infestdc mixtape

The long wait is finally here, and I'm proud to share with you the latest DZ project, the InFestDC mixtape. This 70-minute compilation features 22 choice cuts recorded live at DIY shows around the District, and showcases talent from DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and more.

Featuring live tracks by:

TWO INCH ASTRONAUT / SWINGS 

WILDHONEY / MANNEQUIN PUSSY / BIG UPS

NEONATES / ROMANTIC STATES / JAIL SOLIDARITY

WITCH COAST / THE OBSESSIVES / ET AL. / RADIATOR HOSPITAL

LAUGHING MAN /  TEEN LIVER / HEMLINES / SITCOM

POLYON / MATTRESS FINANCIAL / TRUNKWEED

PASSING PHASES / MERIDIAN / NICE BREEZE

In 2014, a group of DC musicians, artists, and other community members teamed up to throw the first In It Together Fest, a four-day celebration of DIY culture held at 17 venues around the city. The inaugural fest raised over $2500 for two amazing local non-profit organizations, We Are Family and Casa Ruby LGBT Community Center. This year, we're aiming to raise the bar quite a bit, and in preparation for the next In It Together Fest we've put together a mixtape, limited to 250 copies professionally dubbed on slime green cassettes, All proceeds from this tape and this year's In It Together Fest are going towards one or two local non-profit organizations To Be Announced.

We hope you'll take the time to check out this awesome archive of DC's vibrant DIY show culture, and mark your calendars for the next In It Together Fest, July 31 + August 1!

thaw

Another wild weekend of shows coming up for those of you in DC, Baltimore, Chicago, and Austin. Click the flyers below for more info, and godspeed to Owen from Big Hush who has three different gigs on Sunday night~ ✌

Friday, March 6

Romantic States w/ Crimson Wave, Bummer Vacation, and Naked

(Ottobar Upstairs in Baltimore, MD)

Pool Holograph w/ Pet Vices and Glass Eyes

(Cole's Bar in Chicago, IL)

Chris Suspect harDCore photography opening reception

(Leica Gallery in Washington, DC)

Adam Torres w/ Molybden

(El Cosmico in Marfa, TX [RSVP])

Saturday, March 7

Adam Torres w/ Real Live Tigers and Loblolly Boy

(Studium in Austin, TX [RSVP])

Sunday, March 8

Big Hush (filling in for Jail Solidarity) w/ Trophy Wife, War On Women, and Priests

(Wilson Center in Washington, DC)

Qualms (mem. Big Hush) w/ Mattress Financial, Palehound, and Joy Buttons

(The Beehive in Washington, DC)

Big Hush w/ Kabob-O-Taj and Jack Nicholson

(WMUC Studio in College Park, MD)

give more

And so begins a month of weekend-long tours for Romantic States. After staying up until 3am getting wild at the cassette release show in Baltimore on Friday, a Saturday afternoon of soothing dissonance was well-needed. Thanks to everyone who came out and/or volunteered at the matinee Radio CPR benefit show (special shout-out to Ian MacKaye) as well as Mattress Financial and The Creature People for playing their hearts out as always. I'm happy to say we raised a modest sum for the station, and I'm looking forward to getting more involved in the near future.

Romantic States (courtesy of Chris Taylor)

"On this new self-titled record, Romantic States have traded in the synthetic bleeps and bloops of old, the stuttering tape machines, the more “experimental” side of things in favor of more traditional arrangements for guitars, drums, and voices. The result is a poised approach to songwriting, tunes that are skeletal in nature. While it may appear thin, oblique, and fragile, you’ll be surprised just how resilient and mercurial this collection of songs can be." - Gelatinous Blog

Next up for the band is this gig in Newark, NJ on Friday, February 13 at The Hollywood Bungalow (click here to RSVP) with Charm City chums Et Al. and Garden State locals Apparus.

On that same day here in DC will be another great show, this one a benefit for Casa Ruby LGBT Community Center, who is raising funds to open a homeless youth house in the district. The show features radiant dreamers Crimson Wave from Baltimore, activist sludge warriors Jail Solidarity, feminist grunge rockers Hemlines, and local unsung heroes Tereu Tereu and Jack On Fire. Check out the sweet show poster below c/o Rachel Porter and give it a click for more details and to RSVP.

I'm very happy to be involved with this show and am more than pleased with the serendipitous link between the two events happening all in one night at the same venue. Just downstairs will be a reading by contributors to the Collide Zine #3 speaking on the challenges of living with physical and mental illness, and additionally Sean Gray from Accidental Guest Records fostering a discussion on accessibility in the DIY community and spreading awareness of his site Is This Venue Accessible?, a growing collaborative resource to catalog accessible and inaccessible performance spaces.

Hope you get the chance to check out some live music in the coming week - don't forget to bring your lovers and your manners. ♥

bittersweet

I'm happy to report the Two Inch Astronaut 'Foulbrood' release show may have been the best gig I've gotten to put on at the Dougout. From top to bottom all the bands were amazing, and I was lucky enough to get some halfway decent recordings of each set as part of a new project I've been working on to archive DC's DIY live music scene. While most of the recordings won't be made available just yet, I'm thrilled to share one - the first ever Mannequin Pussy acoustic set! Marisa was kind enough to sit down and play three MP tracks and one brand new song from her upcoming solo debut. Special thanks to WMUC for their help in making this happen. Take an advance listen to the set below, check the soundcloud page for the track list, and tune in to WMUC radio Sunday at 6pm ET for this and some great live music from Au Revoir, Wish List, and Go Cozy on Third Rail.



