The Pitch: The Music Issue (July 2023)

The radical origins and hauntological present of Kansas City Jazz

Kansas City is well known for its jazz history, and we can see that in the jazz clubs of today, but it didn’t get there without sacrifice and struggle. As an introduction to hauntology, Ian Bennett gives us a piece that blends the theories of Mark Fisher’s approach to the world along with KC jazz’s complicated history.

6 LETTER

Letter from the Editor Down With the Sickness BY BROCK WILBUR

8 MUSIC

50 Years of Hip-Hop No Coast rap culture runs deep BY SHAWN EDWARDS

12

Good Vibrations

Joel Nanos on building a house of sounds with Element Recording Studios

BY NICK SPACEK

13

Mind Your P’s and Q’s Concert Etiquette 101 BY NICK SPACEK

14

Band of Brethren

Hardcore historians Missouri Executive Order 44 BY NATHANIEL KENNON PERKINS

Jim Ward of Sparta on the hurt and healing in revisiting Wiretap Scars 20 years later

Emo rock group Sparta visited the recordBar on Saturday, June 3, as part of their tour to celebrate and revisit their debut LP Wiretap Scars. Ahead of the show, The Pitch was able to chat with the group’s frontman Jim Ward about the hurt and healing that comes with revisiting an album 20 years later.

FX documentary sheds new light on Hillsong KC incident in

2019

Amid the release of Stacey Lee’s new documentary The Secrets of Hillsong, new light has been shed on an incident that occurred at Hillsong KC—now Kingdom City—back in 2019. Crystal Rose was a worship leader and had dedicated a large portion of her life to the church. The last thing she expected was to be escorted off the property and excommunicated. Rose spoke with The Pitch about what led to this incident and her recovery process.

16

Missouri Business

Eric Fain works his way up to Paramore with behind-the-scenes concert management

BY BELLE YENNIE

18

Positive Feedback

Audio engineer Victoria Brooks dials in at the Replay Lounge

BY SOFIA MONGILLO

20

Signal to Noise Chance Dibben’s Selvedge freezes moments as bitcrushed memories

BY BELLE

21

YENNIE

Hiss Take Cat F!ght claws up the patriarchy

BY BRYNN WINKLER

22

Do the Monster Mashup

Lost Wax is a human party playlist on shuffle

BY EMMA HILBOLDT

24

Blue Note

KC Blue Crew is the fan-powered heartbeat of the Current BY EMMA

HILBOLDT

28

FOOD & DRINK

Mastering the Art of… Velouté puts stock in modern French street food

BY

LINDSEY

29

WEISHAR

Eat This Now Apple Butter & Brie at The Brick

BY SARAH SIPPLE

Drink This Now Nightclaws at Nighthawk

BY SARAH SIPPLE

30

Mise en Place

Mass Street Fish House’s Laura Klein gives Grade-A hospitality insight BY KATE FRICK

32

PITCH EVENTS

KC Pitch Scavenger Hunt 2023

BY SARAH SIPPLE 34 EVENTS

July Events Calendar BY THE PITCH STAFF

36 ADVICE

Keep Them Coming

Don’t “yuck” someone else’s “yum”

BY KRISTEN THOMAS

37

Solve for Stuck

10 things to ask before hiring a therapist

BY BRITT FRANK

38

KC CARES

KC Cares

Front Porch Alliance

BY BETH LIPOFF

Cover by Hugo Juarez-Avalos

Courtesy image

Crystal Rose. Haley Smith

Illustration by Jacqulyn Seyferth

Heinrich Toh (American, born in Singapore, working in the United States, born 1972). From the Roots...That’s Rarely Seen (detail), 2022. Monoprint and paper lithography on Rives BFK paper, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo © 2022 The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Editor-in-Chief

Brock Wilbur

President & Chief Operating Officer

Andrew Miller

Director of Marketing & Promotions

Jason Dockery

Associate Editor

Steph Castor

Community Manager

Sarah Sipple

Sales Executive

Erin Carey

Music Editor

Nick Spacek

Film Editor

Abby Olcese

Little Village Creative Services

Jordan Sellergren

Art Director

Cassondra Jones

Contributing Writers

Liz Cook, Michael Mackie, Barb Shelly, Beth Lipoff, Kristen Thomas, Kala Elkinton, Michael Cripe, Jordan Baranowski, Lauren Textor, Caroline Rose

Newman, Adrian Torres, Kate Frick, Scott Poore, Hannah Strader, Grace Wilmot, Ivy Anderegg, Tyler

Schneider, Britt Frank, Robert Miner, Sofia Mongillo, Ashley Lindeman, Amanda Hadlock, Sarah Moore, AJ Stutzer, Orrin Grey, Rachel Potucek, Lindsey

Weishar, Shawn Edwards, Nathaniel Kennon

Perkins

Editorial Interns

Emma Hilboldt, Jacqulyn Seyferth, Brynn Winkler, Belle Yennie, Sofia Mongillo

Design Interns

Brooke Tramel, Hugo Juarez-Avalos

Contributing Photographers

Zach Bauman, Chase Castor, Travis Young, Jim Nimmo, Chris Ortiz, Brooke Tramel, Maura Dayton, Isabella Galvan, Allison Scavo, Pilsen Photo Co-op

Contributing Designers and Illustrators

Alex Peak, Jake Edmisten

VOICE MEDIA GROUP

National Advertising

1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

DISTRIBUTION

The Pitch distributes 20,000 copies a month and is available free throughout Greater Kansas City, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 each, payable at The Pitch’s office in advance. The Pitch may be distributed only by The Pitch’s authorized independent contractors or authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of The Pitch, take more than one copy of each week’s issue. Mail subscriptions: $22.50 for six months or $45 per year, payable in advance.

Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Kansas City, MO 64108.

COPYRIGHT

The contents of The Pitch are Copyright 2023 by The Pitch LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written permission of the publisher.

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3543 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111

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For advertising: andrew@thepitchkc.com or 816-218-6792

Radkey’s RadFest Vol. 1 delivers homegrown crowd its latest dose of delicious rock noise

Missouri punk rock band Radkey spent the day jamming in the West Bottom’s Lemonade Park June 3 as a part of RadFest Vol. 1. The group played alongside The Ugly Cowboys, Drop A Grand, The Many Colored Death, and The Phantastics at the one-day music event. Take a look at the recap and keep an eye out for RadFest Vol. 2.

Comedian Caleb Hearon’s plans for the perfect KC sitcom

Missouri-born comedian Caleb Hearon has taken the Red Kingdom and his Kansas City pride back west to his LA friend group, making another KC superfan out of comedian and close friend Holmes Holmes and inspiring their new sitcom set in Kansas City. The currently untitled show is a love letter to KC and a witty rebuttal to the city’s “flyover state” reputation, centering the comedic duo as they navigate love and life in KC. PostSuper Bowl victory, Hearon’s intuition tells him this is the perfect time for a KC-centered comedy featuring his favorite city, which served as an escape from the small-town heteronormativity of his high school.

Letter from the Editor

DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS

By Brock Wilbur

“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” the lead singer of Alien Ant Farm shouts into the mic. His words echo out over the crowd at one of the largest music festivals in the country.

“My dude, it is 11:30 in the morning,” I say aloud to a few strangers standing in my vicinity.

As a Christmas gift to ourselves, my friend Zach and I had procured tickets to the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas, where 66,000 have gathered for a single Saturday to resurrect the corpse of nu metal passed—a Family Values Tour twist on Easter. It’s one of these newfangled throwback festivals that’s all the rage these days, wherein a lineup of bands is seemingly overbooked for a lone performance day that will theoretically allow 100+ mid-tier to formerly-huge artists to perform full sets. To pull this off, four different stages are employed, each with rotating performance spaces, creating a campground of unceasing, overwhelming stimuli.

That’s why I’m seeing Alien Ant Farm, famous for a 2001 cover of a Michael Jackson song from 1988, in a pre-noon setting—one that is disorienting for the band themselves, as evident by the lead singer’s

late-night salutation.

Sick New World’s unyielding assault of bands like System of a Down, Incubus, Deftones, Mr. Bungle, and 80+ others whose work you would’ve heard on the in-store mix of any Hot Topic in 2008. It was supposed to make for the kind of tongue-in-cheek experience that one plays off as an intentionally hilarious adventure in self-flagellation—a descent into anti-culture for shits and giggles; dunks on high school Brock for owning a 7-string guitar and forming a Limp Bizkit tribute band. Predictably, this did veer more into the sincere, as the muscle memory of metal riffs and scream-along choruses flooded back without a hint of irony.

Less predictably, it hit like a ton of bricks when I found myself having an equally emotionally tumultuous time the very next day. I’d flown home to KC and immediately hustled out to a very lightly attended show at recordBar. You’d think that catching a few young performers in a space with a mere handful of onlookers would feel like nothing in the shadow of an event so deliberately over-the-top, but no. It turns out that the joy of music—especially musical community—can scale to any situation. Within 48 hours, I’d hit both hard endpoints of the live music spectrum and found both equally joyous with almost no preference betwixt.

That’s one of the reasons why The Pitch’s Music Issue means so goddamned much to us each year. This chance to celebrate the joy of our local talent is, of course, a year-round job for us as a publication, and

in our dream world, each issue of the mag would have an extra 40 pages of just music content. Our July 2023 issue lifts up the women behind the soundboard, the people swapping vocal mics in a studio, the future of political shitkickers in dresses, and the foundations of a half-century of hip-hop culture. It’s a beautiful magazine that we’re wildly proud of. It’s also just the tip of the iceberg for the immense talent in this region.

Get thee to a local concert, house party, festival, or coffee shop jam this summer at your soonest opportunity. Find local artists, and buy their work. And no matter what time of day you’re reading this, thank you for coming out tonight!

