Bring The House Down

Story by Sophia Englehart

Photos by Josh Zielinski

Local artists combine their love of music and performance at parties welcome to all.

Mitch Spring, junior, of Judge Russo, plays a bass guitar during a group practice session for an upcoming show.

I remember being taken to my first house concert midway through my first semester of freshman year in spring 2019. An indie rock band was playing unfamiliar music and the house was packed with sweaty, swaying students with wild clothes and grinning faces.

At first, I was confused by why everyone was enjoying themselves –— it was hot and smoky and there were crushed water bottles clustered haphazardly in the corner —–but I closed my eyes and I listened. The music poured over me like a tidal wave and even though I didn’t know the lyrics, I found myself swaying moving to the beat.

It was then when I met Jane Kardotzke, a junior at the time who was studying the music recording industry, and who was a lover of house concerts. Kardotzke first got into the Athens music scene as a freshman and built up an understanding of different local bands through her work with All Campus Radio Network (ACRN). She became interested in the management side of music, and wanted to expand into band management for the local groups she had gotten to know.

“I was a part of ACRN [as] their program director, so I was teaching disc jockeys how to have their own radio show...and I was also the booking assistant,” Kardotzke says. “[But] I wasn't really booking anything. I wasn't really learning anything either. And I was also following this band around called The Wastemen and I kept telling them I was their manager, and I would like to talk to them about how we could get them to make it big. [The] end of that school year,the beginning of 2019 in the spring, I was like, ‘I'm just gonna book them a show.’”

And she did just that, booking an outdoor music event on Facebook that she dubbed “Jane’s Big Music Festival.” It was a success and sparked a desire for more concerts and music while creating a better environment for concertgoers, which was something that Kardotzke emphasizes.

“I just remember not feeling [like they were] super welcoming in the scene to be honest,” she says. “I didn't really like the culture that surrounded it. Like I felt like...if you weren't like this specific kind of like really different hipster then you would get weird energy from people and weird interactions, it just was not exactly the type of environment [for me].”

With that initial first impression, Kardotzke wanted others to feel comfortable and protected in a house concert environment, like she would have wanted. For her, it was as much of a personal experience as it was meeting new bands and people.

“When I go to music...its always kind of been sacred,” she says. “It is a place where I find peace and total acceptance. I'm totally in love with the experience. And I want to be able to feel safe and loved by the people around me and not feel like I'm not welcomed.”

Kardotzke’s interest in facilitating different concerts and venues took off from there, leading to her and another student, Jennifer Kash, to form JacKed Up, a music organization that helped bands organize and play at different venues and houses across Athens.

Jack Tecca of WARP, a local rock band, met Kardotzke as he was putting together the band, and she helped him and his bandmates to take the first step into the Athens music scene. An OU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and a Bachelor of Science in music production, Tecca says the welcoming nature of the Athens music community and consistent networking with other bands, as well as JacKed Up, is what has helped WARP grow.

“We had a couple of gigs at Red Brick first off and we started playing some of those bars down there. [The] JacKed Up show was like our second or third gig,” he says. “We've been really fortunate to have resources everywhere to help us do what we love to do.”

WARP features Tecca and Ryan Hartland on guitar, drummer Reed Dobo, vocalist Michael “Darwin” Boston and bassist Andy Brunson. Tecca and Hartland first came together when they were sophomores living in the Convocation Center at OU. The two bonded over their love and interest in creating music.

The four members of Judge Russo practice for an upcoming Halloween show. The members pictured, from left to right, are: Dewy D’Amore, senior; Mitch Spring, junior; Julian Runyon, OU graduate; and Harper Reese, junior.

Similarly, Dewy D’Amore of Judge Russo, an alternative punk band, was able to catch onto the local music scene after his first show in Columbus in 2018, which helped fulfill his dream of becoming a practicing musician.

“I [got] involved with music at a really early age. It was like the one thing that nobody could tell me I was doing wrong,” D’Amore says.

When asked about if he had planned on chasing music into college, he says, “The one thing I always knew for certain [was that] I wanted to play music and get my art out there. [So] after we got our [Judge Russo’s] name out, people started just contacting us all the time, asking us to play at their house or their venue.”

D’Amore is a senior and the lead vocalist, lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the group. Judge Russo’s band members also include junior Harper Reese who is the lead guitarist and keyboardist, junior Mitch Spring who plays bass and bongo player and OU graduate Julian Runyon who plays drums.

Photo one: Harper Reese, junior, of Judge Russo, plays the guitar during a group practice session.

Photo two: The four members of Judge Russo practice for an upcoming show. The members pictured, from left to right, are: Julian Runyon, OU graduate; Dewy D’Amore, senior; and Mitch Spring, junior.

Photo three: Dewy D’Amore, senior, lead vocalist and guitarist of Judge Russo, sings while playing his guitar during a group practice session.

Even though JacKed Up is no longer active —–the organization disintegrated after Kardotzke graduated —–local bands still find ways to communicate and put on concerts across campus, which have been returning with gusto after going silent with the pandemic.

“It's usually just someone from a band knows someone who has a house that is willing to put on a show, and then that person from the band Instagram message[s] us and ask[s] if we want to play with them,” D’Amore says.

Tecca also points out that meeting people and other bands at shows is the main way to facilitate potential venues and house concerts, as well as during performances. This way, in a sense, bands and interested musicians are literally able to combine work and play.

“It's about strengthening that network of people, getting together and just having a good time,” Tecca says. “It was basically just meeting people at shows and getting to know them and saying, ‘Hey, you know if you guys would need us, that would be great. Or if we can help you out in any way, let us know.’ And it started this network in the local scene that you can always go back to.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Athens music scene, follow Judge Russo (@judge_russo) and WARP (@at_warp) on Instagram for future house shows and concerts.