Dial The Wild
Dial The Wild Podcast is an ongoing discussion with like-minded individuals who have a desire to engage the primal nature within themselves. Topics ranging from Music, Sports, Hunting, Archery, Jeeping, MMA, Comedy, Fishing, etc. what ever dials-in your wild!
Dial The Wild
Jordan Anthony's Journey with QC Booking
What happens when a passionate musician decides to support the local music scene? Meet Jordan Schmelzer, also known as Jordan Anthony on Facebook, as he embarks on an ambitious journey with QC Booking to inject new life into the Quad Cities' music culture. From his time playing in bands like Phantom Threat and Crimson Clean Sweep to his endeavors in Texas, Jordan's story is packed with determination and a vision to create unforgettable live music experiences.
The pandemic may have silenced stages, but the local music scene is roaring back, thanks to dedicated individuals like Jordan and other community champions like wanting to see it continue and thrive. Hear how different groups are playing a crucial role in this resurgence. Jordan also sheds light on his experiences in concert lighting and his commitment to being at every possible show to support the scene. Take a trip down memory lane with mentions of Seven Dust concerts in Clinton, Iowa, and look forward to the exciting expansion plans for Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. This episode is a must-listen for any band eager to join the vibrant Midwest music community.
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Thank you, we'll see you next time. Hey, welcome to another episode of Dial the Wild podcast. I got Jordan Schmelzer, is that right, schmelzer?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's Jordan Schmelzer, anthony on Facebook, but that's my middle name, anthony on Facebook but that's my middle name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I saw you had a venture that you were jumping into, which is similar to what I'm trying to do down here, about an hour and a half south of you.
Speaker 1:And you're starting a venture called QC Booking. Yep, yeah, it's an idea I've had for a little while. I wanted to do some more booking in the Quad Cities. I'm not really in the Quad Cities area, I'm just outside of the Quad Cities area in a town called Muscatine but I wanted to get that started and do more for the scene.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Do you yourself play in bands or play shows, or is this something you're just setting up to bring in bands you enjoy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been in a few Quad Cities bands, so originally I started a band a couple years ago. It was Phantom Threat. I started that band with a few of my buddies and I played around with them for a little bit. We got some of our shows booked and then I ended up playing with this band called Crimson Clean Sweep after that, and then I ended up moving to Texas for a little while, so I lived down there and then I decided to move back up and start doing this excellent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm very familiar with the Phantom Threat guys. They they came down and played my first DTW event and they're they're a lot of fun, they're a good group. Um, and then, uh, knowing about the Muscatine area, you know, I've been over to Contrary. I've been over to Contrary, I've been over to Skinny's. I know what you're dealing with over there, man. That's good stuff.
Speaker 1:It's a cool spot. I've been wanting to get some shows lined up in Muscatine like the brew. There's a few spots. I was actually planning on buying a PA system to be able to put some shows in that red brick building down by the river down there.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely. I think we played down there a hundred years ago when I was. I was in a group called open the abyss and I played with Dustin Demitz and some of those guys that were that I went to school with at the time and then played with a lot of just a lot of local QC bands. I love what's going on with the scene in the QC area. So having this kind of service, you know, or this kind of you know, this opportunity to kind of take all the pieces of what's going on, you know, in that scene and and and find a way to kind of mesh it together, I think you're onto something there, just because, like I said, it's hopping. You've got hate division, you've got Wyvern, you've got pit Lord so many good groups up there that you know they're not only, they're not only killing it musically, but they're good guys too. They're a lot of fun to be around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I got a show booked, actually in August, which is going to be with Necron from Wisconsin, so I have that in the works. I have a few of those guys like Hate Division, dive, first Wyvern, like a lot of the local QCX that I'm going to be getting onto that show, so I'm pretty excited for that one. I have a few others in the works too which I'm pretty excited for.
Speaker 2:But yeah, those are all pretty cool guys in the works too, which I'm pretty excited for. But yeah, those are all pretty cool guys. So is it? You've got certain venues that are looking to bring bands in, or you got bands that are looking for venues? Is it a little bit of both?
