Find your scene.

As Fall approaches it seems everyone thinks of changing things up, moving somewhere new, or at the very least, buying a new pair of school shoes.

Dear AAP -

What is the best town, in your opinion to move to if you want to start a band? – Punk Rock Style.

Dear PRS -

This is a great question… and it is a different question from “What is the best town for my band to move to?” Know what I mean? If you’ve already got a band together and you’ve done all you can in your small hometown well, then you have to pick a bigger pond to throw yourselves into – as a unit – to get a bigger fan base, more experience playing in front of bigger audiences and a chance to spread the word about your amazing band. In that case you would likely want to find a medium-to-large city with a fairly established music scene that you would then try to crack. By an established scene I mean: multiple venues (of various sizes) that you could book your band into, and those established clubs would have plenty of regulars, and some of those regulars would be writing blogs and zines about the local band scene and well, it all feeds on itself. There are plenty of cities that fit this description, and with the demise of the centralized record industry, believe me when I tell ya: You don’t have to move to Los Angeles to pursue your punk rock & roll dreams. Of course with a myspace band page and some minor computer skills you could stay in your hometown and still reach the masses… if your stuff can somehow be heard over the general din… but, as I’ve said before: There should be much more to your band than how many ‘friends’ you have on your website. You’ve got to bring the music to the people. Live and sweaty, if you want to be a real band in any true sense.

But you asked something different. Assuming you worded your question correctly. You’re just one person who wants to go somewhere where he/she can START a band. That opens up your options considerably. I’m going to assume you’re young but that you can play SOME instrument already. If you’re a drummer, you’ve got it made: You could move almost anywhere, put up one “drummer looking for…” ad at a local guitar shop (or on the local craigslist) and -poof- you would be in six bands by the end of the week. Bass players are almost as sorely needed in most places. But let’s say you’re one of the legions who (like me) had a guitar and some basic ideas you wanted to get across. You need to be someplace that, even if it doesn’t have an established and robust music scene at least has a large population of potential young musicians, and at the very least a lot of bars/coffeeshops/places that could eventually become ‘venues’ for your music. I’m going to assume you’re not rich, so you’re also going to need a place with a low cost-of-living and hopefully a place with lots of the sorts of jobs that musicians and wannabe musicians can work into their schedules.

Except for the “lots of jobs” part, don’t rule out some of the fairly big Rustbelt cities that are losing population. That means cheap housing and a lot of space (mental and physical) to work out your ideas and find your voice. It is no accident that places like Detroit have been spawning some of the most interesting and intense new music and sounds lately.

Of course, depending on your temperament, it sounds to me like you might also consider looking for a “College Town” … keeping in mind a college “town” could be the leafy quiet cliche' that first leaps to mind, or it could be a biggish city. Either way, an area with a heavy concentration of college students will usually mean cheap apartments, numerous low-pressure employment opportunities, an ever-shifting flow of new musicians and plenty of potential fans and audience members.

Before you moving though… figure out what you’re trying to accomplish. Not that you need a set-in-stone roadmap, but just be sure there is some point to uprooting your life and make sure that when you get to where you’re going you really do have something worthwhile to offer the sonic landscape. Good luck.

And hey: If any readers think my answer is too non-specific, feel free to comment on this column and tell us all where you think a person like this should move to.