Covering the local underground alternative scene

Hey everyone, I hope I’m posting this in the right spot; if I missed the mark, I’m hoping the mods will just move the thread instead of deleting it.

So, I started this thread because I really wanted to open up a conversation with you all, hear your thoughts, and maybe pick your brains for some advice. I happen to be one of those rare folks who actually believes the American alternative scene—and by that, I mean everything from rock and metal to punk, including all those cool subgenres and hybrids—has a real future. We have such a massive wealth of bands right here in the States, but so many of them go unnoticed because the major labels and industry gatekeepers are always busy dictating what's supposed to be "popular."

For quite a while now, I've been working on a website dedicated to promoting this specific scene. I won't drop the link just yet because I don't want this to look like a blatant advertisement, which isn't my intention at all. We've had a lot of success lately with interviews, reviews, columns, and even radio shows, and we have plenty more planned. The whole crew—from the original team to the newer folks joining us—is working entirely on a volunteer basis, driven purely by passion. Even people who joined the site after experiencing the local scene firsthand have told me how blown away they were by the sheer amount of incredible, talented bands out there.

What I’m curious to know is: do you guys also feel like our domestic scene has a bright future? And what do you think about the idea I’ve been developing—creating a dedicated media space, a unique corner of the internet specifically for these bands? It would be a place where everyone gets a fair shot to showcase their music and get exposure completely free of charge, so they don't need deep pockets just to get their five minutes of fame and reach an audience. Do you think people actually need a project like this? Is this kind of fight against mainstream commercialism a losing battle, or is the war just getting started?

On another note, I was wondering if any of you have experience in music journalism, if you're still active in it, or if you might ever be interested in contributing to a music portal like ours?

Thanks in advance for reading, and I hope you all have a wonderful day! 🙂

The American underground scene is probably stronger than it’s ever been right now. There are tons of incredible, promising bands out there that—unfortunately—hardly anyone knows about, let alone people who actually listen to this kind of music, much less reaching a mainstream audience. It isn't easy to "get noticed" when you don't have anyone pushing you forward. Most record labels today are basically a joke... they don't see the profit in this kind of music, so most of these bands have just turned to the DIY route... you put an album up for free download and just hope for the best—that someone might notice and recognize that what you're doing actually carries some weight.

That's why any help from places like this Metal/Rock Portal is always welcome... the "masses" still aren't going to "discover" these bands, but maybe it reaches a few more people who actually care about this genre. It certainly can't hurt. It would be great if more radio stations started paying attention to the underground scene, instead of just spinning the same old stuff and those so-called hits because they're afraid to try something new and lose listeners or miss out on revenue. Personally, I only know of NPR and a couple of indie stations that play lesser-known bands, but I assume there are other small stations like that out there.

Regarding that last point, I've never really dabbled in music journalism—mostly because I doubt I could write a review quite as high-quality as 😁—but I do love "discovering" new, obscure American bands... there's no better feeling than hearing one of them a few years later guesting on a major mainstream station, getting played on MTV, or seeing them get a two-page spread in a major daily paper (anywhere they can reach a wider crowd). It's great to see that people have finally broken through and that what they're doing might actually reach a massive audience—way bigger than what you could have imagined back when you first downloaded their debut album from YouTube or Bandcamp...

Silente (though it's hard to define their genre, let's call them pop-rock) is a good example of a band that broke through pretty fast—it wasn't DIY this time, since they're on a label, so I guess that path isn't totally lost either. Around this time last year, they dropped their first single on YouTube; absolutely nobody knew who they were, and now, from what I can see, they're being played everywhere, even on mainstream radio.

Thankfully, other quality bands (or singer-songwriters) are reaching that level too, and thank God we have names like Machine, Genoa, Storage, all the way from Port Mort, Seven Mouldy Figs, and Sara Renar...

If you don't want to drop the name of the site here, just shoot me a DM. I’m really curious about what’s actually going on in our local underground scene. Ever since my high school days, I feel like I'm hearing the exact same handful of names over and over again. The big headlines are always just news about new albums from Cold Beer, Neno Belan, Psychomod, Prljavac, Apple, and the rest of that crowd. They've been around forever, and honestly, their prime years are likely behind them, yet we have all these incredible garage bands sitting there ready to take their place on the big stages if anyone would just notice.