Pitch in, and we’ll make it through,

Radkey. Tyler Schneider

Courtesy photo

50 Years of Hip-Hop

NO COAST RAP CULTURE RUNS DEEP

By Shawn Edwards

This summer marks the 50-year anniversary of hip-hop. The culture was “born” August 11, 1973, in the South Bronx, when Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell, the man known for creating the breakbeat, threw a back-toschool party for his sister. As the world takes time this summer to reflect on the complicated, beautiful, weird, wild story of this uniquely American art form and its impacts, we have to reckon with large gaps in that story where marginalized history was under-documented or erased entirely.

Among those important details overlooked is an entire arc of our metro’s specific strain of the form. While there are endless books and podcasts about this city’s proud

tradition of KC BBQ or KC Jazz, we’ve been a power player in the rap scene since its very inception.

Taken from dozens of interviews with the people who were there, this is a look at how this much-maligned phenomenon impacted Kansas City and the rappers, DJs, dancers, graffiti artists, producers, and promoters who made it happen—much of the time against impossible odds.

MASKED UP

Arthur Davis, a former session drummer for Stax Records, worked as a substitute teacher for the Kansas City Missouri School District starting in 1980. He used his connections to convince the school to allow him to throw the legendary events where young Blacks

gathered to dance, listen to music, and socialize on weekends overnight until early morning.

Hiding his identity as a teacher—and a grown man double the age of the kids he was entertaining—Davis organized and performed from behind a latex Richard Nixon mask. “Mr. President” knew how to throw a party, and these evenings served as the launching pad for a burgeoning music scene.

Affectionately called “The Castle on the Hill,” Lincoln High School was the epicenter for early hip-hop culture in Kansas City— long before it became a pinnacle of academic success. Admission generally ranged from one to three dollars. Davis himself was not a DJ. He hired a crew of turntablists (Vincent D. Irving, aka DjV, and Delano “Silky Smooth” Walker) who played the music. For most who attended these all-ages parties, this was an introduction—and the only real access available—to rap music in any form. Even the local radio stations, including Black-owned KPRS (Hot 103 Jamz), mostly avoided the genre at the time.

Davis and his crew of DJs marketed the parties guerrilla-style, distributing crudely produced fliers around the east side of Kansas City. After a couple of years of success, Davis began promoting the parties on KPRS by purchasing the least expensive airtime possible—late at night and on the weekends.

The parties were attended by thousands and were nonviolent affairs where high schoolers mingled with young adults as they danced, networked, and had fun listening to classic rap songs like “The Breaks” by Kurtis Blow, “That’s the Joint” by the Funky 4 Plus 1, and “Body Rock” by The Treacherous Three.

Soon these parties spread to other high schools, and DJ crews like Robert Harris and the Knights of the Sound Tables, Sergeant Oooh-Wee, Shawn Copeland, The Inner City Player Macks, and D. Mustafah began promoting parties at Paseo High School, Southeast High School, and Southwest High School.

Vonzell Bryant, a veteran DJ and entrepreneur, took things to the next level and became the premiere party promoter of the city during the ‘80s. Under the moniker Captain Vonzell, he threw his first party at the Boys Club on 43rd Street and Cleveland in 1973.

“I played mostly slow jams and disco,” says Bryant. “The element that made it hiphop was me on the mic talking trash and giving shout-outs to keep the crowds hyped.”

Bryant’s entire approach to spinning music at parties changed after a trip to New York City in 1978. While in the Big Apple, he was introduced to the culture of rapping, beatboxing, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti. He witnessed what is called the five elements of hip-hop and brought back what he heard and saw—an importer of the sights and sounds of Blackness future. Like all things new, early adopters experienced a

few… hiccups.

“I started scratching and mixing records at my parties,” says Bryant. “But the people wasn’t with all that. They would yell at me, ‘Hey, quit fucking up the music.’ It eventually caught on, but it took a while.”

RAGE & REAGANOMICS

Like most urban sprawls in America, the socio-economic situation for most Blacks in Kansas City was harsh and extreme during the late ‘70s and ‘80s. The area was in severe social and fiscal decline, which added fuel to the fire for a metro that historically has looked to abandoning its marginalized populations at the drop of a hat.

The famous corner at 12th and Vine Street, referenced in the most popular song ever recorded about Kansas City, was bulldozed to build housing projects—18th and Vine was left for dead. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was housed in a tiny closet. Gates and Sons Barbecue and Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue struggled for years for relevancy and respect. All of these setbacks were actually ingredients for the perfect recipe for a new sound and style of music— among a community that knew it needed to get loud to avoid being dissolved from its place in society.

While rap music was heavily restricted in both radio airtime and live performance venue options, one platform that couldn’t be stopped was the distribution of movies. Hollywood’s influence was heavy as thousands of young Black youth absorbed everything they saw like super sponges. A string of movies, Wild Style in 1983, Beat Street and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo in 1984, and Krush Groove in 1985, would showcase the sights and sounds in a manner that the region’s typical censors couldn’t filter away.

One of the first to turn cinematic inspiration into reality was Marcyl Goode.

“I was blessed that I saw the hip-hop documentary Wild Style at an early age,” says Goode. “Movies definitely intrigued and inspired us and were our visual connection to the culture. The influence was real.”

As a young child, Goode hung out at a convenience store owned by Captain Vonzell on 35th and Prospect. There was an arcade in the back where kids gathered to play Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Centipede. The real attraction was that it was a ‘safe haven’ where kids went to socialize, dance, and listen to the rap music that Vonzell played.

Under the tutelage of Vonzell, who functioned as a father figure, Goode became somewhat of a DJ prodigy at age 10. He soon joined Vonzell’s P-Funk All-Star crew under the name “The Young Marcyl Goode” and began DJing at school social events and parties.

“It was something I just did for fun,” says Goode. “I was just the kid with the big boom box hanging by the big fountain at the Country Club Plaza playing rap music.”

Goode lifted his stage name, Kut-Fast,

from a lyric off of a Mantronix song called “Fresh is the Word.” He released his first single in 1989, a song called “Butt of the Kut” on Intrepid Records. It is often credited as the first rap song professionally produced in Kansas City.

However, that distinction technically belongs to Omer Coleman II, aka Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo. On his 1981 album Mastership, he released the rap classic “Laugh and Dance.”

“‘Laugh and Dance’ is an important song because Woooo Woooo exposed a new sound to an R&B heavy market,” says DJ Will Burnell. “It was a good song for the times, and it matters because it would play a part in influencing the Black Futuristic movement.”

Goode’s “Kut of the Butt” sounded more like a traditional rap song than “Laugh and Dance,” which came off more funkish than hip-hop. Another example from the dawn of the scene can be found in Bloodstone’s 1982 song “Funkin’ Around,” which features a rap interlude. The doo-wop crew from Kansas City was primarily known for silky smooth ballads but leaned into something harder on this recording.

“Kut of the Butt” was produced by high school friend Tony ‘Prof T.’ Tolbert and Lance Alexander, both of whom were members of the R&B group Lo-Key? which hit number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles charts in 1993 with “I Got a Thang 4 Ya!” The duo had a production deal with Jimmy

Jam and Terry Lewis at Flyte Tyme Records in Minneapolis but stayed connected with artists out of the metro.

The song was only modestly successful, lacking the proper distribution and adequate radio airplay to become a hit—a common theme for most rap artists in KC at the time.

“I’m rap broke because I was too early in the game,” says Goode. “But I’m satisfied because I know I helped pave the way for everyone else to succeed.”

Goode would continue his pursuit of glory by teaming with a neighborhood ally named Antonio “T. Roma” Cody, who started Bizniz Records. Roma capitalized by pushing products through liquor stores, gas stations, and mom & pop grocery stores. It was a blueprint that would soon be used by several local rappers that would result in tremendous success, in particular for a young street hustler turned rapper—Richard “Rich the Factor” Johnson.

Rich the Factor is considered Kansas City’s most successful “self-contained rapper.” Over the course of three decades, beginning in the early ‘90s, the artist sold hundreds of thousands of albums, mostly hustled out of the trunk of his car and through consignment at small independently owned record stores like 7th Heaven. Factor became a street legend with a cache that rivaled the biggest names the scene would ever produce.

ANONYMITY SUCKS

During the ‘90s, rappers sprung up like dandelions on an untreated lawn. Rhyming over breakbeats became an obsession for many young people, and our city was no different. But chart success and national recognition mostly skimmed over the metro’s scene, and KC’s inability to produce a signature, definable style hadn’t helped the cause.

During the ‘90s and early ‘00s, most rappers from the area leaned toward the West Coast sound, primarily out of the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose). The proliferation of crack cocaine arriving at the prairie land brought with it Oakland’s sound and, hand-in-hand, an extension of its violent street gangs. Crips and Bloods became local traffickers, and suddenly everything from their lifestyle, vernacular, dress, and beliefs became a reality in our space. This had an immediate impact on many young Kansas Citians, in particular those striving to become rappers and the individuals who produced the beats.

The West Coast sound was slower and more melodic than the types of rap produced on the East Coast. The delivery was closer to that of blues singers and had field holler-like cadences. It was a mix of early gangsta rap and what would eventually become the sound synonymous with the Dirty South.

The odds for success were stacked. There was no music infrastructure in Kansas City. Record labels didn’t set up affiliate offices and were also reluctant to sign artists for

this unproven part of the country. Very few recording studios were receptive to young Blacks using their facilities. When they were allowed, they were often overcharged for recording time, and only late hours into the early morning were available for use.

Legitimate venues and nightclubs that allowed the culture to thrive were in increasingly short supply during the ‘90s. The East Side high schools that used to allow parties began to shutter the idea due to the increase of violence. Promoters then began throwing parties at hotels, motels, and union halls. These new outlets generally went well until they began overcharging, and a flag-burning incident by a performer at Crown Center caused the hotel to push pause on everything.

