Since Glenn Boothe took the reins at Local 506 on May 1, folks are wondering what may be down the road for the club space. Plans for Sleazefest are still in the works, but what else? The Indy recently posed a few questions to Mr. Boothe, to find out his thinking on the mix of local and touring acts, running a bar and how much of that 506 charm will remain intact.
Indy: After having been involved in music via WXYC and working for a record label, what made you want to devote yourself to a music club?
Boothe: After being out of the music industry for a few years and being just a music consumer/fan, I realized that there was a lot of improvement in the way that things were happening in music, both nationally and locally. I still think the local music scene here is amazing, and my goal is to work on ways to expose our local music to area music fans who express interest in similar sounding “non-local” music. For example, when I go see a band like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Cradle, I see very few familiar faces despite the fact that those same people “could” be interested in the likes of local acts such as Jett Rink and Ghost of Rock … personally, I never viewed myself as someone who would own a club. However, I see this as a sound (no pun intended) investment since the live experience can never be duplicated digitally.
506 has always been a home for local music. How much booking of outside artists do you plan on doing regularly? Also, do you anticipate doing booking internally or will someone else outside 506 be involved?
I’d like to see more cross-pollenization of touring acts with local openers to expose local bands to a community who are open-minded about music … I’m a big believer in cross-promotion (i.e., two entities promoting the same cause for mutual benefit) and would like to see more live music activities that involve local radio, press and retail.
What are some long-term plans for events at the club? Any decisions to change the look or layout of the club?
Long-term, I’d like to see the club play a more active role in the marketing of local music. As much as I’m happy, in the short-term, booking my favorite local bands, I think I’d be more satisfied if some of these bands actually outgrew Local 506 and “graduated” to headlining the Cradle. I’d love to play a role in that development process. Eventually, there will probably be some cosmetic changes to the club, although I haven’t made any definitive decisions … I want the club to be as band-friendly and consumer-friendly as possible.
Everybody do the Cold shoulder
Cold Sides are on a tear right now. Their new record, Perpetual Hypeness Machine–a gorgeous silk-screened vinyl 12-incher–just came out on FrequeNC Records. The record documents the band’s last work with David Cantwell on drums on the A side. Side B is loaded with different four-track jams and excursions, equal parts song and splattered abstraction. The group dedicated the record to the late Randy Ward, a musician who was a creative influence as well as friend of the band. For more information on the record and the new label, go to www.frequenc.net.
In addition to doing some recording work with Chuck Johnson (Spatula, SharkQuest, et al.) sometime this summer, the Sides are also hitting the bricks with some local shows. They’ll be playing at the May edition of Dyssembler, the local monthly techno/rock party, at Ringside in Durham, on Friday, May 14. As always, there will be plenty of DJs and electro-production mixing with the rock on various floors of the multi-level club. On the 18th, they’ll be at Go! Room 4 with Japanese band Ex-Girl, and Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan. Check out Cold Sides’ Web site at www.coldsides.com. 
