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several weeks ago, a friend told me about a new bar that opened up in town that hosts dungeon synth nights. dungeon synth - a genre i vaguely was interested in maybe around 2015 or 2016. maybe earlier. kind of an offshoot of the chintzy overlong synth songs on burzum albums. i was surprised to learn that austin has at least a glimmer of a dungeon synth scene that seems to be thriving at this new members-only bar called the tiny minotaur. they are even throwing a dungeon synth festival next month. my friend had released a couple dungeon synth albums himself several years ago that got enough attention to be released on labels - under the name Apothecarium. an interesting guy. straight-edge vegan. really into hardcore punk. one of the only “old austin” people i know despite being the same age as me. i’ve only really known him for a couple months. we decide to visit the bar for a show. the bar is actually a small house. surrounded by a tall wood fence with a wood gate. you have to knock on the gate and a small window opens with a renaissance faire type guy asking for your reservation (you have to be a member to enter or pay a fee) in a fake british accent. we show him our tickets and then have to exchange cash to acquire “horns” (coins) to pay for drinks and food. $3 = 1 horn. i get 3 horns - the price of a cocktail. i get a lemon vodka soda called “elven bow”. as we walk to the back of the house where the show will take place. i am almost immediately yelled at by an drunk-seeming guy who was sitting on the ground against the wall. he liked my bell witch shirt (mirror reaper album art. i got it during that album tour - i thought it would resonate with a dungeon synth crowd and i was right - i got 3 compliments). i thanked him. we then ran into Assorted Potions - a relatively popular local dungeon synth artist. my friend had met him previously when he worked at a coffee shop. AP was very kind and talkative. he immediately wanted us to make up a 5 band festival lineup - 3 good bands, 2 bad. AP and my friend listed a bunch of hardcore bands i had never heard of before. i listed gorguts, demilich (headlining), pestilence (playing spheres in full), obscura (bad band 1), and animal as leaders (bad band 2). AP said that sounded like a lineup you’d see at a fest in prague. we briefly talked with the headlining artist of the evening, DIM. he was on tour and lived in nova scotia. he seemed nice but didn’t really want to chat too much. AP seemed to be hosting him while he was in town. we walked over to the backyard where there was a fountain garden and a basic performance setup. the first artist playing was the local artist Illuminator. he was dressed in a hooded robe and played with a keyboard and laptop. he would transition songs by hitting a singing bowl. the sun still being up made it a surreal experience. i was in my head a bit too much. what am i doing here? is this unique and interesting or just silly? it probably doesn’t matter. i noticed my coworker and her husband after the set ended. we chatted a bit about music festivals. i mistakenly said i was interested in going to rokskilde when i meant roadburn. my coworker’s husband is an interesting guy. a member of the tiny minotaur and the most passionate tape collector i’ve ever met. i feel like they want to be my friends but i feel disconnected from them for some reason. i go back to sit with my friend at a table. the next act was the houston artist Hexpartner. she looped her vocals and played violin. i’m reminded of my friend mari’s music. it was finally dark out and for a few moments i felt like, yes, something interesting is happening here. austin is overstuffed with bands that wish they were in another time period trying to sound like someone else. but, here, these artists are existing on their own wavelength without pretension. after the set, i sit with AP and my friend at DIM’s merch booth. i witness AP’s stellar salesman abilities. immediately making a group of strangers passing by the table laugh and want to talk to us. i’m in awe of his talent. he says he learned it over time but i don’t know. he seems like a natural and i feel like an antisocial weirdo by comparison. my friend talks about his former hardcore band (AP is a fan). how all the ex members hate each other and don’t talk anymore. how they will never reunite. i talk with my friend about working on music together. he seems excited. i wonder if we’ll have the time. i wonder what it would sound like. i am grateful that he came with me to this odd show. we only stay for the first half of DIM’s set. it sounds like EDM for some reason. as we walk away, AP stops me and says that we should hang out sometime. again, i am grateful. on the walk to the car my friend tells me how he reconnected with a friend who had previously cut him off. i’m happy for him. i drop him off at his house. i go home. |
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