The last venue connected to the Kansas City, Missouri School District that still allowed events was the Southeast Field House. It was a 3,000-seat arena primarily used for high school basketball and volleyball games but is more famously known for the talent shows and drill team competitions that were held there in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

During the ‘90s, Chancellor “Chance” Cochran began producing events. He was a self-taught promoter who put on a series of Anti-Violence Concerts from 1996-1999. Then he created the largest hip-hop event in KC history with the May Day Beach Bash in 2000. The localized Woodstock-esque show drew 30,000 attendees to the International Speedway in its second year. That success

Gary “DJ Fresh” Edwin (Courtesy Fresh Productions)

proved to be its demise, as it turned out venues were increasingly wary of letting tens of thousands of teens and young adults gather in one place to get “amped up” on rap.

On 40 Highway, Ryonell “Romeo Ryonell” Frederick, a rapper and DJ who found more success as an entrepreneur, began leasing the old Heart Banquet Hall and converted the facility to Frederick’s. Every weekend for five years, the building would be packed with young adults soaking up the new sounds via a de facto nightclub. A barber by trade, Frederick created Barber Shop records and used the venue to showcase his roster of talent, including rappers and DJs.

One of the biggest platforms in the city’s history for rap artists was Black Expo USA. The consumer trade show was produced by local businessman Elbert Anderson—who also owned KCXL 1140 AM radio, a station slightly more congenial towards rap than Hot 103 Jamz at the time. The station had a daily ‘call-in’ show on weekday afternoons. “The Dedication Line” was hosted by Darryl Johnson from 1984 to 1988, where the onair personality played hip-hop instrumentals as callers dropped shout-outs.

Beginning in 1992, vendors from all over the country would converge at Bartle Hall, providing thousands of attendees the opportunity to purchase Black art, hair care products, and Afro-centric clothing—all items that were difficult to obtain in the pre-Internet era. A big component of the three-day event was entertainment performed on a massive stage inside the convention center. However, the stage was reserved for R&B, Gospel, and Jazz acts.

Rap artists were barred from performing— deemed not ‘family-friendly.’ Instead, they were allowed to perform at the event’s annual step show held in the Municipal Auditorium.

Local rap acts would perform between the college fraternities and sororities who came in from around the region to perform their step routines. For most of the acts, it was the largest audience they had ever performed in front of. The arena was packed to capacity with 10,000 screaming kids and young adults that had come from steppers and were subtly indoctrinated into the future.

THE DYAMUND DISTRICT

In the ‘90s, the general mentality of most rap artists was to get signed to a major music label, make lots of money, and buy their parents a house. It wasn’t because of a lack of trying, but obtaining national exposure was not an easy proposition—increasingly leaving even the scene’s biggest stars with a dream deferred.

No one struggled with navigating the tricky waters of the music industry more than Tech N9ne. The rapper went through a period of failed deals, bad deals, and no deals. His first signing was with Perspective/A&M Records in 1993. Creative clashes led to the contract termination in 1995. In 1997, a chance encounter with Quincy Jones’ son Quincy Delight Jones III— known as QDIII—led to his second deal in 1997. Once again, “creative misunderstandings” yielded a sudden endpoint.

“Every label I signed to pushed me to deliver more commercial-sounding music,” says Tech. “I never felt comfortable producing corny popcorn shit.”

To the rescue came Dyamund Shields and DaJuan “Don Juan” Cason—the two grew up together in the same neighborhood. Years later, Don Juan convinced Shields to help him start a music label. Shields was looking for a way to diversify

the large sums of money he made slinging dope on the streets. Together they formed Midwest Side Records—a micro-Kansas City version of Death Row Records in 1995.

Midwest Side Records had the magic formula. Initially, Shields and Don Juan had a well-orchestrated plan. Shields, a highly successful drug dealer with the business prowess of a Fortune 500 CEO and the temper of Suge Knight, financed the label. Production wiz Don Juan created the beats, and Tech N9ne, a generational talent, brought a unique lyrical flow, hyper personality and energetic stage presence. Success was at their fingertips, but drama fueled by egos and bad business decisions derailed it all.

Shields, who called himself Boss Hoss, was a two-headed monster. He could be playful and fun-loving and deadly-serious and violent. His temper was a thing of legend, but he was also highly respected for his business acumen.

During Tech N9ne’s brief but impactful tenure at Midwest Side, he released his

debut album, The Calm Before the Storm in 1999 and the follow-up The Worst in 2000. Don Juan produced nearly every track on both albums. For many, these two early

Top: Aaron Dontez Yates, later known as Tech N9ne, as an infant. Left: Tech N9ne as a teenager in Kansas City, Missouri. Courtesy Strange Music

A Flavorpak concert flier promoting The Roots in concert at The Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas. (Courtesy Flavorpak); The Flavorpak Crew in 1995. (Pictured L to R) DJ Ran, David Rogers, Gear, Scribe, Jeremy McConnell, Mike Martin and Armando Diaz. (Courtesy Flavorpak)

releases represent Tech N9ne at his hungriest and best. The single “Planet Rock,” one of the first local rap songs to dominate local urban radio, was a byproduct of this mini-dynasty run.

The relationship between Tech N9ne and Shields soured over the future vision of the company. The pair parted ways in 1999. Although it was an amicable split, both sides remained unhappy, leading to beef that resulted in Shields releasing a collection of Tech N9ne songs as an album called Celsius without the rapper’s permission. The bootleg record became a street hit.

Tech N9ne admits that the two had quiet and mutual respect for one another all the way until Shields died from pancreatic cancer in 2017. Don Juan continued producing music for himself and others, including E-40, Crooked I, and a laundry list of local artists.

ZINE DREAM

Amid the violence that began to plague Kansas City during the early ‘90s, a movement was born. Jeremy McConnell, a transplant who grew up in St. Louis, enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1989. The 19-year-old majored in sculpting before switching to printmaking.

McConnell got into hip-hop during middle school in St. Louis by listening to Majic 108 and Dr. Jockenstein, who let

listeners rap on air over beats during his roll-call show. A blend of early rap fandom mixed with punk and alternative rock melded into an ethos the kid could use. McConnell’s fascination with scene ‘zines’ led to the creation of Flavorpak.

“When I came to Kansas City, I was into independent publishing,” says McConnell. “You had these kids creating magazines by Xeroxing copies of pages and stringing them together. It’s how we expressed ourselves way before social media.”

The first issue of Flavorpak was published in 1993. It was 40 pages and featured comics, poetry, creative writing, illustration, photography, and music reviews. It was low-budget and self-published and consisted of just one color.

McConnell had planned on the zine being a one-time thing, but its popularity skyrocketed.

“People kept asking for the next one,” says McConnell. “It started out with a mix of stuff but the elements of hip-hop were always included. Flavorpak was never meant to be a version of The Source magazine. It just happened to catch on with a lot of hiphop heads.”

In order to increase circulation McConnell began throwing parties, then used the party proceeds to publish higher quantities of the magazine. The first event was in 1993 at an empty warehouse in the Cross-

roads years before the area’s rebirth—students from the Art Institute, skateboarders, backpackers, people from the rave and club scene, and hardcore hip-hop heads all gathered. Five dollars. No alcohol.

“The parties included DJs, rap performances, rock, and art bands,” says McConnell. “Later, I decided to put more energy into hip-hop because they had fewer places around town to perform.”

Local venues were reluctant to book rap acts due to their ignorance of the culture. “They always assume the worst when it comes to hip-hop,” says McConnell. “We personally never had fights or any gun violence. The only time we had guns drawn on us is when the police shut down one of our parties in the West Bottoms.”

The Flavorpak brand really made an impact on the city when McConnell began doing street promotions and attaching the brand name to national hip-hop shows— that included performances by Nas, The Roots, The Fugees, and Common primarily at the Granada Theater in Lawrence. McConnell was allowed to book opening acts using local talent which led to the rise of Papa Calv and the Loli Pop Kidz, Vell Bakardy, Ill Brew and DVS Mindz out of Topeka, Kansas.

“Flavorpak was a collective of like-minded creative people,” says McConnell. “There were incredible graffiti artists like Donald “Scribe” Ross, who was from Boston, and

Gear Smith, who is from Kansas City. DJs Thomas “Joc Max” McIntosh, Dani “Dani Girl” Cardinale, Candace Cooper, Theo Parrish, and Hakim “DJ Hike” Atwood made names for themselves spinning vinyl at our parties.”

Flavorpak is now 30 years old, still out there sporadically throwing parties and promoting live music. McConnell is more than aware that even with all the progress made, breaking through as a youngewr artist in this scene is still harder than almost anywhere else in the music industry—both in genre and location. Even with KC’s star consistently on the rise, the upward battle has never been afforded even the most basic of shortcuts. Some things never change. For the full extended history of the rise, fall, and rise of this scene, check out the expanded story on ThePitchKC.com—featuring playlists, videos, Flavorpak designs, Tech N9ne, and much, much more.

Good Vibrations

JOEL NANOS ON BUILDING A HOUSE OF SOUNDS WITH ELEMENT RECORDING STUDIOS

By Nick Spacek

Walking into Element Recording Studios

in Strawberry Hill, one would have absolutely no clue that owner/producer/head engineer Joel Nanos has only been in this location for a little over a year. It’s the fourth incarnation for Nanos (if you count starting in his basement years ago), with the two previous archetypes on the West Side. This “final resting place,” as Nanos describes it—barring a winning scratcher which allows him to rebuild on a beach somewhere—feels as though it’s been in place for decades.

What brought Nanos to the area is a tale as old as time: money.

“I did not own the location on the West Side, and rent just kept going up and up and up,” says Nanos as we sit in the room that houses his recording console and an array of gear. “It got to a point where it was two and a half times more than where it started as the neighborhood gentrified.”