A lot of bands nowadays are releasing their albums for free download. Take The Brk—they managed to break through using that method without any media hype or official backing, and now they’re pretty mainstream. Then you have Dubioza, who also puts stuff up for download, but they already had that massive hit Blam that made them household names, from indie kids to people at country music festivals. By the time they put the 5 to 12 album up for download, they were already famous enough that it wasn't a "breakthrough" move; it was just a way to boost the popularity they had already built.

It’s true that while a handful of bands manage to break through and make it big, there’s still a massive majority of incredibly talented groups stuck in the background, living at the mercy of the underground scene...

The internet has fundamentally changed how we handle promotion—especially with platforms like YouTube, MySpace, and Bandcamp—but let's be real: nobody is just going to stumble upon your link out of nowhere. A video sitting at an average of 300 views isn't exactly going to pop up in the "related videos" sidebar next to heavy hitters like Metallica, Foo Fighters, or even some gritty punk outfits like Prljavac, regardless of whether they share the same genre (even if we're just talking broadly about rock). You still basically need to bribe Google to get them to push you, or at least get your link placed somewhere visible enough for an audience to actually notice you. It's the same story with MySpace and Facebook; only a tiny fraction of people will ever discover a band through a virtual friend's activity. I mean, we all know how it goes—someone shares a post on their wall, and you just scroll right past it because nothing caught your eye or you simply didn't feel like clicking.

That’s exactly why I wanted to gather everything in one centralized spot (specifically for us American alternative fans) to help pave the way for those promising young bands looking for an audience. All people really need to do is visit this one portal, and everything will be laid out for them; they can find a band that fits their specific taste, listen to a demo, an EP, or a full album, pass it along to a friend, and that’s how the cycle continues. The whole trick is just getting people to congregate in one single location. 🙂
There are also plenty of people who genuinely love following the "underground" scene but have absolutely no clue where to start looking, which makes having one dedicated hub an ideal project—well, "ideal" is probably the best word for it... 🙂 I'm really hoping that more people will recognize what we're building here very soon and start supporting the project in much larger numbers than we see right now.

Just drop the link then, go ahead and promote yourself. Nobody’s gonna hold it against you if you're actually out here supporting the scene...

🙂🤣

Seriously though

gentlegull93 said:Come on, just drop the link and promote yourself! Nobody’s going to hold it against you if you're just trying to support the scene.

It really shouldn't 🙂🤣

I'm being totally serious here

The subforum rules clearly state that advertising is off-limits, so I'm just playing by the book unless a moderator steps in and clarifies that sharing links this way doesn't count as an ad.

If this Metal/Rock Portal isn't running on commercial interests, then I don't give a damn about their ads anyway.

Alright then, I think I'll be brave enough to go ahead and pass this link along to you all 😁

Here is the link to the Underground Lyrics Radio (SOUL) page

I’m trying to get a handle on the local rock scene here. People talk up these incredible bands constantly, but I’m honestly flying blind—I don't know much about them. I know a few decent acts that kill it with covers and throw in an original track now and then, but that's about it. Can anyone point me in the right direction and fill me in?

The online portals are great, but I really miss having actual fanzines and physical magazines around. Koox was a top-tier publication; it's a damn shame it didn't stick around.

ruggedjackal68 said:Fine, I'll stop playing games and just drop the link right here... 😁

Here's the link to the Underground Lyrics Radio site...

I told you so much earlier...🤷
Just listen to me and you'll be fine...😳
😁

I'll be watching... 👍

graniteeagle41 said:I’m really interested in getting into the local rock scene here. You guys talk so much about these incredible bands and the overall vibe, so I was wondering what you’d recommend? To be honest, I don't know many of these groups yet. I know a few solid ones that kill it with covers and throw in an original track here and there, but I'd love some more info if someone could point me in the right direction.

The online portals are great, but I really find myself missing those old-school fanzines and physical magazines. Koox used to be such an awesome publication; it’s a real shame it didn't stick around longer.