Speaker 1:yeah, um. So, like I said before, I was trying to look at buying this big pa system so I can just put it in these halls myself and just run it out of it, because I was working with I'm seeing about Skylark putting on a few shows there and they have the in-house system and everything, which is nice. But I'd like to be able to, you know, put them on and in like an actual hall and just run them myself.
Speaker 2:Obviously, like I was looking at, uh, trying to see about reaching out to them as well, but yeah, because a lot of times these connections are made because a couple bands are like dude, let's do a show together and then before you know it, you know okay who's gonna do sound or where are we gonna do it, and a lot of times those shows come together and they work out just fine. But when you have a show where you have a promoter or you have, um, you have the producer, you have you know the, everything set in place that all these guys got to do is come and set up and play it's. It's a really comfortable atmosphere for for a lot of bands, I know.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and um, being in the scene long enough, it feels nice being able to know a lot of the people already and, uh, being like knowing justin from skylark uh, he's a good guy, just being able to set those shows up and be able to make them happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Skylark's a good time. I love the Hilltop Drop. I know it was kind of a small tight area, but I loved going in there and seeing shows. It just reminded me of an old-school venue, just like a packed Legion Hall that we used to go to shows back in the day. Raccoon Motel is a lot of fun. Just went up there not too long ago. No, it wasn't Raccoon Motel, what's the other one? I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:The one in Davenport. Yeah, they have a village theater as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, village theaters there. I just saw Wyvern there not too long ago for their EP show, which was really good. Um shoot, it was just up there not too long ago to see uh god war's last show with um rascals. That's the one I'm thinking of. That's a great venue too, so just a lot of potential. There's a lot of talent up there and I think if you get in the right spot with the right people and and you know, make those connections, it takes and he's a kenny's a pretty cool guy from rascals too.
Speaker 1:I talked to him quite a bit. Um, he owns the venue. Uh, he's a really nice guy to work with, um, so, yeah, I'm I'm really looking forward to doing this more in the Quad Cities. I mean, the scene's been getting way bigger the last couple of years, so I'm excited to see where that goes in the near future.
Speaker 2:I think that's going to be a really big thing. Yeah, I think it's a great idea. Where did you start coming up with the idea to do this? Like you said, you were playing with some bands, you moved away and then when you came back you're like this area needs somebody to to bring these clubs and bands together and put these shows together. Like when did you start thinking about doing that? And you know kind of what was the inspiration behind that and just um, how do you kind of see it moving forward, just just starting out uh, yeah, the past few years I've been booking a lot of my uh, my unbanned shows onto um, to bills.
Speaker 1:Like we got a few shows and, uh, I set some up in waterloo, actually at this place called Octopus, which is a pretty cool spot it's like a tiny little dive bar up there around the Cedar Valley area and Iowa City. I booked a couple shows at El Rey's and I was. We played a few shows at Gabe's too, which is a cool spot, but so I've been doing that for a while. I just never have like put other bands that aren't my own onto shows. So I'm pretty excited to bring other bands other than my own on, so like shows.
Speaker 2:To make that happen is that's something I've never really done before is put other bands onto shows that aren't like my own, you know yeah, yeah, my first show, I think, was majority of Quad City bands and then after that I tried really hard just pulling bands from different areas. You know I wanted to try and get these scenes together bands from Quincy, bands from peoria and springfield and in the quad cities, and it's just a lot of fun, even even with your, your core group of bands and and venues and stuff. Sometimes you get those bands from out of the area and you kind of see how their scene runs and how their scene works and just meet some really good people and have a good time with them as well yeah, I've been.