Nanos wasn’t charging much more money because the artists he recorded weren’t making much more money. Each year, he ended up earning less.

“I was getting demoted financially, so I started shopping,” says Nanos. “This is one of the last really affordable neighborhoods that are close to the city, which is important to me. I’ve got a lot of friends and artists that live in the neighborhood, and it’s a cool, cool spot.”

During the brief point when COVID made real estate prices dip, Nanos found an affordable place. The second he walked in the door, he could see the future layout and how it would work. He bought it immediately.

“That’s why I say this is the final spot— it checks all the boxes for me,” says Nanos. “It has all the things. All my hopes and dreams are here. I built it completely in my vision.”

Having had years to figure out what he did and didn’t like about other studios he’d worked in, Nanos is now ensconced in a building that is the culmination of decades of work, learning, and practice. It’s a lifelong passion made into physical reality.

“Music is the only kind of passion I ever had, from my earliest memory,” Nanos says. “I always had an audiophile streak in me and a techie streak. I was buying little mixers at Radio Shack when I was 12 and using my dad’s reel-to-reel and my cassette decks and having fun recording with my friends. I was always in charge of

the PA—that kind of stuff.”

What really brought it all home for Nanos was an occurrence in his early 20s. When his band at the time band went down to Springfield to record with Lou Whitney, he had a revelation. Just six months prior, Wilco had been in to record, along with innumerable other major label acts over the years—in Springfield, Missouri, of all places.

“I never considered it as a career,” says Nanos. “It seemed like something that happened elsewhere. It was the first time I was like, ‘Here’s a regular guy in the Midwest, recording major label acts and making a living and doing it every day. I would quit this band in a second if I could be him. That seems like the coolest thing.’”

It took something like a decade, but Nanos finally accomplished that goal. He started with the aforementioned basement studio, began recording his band, then friends’ bands, and eventually, “there were strangers in my house,” says the engineer.

“I was like, ‘Oh, these aren’t my friends anymore. I guess I’ll make a run at it.’”

From there, Nanos moved into the West Side location and hit the ground running with his own studio by the time he was in his early 30s. Since then, the engineer has done work with seemingly every local band of note over the years, with an almost inexhaustible cross-section of musical genres. Metal, pop, funk, jazz, so on and so forth—Nanos has done them all. Well, mostly.

“Every genre is on the table, except for maybe like Nashville pop country,” deadpans the engineer. “Which I can’t do because I don’t know when it’s good, ‘cause it never sounds good to me. That’s a disservice to an artist if I can’t recognize it. But all the other genres, I feel like I know when we’re getting it right and when it’s cool.”

As Nanos puts it, his M.O. is “Let’s try and make this cool,” and people come to him for that, leading to the fact that Element Recording Studios has played host to

a panoply of sounds produced there. While the Swallowtails were recording their latest album, The World Still Spins, Nanos was also working with a doom metal band at the same time—as well as hip-hop, country, and jazz.

“I did a gamelan orchestra once and a Nigerian pop record once,” Nanos says.

All of that is important to Nanos because otherwise, it would get really boring and stale. He considers himself blessed to get to work on all kinds of music and not find himself in the situation of being pigeonholed.

For all of that passion, however, it’d be nothing without the way in which Nanos has taken all of that knowledge and channeled it into the building. There are 400-pound soundproof doors, and if they weren’t there, the sounds of the neighborhood would bleed through. It’s all knowledge gained from the fact that, yes, this is Nanos’ third studio build for Element, and by this point, he really knew what he was doing, but also from having been in and worked in so many iconic studios over the course of his career, including Fame and Royal, Sound City, and Muscle Shoals.

“The floors are all floating,” says Nanos as he points around the building. “The walls are all double and air-gapped. The ceilings are decoupled. The walls are decoupled. The floors are decoupled from each other, so they don’t vibrate from room to room. Even the closets are decoupled.”

Nanos believes every angle matters. You don’t want any parallel surfaces. As he points out, the ceiling slopes about eight inches from one side of the room to the other side of the room in which we’re sitting, and every wall in the building is on a different angle so that it sounds great, no matter where you are. The sonic balance of Element is crafted to be something unique, right down to the basement, wherein Nanos has built his very own reverb chamber.

At the end of our chat, the owner

walks me through every part of Element, from the main studio to the tech shop to Studio B—where we say hello to Chase Horseman as they work on a score for an upcoming film—and on down to the basement and that very reverb chamber. As we stand in it and listen to our voices echo, Nanos explains how it came to be, which turns out to be a summation of his ethos in just one room. Reverb chambers are a pretty rare thing to find outside of L.A. or Nashville, and it’s pretty rare to find them there, too, he says. So just what made him want to build this?

“‘Cause I could,” Nanos says. “Space to do it. And ego. And why not? It’s pretty cheap to do because there’s nothing in here.”

I assume this does some amazing things for vocals and drums, and Nanos confirms that’s the whole point.

“These days, everybody’s using the same plug-in reverbs,” says Nanos. “In the old days, you had three kinds of reverb: you had your spring, you had your plate, and you had your room, and the studio was usually built on top of a chamber that they made first, and that was part of the sound of the studio—that room verb or echo.”

As Nanos puts it, nobody has this plug-in, as it’s his and his alone. If you want it, you have to come here to Element to get it, and it gives the studio something unique in the homogenized music recording world that exists these days. It is literally a physical space that one has to be in to achieve that sound.

Musicians used to get a different sound out in L.A., New York, Detroit, Nashville, or Memphis because those people learned their craft from each other and were isolated in their location.

“Now, everybody reads the same textbook and watches the same videos, buys the same plug-ins, and gets the same interface,” Nanos says. “Music doesn’t have as much character as it once did. I fight against that very much.”

Joel Nanos takes us inside Studio A at Element Recording Studios. Jeff Thomason

Mind Your P’s & Q’s

CONCERT ETIQUETTE 101

By Nick Spacek

In an ever-evolving post-COVID music landscape, concert etiquette has taken a hit. In Ginger Sherry’s recent viral TikTok, “Don’t Do This at Concerts,” she makes the point that good behavior can be as simple as not taking a beer into the pit and soaking the crowd with it, but in our experience over the past year, bad behavior has stretched to include talking over the artist, shooting the entire show on your phone, blocking the view of those behind you, and innumerable further instances.

In the interest of helping the non-professional show-goer have a better time and make the space around you better for everyone else, we reached out to the professional door folks and sound engineers from recordBar, the Replay Lounge, and the Bottleneck to get their take. These folks see you when you come in and when you leave and have a bird’s eye vantage point of all your behaviors—and misbehaviors. They helped us break down just what’s what in Concert Etiquette 101.

What do you feel is the most important thing the audience isn’t doing that they should?

Victoria Brooks, soundperson at the Replay Lounge: Sometimes, a big crowd will come out to support one performer and then thin out right after. I’m not going to tell anyone what to do with their time, but I do think it’s important to remember that no one wants to play with an act whose fans have a reputation for never supporting anyone else on the bill.

Nico Williams, doorperson at the Bottleneck: Audiences should get up close to the stage and vibe right along with the artists they came to see. If at least someone gets some dancing going, someone else usually hops in, too. Before you know it, it’s a party.

Ray Steddy Pierce, production manager at recordBar: Having fun and trying to take in more of the experience. Most venues these days have to go above and beyond not only to keep them in the room but continue to market more shows for their hopeful return.

Conversely, is there anything you wish an audience wouldn’t do?

Victoria Brooks: Just tonight, I had a patron who kept climbing on the stage, trying to talk into the mic, and hassling one of the performers. Don’t be that person.

Nico Williams: One thing that bugs me is people trashing or disrespecting a venue. It’s not cool, man. Someone’s gotta fix that stuff at some point.

Mitchell Hewlett, soundperson at recordBar: Take better care of yourselves out there. Too many shows with 12 kids passing out ‘cause they won’t drink some water and chill for a few minutes.

How does your perception of an audience feel as an employee as opposed to when you’re the performer?

Victoria Brooks: As a performer, I can get really stuck in my head about the audience, but as a sound engineer, my main concerns are that the performers are happy and that they sound great. There’s a lot more detachment from the crowd when I’m not the one whose job it is to draw them in and entertain them.

Nico Williams: When I’m working the door, the crowd is more of something that is to be watched over to ensure everyone is having a safe and enjoyable time. However, when performing, the crowd provides life-giving energy that we get to feed off of on stage. I get to feel a connection with the crowd more, and having people cheer for the music you’ve played is quite an amazing feeling.

Ray Steddy Pierce: My perception doesn’t change. We’re all the same.

What differences have you noticed between pre-COVID and post-COVID audiences?

Victoria Brooks: I still see people masking up occasionally, but other than that, you’d be hard-pressed to spot a difference between pre-COVID and post-COVID crowds. People were desperate to get back to experiencing live music and get back to it they have.

Mitchell Hewlett: It’s almost business as usual, except that super-late night shows are less of a thing now. Pre-2020, I was playing shows that went until 1:30 in the morning all the time, and I’ve worked maybe two shows past midnight in the last year.

Band of Brethren

HARDCORE HISTORIANS MISSOURI EXECUTIVE ORDER 44

By Nathaniel Kennon Perkins

Dressed in the iconic dark slacks and white shirts of door-to-door evangelists, the “bike-helmet hardcore” band Missouri Executive Order 44 is taking a new look at Missouri’s history and identity.

The group’s namesake, as well as the inspiration for their lyrics, comes from a law passed 185 years ago. In 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, more commonly known as the “Mormon Extermination Order.”

He stated, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description.”

Now, MEO 44, who played their first show in December 2022 and has since gained a devoted following in the local hardcore punk scene, is out to avenge the crimes of the past.

