The Snyder Memorial Church hosted a night of music and independent art Friday as local artists and bands held showcases and performances in an effort to provide artists with unique opportunities to promote their work.
The SMC Music Project comes as a joint venture between the city of Jacksonville and music promoters Infintesmal Records. The mayor’s office is funding the project, showing an interest in Jacksonville’s music scene.
Infintesmal Records owners Jimmi Bayer and Nick Schoeppel started the label in late 2008 as a means to get the word out on local artists that they felt needed more exposure. The label released their first compilation CD December 31, 2008. The label has around 20 artists they are supporting.
Bayer and Schoeppel have wanted to play at the Snyder Memorial Church for some time simply because of the look of the building.
“The building alone is incredible,” Bayer said. “We’ve walked by it many times it’s a building we’ve always kinda stared at [and said] ‘I wish we could set up shop in there.’”
Bayer and Schoeppel are optimistic about the local music scene and are looking forward to seeing its rise in the future.
“It’s certainly on the verge of thriving,” Schoeppel said.
Schoeppel hopes the event provides a new look into local cultures people may not know about.
“It’s about getting everybody together and having a good time and supporting local awesome music as well as art in general,” he said.
The night started off with DJ Ian Ranne laying down some old funk and soul tracks on the turn table. Ranne, 30, has been a disc jockey since 2003. Meanwhile, local visual artists set up shop to showcase their work. David Miller, Crystal Floyd and Rebecca Rhyne were some of the artists presenting their work.
Fernandina Beach-based rock group, Friends, started rocking the walls of the church at 9 p.m. The band played some experimental rock that included long interludes of instrumentals reminiscent of dueling guitars. Guitarist Danny Strickland twiddled the frets of his Fender Jazzmaster as the rest of the band continued to play along in syncopated glory. The musical finesse of each band member screamed over accomplished, but the band’s sound as a whole is nonsensical at times. The sound is of course experimental and comes off as a jam band with little attention to structure.
Following Friends, the ocean waves washed in some mellow tunes from Wudun and Honey Chamber. The Jacksonville bands played set lists of moody rock and crunchy pop. Wudun’s drolling moans sounded a bit monotonous at times but after the set list by Friends, it was nice to have a break from the extravagant guitar patterns. The sounds of Wudun made me feel like I was on a bad acid trip, spiraling down the rabbit hole to oblivion. The swooning sounds of Honey Chamber’s rough pop rock came in to end the night with a saccharine flavor.
The bands received a fair amount of people in the crowd, but Bayer and Schoeppel hope more people will get involved in the Jacksonville music scene in order to promote art throughout the city.
“Infintesmal is very much a family and we operate as such,” Bayer said. “We’re just now on the brink of bigger things.”
You can find out more about Infintesmal Records at their MySpace and Facebook.
The Snyder Memorial Church will be hosting events every Friday of the month, with the next show being on July 16. The bands Antarctic, Borromakat vs. Bright Orange and The Great Working will be playing on that date.
