Music

Not much has changed about 11 W. 11th St. since it opened as the all-ages music venue Model City Records in the spring. There still isn't any furniture, just a sizable stage and even bigger dance floor. There's no bar and no food – this is strictly a music venue. It's clean, it's safe, and it's rocking most Friday and Saturday nights.

Model City Records is the third all-ages venue owner Tyler Vise has opened in this region in the past four years, and is one of the few venues in this area that has live original bands from across the country. Friday they are holding Model City Fest, a musical melting pot of punk, metal, indie rock, hip hop and more.

Vise and Casey Rosamond, who works the door and security at the venue, sat down and talked about their upcoming show and why they love their venue.

You've got a lot of different genres of music on the bill for Model City Fest. Why'd you decide to do it that way?

Tyler: We're trying to bring out each crowd from the scene – all the metal crowd, the punk crowd, the rock crowd ... and a crowd that normally would not come. It's just something trying to bring all the musicians and fans together to put on something bigger than we usually do and bring everybody together.

Casey: Pretty much, at ModelCityFest we have something for anybody that's into, pretty much any kind of music. If you like alternative, metal, hip hop, punk.

Tell me about the bands that will be playing.

Tyler: There's Jesse Nobody, a punk rock band fronted by a black guy with a big 'fro wearing a kilt; St. Valentine's Day Massacre, a really heavy, tattooed up metal band; Fivenine, who brings out every 15-year-old girl in Anniston — we call it "dirty pop punk"; The Saving Throw, indie rock — basically half the people that run the venue are in the band; and LNO Records, a hip hop group from Jacksonville.

How do you find bands to book these shows?

Tyler: Just until recently, until we developed a name, it's been me staying on the computer probably 16-20 hours a week just sending bands messages, trying to get them here, trying to find locals that are going to promote the shows. I've kind of been around and know everybody that's in a band around here.

What kind of crowd comes to your shows?

Tyler: It's pretty much the people who were around 1213 (an all ages club that closed), in those bands or influenced by those bands that are still around kicking it. When there was 1213, it was mainly high school bands, because they brought out everybody in high school, whether you were a fan of music or not, it's what you would do on the weekends. But things have changed.

There's a certain crowd that usually comes in. But it's different people for different shows. There's probably about 300 people that come to shows, or have been to more than one show, so it's pretty much like picking from that. You promote the shows to this group, just trying to keep bringing those people out. And the Fest, we're hoping to do that, just bring out everybody from this crowd.

You do all your promotion for shows online. How is that working?

Tyler: Myspace is god. It saves a lot of money. I used to do fliers, but there's no sense in it now, since there's Myspace. Why this venue works is because I take a day and I leave a flier on everybody's page. I used to do it on all my friends, but I have too many now, but I still do it now on all the local ones.

This is your third venue venture. Why do you keep doing it?

Tyler: The only reason I do it is because someone did it for me when I was a kid, and I want to do it for them. And I'm in two bands, I mean, it's been my life for the last four years. And if it's not your life, then you can't do it, because there's not any money in it. I probably put $300 of my money back in this place – I put all my time, I practically stay here.

People never think I'm gonna make it happen. Then I do it, and I do it way better than they thought I could, and (bands) are like "Hey, we want more money, because you're getting all these people here so you're making oodles of money"' People don't understand — no, there's not.

Casey: There's many strong friendships, even people being married from hanging out at 1213. Brotherhoods. If it weren't for that, Tyler and I probably wouldn't be friends.

Tyler: People don't realize how important places like this are, even though they really appreciate it, until they look back and say "Wow, I wouldn't have had anything to do on the weekends. I wouldn't have met this person, or I wouldn't have met that person." I would hate to think back and think of all the memories I wouldn't have if I hadn't had all these places. And especially this one.

How did you get interested in starting a venue?

I went to Heflin High School. I didn't like deer hunting, and I didn't like mud riding. I thought that I was just the weirdest, strangest kid in the world. I didn't dress out of the ordinary, or anything. Life just sucked. Then one day the "weird" kid from school, I gave him a ride – actually, the guy who runs sound for us now – to 1213, and I went in and I was like 'This is what I want to do. You gotta teach me how to play guitar.' I started promoting that club, and then that place closed down. A few others things came up that weren't right – their heart wasn't in it. So I started putting on my own shows and then it just kind of went from there.

One thing that's different about your place than most other venues around here is that most of your musicians play original music. Why is that?

Tyler: We don't want to be like them (other venues). We want to be different. We love Anniston, but we don't want to bring Anniston to Anniston. We want to bring Detroit and Atlanta ... well, all the good parts of these places. We want to bring that music here, stuff that you can't go out to a bar and hear.

Casey: We're all about the art of it. There's not a lot of art in learning someone else's song.

Model City Fest

What: Show featuring St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Cheyne Stokes, The Saving Throw, Fivenine, LNO Records, Jesse Nobody
When: Friday, 5 p.m.
Where: 11 W. 11th St., Anniston
How much: $6
Contact: 525-0542