Boggs’s Extermination Order came as the result of escalating tensions between members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), commonly known as Mormons, and their non-Mormon neighbors in Western Missouri. Hoping to create a religious utopia, Mormon prophet Joseph Smith led believers to Jackson County, MO, in 1831. Soon, religious differences, economic worries, and opposing political views led to a rise in anti-Mormon sentiment. A series of conflicts and mob attacks forced the Church’s temporary relocation to Clay County. When troubles followed, Caldwell County was created in 1836, specifically designated for Mormon settlement. It was there, as well as in neighboring Daviess County, that surging contention resulted in a skirmish called the Battle of Crooked Creek, fought between LDS forces and the Missouri Militia. This violence drew the ire of Governor Boggs, who subsequently issued the Order. A few days later, an unauthorized militia rode into Haun’s Mill in eastern Caldwell County and massacred 17 unarmed men and boys. Smith, hoping to avoid further persecution, led his people out of Missouri. This chain of events is collectively known as the 1838 Mormon War.

For MEO 44, this war is still raging.

“We got mad beef,” says Elos Olsen, guitarist, backup vocalist, and sampler.

Dressed in the standard-issue missionary uniform, the band performs a militant pro-Mormon stance. In the cover pho-

to of their recently released EP, Seventeen Dead in Caldwell County, the members can be seen brandishing firearms.

With song titles such as “Fuckin’ Boggs” and “Crooked River,” they don’t allow listeners to forget the past. The title of the lead-in track, “138 Years,” refers to how the unconstitutional Extermination Order technically stayed on the books until Missouri Governor Kit Bond rescinded it on June 25, 1976.

But despite the aesthetic they embrace, the members of MEO 44 don’t take

whose wish is to shed light on how long the Missouri government has been alienating the rights of citizens it does not deem ‘acceptable,’” says Olsen. “For far too long, the state of Missouri has enforced racist, bigoted, and prejudiced policies against those that don’t fit among its status quo, a practice that continues heavily to this day. That history is something we can use to connect with people on a larger, secular scale.”

Lead vocalist Jarom Johnson clarifies that the band members aren’t necessarily vying to position themselves within the

music, especially given the members’ alleged religious upbringings, was a road of trials and tribulations.

“I remember being punished for listening to an Ozzy Osbourne CD as a child,” says Olsen. “You know, claiming it was Satanic music, but I think that kind of pushed me to dive deeper into that realm. And there’s so much you can take in from the heavier side of music.”

Now, channeling their energy and anger, MEO 44’s songs are screamed prayers to the holy trinity of punk: short, fast, and loud. Only one song from the six-track EP clocks in at over two minutes. At 27 seconds, “Crooked River” is the shortest, though not by much.

themselves too seriously. They are able to poke good-natured fun at some other controversial aspects of LDS history. In “Bonnie Lonnie Lauralie,” they acknowledge the practice of plural marriage, or polygamy— which was an important aspect in early chapters of the Church’s biography—when they sing: “My three wives will watch you die/Six long braids and covered thighs/Oh, sister wives/Bonnie, Lonnie, Lauralie.”

They never break character, but MEO 44’s Mormon themes and appearance are more than just a schtick. Rather, the performance is a medium through which the group is able to share deeply held principles—beliefs that extend far beyond the boundaries of LDS church history and doctrine.

“Missouri Executive Order 44 is a band

groups or identities that suffer present-day injustices. Instead, their music is an allegory that serves to bring such issues to the forefront.

“We’re carrying a banner that is staunchly anti-tyranny,” he says.

Anti-authoritarian sentiment enjoys a long history in the many branches of punk music and culture. And, despite their penchant for quoting scripture and sharing the good word, MEO 44 doesn’t echo the dulcet tones of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Rather, the classic sounds of American screamo, powerviolence, and grind make up the firm foundation upon which they have built their musical temple. They cite bands such as Saetia, The Locust, and Jenny Piccolo as primary influences.

But coming into the world of heavy

In “Root Beer,” the band pays homage to hardcore music’s association with straight-edge, a subculture that emerged in the early 1980s and whose adherents proudly defend their choice to refrain from partaking in alcohol, tobacco, or recreational drugs: “My body is a temple/same as where I pray/when I ask for coffee/take my life away.”

Of course, the lyrics are also a playful reference to “The Word of Wisdom,” a section of LDS scripture outlining the health code for church members, specifically prohibiting tea and coffee, which the text refers to as “hot drinks.”

In June, MEO 44 leaves for a short tour. They call hitting the road “serving a mission.”

“At the end of the day, we know in our heart of hearts that Joseph Smith would come to one of our shows and would enjoy himself,” Johnson says.

Missouri Executive Order 44 after too much root beer. Courtesy photo

“For far too long, the state of Missouri has enforced racist, bigoted, and prejudiced policies against those that don’t fit among its status quo, a practice that continues heavily to this day.”

From locals to legends, emerging artists to global superstars, discover the sound of Kansas City on 90.9 The Bridge.

Missouri Business

ERIC FAIN WORKS HIS WAY UP TO PARAMORE WITH BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONCERT MANAGEMENT

By Belle Yennie

Eric Fain calls himself a glorified camp counselor.

When artists arrive at a music venue, Fain creates accommodations and keeps track of tour buses en route. On other days, he quickly facilitates runners or transports artists to off-site locations. Fain can’t be found onstage, but you can see him running merchandise tables or executing last-minute tasks for the show.

Before touring the United States with Paramore, Fain prepared events at The Truman, recordBar, and The Midland. If you’ve attended a show at one of these venues, you’ve probably witnessed his behind-thescenes skills firsthand.

Fain started in the music industry performing in local bands but later on discovered more jobs out of the spotlight that still pertained to music. Working as a guitar tech, tour manager, merchandiser, and beyond, Fain gained plenty of connections and traveling opportunities along the way. He worked as a tour manager for American Football in 2018 and mentions how their

song “Uncomfortably Numb” coincidentally features Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Fain explains how every opportunity can lead to unexpected gigs.

“I started working for some of the bands I grew up loving,” says Fain. “It’s very interconnected.”

Paramore, American Football, Senses Fail, and Poppy are just a few of the growing list of artists Fain has worked with in the music industry. He is currently a tour accountant and production assistant for Paramore, and along with managing production runners, he stocks the buses with food, water, drinks, and other supplies the tour members may need. Maintaining a community of 70 runners and knowing how to stay calm in a fast-paced environment is vital for show success, especially for a potential 22-hour workday.

“You just have to realize that everyone is tired, and everyone is working as hard as they can. So patience is a huge factor in this, and you need to be able to calmly and clearly explain to people what your needs

are,” he says.

Fain recalls his favorite memories of artists and crowds engaging in the concert experience. He assisted in an underplay Glass Animals show at recordBar, which sold out within seconds. At the Midland, Fain hosted Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead and stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer. Being a special events and venue manager has its perks, but not without a little blood, sweat, and tears.

To put in perspective the number of people and professional gear there is to manage, the Midland could require four buses and two semi-trucks for a single event. Moving up the concert ladder to a larger headlining act, around a dozen semitrucks can be necessary to haul a full production. Though managing performances can be exhausting, Fain never gets tired of the end result.

“The goosebumps always happen. I don’t think that’ll ever go away for me. If it does, I need to find another job. I just can’t. At this point in my life, I can’t work anywhere I’m not passionate about. It’s a very privileged thing that I don’t take for granted at all,” he says.

In December, Fain received a call from a friend to join the Paramore tour, but he wasn’t quite ready to leave his position at the Midland and commit to traveling internationally for several weeks. After a second call announcing Paramore’s run in the U.S., Fain finally gave in and took the gig. He enjoyed working local and regional events but truly missed life on the road and was ready for a new chapter.

“Concerts were more my thing. I love music,” says Fain “I had my last event on May 8 at The Midland, and then I flew out. It made sense to start this story.”

Walking around Manhattan and prepping a concert in the same space Billy Joel frequents is a dream. However, touring isn’t for the weak. Fain tackled two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden and, soon after, back-to-back shows in Philadelphia and Boston. With a 2 a.m. load-in time, Fain organized 20 crew members to send to Boston and prepare for the next day. Redbull

and coffee helped him survive the next 37 hours.

While Fain enjoys all aspects of working in the music industry, he wants to expand his career to reach the stage on a more personal level. He writes songs for himself without worrying about appealing to a particular audience and recently released “HELL IS A PLACE ON EARTH”—his first song written, recorded, and produced entirely on his own. Without claiming to have a distinct sound, he trusts the right people will find him.

Until Fain has more downtime to write, he hopes lending a helpful hand can bring about an unexpected opportunity, like filling in for a bass member or co-writing a song with an artist. Eventually, he hopes to work his way up and leave a legacy through music.

“I feel like that stuff lives a lot longer than most people,” says Fain. “I just want to write, put stuff out into the universe, and see where it lands.”

Fain creates music under the name Bahroot, which was inspired by the sound of his dog Jeff’s yawn. Jeff the Mastiff was a gentle giant and TikTok star who sadly passed this year. Without him, Fain felt more inclined to get back on the road. The TikTok bio includes a song link and message that states: “Healing myself through grief with music. Hope it helps you too.”

“He was my closest thing to a son I ever had, and losing him was a big part of why I went back on tour,” says Fain. “I liked being home and being able to walk in and see him every day.”

As a PA, there are many high-stress situations that come with completing tasks and getting the crew in order. At the same time, there are plenty of opportunities to meet people you wouldn’t otherwise ever cross paths with. Fain says a good reputation and a smile can do wonders in the music industry. You never know when the camp counselor could become the next star.

“In the long run, kindness goes a long way, and firmness does as well,” says Fain. ”Remember that anybody you’re working with could be your boss someday, or you could be their boss.”

