This March, NX35 returns after its successful birth last year.
ed neon lights illuminate the turquoise walls of Dan’s Silver Leaf, providing just enough wattage for the crowd in Western wear to find their seats as The Derailers from Austin begin their set. Lead singer Brian Hofeldt, with his shaggy blonde hair, blue-lens glasses, and silver glitter guitar, sings about cold beer and hot women – country songs shot through with a bit of what the band calls “rock-ability.” People dance, drink beer and chew tobacco. The Derailers leave town raving about Denton, its intimate clubs, appreciative audiences and the thriving music scene.
Chris Flemmons, founder of one of Denton’s best known bands, The Baptist Generals, is counting on that reaction. Sitting on the back patio of Dan’s weeks later, he is literally sketching the city’s musical future on a napkin. In 2009, Chris helped launch the NX35 Music Conferette, a four-day gathering of 124 bands and their fans to hear music, talk about music, and party to the music. (The term NX35 refers to Denton’s location at the north end of I-35.) Last year, 4,000 people gathered in the city’s historic Square, walking from venue to venue to experience live music at NX35. This year’s party is set for March 11-14, with 150 bands and even more live venues.
Austin bands like The Derailers aren’t the only ones taking an interest in Denton as an incubator of music these days, says Chris. The New York Times and The Guardian of London have cited the city in recent years for its nurturing music community. Paste, the music magazine, dubbed Denton “Best Music Scene” of 2008, calling it “the paradigm of a healthy music community” with some 115 bands and nearly a dozen live music venues. On any night, the music can range from jazz-influenced rock to surrealistic folk or cowboy punk. “Denton gets written about a lot abroad as being this really up-and-coming place,” says Chris, “so we felt like last year was the right time” to launch NX35.
As creative director for NX35, Chris is in charge of tapping new local talent as well as luring established touring groups – including some from overseas – to perform. The emphasis is on indie and original music. Last year, for instance, Chris scored with the Israeli garage rock band Monotonix (who ended up crowd surfing in their underwear!) Touring acts included Possessed By Paul James, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Laura Gibson. Centro-Matic and Record Hop were two of the local bands highlighted; their genres consist of rock, underground rock and indie. Chris says the idea for NX35 sprang from a simple observation: Music lovers traveling to Austin for South by Southwest often journeyed up to Denton to see “the other music town in Texas.” Why not take advantage of that?
NX35 is not, however, just a live music concert. Panel discussions by writers and music lovers take place during the day, followed by parties where artists and industry professionals meet. Chicago-based singer, songwriter, guitarist and music journalist Steve Albini is the featured speaker for the 2010 conferette. Though currently a member of the band Shellac, he is best known for his work as a recording engineer, taking little credit for himself.
As with last year’s NX35, all the venues are within walking distance of the city’s historic Courthouse-on-the-Square. Chris expects to expand beyond the nine venues already signed up. (See the accompanying box.) “It’s all within three or four blocks of the Square – the entire conference, panel discussions, daytime programming, everything,” he says. “We want to keep it walkable.” As part of that experience, Chris is working with the city to close Hickory Street downtown for a street fair ending in a free concert on Saturday night.
Chris hopes to attract more national acts this year. On the picnic table is his sketch of an enormous stage behind Dan’s with the musicians facing a hill that slopes upwards so the audience can best enjoy performances by touring groups such as Denton’s must-see band Midlake (a definite possibility) and Oklahoma’s The Flaming Lips.
“As a first-year conference, we did the best we could getting national touring acts. What was amazing was, as we tried to fill the programming, we remembered the reasons we were doing this in Denton in the first place,” he says. “Denton’s vibrant music scene saved us in our first year – the talent here is unbelievable.”
“Last year was the virginal year for us. I have come to describe it as giving birth -- it was really rough,” Chris says and laughs. “Though we may not have gotten all the acts we wanted, the community here attacked this project in support of it, in a manner you would only expect from the Denton music community. They felt like they had some ownership in it and that’s the only reason it worked.” The irony, he says, is that you can drive a few blocks any night of the week – not just in March during NX35 – and find some amazing music in Denton.
by Savannah Carter