Another huge shout out to Big Ups, Washer, and Jail Solidarity, plus a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Sam, Andy and Matt on the album release! We were also blessed to have Mike from Red Table Press design and screenprint a limited run of this awesome glow-in-the-dark gig poster below.

Two Inch Astronaut (courtesy of Nicole)

Mannequin Pussy (courtesy of Alex)

Big Ups (courtesy of Alex)

Washer (courtesy of Alex)

Jail Solidarity (courtesy of Alex)

On a more somber note, it’s with a heavy heart I announce that starting in 2015, I will no longer be living at The Dougout. Nearly three years have passed since the mates and I moved in and began hosting DIY shows, and now the time has come for me to make my next move. This place has been so much more than a home to me and I’ll cherish the memories made in this house for the rest of my days.

It was here that I first planted my roots as a resident of the District, forged immeasurable bonds with two awesome amigos, made countless new friends (and reunited with ones from days long ago), showcased an unbelievable number of immensely talented musicians, hosted my first DZ TAPES cassette release show, helped plan and put on the first ever In It Together Fest, cared for four different beautiful animals (and accidentally killed even more innocent plants), and learned more about myself than I’d ever thought I would.

While I will be making my departure at the end of this month, the spirit of The Dougout will live on through Geoff, Marshall and … You, perhaps (or someone you know)?

Let this post serve as a call to anyone who’s ever dreamed of living in a DIY punk house in Washington, DC. The rent is cheap, there’s space aplenty, and many more awesome shows to be put on. If you or anyone you know might be interested in taking my spot, please check out this Craigslist posting to get the conversation started. The new housemate should be ready to move in on January 1.

As for me, this is certainly not the end of my time booking shows in DC, so be on the lookout for more live events in the near future.

foulbrood

Since the release of their debut full-length Bad Brother last year, Two Inch Astronaut have been melting the minds of DIY show-goers here in DC and along the East Coast, but nowhere more-so than at the Dougout. Their new album Foulbrood, out now on Exploding In Sound Records, showcases just how much the band's sound is expanding to become exceedingly more complex while retaining its accessibility, like a rubix cube with shades of post-punk, post-hardcore, and everything in between.

It's been a pleasure to watch the band grow over time, so I'm proud to announce DZ TAPES will be hosting the official album release show, featuring support from some top-notch East Coast talent. Check out the rest of the bands below and click the flyer to RSVP for the show on December 7.

※ BIG UPS (NY) fearsome tough love punctual post-punk
※ ※ MANNEQUIN PUSSY (PHL) razor sharp shitpunk like bats trapped in a tent
※ ※ ※ WASHER (NY) stripped-down punk with melodic distortion
※ ※ ※ ※ JAIL SOLIDARITY (DC) fuck the man post-hardcore noise rock sludge

In other news, the Big Hush cassette release show almost went off without a hitch until the apex of Chris Forsyth's finale, in which a crucial surge protector was knocked loose from its outlet causing the entire build up to come crashing down in a deafening silence.


Notwithstanding this minor calamity, the show was a great success thanks to great music from the aforementioned lovelies as well as the Anthony Pirog Trio and Golden Triangle. Just before the show, Brightest Young Things had some great things to say about Big Hush in an interview piece conducted with co-singer/songwriter Owen Wuerker.

"Big Hush shucks the limitations of the shoegaze sound, pushing vocal melodies and lyricism to the forefront and using their noisy instrumental texture as support rather than the center of the song. The result is a huge step forward for the band; their loudest tendencies now affect the emotive character of the compositions, and showcase their deft songwriting."

You can read the full interview here.

Hazey Jane also received some love recently from Unrecorded, calling DZ13 "a great collection of off-kilter beats composed of odd samples, drum machines, and guitar."

And last but certainly not least, folk freaks in Chicago should be on the look out for Adam Torres, who makes his Windy City debut on December 13 to accompany a preview screening of A Good Person, presented by the Logan Square International Film Series. Click here to RSVP and get more information about the movie.

evil kenevil

The first ever In It Together Fest is in the rearview mirror, and I want to give a special thank you for all the love and support we received from everyone who came out, performed, volunteered, hosted and generally made the weekend one to remember - we couldn't have done it without you! There was some great documentation taken at most of the events, so here are some of the primo photos for your enjoyment plus a very special video featuring one very brave conceptual food artist from the Ryan Troy Ford Memorial Performance Arts Collective jumping over a 50 gallon bathtub of delicious homemade ramen noodles on a dirtbike at a skate park under a bridge (yes, you read that right).

The Effects (courtesy of Brazier)

Loud Boyz (courtesy of Andrade)

Loud Boyz (courtesy of Brazier)

 Pile (courtesy of Schelldorf)

Vundabar (courtesy of Andrade)

ACME (courtesy of Brazier)

Baby Bry Bry (courtesy of Andrade)

Jail Solidarity (courtesy of Brazier)

Jebiotto (courtesy of Bezruchko)

The Public (courtesy of Andrade)

State Lines (courtesy of Brazier)

Meridian (courtesy of Brazier)

BRNDA (courtesy of Andrade)

Mannequin Pussy (courtesy of Sharon)

Hold Tight! (courtesy of Brazier)

Pree (courtesy of Brazier)

Teen Mom (courtesy of Stephanie)

What Moon Things (courtesy of Andrade)

Ramen Jump (courtesy of Evan)

Ramen Jump (courtesy of Sharon)

Ramen Jump (courtesy of Denise)