What was the Suburban Exchange?
The Suburban Exchange was started in 1995 by bernie larson and Emily Smith, recent arrivals from L.A. The original concept was to provide an outlet for creative people to express themselves, through music, poetry, and visual arts. A small zine called Spam was run out of the store, located underneath the Motherlode coffeehouse. The zine listed where local bands were playing and other arts events were taking place each week, while also offering a spot for local young poets to get published. I my own self can say some of my half-assed works were featured in this zine.
The first Suburban location featured a small triangular stage in one corner, where the local music scene soon centered itself. This was the first place the Combs ever played. My friend Joyce's first band, Mudslinger (Lead by Glade), performed the first show ever, an event I got to witness while visiting a month or so before I moved back.
While intimate, the space below the coffeehouse proved too small, and the Suburban moved to new digs in 1996, to occupy the top floor of the building housing the town's musical instrument dealer. A larger stage was built and a small coffeehouse was installed, as well as bernie's home studio. (this studio, the Garage, was once located in bernie and Emily's home several miles out of town in Misery Bay, hence the name of the compilations that bernie put together, The Misery Sessions)
The Suburban existed from 1995 to 1999, although it sems like twice as long. In late 1997, bernie and Emily decided to move back out to L.A., where the oppurtunities were greater. The Suburban changed hands, being first purchased by a couple of Born-agains with no clue about what they were doing. These guys pretended to run the Suburban for about 9 months before God told them to leave. It was this period that The Warren Commission was terrorizing the scene. It was also in this period that the music scene began its steady decline. Things picked up a bit when some local musicians took over after the Christians, but again they were not quite up to the task, and the Suburban closed for good in the summer of 1999, after the Health Department said they couldn't operate without installing a $5000 sprinkler system. The current music scene has reverted back to what it was like before the Suburban opened, featuring local bands playing at house parties and J.D.'s Boathouse, the only local bar that supports original music. One last compilation album came out, the Sun, which was a tribute to the Late Oren Krumm, one of the brightest lights of our scene, tragically snuffed out at an early age and sorely missed. A good part of the Houghton Music scene died with him.
The current scene is very small. A Wesley Willis show at the Ursa Minor house was busted by the cops, effectively putting a damper on house shows in the area. The Superior Music Cafe, a joint similar to teh Suburban Exchange, except with a kitchen and a capacity of 300-400 people, is expected to open soon.
Many of the CD's released by local acts can be purchased on the web here.
Some of the bands involved with the scene:
Cry on Cue - The Muldoons - N-squared - The Jeyds - The Pounding - Scram - Squint - Glade - Erik Koskinen - Subshine - manRay 19 - ene mor - Saccichihuahuas - Bone Conduction - Shakey Deal - Patchwork Apple - The Warren Commission - DJ Marathon - Verscheiden - Lime - Psylocubik - The Combs -Melany Joy Beck - howsyerday - mommy don't - Bernie Larsen - The Englemanns - Dogs Playing Poker - Skokopeli - Brass Knuckles - Issue 13 - Chezacut - Sacchirine Pop - dUd - The Redd-Headed Stepchildren - Navel Acid - Tin Wall - Gomer - Chub - Leslie Can't Love - Jake and the Phat Men - The Associates - Tongue "n" Groove - Seven Mile Point - Bag End -
Some of the bands that came and played the area:
Subincision (San Fran) - Wig (Detroit) - The Drovers (Chicago) - Four Shillings Short (San Fran) - Decodering (Green Bay) - The Spawn Sacs (Tenn.) - The Driller Killers (Tenn.) { these last two crashed at my house after the show, great folks} - Housebreaker (Mpls) - ICU (NYC)(The Combs opened for these guys) - Lick (Chicago) - small brown bike (Detroit) - Quixote (K-zoo) - Calvin Krime (Mpls) - Veronica on Ice (Mpls) - The Hentchmen (Detroit) - Boris the Sprinkler (Green Bay)
Current local bands include: Queen Bee - Ursa Minor - another incarnation of Tongue N Groove under a different name - Bag End - Erik Koskinen and Company -Jake and the Phatmen - Ticklebelly - Switch
Email me with the bands I have missed if you can supply the data: You forgot me!
