Eugene weekly., April 24, 2014, Page 13, Image 13

really cool scene. It was very community-driven and
everybody knew each other at shows.”
The house-show scene at that time was much more
hushed, with marketing done solely through personal invites
online and word-of-mouth. In the 2008 story, Adams even
used pseudonyms for certain houses to conceal their identity.
Knackstedt says he believes the rise in underground gigs
is due to the unavailability of shows offered by local
establishments. “I think it’s partially because of the relative
inaccessibility of a lot of formalized venues. I’m not going
to name names, but the main formal venues in town are not
very accessible to a lot of smaller, local touring bands,”
Knackstedt says.“There are a lot of people here in the music
scene who want to bring a lot of these smaller bands through
and the best way to do that is through grassroots, smaller
house shows and venues like the Wandering Goat.”
Venues are only a piece of the puzzle, as Amelia Hart,
one of the indie bookers for Behavior Castle, and Meyer
point out.
“It’s young people being here,” Hart says. “I feel like
more young people are choosing to stay in Eugene or
moving to Eugene. There have always been young people,
but the university is very segregated so they don’t always
venture down this way. Even The Barn Light is a good
example. These guys are young, hip and cool, and they
don’t have to be in Eugene but they are and it’s great for
us. I think young people are really seeing the possibilities
that are available here.”
Meyer points to economic struggles as a reason why the
area has seen a rise in smaller independent shows. “I’m
thinking it happened when the electronic boom really hit
and that CDs became less prominent. Oh, and when gas
prices went up too,” he says. “I think when gas prices went
up that was a very difficult thing for touring artists. And it
took a while, I’d say two to three years after gas prices
went up.” House shows also offer potential money-making
pit stops for bands heading from one big city to the next.
“Unfortunately as society makes some painful choices
about what it supports, music is not supported enough in
commercial venues so that’s left house concerts by
default,” Meyer says. “And so all of a sudden, I think there
is an explosion lately of house concerts. I’m thinking of
that movie The Real Dirt on Farmer John where his world
of the farms collapsed and then he got a redemption in
organic farming. And so house concerts are kind of like the
organic farming redemption from the farm crash.”
THE KIDS OF THE CASTLE
“My uncle is this big, tough-guy motorcycle dude,”
Sammy Clatterbuck says. The other half of the local
booking duo Behavior Castle, Clatterbuck recalls what
inspired him to begin booking independent shows.
“When I was 12, I wanted this band to play. They were
playing the city after us and the city before us and I was so
bummed. I was complaining and my uncle said …”
Clatterbuck prepares for an impersonation of his uncle,
lowering his voice to a raspy, aggressive tone.
“‘Are you going to complain about it or do something
about it? Wimp — contact them!’ I picked up the CD
booklet, found the email, wrote them an email. They had a
P.O. box, and I wrote them a letter, went online and found
a phone number.”
Clatterbuck pulled it off and booked The Nerve
Agents. Years later this instance would end up serving as
the flick that triggered a string of dominos leading to a
herd of young punk music fans cramming into the former
Paper Moon Studios last August for King Tuff’s
performance, or 543 Blair for the equally packed La Luz
show. Clatterbuck and his partner Hart have been operating
as Behavior Castle for the past year and a half, booking
independent shows in their home basement as well as bars
and studio spaces.
“I wasn’t seeing the bands that I wanted to see coming
through town,” Hart says. “If no one is booking the music
that I want to see, there isn’t a reason I shouldn’t do it.
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eugeneweekly.com • April 24, 2014
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