Speaker 1:I've been meaning to pull some bands from like the Chicago scene Cause I know there's a pretty few good bands over there. I was going to get try to get blind equation portals onto a bill. I have a bill from blind equations other band, exosphere on their show coming up in July which I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 2:That would be great man. And then you just kind of build up from there and you try not to spend any more than you have to and you don't promise things you can't provide. And then after that you just kind of build on what you have, hoping that the show you just had helps pay for the next one.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I have this flyer guy that he makes pretty good flyers, that he actually has done stuff for Gojira. His name is Necromold on Instagram, but he's a pretty good guy to work with too, making flyers and whatnot. Um, it does, uh, add up a little bit, you know, with, um, these professional flyers and getting that made, which I'm I'm sure you you know about. But, um, I'm I'm looking to put in quite a bit to the scene. That's what I feel like the scene has done for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah and uh. Like what bands through the years in within the Quad Cities scene have you grown up watching or looked up to or or really enjoy still maybe putting on you know, spotify or something.
Speaker 1:Um, a Muscatine band, specifically like Divine the Masses. I used to listen to them throughout like high school and I was always just jamming their music. They're they're always pretty good. Big influence Dustin from that band I know he's from Muscatine, those are all pretty cool guys. But yeah, I grew up just going to shows and seeing a lot of different bands, like exit emergency that's another band, that was the quad cities band. They're pretty cool and I know they're now all in eugene levy, which is a pretty cool uh qc band as well, if you've heard of them. But uh, eugene levy, um, sleep well is a pretty good example too.
Speaker 2:But yeah, those are all cool guys and then you guys get a lot of bands from, like I said, outside the area to come in and play too. I know that hardship comes in and plays every once in a while from waterloo love those guys, uh. And it just seems like every time I come up for a show, you know, in the Quad Cities somewhere, I usually go to see my buddies in different bands, but then you run into like another band you haven't heard of, that is in the Quad Cities or not far from, and you're like, wow, these guys are good too. You know, they just kind of pop out of the woodwork.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. There's a lot of talent in the scene and I'm hoping to bring more of that. Common Choir is another example. I want to try to bring them in the next few months. Just a lot of great bands around here that need more exposure. I agree.
Speaker 2:I feel like Absolutely, and you don't know where it could lead. You can start with booking and then, before you know it, I don't know, maybe end up with a label or something someday or some promotion type agency. But this is a good place to start, just trying to make the connections and and bring people and venues and stuff together and see you know kind of where it goes, because you really don't know how well it's going to go until you get a few shows into it, because you really don't know how well it's going to go until you get a few shows into it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, I've actually been trying to do more with. There's a metalcore band that I might be playing with soon, so I'm trying to do more with my music as well, other than booking. Booking's always been something important to me, but as well as the music, so I'm trying to get back into more bands and play around with that.
Speaker 2:You're looking for chemistry. You know with different dudes that you play with and you find out real quick. You know which dudes you enjoy playing with and which dudes you like hanging out with but maybe not playing music with.
Speaker 1:And you know.
Speaker 2:I've had that. I've had that conversation with a lot of different dudes on here about. You know, hey, I don't mind playing music but you know I try not to go too close to this or that just because I don't know. It seems like a lot of us in the scene now are 30, 40 year old dads and we're just kind of getting back to playing music and, you know, checking, checking stuff out and trying to be part of things. And when we were younger and rowdy it was about going to shows and throwing down and causing problems, but anymore it's just, you know, we just want to go and see good bands and enjoy our buddies in the scene and hang out with the homies and do our thing.
Speaker 1:You know, enjoy our buddies in the scene and hang out with the homies and and do our thing.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, no, um, I'm a, I'm a little younger than what uh, those older guys in the scene, but uh, I've always, you know, been around it and I'm I'm glad that's starting to um have a resurgence. Um, but, yeah, I've been playing with bands for a few years now but I've uh been able to make some good connections through it. Um, I'm only 25 right now. I'm turning 26 in a few months, but it'll uh, it's nice being able to see how the scene is growing Um, because I I know from a few of my old buddies and in my old bands that are older than me, they said, like how the scene was so big at one point but they felt like it was guys starting to die off for a little while. And but when we even when we started, uh phantom I know a few of those a couple of those guys told me that how the scene uh kind of died for a little, but they feel like it's coming back pretty big right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And you know the COVID situation didn't help anything. Everybody was cooped up and kept inside. And then, you know, it was just a matter of trying to get over that awkwardness of, okay, what do I do with my hands now that I can go outside or, you know, be able to do something. And, um, I think once guys were able to be like man, I really miss going to a club or going to a bar or to a venue and and seeing a heavy band you know it took that and just guys like hey, we've been working on this material, we want to get it out and show somebody and so after all that's said and done, then it's like, all right, well, let's get these groups together, let's get these venues together, let's see what we can do.
