The Heart of the Provo Music Scene (and where is it going?)

The music world in Provo is centralized around one place. That place is Velour.

And the velour (and subsequently the Provo music scene) is centered around one guy. Corey Fox.

This article in the Deseret News says (in an interview with Provo mega-blogger C. Jane Kendrick) that “You can’t talk about the Provo music scene and not talk to Corey Fox, he is an amazing coach for a lot of these bands. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got magic.”

Indeed, Corey Fox seems to be the godfather of music in Provo. With his blessing a band can get a hold in the local scene, and without it ... things might be harder. 

As far as the nature of the music scene, Fox admits that “Provo is a transient town, so you only have these bands for a short amount of time.” Thus he sees himself (and the Velour) as more of a means of developing bands, helping them find direction rather than being the final destination. 

I think this is perhaps the main component that sets Provo apart from other music scenes around the country. Nowhere else do you have a scene that is small enough to have essentially one man control everything. And nowhere else do you have one guy capable of handling a scene this big. So it is an interesting balance. 

People in provo are starting to take notice, as well. Recently, a blog called "provobuzz" featured the top 10 bands in provo here. The post got some good attention and shares from various social networks (Facebook being the biggest). Another post on the same site claims that the local music scene is on the verge of exploding. 

But i'm a bit skeptical that things are headed that way. The blog was talking about mainstream success, and Provo houses mainly indi-bands. Bands that are aiming for niche markets in certain genres rather than mainstream success. 

I decided to interview Perry Burton, the drummer for the Provo band Eli Whitney, to try and understand the nature of the Provo Music scene in Provo and what sets it apart from the rest of the country.  What I knew going into the interview was that Provo was certainly no L.A. or New York in terms of having a ton of big bands. Provo was something different. Burton didn't think so either. In fact, his opinion was different than the blogger who thought Provo was on the verge of exploding. Perry's opinion on that subject was that "Provo is the way it is partially because of our demographic here and partially because of size. I don't think it would be (or will be) the same when it gets to be a million people bigger or what not." Everybody is aware that Provo is growing rapidly, and that certainly means 10 years from now things may be very different. And i'm not sure one can predict what things will look like. 

But, Perry continues, "right now it's just big enough to produce a populated scene with lots of players/groups/shows/etc. but small enough that one group can make waves and rise to local fame which in turn, provo is then big enough to raise their star players high enough that the big boys out in LA and NY notice. So it's a careful balance right now, as I see it."

 A good comparison is looking at the Boise State (college) football team. They make a big impact on the national scene, yet they are a small school with a small pool of resources to draw from. Talking with Perry confirmed this. And he also lauded the way "digital mediums allow for completely decentralized success of an otherwise totally centralized concept ("the scene")." All this goes into that careful balance of the Provo music scene.

Finally, when I asked Perry about Provo being a halfway point, or a stepping stone for bands rather than a final destination... well, he wasn't convinced that was a good idea. "The way I see it, why would I want to live somewhere with 1,000 other up-and-coming bands? When I can live here and be famous and make waves and get attention. Big fish in the small(er) pond, so to speak." I agree with Perry to a certain extent. I think a band would be wise to stay in Provo on the condition that they are also having lot's of success in the digital realms (as opposed to bringing lots of people to there live local shows but not getting much play in the digital). I just don't see Provo bands doing that at the moment.  

For example, look at the band Chvrches (from Scotland). In this article in The Guardian the band gets classified as "quintessential examples of that recent paradigm, mysterious-new-sensation-make-giant-splash-with-debut-track." Meaning, they were born on the internet, getting big thanks to blogs and re-posts. Indeed, the first time there music was ever heard by anybody (live shows included) was when they were featured on the blog Neon Gold. They got a ton of Plays off of that, and just like that they were a widely known band. And all this before even playing a show as a band. For me, this represents the truly digital bands, or at least bands that are using the full potential that the digital world has created. Of course, it takes a bit of luck and a certain kind of music to get big on the internet like that. 

Recently, I was able to talk to Derek Miller, the guitarist in the two-piece band Sleigh Bells. I asked him what it was, exactly, that got them huge, if he could pinpoint something. He told me it was when some of there demo tracks got featured on a blog that was being done for the movie Where The Wild Things Are. They got posted on that blog (somewhat coincidentally) and suddenly they were being passed around the internet. Here is an excerpt from the blogger who did the blogging: 

"In August 2009, I blogged about the duo for a website coordinated by Spike Jonze for his movie Where the Wild Things Are. Spike got excited about the music and played it for his friend M.I.A., who also got excited. Several other things happened after that, and now here they are at the low-ceilinged Studio, about to play for a packed audience that's already generating a smell typically associated with the end of a show: booze, sweat, booze sweat."

So here is another band that got big before they were really even a band with mixed and mastered tracks. 

It is this sort of thing that Provo is lacking. Imagine Dragons and Neon Trees got big primarily because they played very good live shows (Imagine Dragons) or because they were invited on tour with a big band (Neon Trees going with The Killers). Once they started to gain steam, it of course helped that they had some good movies put up by local outfit Occidental Saloon, but that was not what got the wheel moving initially.

The Provo music scene is most likely to continue in this precariously balanced state. A lot of small bands fighting to become the big fish in a small pond. And the occasional band that makes it. As far as an explosion? I think the scene is not set for one, nor does it need one. That isn't Provo's identity. Provo will be that cool niche that not many people know about but has a lot going for it. However, I definitely think the scene will continue to grow, as more people take notice, and more bands get success. More people will take it seriously. More bands will come here hoping to succeed in this small-pond dynamic. It is unique in the nation because of that.