Eric Fain checks off a last-minute task on tour. That’s a big bag o’ popcorn, bud. Courtesy photo

Positive Feedback

AUDIO ENGINEER VICTORIA BROOKS DIALS IN AT THE REPLAY LOUNGE

By Sofia Mongillo

If you’ve ever taken a trip to Lawrence’s rock and roll pinball bar, the Replay Lounge, chances are musician and sound engineer Victoria Brooks was in the booth working her magic for a night of tunes.

Growing up in Fort Scott, Kansas, with an audio engineer for a parent, Brooks’ first exposure to running sound came early.

Each Sunday, she watched as her father dipped back and forth between the soundboard, running live audio for their local First Presbyterian Church.

“I’ve been playing music and climbing on stage basically since I could walk,” says Brooks.

As a teen, PA system in arms, Brooks did her best to help cultivate a local music scene in Fort Scott, playing bass in her brother’s punk band, occasionally running sound for middle school dances, and dabbling in light DJing gigs on the side.

“There was a local band that some friends started that inspired a lot of us, myself included, to want to start a band,” says Brooks. “To me, it was very similar to transness—seeing people wanting to do this thing, starting it, and doing it right in front of you. It was sort of demystifying it a little bit. It was like, I want to do this, and I could do what they’re doing.”

After her younger brother kicked out the original bass player of their band, Army of Prawnz, over a typical teenage feud, Brooks got the opportunity to make her rockstar dreams come true.

“Because none of them were old enough to drive yet, I was in charge of driving them around to take instruments back and forth, and since I had a bass, I ended up taking his place,” says Brooks. “So yeah, it’s my senior year of high school, and I’m in a punk band with a middle schooler and two freshmen. It was great, I got to play on stage and do music and some fun covers with them.”

In her 20s, Brooks decided to pick up the art of home recording and spent the better part of the last 15 years improving her craft, largely self-taught with some help from friends. At the same time, she was working towards a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology as well as a minor in math and philosophy at KU.

“I didn’t have a plan for what to do after I got my degree,” says Brooks. “I was just following the notion that you’re supposed to get a bachelor’s degree and it’ll help you get a job. You know, I probably should have listened to my gut. I knew from a young age

that music and performance were home for me.”

In pursuit of honoring this gut feeling, she made a move back to Lawrence in 2019 all while coming out as trans to the people closest in her life.

“I was really nervous to try and navigate this town where I’ve been since 2004,” says Brooks. “I can say that I’m really lucky to be in a town like Lawrence. People have been surprisingly accepting. I have to remind myself that I actually have a very in-

I’ve been at Replay doing live sound since.”

Now a pillar in Lawrence’s music community and a staple audio technician at one of its hottest live music spots, she’s no stranger to working with bands, DJs, hip-hop acts, experimental musicians, and whatever else walks through the door.

“It’s one of those things where if I’m doing my job right no one even notices that I’m doing anything at all except for the performers,” says Brooks. “The show is not about me. I get the occasional shout-out,

tar is pretty straightforward and minimal,” says Brooks. “But a lot of times they have to be equalized slightly differently so that they don’t sound too sharp or too dull, or too bright or too dark. There are a lot of little things that you do just to make sure the sound is pleasing.”

Like every artist, Brooks has her own methods to her madness.

“I’m an overthinker so sometimes if I know who’s performing beforehand I can start to overthink the show,” says Brooks. “A lot of times I’d rather go in clean. I’ve talked to sound engineers who do the opposite— they love to know who they’re mixing a few days in advance and will listen to all of their music. For me, it tends to work best to just kind of, like, show up and be present in the moment.”

teresting perspective, having been a musician who has been doing this before and after my transition and interacting with people on both sides of that. You definitely get treated differently. And nothing that would surprise anyone. I feel like I deal with the occasional old white guy who doesn’t think to take me seriously, which is bizarrely a gender-affirming experience.”

Brooks says she was in search of a job where she could be authentically herself without judgement, which she feared wouldn’t be easy.

“I had a friend running sound at Replay who made a post on Facebook saying they needed a sound engineer on Friday,” says Brooks. “I sent him a message, got trained on their setup, and that was August 2021.

but most people in the crowd aren’t paying any attention to me, and I kind of like that. I help our performers get set up on the stage and get everything plugged into the PA system and mic. But I’m making sure audio levels are balanced, adding things like reverb, compression, and equalization so that the sound comes through the way it’s intended to. I really want to make sure that performers have a good show, that they’re not frustrated with the way their experience is translating to the audience, and that they can hear themselves on stage.”

A performer herself, Brooks understands the ins and outs of both sides of the job.

“A good example would be an acoustic guitar—you would think an acoustic gui-

In addition to being Lawrence’s sound tech wiz, Brooks jams with several bands, including her own, Something and the Whatevers, which she describes as “a kind of theater punk laptop post-emo weirdness.” She also recently hopped on bass for Hannah Navarro’s Party Helmet.

“While I can’t take too much credit for this, I have loved my two years at the Replay,” says Brooks. “It’s a community where I’m surprised if I don’t see fellow trans and queer people out on any given night. There are also plenty of straight cis people hanging out as well. We’ve created a space where we really don’t tolerate hatred and bigotry and a lot of macho bullshit that has pervaded for a long time. I’m really grateful for that and the opportunity it’s given me to thrive in this community.”

Victoria Brooks sets up behind the soundboard ahead of a matinee show at the Replay Lounge. Brooke Tramel

“…I probably should have listened to my gut. I knew from a young age that music and performance were home for me.”

Si g nal to Noise

CHANCE DIBBEN’S SELVEDGE FREEZES MOMENTS AS BITCRUSHED MEMORIES

By Belle Yennie

Artist Chance Dibben creates music similar to smelling a candle. Like scents, varying sounds have the ability to evoke certain memories or feelings. Dibben’s music can transport you to a certain place and time. For me, I reflected on last winter when my car refused to work.

While listening to “Portable Jump Starter” the twinkling sounds reminded me of the sight of snow, which calmed me when everything seemed to be going wrong. I knew when listening to the song that finding the jump starter provided a sense of relief amidst a dreary cold. I understood that feeling despite the guidance of a single song lyric.

Dibben doesn’t use words or instruments to create these emotions. It’s just noise, and these ambient, distorted feelings are crafted during work breaks on an iPhone.

Known as Selvedge, Dibben is a selftaught music producer. He uses Garageband, Koala, and other apps to craft his music. The skeletons of his songs and EPs are sometimes imagined during a 9-5 job. Creating music is a practice of incorporating art into Dibben’s life, even if it’s drafting during a lunch break and polishing the rest late at night.

“I would be playing with tracks or audio tools on my phone, [making] some ideas or a little sketch that I would then flesh out when I got home,” says Dibben.

To explain the creation of the Selvedge name, the term is often associated with jeans. Though a literal selvedge prevents the ending seam of denim from splitting, Dibben sees the stitch as a place to com-

bine fabrics together or rather connect ambient noise into his music. Inspired by this term and his techniques for creation, Dibben adopted the name Selvedge for weaving warped melodies into songs.

“I had this collection of poetry that I was working on. I was stitching together these lines that didn’t necessarily connect or didn’t originate as one unit,” says Dibben. “When I needed a name, that’s what stood out to me. It applied to what I was doing at that time, especially because I was taking these blocks and piecing them together.”

With varying apps and a synthesizer, Dibben creates an audible way to hear snow, hummingbirds, and other aspects of nature without actually including their sound. He wants others to feel through the noise and drafts the emotions for others to embody. Dibben focuses on conveying experiences, some of which include the calm Kansan during tornado season and frustrated locals during snowy winters.

“A lot of my work is very much influenced by weather, and not just weather in general. [It’s] specific sky colors, specific things you get when clouds over are of a certain height and are loaded or not loaded with rain, and the way the light filters through,” says Dibben.

Though Dibben doesn’t have a music background, he’s created poetry and short fiction. He plans his songs by writing and creating the space and environment he wants the listener to be in. He draws on narratives and storytelling for crafting the albums. However, the songs are still up for individual interpretation, unique to oth-

ers’ experiences.

“In that sense, it almost becomes an abstract painting, too,” says Dibben. “The meaning is whatever you make from it. [However], what I’m making is grounded in certain conditions and specific mindsets.”

Dibben thinks of himself as the target audience of the music apps he uses. There’s an accessible way for anyone to make art— and do it well—even when managing a work-life balance. Experimenting is all that’s needed to get started. Be disciplined, but don’t get in your own way of making a first bad draft.

“You don’t need to have formal training. You just have to know what you like and what you don’t. You have to play in the space a little bit,” says Dibben. “There are so many origin stories in music, where it’s people who didn’t know any better, just charging forward. And I take a lot of inspiration from that.”

Dibben’s most recent album, CAPACITY, brings back memories of summer thunderstorms. Eerie whirs mimic tornado sirens, but as the album progresses, the sound turns into a serene hum. For Dibben and some other Midwesterners, storms haven’t bothered us, and his music shows how we’re often in awe of them.

“It was reflecting on the weather of a specific time because the [previous] record was very much about a hard winter. This one was the opposite,” says Dibben. “Let me show you the sky before the storm. Let me show you the sky during the storm.”

Experimental artist Anthony Pandolfino collaborated with Dibben to create Mutiny, Hunger Stones, and Warm Enough despite never meeting in person. The two communicated through lengthy and frequent emails, trying to describe how to warp noise into music through trial and error. Pandolfino says Hunger Stones is inspired by European landmarks and how humanity is under nature’s power.

“If the river was low enough to where you can see [the stones], you knew there was going to be a drought, and it was not going to be a good year or season. He was really fascinated by that,” says Pandolfino. “It’s like telling future humans, there’s the struggle coming, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Pandolfino admires Dibben, and out of everyone he’s collaborated with, Pandolfino says they’re on the same wavelength. Sharing ideas has always been easy when the two hear music similarly. Though Pandolfino’s new label Engraven is fantasy-inspired, the two are able to understand one another’s noisy creations.