Speaker 2:We'll see what we can get going, and I think that it's really it's taken off well in the quad cities. Um, I know tim gale over in in quincy with his uh, midwest Monster Productions. He's killing it over there with bands. Every month he has a production of some sort. And then you see what bands like Darker Than Fiction out of Peoria and then bands like Dark Surface that are coming out of Springfield, which is spreading over into the Bloomington area and then into the Jacksonville area. And it's just cool how to see it, how it's building itself back up and kind of spreading. And it takes people that likes to put together shows and want to maintain it and see it be healthy. It takes that kind of person to keep it going.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it uh, it really feels like out of um all the scenes. Like the Des Moines scene has grown quite a bit last couple years, but I feel like the QC uh has taken off lot faster, which is pretty cool to see Because you know, like Die First and Hate Division coming out the last couple of years, even like Post AD, they were playing for a few years and then they started coming back playing a lot of shows now too. So that's pretty cool to see them start playing more back in the Quad Cities. So I think they took a break for a little while but it's cool to see them coming back.
Speaker 2:They're coming back, but they're one of those bands. I've told several friends now you know I've had them on two of my shows and I've gone up to two or three shows in the Quad Cities that they've been on the card and they're one of those bands. Every time you see them they get better. You know they improve each time you see them, which is it's. They're fun to watch.
Speaker 1:So I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon yeah, I'm looking forward to that uh July 27th show at uh at Rascals that I put on, with them on it. I think that's going to be a really great show and has a lot of great bands, has a Des Moines band, has a Chicago band on it as well, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how the crowd reception of that is.
Speaker 2:Sure. So who's Jordan? What do you do? What's your, what's your day job? What? What do you enjoy doing?
Speaker 1:um, right now I'm, uh, working in muscatine. I work at, uh, must go lighting, okay, um, we make stadium lights, but I've always grown up in the muscatine area. It's just, uh, I felt the scene hasn't been quite there is what I would like to try to make it coming up, because Muscatine, growing up, never really seemed to have that scene anymore as what the Quad Cities has. So that's why I feel like putting on shows in the Quad Cities right now. I'm going to try to start with that and then I'm going to try working at the Muscatine scene once I can get that going. But, yeah, right now I, I just I work at Musco, um, and I try to go to as many shows I can in the night.
Speaker 2:So, Absolutely, and I I really enjoy going up to the Quad Cities just because it just seems like the community gets around events. I, you go up there to an SCW wrestling event the little place called Bluegrass Iowa and you'll have 200 people in that room. You know they absolutely love it. You go up and someone's got a new beer unveiling at a brewery or something, and then you've got, you know, two or 300 people in there to check it out. The place is always packed for Steamwheeler games. It's always packed for Steamwheeler games. It's always packed for hockey games. You know baseball does well there as well, and I just, you know I really enjoy going up there. I enjoy being far enough away from it that I get to go up there and enjoy it when I go up there. But, like you know, a neat area, it's a fun area, it's big enough you can find whatever you want to do, go wherever you want to go, but it's small enough to like you're not overwhelmed by traffic or or chaos. Really.
Speaker 1:I think it's. Uh, it's really cool what you're doing for the Macomb scene, because I know that's a smaller type town too and, um, like is it? Is it a little bit harder to bring those bands to Macomb, or I didn't know how that would it's.