One of my absolute favorite rock acts that unfortunately broke up was Black Feather. If you haven't heard them yet, they are definitely worth your time—their songwriting is top-notch, the musicianship is incredible, and they were just a stellar band overall.
Another local group I know who also sadly called it quits is Erections of Mind—those guys absolutely crushed their live sets, so it's a bummer they aren't playing anymore...
Then there’s this band out of Los Angeles that deserves some love too; they’ve already released one album and have another on the way called Ultimatum... they're fantastic, true rockers through and through.

Give them a listen and let me know what you think! 😉

ruggedjackal68 said:Some of my all-time favorite rockers who unfortunately broke up were Black Feather. If you haven't heard them, they’re a band worth your time—killer lyrics, absolute masters of their instruments, just a top-tier group...
Another local band I know that also split up, and man, they were incredible, was Erection of Mind. Those guys absolutely crushed live shows; it's a shame they aren't playing anymore...
Then there's that band from Los Angeles worth noting; they have one album out and a second on the way called Ultimatum... great stuff, solid rockers too.

Check them out and let me know what you think.😉

I listened to Black Feather back when they were active. I actually read an interview yesterday on your Metal/Rock Portal. But like you can see, the guitarist mentioned it was mostly tension because they weren't local to each other, and it's hard to secure enough funding for major tours. The band released maybe two symbolic albums—not much money went into them, but plenty of ideas did. I dig them. However, that's a band that hasn't been active for a long time and probably never will be again. You can't really count them as part of the current rock scene.

I'm listening to Erection of Mind right now, and damn, they are good.😁 Okay, they're a great gigging band, but as you said—they don't play anymore.😁 How many of them can we even include in the modern rock scene?

Ultimatum has a killer vocalist; the guy honestly blew me away.

For instance, I thought Cota G4 was amazing with their first album; I played that constantly. Then, after the lineup Change, I couldn't stand them because they took a different direction, and now I don't even know what happened to them. Not that I care—I just spin the first album every once in a while.🤣

Following those guys, for example, the crew from the Bad Mushrooms band could probably be at the top right now.😁 The new lineup sounds great——and the Czech guy from Strawberry has a solid band going currently—. There are still a few other groups playing similar music, but it's all pretty weak. There are no albums, so there's nothing substantial to actually listen to.

It's pointless for you to list and comment on these old bands; we've all heard them years ago and everything has already been said. What's lacking are fresh names and songs. As far as I know, 😁

A similar website has actually been around for quite some time now... it’s all about Cmar, obviously. Though, I can't help but feel the person who started this thread is just playing the victim or.........?

So what if Cmar wants to do his thing? He can do whatever he wants while everyone else sits there—not that things aren't getting a little tense around here, but whatever.

Sean Doyle97 said:So what if Cmar does whatever he wants? It’s not like anyone else is allowed to do anything at all... honestly, I’m not trying to make this a whole big thing, but still...

The way this topic is framed makes it seem like some groundbreaking, unique endeavor, but please, don't act oblivious to the underlying point I'm making here... It is, of course, perfectly reasonable to want to promote emerging bands through any means available, including various niche websites. The real question, however, lies in whether this specific strategy actually works. Cmar—and indeed many others besides him—have been attempting this exact method for years now, yet we see very little to show for it. It seems quite clear that this particular approach doesn't yield much in terms of actual exposure... I find myself wondering if we should perhaps look toward how musicians from smaller nations have managed to break through, like the bands coming out of Finland or Sweden, for instance. It certainly isn't an impossible feat, especially when one considers that twenty years ago, nearly 99% of successful rock and metal artists were strictly Americans or Britons. Today, that landscape has shifted dramatically, with talent emerging from every corner of the globe. Yet, I can't help but wonder why there just isn't anyone breaking through from America...🤷

The American Metal/Rock Portal definitely carries weight within the scene, especially among fans of the genres they cover. This isn't some fly-by-night blog that popped up yesterday; many massive bands owe their huge breakout success to the promotion they received there.

Guess I totally misread the room on this one, but whatever. No need to get all worked up about it.

btw breaking into the mainstream isn't the only way to find meaning in the underground.

graniteeagle41 said:Listing all those old bands feels kind of pointless—we've all heard them before, and honestly, there isn't much left to say about them. But as for anything new? Not really. As far as I know, 😁

I actually posted a few links to some "new" artists in response to your earlier question, but apparently, that wasn't allowed—the moderators wiped them out. I'm not quite sure why the links in your post were left up then, but whatever.