Pastiche: House Shows

The three homes we visited here all have had challenges to overcome, and in Rancho Relaxo's case, unsympathetic neighbors have purportedly but the kibosh on shows there, possibly forever. Regardless, challenges are part and parcel to putting on everything from garden parties to stadium shows, and for these three venues, at least, the benefits of putting on performances frequently outweigh the annoyances.

Our first stop on our tour was the Natrix Natrix house, which is settled in a largely unremarkable part of south Austin near the (we're guessing) vice-prone Sands Motel. First and foremost, Natrix Natrix is a record label started by non-natives Seth Whaland and Rhonda Turnbough several years ago. The duo started turning heads with their unique, mostly cassette-based releases, many of which fit into the fold of neo-folk in the vein of scene luminary (and house performer himself) Simon Joyner while simultaneously keeping things local by putting out albums and singles from rock or psych-pop Austin bands like Spirit of Space and Moth!Fight! The Natrix Natrix house has seen many performers over the past couple years, including a recent holiday visit from Julian Koster and his singing saw. The night of this particular show overbooking was a slight concern, but the line-up was whittled down to Mandarin Dynasty, Geoff Reacher, Golden Ghost and Viking Moses, in that order. As is often the case, Natrix Natrix regulars filtered in early to chat and drink Coors, while Super Mario Brothers 3 captured the attention of a few in the living room. The house is unusual in that it has a strange den-type alcove at the house's south end, which serves as the setting for many shows and as a bedroom and workspace on occasion.

This evening, about fifteen of us poured in to watch the music, which ranged from Reacher's folk-hop hybrid to what turned into a jammy Viking Moses set featuring a guest (and unrehearsed) rhythm section. Others have said it better, but it's still remarkable to reflect on how stages, ostensibly created to help us all better witness a performance, also serve as a weird sociological border (often self-inflicted on both sides) between the performer and audience. This show had no gap other than a few feet between Us and Them, and so jokes were easily shared, fake insults lobbed, requests frequently shouted out, and songs sung along to with the ease of a bullshitting session with some close friends. The world's unlikeliest dance party even broke out during one of Golden Ghost's haunted and throaty elegies, which no doubt wouldn't have gone down at Emo's.

The close camaraderie of the attendees, many of who are old friends, made it easy to enjoy being in this home and to vicariously feed off the good will and spontaneous, almost secretive vibe of the place. But while never purposefully exclusionary, it deserves mention that as the show reached its close, the focus slowly moved to the key players and inner circle. The more casual attendees began to fade further and further into the background, most leaving as the sets became looser, the participants drunker, and the hour later.

Rancho Relaxo is an east side residence that, alongside Natrix Natrix, fills the void of a now-nonexistent home venue known as Jesse's Bed and Breakfast. Perhaps most notable for hosting a smattering of Hush and K Records artists, the supremacy of Jesse's ended after a solid run at three different locations. But the evening we visited Rancho, it felt more than anything else like the resurrection of the loose Tonewheel Collective, a group of musicians who perform in bands including Peel, Peter and the Wolf and Brazos and who once had a residency of sorts at Beerland a few years ago. As in the past, Rancho gives these individuals (and many not affiliated with Tonewheel) a sympathetic venue to work through solo material, showcasing a different side of some of the songwriters and bands we already know and possibly already love.

Newly decorated with cutouts from coloring books, an eye-grabbing paint job and more, elbowroom in Rancho's garage (where the shows take place) became increasingly scarce as a healthy crowd - especially for a Tuesday night - shoved inside. As mentioned, this was allegedly Rancho's last hurrah, and attention was rapt if not particularly mournful for the space's final performance. We arrived just as Josh Permenter of Peel was finishing a set, which was then followed by a short performance by Christine Aprile of Belaire featuring lots of reverb and an incredible sounding (and incredibly huge) vintage organ of some kind. Martin Crane, often associated with his Brazos project, had a saxophonist accompany him but otherwise just stuck to guitar and kick drum to flesh out his sentimental folk songs. Last and easily the most energetic set of the night, Red Hunter's new incarnation Mellow Owl closed the venue's garage doors forever with a great mix of old and new songs, featuring Rancho Relaxo resident Ethan (he of the Hawaiian Ukulele) on bass and vocals, the frequently experimental Nick Hennies on drum set, and Hunter himself on vocals, thumb piano and guitar. The disparate styles of each fused so easily that evening it was easy to view the performance as a true if temporary homecoming for Hunter, though as usual the nomadic musician was headed for the west coast the next day.

Also an east side residence, The Space Cave is easily this adventure's most perfectly suited house for show purposes. Not only do the inhabitants of the Cave have excellent interior and exterior design sensibilities, the house has a sprawling backyard with nothing short of two campfires and three tipis, and a lowered living room area (it looked like an addition) with wood floors and significant standing room for performances. Oh, and bonus: free boxes of granola cereal in the kitchen. Better still, the yard backed up to an apartment complex that was situated far enough away that noise probably wasn't a huge deal.

The relatively large performance space meant the bands could afford to spread out, something that worked out perfectly for our first act Najeeb Sabour and the spillover of auxiliary musicians (mandolin, ukulele, etc.) who accompanied his compositions. Other acts that night included the confrontationally electronic Fiction, a DJ set from Mos Jefecit, and more. The Space Cave was the most crowded residence of the three, and since the gathering was also a birthday celebration, socializing out by the tipis and mugging with one really drunk Santa took on a parallel role to watching the bands. Be that as it may, ample opportunity could be found to do both, and the carefree crowd interaction and relaxed air of the performances was a mirror image of the other two house shows, especially Natrix Natrix.

Transforming any space into a den of performance requires some effort, from the established house/venue to the one-off house party with a high school thrash band. To make matters worse you've got the headache of making musicians happy, scheduling, and possibly sleeping arrangements to deal with in addition to the usual post-party pains in the ass like picking cigarette butts out of the yard. But still, when it goes well, it's hard to beat a house show for ambiance and intimacy. Why rent it when you can own it, you know?

Natrix Natrix: [website] [myspace]
Rancho Relaxo: [website] [myspace]
The Space Cave: [myspace

The author would once again like to thank Arian and Jesse for their photography.