Speaker 2:It's difficult to get bands to Macomb. It's difficult. It's difficult to get the scene in Macomb. I would say metal hardcore, metalcore, deathcore, whatever you want to call it. We've done well. You know, maybe a hundred or few people come into different shows. I've got a great venue that I work with that. You know Caleb, I've been. It's been no secret of mine that he has been very, very instrumental in helping with my shows. I found sponsors to help fund, you know, the first few shows so that you know you can try and carry that on and keep it moving.
Speaker 2:Bands do fairly well in Macomb but a lot of times you're talking about like cover band type stuff. Your Captain Quirks, your Captain Geech Revel in Red. They played in Bushnell last night. You know your your 80s band. It's just bands that people can sing and dance to. They do really well in the area, I think mostly because it's an older crowd, but there are still enough people around that are interested in heavy music. I think a big part of it is like we don't have our metal hardcore band in macomb area. You know we don't have our band that we can draw other bands into to come play with them. A lot of times it's me just um, getting a hold of of three or four bands and figuring out who can play, what can happen, and then you know, hey, when do you guys want to play what's? You want to play last, you want to play first, and then we just work it out.
Speaker 1:You know, it's a lot, like I said, we're older now and it's a lot easier to it's harder because, you know, now I got to see if my buddy has a babysitter for his kids or something or I got to figure out how he can bring his kids to the show, but know they have that um I know they have that college down there as well, so I didn't know if that usually brings in some of that crowd as well, and believe it or not, we're actually surprised that, like, a lot of the crowd isn't isn't a whole lot of college kids, it's.
Speaker 2:It's mostly just folks in the area that enjoy metal music. So, um, we've kind of slowed down our productions over summer, just because fourth of july, memorial day, heritage days, all these towns are having their own little, because I actually live in bushnell and all these little towns have their own little festivals and stuff and it I don't. I don't really want to go against or try to compete against, you know, other people's events. So, um, once it starts to cool down and people don't want to be outside in the cold or something, then we'll look at throwing a few more things together. But yeah, you'll figure out while you're doing this the logistics of what works and what doesn't work. You know, my first event we put on four bands. It went great. My second event we tried five. It was a mess. The third event, we went back to four and it went pretty well again.
Speaker 2:So it's just the different battles you got to fight.
Speaker 1:I've been trying to, you know, bring in more alternative bands as well, not just metal, because I want to get the scene to be able to have a lot of diversity to it. And I know the guys in like House of Animals I'm not sure if they're still doing much anymore, but I put them on a show last year actually, so that's kind of when I started booking um. Or I put it on at rascals and so we had crimson clean sweep, um, a metal band from the qc. Uh, this was before I joined it um, but we had those guys and um at house of animals, so it was a mixed bill and I was I was real excited to bring more inclusion, you know, to the quad cities, not just metal bands and that's it um. I've always liked bringing like alternative, uh punk bands around, um, so I'm gonna keep trying to do more of that, like bringing more alternative and different acts around that aren't just metal.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And we've got a I got John PC show coming to do an event for me here this next week and they're kind of like a psychedelic alternative rock, bluesy. You know type of sweeping guitar type of group and they're a lot of fun. I've gotten to see them a few times. But you know type of sweeping guitar type of group and and they're a lot of fun. I've gotten to see them a few times. But you know, and knowing your crowd's, a big part of it too. You know, if you're going to put on a metal event, you have to expect that you're only depending on the metal scene. You bring in an alternative rock type bands. That's something that's going to connect with a lot more people and you hope that you get a few more people than than uh, than what you initially had advertised to, I guess, because yeah just putting on like a fundraising event helps too.
Speaker 1:So it seems like these past couple years mainly these past few years I noticed the qc has been more middle metal driven, which is is really cool to see. Um, but it would definitely be awesome to see more of those alternative bands around also. So that's pretty cool that you're putting that on down there. But, um, yeah, I really definitely want to try to bring more like psychedelic, uh rock type stuff over here and see if that goes well I think it would.
