the most original sound in the local scene.
Frame said this is no accident when talking about bands in the area.
“Musicians in this area are trying to do the same thing that you’re doing,” Frame said. “So you just have to make sure that you’re on top of your own thing, which could be good because it allows you to try something different.”
There seems to be no problem finding a variety of music in Columbus, even within the confines of rock music. Music fans can enjoy a wide range of rock music, from the Bob Dylan-influenced roots rock band The Bygones to the self-proclaimed “Too loud to live, too rare to die” rock of Eric Wrong and the Do-Right.
The only problem with the music scene in Columbus is keeping notified of things that are happening in the city, Frame said.
The Columbus Alive is released weekly and has an extensive calendar of all things: Rock, jazz, blues, hip hop and more. Fliers posted along High Street advertise rock shows in the area. It takes a devoted music fan to keep posted on music in this town, or simply one that is motivated enough to walk around and take notice.