“‘I Hate Winter But I Love a Good Snow’, I think that’s kind of like the perfect encapsulation…” says Pandolfino. “It might suck, it might be brutal, but it’s like, it’s beautiful too. And it is what the life experience is.”

Artist and Selvedge fan Michael Carl-

son is also in the experimental realm creating music under the name remst8. Carlson and Dibben were set to perform in a show, but the concert was unfortunately canceled. After hearing about Selvedge through the canceled event, Carlson’s appreciation continued online by keeping up with Dibben’s life and music on social media. He admires Dibben’s commentary on other experimental artists and sharing others’ work.

“He’s got a full life, but he’s still regularly putting out his art. And that’s just amazing. I’m quite jealous of that,” says Carlson. “He listens to what other people are doing, and he will very vociferously share his appreciation like, ‘Hey, this is a great album; you should listen to this.’”

Similar to Dibben, Carlson doesn’t have a background in music but still enjoys studying sound. He adds or removes layers of noise as needed to create his music and observes the patterns and techniques of other artists. Inspiration stems from supporting others in the experimental music community. Carlson is a consistent enthusiast of Dibben’s work, and Dibben gifted him a fan certificate to express his appreciation. Dibben also says he’s discovered more experimental music artists thanks to Carlson’s shares.

“In many ways, it feels like we’re weirdos and misfits, and so we should support each other as best we can. Anyone who is making art, no matter where they are in their journey, if it sounds interesting to me, I want to support it. I want to help other people find it,” says Carlson.

In addition to music, Dibben is keeping up with other artistic mediums. At Replay Lounge, Dibben co-hosts a monthly poetry series with Melissa Fite Johnson. The series features an open-mic opportunity with selected readers. Dibben also filmed music videos for several songs on CAPACITY, including “MOVING WITH THE WINDOW” and “SHOWN.” Regardless of whatever ambient music track or artistic project he’s creating, part of experimentation in art is enjoying the process and peculiar things we create. Otherwise, as Dibben says: What are we doing?

“I take what I do very seriously, but I also don’t take it that seriously. It’s supposed to be fun. Don’t worry about anything else. Just chase the thing,” says Dibben. “I love my life, but [art] is a way of putting a little extra sugar on everything.”

An artistic rendering inspired by Selvedge. Illustration by Jacqulyn Seyferth

Hiss Take

CAT F!GHT CLAWS UP THE PATRIARCHY

By Brynn Winkler

To KU student Ali Madden’s dismay, there were no all-girl bands represented in the Lawrence punk music scene when she was introduced to the community her freshman year—an absence also felt by her friend Chloe Fraiser.

In spring 2022, Madden and Fraiser began plans for their own girl punk rock band that made their own rules, dressed how they wanted, and belted with angst

about the patriarchy in lieu of indistinguishable violent screams. To 20-year-old lead singer Madden, the band is counter to the mainstream punk genre—one usually associated with men clad in chains and screaming lyrics laced with thinly veiled misogyny. The primary songwriter’s lyrics condemn pervy men, raise awareness for mental health, critique sexist stereotypes, and even express her distaste of *The Boys*

T.V. series for its treatment of sexual assault.

“Something we focused on when forming our band was cultivating a space in which women and marginalized people just felt like they had a space that wasn’t dominated by men moshing or screaming on stage about stuff we’ve heard a million times,” Madden says. “We wanted to create something that was safe and new.”

Six months after Madden and Fraiser teamed up to find the rest of their foursome, Cat F!ght performed their first show featuring their first original song, “Oh Dog.” The powerhouse anthem takes a bubblegum punk jab at Madden’s Catholic upbringing, tartan plaid skirts and all. Madden exclaims frustrations like toxic Catholic guilt, deep-seated misogyny, and other backwards practices of the church— hence the title of the song, which contains the backwards spelling of “God.”

Other members of the band include 21-year-old Fraiser on the guitar, 19-yearold Lisa Hild on the drums, and 19-yearold Clare Hawkins on the bass.

This is a lineup, Madden says, that their male counterparts on the bill and even audience members often don’t expect when they first meet at a venue for a gig. They aren’t expecting the “explosion,” in Madden’s words—their unabashed powerful presence exuded when perform-

ing their ten original songs.

“I definitely feel those side-eye looks or notice weird comments from guys that are talking down to us,” Madden says. “I think their expectation is that people only like us because we’re the only all-girl band—and then there’s that shock factor when we’re actually good.”

This is a double standard she didn’t think would stick around even as the band garnered a fanbase and exploded following their second-ever performance in January. Madden has lost count of gigs since then, hitting the Toilet Bowl, Howdy, and The Bottleneck to name a few.

Though Cat F!ght’s music has not been officially released on a streaming platform, they are in the process of recording themselves with the help of a friend’s recording system and estimate a fall release for these original tunes. In the meantime, they have filmed and released a double feature music video for their song ‘Listen Up!’ and ‘‘Oh Dog,” accessible on their YouTube channel.

“I guess take I it upon myself to write about the stuff I’m hearing about—stuff all these girls, queer people, and people of color in the punk scene are made uncomfortable by or what they’re seeing when men are not around,” Madden says. “And I think the stage is such a good place to do that because you’re kind of untouchable.”

Cat F!ght’s Ali Madden at Farmers Ball 2023. Maura Dayton

Do The Monster Mashup

LOST WAX IS A HUMAN PARTY PLAYLIST ON SHUFFLE

By Emma Hilboldt

At the end of April, everyone was watching the NFL Draft. At the forefront of the draft was the band Lost Wax—a group made up of 40-50 local musicians, each with a unique talent in their respective area of music. Given the number of people within the group, it allows Lost Wax to rotate performers based on the vibe of the event they’re booked for.

*The Pitch* was able to sit down with a few members of Lost Wax to talk about how they came to be and what their last year of success has been like.

Chris Davis, one of the founding members of Lost Wax, has been in the industry since 1998. He’s been in other bands and has traveled all across the country on tour but settled back in Kansas City and started Lost Wax in 2010. Taking ‘70s funk and merging it with ‘90s hip hop, Lost Wax has created a unique new genre of mashups that wasn’t so popular when they first started doing it. When they moved into the bar scene, they wanted to create a different flow than usual for live bands. Instead of taking a pause between songs, they keep a continuous flow of jams throughout their performance.

Starting out as a five-piece group playing long, non-stop sets at Kelly’s and O’Dowds, Lost Wax has grown to become a mosaic of local talent that allows each individual musician to perform on stage

and pursue their own careers outside of the group.

“We’re like a big family. There’s no competition. We just support each other in all of our individual successes.” Davis says.

After doing private events for a few years, Lost Wax was approached with the opportunity to be the house band for the 2023 NFL Draft. While they jumped at the chance, it left them only three weeks to prepare hundreds of songs to play throughout the weekend.

“We had a 14-piece band, and the concept was that we would do a 10-minute opening set, and while every team was on the clock, we would play,” Davis says. “I’d have a producer in my ear counting down to when the commissioner would come out, so we had to stop on a dime.”

What may sound chaotic to some was handled smoothly by Lost Wax.

“They would announce the pick, and we’d go right into an instrumental song, so you’d have to have three songs per pair with about five to seven minutes to fill—that’s about 100 songs. We ended up having 100120 songs prepared for each of the three days.”

The NFL Draft had never had a band like this before. Previously, it was just a band playing background music and nothing more. With Lost Wax on the stage, it was definitely going to be a different experience.

“We were running out into the crowd and getting them to sing along to ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ and ‘Sweet Caroline’ and just really getting them to interact with us,” says Lost Wax member Eboni Fondren.

Fondren is a jazz singer for the group and does gigs around town when she isn’t performing for Lost Wax. With a weekly jazz jam at the Uptown Lounge and regular gigs at the

Davis first saw Fondren perform at the Levee when she was unknowingly auditioning for another band. He had been looking for a jazz singer for a while, and when he saw her, he knew she would be the perfect fit.

“I had been following Lost Wax as a fan for a while at that point, so when Chris asked me if I’d like to join, I was like, ‘Absolutely,’” says Fondren.

The attention they got from performing at the NFL Draft is something that benefited not only the band as a whole, but the shine was reflected onto each of the individual performers as well. The entire group has big things planned for the near future.

Before too long, they’ll be releasing a new album—50 minutes with 50 songs that Fondren dubbed a “mega mashup.” It’s a new type of album for the band that will string together all of these different songs cohesively. They recorded it in a way that would allow

Phoenix, she’s set to release an album with the City Jazz Orchestra in September, which will have two of her original songs on it.

“It’s not a sacrifice to give up a Friday or Saturday night jazz gig to do this because I love it,” Fondren says. “I can do a jazz gig on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. It all works together.”

them to recreate it exactly the way it was recorded when they perform it live.

Lost Wax will perform at The Ship in the West Bottoms on Saturday, July 29, with Breakfree Hip-Hop School. The event will include will be B-Boy battles, DJ scratch battles, MC battles, and all-style battles with a $500 cash prize for each. It’s a night hip-hop lovers will not want to miss.

The Lost Wax collective. Courtesy photo

“We’re like a big family. There’s no competition. We just support each other in all of our individual successes.”

Blue Note

KC BLUE CREW IS THE FAN-POWERED HEARTBEAT OF THE CURRENT

By Emma Hilboldt

It’s a warm evening in early June, and the crowd at Children’s Mercy Park is charged. KC Current is set to play North Carolina Courage, and the stadium is decked out for Pride Night. While the stadium as a whole is roaring with adoring fans, there is no place like the supporter section on the north side of the field. For someone who has never been to a Current game before, this entire section is a site to behold. A sea of teal with the occasional burst of rainbow.