Speaker 2:Um. And then once you figure out, you know I don't want what crowd is going to stick around till nine, ten o'clock at night, what crowd is going to stick around till midnight, you know, do I want to have it in a bar or do I just want to get a Legion Hall and do most of it myself? You know, you start to sift through it, you see what situations work best with with different groups of people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a venue. A venue I'm I'm trying to work with right now. They're out of East Moline but they haven't really hosted shows there in a while. It's called Racer's Edge and that's a cool little spot out there. So I'm trying to bring more shows to that area too in East Moline, because mainly in the Quad Cities you have like Village Theater or Skylark, but you don't really hear much shows happening around east mulling, so I'm trying to push it out there too excellent.
Speaker 2:No, where can, uh, where can folks find you? What's what? What do you got going on on the socials?
Speaker 1:uh. So my instagram, my, my main is uh, jordan anthony drums. Uh, my qc booking is uh, atc booking. You can find me on Facebook at QC booking as well, or just my main page is Jordan Anthony. So that's mainly all my socials. I have TikTok as well. You can reach me on that.
Speaker 2:Okay, and if, if folks have a band or have an act or something that they're interested in bringing to town, they can get ahold of you and and see, um you know what events you got coming up and and see where you can fit folks in and, um, hopefully, keep bringing a more diverse crowd and more diverse music to your area.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm definitely trying to branch out and get more people over here. So if anybody anybody you know that's watching this has a band, you can always reach out to me. I'm trying to get something booked for uh, for a band and from clinton, so I'm pretty excited for that. A lot more stuff is gonna probably be happening in august, september, um shooting for early next year as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It seems like growing up Clinton. Was it just me? Or did Seven Dust play in Clinton? Like every other month? It seemed like growing up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did see Seven Dust once, but it was out of Cedar Rapids. But, um, yeah, those venues up there too. I'm trying to get in touch with, uh, cedar Rapids, Iowa City area. I don't want to just stick to the same area, so I'm definitely trying to do more up there too.
Speaker 2:Maybe Clinton, that would be a cool spot yeah, I don't know why, but it just seems like every other year growing up it's like, hey, seven Dust is in Clinton again.
Speaker 2:I don't know if they just liked it there or whether they had a connection there or what, but it'll be fun to see. You know, with the different groups and stuff, and if you get into touring acts coming through town and finding a spot for them to play, it'll be interesting to see how you take this thing and how it grows. If anybody's looking to get up into the Iowa area and play some shows, get a hold of Jordan at QC Booking. I know that it's a lot more fun to have people call you and ask you to put on a show than it is to to call bands and beg them to come. So, um, you know, and you'll have a little bit of both but, like I said, it's fun, it's stressful but it's rewarding in the end and it's just fun to to see what all the bands in this area or I'm gonna say the midwest area see, what they've been able to put together and build, and you just want to do what you can to try and maintain it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's something I've always loved doing, just booking. So looking forward to doing more of that, bringing more regional Midwest spans into the picture, into the QC scene. So definitely looking forward to all of that.
Speaker 2:All right, man. Well, I'll let you go. We'll get some links and stuff posted with this podcast and if anybody wants to get up north and play some shows there in Iowa, give them a shout. You can give me a shout on Dial to Wild and I'll get it to him. Either way you want to do it, we will try and get it going. So thanks for coming on. Good luck with this. Let me know when your shows are coming. We'll get them posted and we'll see if we can't get some crowds headed your way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely Thanks. I appreciate you uh giving me the chance to talk.
Speaker 2:No, I, you know I'm I'm passionate about getting people down here to play music, and it sounds like you're passionate about getting people up here to play music and it sounds like you're passionate about getting people up there to play more music. So you know it's as long as the scene works together and folks work together to put on good shows of good venues with good bands. I you know we shouldn't see it die off again in our lifetime, so yeah, well, thanks a lot, I appreciate it no worries.
Speaker 2:Thanks, man yep. Well, thanks a lot. I appreciate it no worries.
Speaker 1:Thanks, man.
