Fountain Square is the place to be on Friday night. Local punk icons Loudmouth and The Dopamines are going to shake up downtown. We caught up with both bands to get some one on one time before they fill up the square on Friday.
THE DOPAMINES:
How did you get involved in the Cincinnati Music Scene?
We became involved in the Cincinnati music scene through DIY punk shows years ago. Most of the indie/punk/hardcore in Cincinnati is pretty incestuous, everyone knows each other and we've all been in bands together.
What’s been your biggest moment so far? The achievement you are most proud of to date?
I would say our biggest moment so far was one of our more recent European tours. We played a festival called Groezrock in Belgium. I believe the attendance was 35,000 people, making it the biggest punk/hardcore festival in world history. Otherwise touring playing in 49 American states has been really cool. We've got everywhere but Alaska! Touring Hawaii would have to be one of our coolest accomplishments as well.
What is your favorite venue to play when home in Cincinnati?
Favorite venue? The Southgate House Revival is really great, I love Mayday Northside as well. Otherwise, the house that Jerry and Peyton from Vacation live at right now have really great shows all the time. That'd probably be our favorite.
What is next for Dopamines?
We're hopefully going to finish our fourth full length pretty soon. We'd like to see that come out this winter if all goes well. Otherwise we hope to keep seeing the world until we're irrelevant. haha.
Being the iconic punk band that you are, what advice do you have for local musicians?
A majority of local Cincinnati musicians don't play outside of Cincinnati yet expect some kind of bullshit recognition or respect. They over-saturate local venues and play trite set lists. I would encourage all local musicians to get out of town, especially if you really believe in what you're playing. The worst mistake a band can do is try too hard. God bless the bands from Cincinnati right now that are getting out of town doing there thing as well.
LOUDMOUTH:
How did you get involved in the Cincinnati Music Scene?
(Tim) Well I guess it all started with going to local shows and hanging out in smelly basements packed with sweaty, beer soaken degenerate punkers. After my first mosh pit experience I was hooked. I craved the chaos and felt a sense of belonging, but being on stage conducting the chaos with my own music seemed to be even more appealing so I started a punk rock band with the other founding members of Loudmouth, Bret and Adam, when I was 15 called Dexter. We have been imposing our music on the Cincinnati scene in local bars/venues since before I had a drivers lisence.
(Nick) I really love music and have been passionate about as long as I can remember. I started going to punk rock shows in peoples basements as a teenager when I moved here from St. Louis. I started my first punk band in Cincinnati at age 15 with some other friends from the west side and started playing shows. As an adult I played in Situation Red before I joined Loudmouth. Music is what keeps me going and driven. I don't know what I'd do without it, keeps me sane.
What's been you biggest moment so far? The time when you felt like this is why I do this?
(Tim) The first time I stepped on a stage I knew that I was born to perform, but the biggest moment was the first time we played with NoFx at Madison Theater. NoFx was in my top 3 bands that I aspired to share a stage with, so I was pretty stoked to cross that one off the band's bucket list. The house was packed with drunk, angsty punk rockers and we had a direct support spot since The Menzingers dropped last second. It is the only time I can remember the nerves getting to me. My stomach felt like a mosh pit and no matter how much booze I threw down the hatch it couldn't calm the nerves. The minute I hit the stage the nerves went away and I knew this was going to be a long term gig. Something about 2,000 punk rockers affectionately flipping me the bird that gave me the warm and fuzzies.
(Nick) Every time I play live. I can't say there's been one exact moment. The energy our friends and fans give back to us while I'm performing makes it all worth it at the end of the day. After all, without their support we wouldn't be able or driven to keep doing what we do.
What's one thing our audience can do this week to engage in and help build up the Cincinnati Music Scene?
(Tim) GO TO SHOWS!!! It's fun I promise! The scene can get pretty saturated with lots of bands, venues, events etc. A thriving scene is reliant on have enthusiastic crowds to enjoy what musicians starve themselves to create. If you already go to shows a lot, get more involved and get on a street team to help bring more people to shows.
(Nick) Spread the word about us. Encourage people you know who haven't heard us to come out and see us perform with all of the other great bands playing that night. Post it on social media sites.
What is next for Loudmouth? Projects, shows etc...
(Tim) Tour, tour, TOUR! We are going to be hitting the road this summer/fall as much as possible. We are working on some really cool in town shows this summer/fall, so stay tuned Cincinnati scenesters. We have about 6 unrecorded songs and we're working diligently on more material to record this fall. Hopefully our sixth release will be a full length and accompanied by a super sweet music video.
MidPoint Indie Summer @ Fountain Square
Friday June 21st
10:00 Loudmouth
9:15: The Dopamines
8:45: The Lockland Brakes
8:00: BoyMeetsWorld
FREE
