A Repurposing

“Home” is a relative term and is defined in many different ways. Literally, it is a structure wherein people reside. But a home is also a place in which one’s domestic affections are centered, a place where things are common and commonly meaningful. Binghamton, New York has been my home for twenty-one years. As a child, I remember waking up to my mother and sister singing along to Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell and dancing around the kitchen. I was raised on so many different styles of music by my family and in the area where I grew up. My mom would put on cassettes of local bands she saw at bars in Owego or Endicott. I’d sing along to whatever she put on, from country music to 80’s hair bands. If something was on, I danced to it.

As I grew up, I saw less of my mother going out to see bands and less new music playing in the car as I grew up. Why the plateau in my mother’s musical habits? It could have been simply that she was growing too old, but as I grow older and look back, I see it as a symptom of changes in the larger Binghamton music scene.

Endicott, the birthplace of both myself and IBM, was founded in 1911. As a consequence of IBM’s unprecedented set up here, it became known as the world’s first “industrial park”. Throughout the past 100 years IBM served many different functions in the area, the major one being attracting people to Binghamton. Due to the extensive employment offered by IBM, the Binghamton area prospered following World War II. By the 1980s, IBM employed nearly 16,000. IBM slowly decentralized the Binghamton area; suburbs began to grow and prosper. People from the surrounding cities came to the area and brought “culture.” Washington Avenue in Endicott was the home to many shops, theatres, and restaurants. Binghamton itself brought business to the downtown area and attracted shops, restaurants and tourists.

Despite being a fundamental part of Binghamton’s economic and cultural infrastructure, the company decided to move most of their headquarters elsewhere in the 80s and 90s. As a result, people decided to leave, as IBM laid off the majority of their workers. Others pre-emptively moved to where the jobs were going. Local restaurants closed due to the loss of clientele, and many local businesses that contracted materials to IBM had to leave because they lost a major buyer of their products.

Compounding the problem, the area simultaneously gained a bad reputation due to the pollution IBM left behind during its prosperous years. Throughout that time, IBM spilled toxic materials into the water systems in Endicott and the surrounding areas. The Binghamton area became abandoned chrome cities and towns populated by what was left of an abandoned and tattered community.

I grew up, and experience live music, in the midst of this demise. At 15, I went to my first show. Venue? An American Legion, a place primarily intended for veterans to hold events and meetings. Binghamton’s independent music scene found it a convenient place for local bands to showcase their music. You entered through heavy wooden doors, then through two perfectly symmetrical lines of American flags flanking your path to the stage. The juxtaposition of the music and the actual venue was almost laughable it was so out of place.

Eventually, the practice of booking shows in American Legions came to a halt. The shows were too violent for the people of American Legion and ultimately they banned these shows altogether. The bands and we, the fans, knew it was inevitable. The bands that I use to go see were mostly hardcore and grind core bands that needed venues with open space and people with open minds.
The ongoing demise of IBM and the consequent lack of local businesses meant the disappearance of local venues. And anyway, most of the people in the bands were too young to play at bars at the time. As a result the local music scene was forced to the basements of students’ houses and apartments. Places like The Blot-Spot, Bazooka-Bazooka, 123 Fake Streety.

The Art Cave and BUMP shows at the university were other places that the local bands took to play. The Art Cave was a venue in the basement of the Art Mission Theatre. The space was small and cramped but offered a chance for bands to connect with local artists in the community, reaching out to more of the artists and students in the area. BUMP shows were featured on the ground floor of the University Union building on the Binghamton University campus. It brought both resident and off-campus students and young people together through the local music scene. The shows were highly promoted throughout the campus and online. Most of the time these shows would feature a touring mainstream band and have the local bands open for them, exposing the local bands to a mainstream audience. But due to the restrictions of being on campus, a lot of the action was censored.

These artists find inspiration in the darkness that they’re pushed into. They draw inspiration from it and it shows in their music. The local talent is forged precisely through growing up in a decaying community. In addition, the scene is inflected by the constant cycle of people coming and going in the area. The groups are intertwined, and the resulting scene resembles a loving and caring family.

Since there isn’t any dedicated place for these bands to play, a lot of the shows are promoted through word of mouth or online. You hardly see any flyers for the house and basement shows unless it’s on the university campus. Even then it seems like the venues are still somewhat hidden. You have to be into the scene to know about what’s going on in the area or you hardly hear about them.

The Binghamton community is currently experiencing some growth again. Many of the local artists are involved in trying to bring Binghamton back to its prosperous state.. The local music scene is seeing more of its bands travel around the country rather than just in New York. But there are still some that stay in the city and try to improve the image of the music community. Even though they are pushed into these basements for shows, the people who go are truly loyal to the players in these bands. The fans follow these bands wherever they go around the state or country. They know every single word, every single riff and bass from the drums. When you are a part of these groups that follow these bands or even friends with them, in a way, you are a part of that band. You know what the lyrics mean and you know how hard that band works to get that song perfect.

Community isn’t stitched together through slabs of metal or industrial success. Creating something meaningful that people can relate to is what brings people together. The art and music community in Binghamton, despite being small and hidden, has much to contribute. Even though these abandoned buildings surround the basements that these artist express themselves in, they tear down what they symbolize with expression and inspiration. The people in these bands and their fans come to love each other. They bring together a place where people can go and feel a sense of community. In a place where homes have been torn apart due to irresponsible industrial practices, the independent music scene rebuilds from these harsh memories; instead of dwelling on the scraps of metal from the abandoned buildings, they pick them up, repurpose them, and inspire the new generations that come to the area.