KC Blue Crew is a staple in the supporter section at KC Current matches. You’ll typically hear them before you see them, taking up the front rows of the area with their chants and motivating beats. The crew has been steadily growing since it was started in 2012. At its beginning, the group was created to support FC Kansas City, the previous Kansas City professional women’s soccer club.

It’s hard to miss the leaders of the section. Posted up in the first few rows is a drum line with a capo on a pedestal holding a megaphone. The Blue Crew initiates crowd participation, and everyone soon catches on. Popular chants include the “KC Baby!” and “Shots! Shots! Shots!” as well as some occasional heckling of the other team’s goalie— the kind that would only get under the skin of the most resigned.

“Murphy, you look like you leave trash in your friend’s car,” a member shouts.

Pretty brutal if you ask us. They aren’t beyond kind gestures, though, offering earplugs to the *Pitch* staff crouched in front of them. But who would want to muffle this fun?

After FC Kansas City folded in 2017,

means to the team and the community.

“We’re there to cheer, have fun, support the team, and also support the community during the match and outside of the match,” says Russell.

The Blue Crew takes part in different fundraisers throughout the community every year so that their impact can reach outside of the stadium.

“In our member discord, we will push different initiatives or maybe go out and work to do cleanups and stuff like that in the community,” says Russell.

Brooke Soptic is the capo for the drums, standing atop a small platform next to the crew with a megaphone and shirt with a pride flag painted on the back of it. The communication between her and the drum line is dialed in—a quick shout of

the coming year, with their new stadium set to be open for the next regular season. KC is making professional sports history once again with what will be the first stadium built solely for a women’s professional team and is planned to be one of the practice fields for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This means a lot not only for the team but for the Blue Crew. Russell spoke about what these changes mean for the members and how they will affect the future of the crew.

“Our group is six times bigger than it was when we first started, and we definitely see that continuing as time goes on,” says Russell. “As the Current grows with the new stadium, we’re excited to see people join the group and interact with people who they may never have interacted with otherwise.”

People who see the Blue Crew at matches witness them having the time of their lives. They hear the drum beats and the original chants and think, “That’s where I want to be.” At Pride Night, the

Mastering the Art of…

VELOUTÉ PUTS STOCK IN MODERN FRENCH STREET FOOD

By Lindsey Weishar

It’s just after 9 a.m. on a spring Saturday at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market. Small business owners Bri and Pascal Larcher can be found under an awning sporting French flag pennant banners, which today are flapping in the wind. A wooden sign with the words “Beignets, Pommes Frites” announces their most popular offerings. Over the past few years, their business, Velouté, has gained quite a following.

Part of the fun is the surprise of the menu. Besides their signature classic beignets, today’s menu also includes stuffed beignets (banana and Nutella), their ever-popular pommes frites with sea salt (or a delightful combination of truffle oil, parmesan, and garlic aioli), baguettes, chocolate tarts, quiche, gluten-free chai scones, and Lorraines (a savory beignet with cream cheese, bacon, Swiss cheese, and caramelized onion). Certain items, like the scones and the stuffed beignets, change weekly, while others change seasonally. Some—like the classic beignets— are mainstays.

The line of patrons doesn’t let up until 11 a.m. It’s a good sign.

“The farmers’ market is where we really grew Velouté,” Bri says as she dusts the last of the classic beignets with powdered sugar.

Bri and Pascal have been regular vendors at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market for the past five years. Their goal is to make French food accessible through casual yet elevated street fare.

“The type of food we serve at the farmers’ market gives people a very realistic taste of French food in a non-intimidating way,” says Bri.

Becoming a brick-and-mortar Velouté’s food repertoire goes far beyond potatoes and dough. Pascal went to French culinary school and has worked as a chef for several years. Bri met Pascal while she was working as a barista at Aixois. A true hospitality romance.

Named for one of the “mother sauces of French cooking,” Velouté began as a creative way for Bri and Pascal to spend more time together and eventually grew into their primary career focus. They have their sights on opening a brick-and-mortar in downtown Shawnee this fall, where they hope to expand their French cuisine offerings.

What sets Velouté apart is the fusion of flavors born of Pascal’s heritage. He grew up in Toulon in the Provence region in

Southern France. His dad came from Martinique, and his mom came from Réunion Island off the coast of Madagascar. He grew up eating food that incorporated Creole flavors—French, Chinese, Indian, and African cuisines. On the menu, he hopes to include a Cornish hen stuffed with mushroom risotto and velouté sauce on a bed of leeks, as well as steak frites with “an amazing green peppercorn sauce”—dishes inspired by his childhood.

Farmers’ Market Roots

Visitors to the Velouté storefront will be treated to a sensory feast.

“The French are really the people who have paved the way for celebrating food in general,” Bri says. “We do the same thing by celebrating ingredients and quality.”

Part of this celebration is found in the synergy of the farmers’ market scene. Here, the Larchers source many of the ingredients that go into their dishes. Vendors and products include Hughes Family Farm (Jordy’s Honey), The Tasteful Olive (olive oil), Hemme Brothers Creamery (fresh mozzarella), Dragonfly Farms (mushrooms), and numerous local farmers for seasonal produce, including Pearl Family Farm, Green Thumbs Up, Sunny Speciality Farm, Yoder Farm, Sunflower Orchards, and Trails West Farm.

Sarah Hornung has been on the farmers’ market scene for the past few years. She teamed up with Velouté in the fall of 2020 and has been helping ever since with the Saturday market. She sees Velouté as an integral part of the “incredibly diverse vendor pool” that is the Overland Park Farmers’ Market, but also as a culinary way to introduce locals to another culture and create connection.

“In my mind, the market is not a grocery store, which is where you go to find precisely what you need and then get out as quickly as possible,” says Hornung. “The

market is for community—for building relationships with the individuals who grow the food you’re buying. We don’t supply fresh produce like many of our fellow vendors, but we do take feedback and recommendations for what people hope for in our product. For example, we started making a mushroom croque monsieur for folks who don’t eat meat. We have a solid base of customers who come every week. I don’t know the deep personal histories of the people who regularly come to our booth, but I often know their names and even more often know what they will order. It’s a delight to greet people by name or have their treat already in a bag, and I hope it’s a pleasant experience for them as well.”

The Pitch spent time with Velouté during market and found this to be the case. The Larchers made an effort to chat with passersby. Upon hearing that Luca Bagels, one of the neighboring vendors, was almost out of bagels, Bri went over to say hello and buy them out.

“We started as a catering company,” says Bri. “When we decided to do the farmers’ market, we weren’t planning on doing anything but selling pastries, but the director gave us some suggestions—like that we should make beignets. We learned to be flexible and to shift our plans to meet our customers’ desires. Putting in those extra hours that allowed us to both listen to what clients wanted while still staying true to ourselves was key to our success.”

Velouté offers French fare at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market. Kathleen Straub Photography

Third Coast Westside Express Now Open!

3001 MERCIER ST. KANSAS CITY, MO 64108

Wednesday-Sunday 5-10 pm

Scan the QR code to download the app to save money & earn rewards. Take out & delivery only.

Apple Butter & Brie at The Brick

BY SARAH SIPPLE

1727 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108

The Brick welcomes you with mismatched motifs and chairs, and scribbled signatures cover the walls. Whatever you may be thinking, the food menu will surprise you. From a Guy Fieri-approved meatloaf special to soy hot dogs to a sriracha bacon burger to a Fluffernutter sandwich—it’s full of pleasant surprises.

A menu staple is the Apple Butter & Brie sandwich. Melted brie, sliced tart apples, and apple butter on buttered rye bread—all served with a choice of house-cut or sweet potato fries, cottage cheese, hummus and veggies, tater tots, or coleslaw for under $10. The sandwich is a masterclass in simplicity and balance. No single element shines brighter than others. It’s perfectly melty, savory, and sweet. This dive-bar surprise sandwich has warmed me in the dead of winter just as much as it has brightened my hot June day. This summer, pair it with a Jazzman dark lager from Vine Street Brewing to be uplifted by the effervescent notes of cola.

The Brick sources from local spots like Oddly Correct Coffee, Rain Crow Ranch for grass-fed beef, M&M Bakery, Farm to Market, Roma Bakery, and Scimeca’s Italian.

It’s no average dive bar. Any night of the week, you may see live original music or performance art. In fact, each Monday, the joint transforms into a welcoming and warm bustle as Rural Grit takes over with dozens of banjos, guitars, and even a washboard or two. On July 28, catch the Cosmic Tody Brothers performing on their small but sufficient stage.

The Brick in East Crossroads is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. - 12 a.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.

Nightclaws at Nighthawk

BY SARAH SIPPLE

1228 Baltimore Ave. Kansas City, MO 64105

This is the club you’ve been looking for. In the basement of downtown’s Hotel Kansas City, you can hear a brass band or a DJ, order a strawberry daiquiri shot or Uncle Nearest neat, and munch on spiced popcorn or cake bonbons. On top of that variety, there’s no cover, no dress code, no reservations, and food is served all night. Nighthawk knows what the people want, and it provides.

The unassuming section of their menu titled “Nightclaw Setlzers” is a selection of four house-made canned cocktails for $12. The price may seem steep, but these are no common bubbles.

The Pineapple variety hits with a depth of surprise as a prominent pineapple-infused Aperol taunts the senses first. Like all of the Nightclaws, the carbonation is minimal, but the alcohol content sits at a slightly elevated 5-5.6% ABV. Other ingredients include pineapple-infused vodka and pineapple Jarritos. It is best when it’s ice cold, so the low carbonation allows it to be consumed quickly.

Top sellers include Cucumber Key Lime—a fresh and authentic sip made with vodka, gin, and Lime LaCroix; and Grapefruit—bringing a sweeter and straightforward taste. Lemon Almond rounds out the offering. Nightclaws are batched each Tuesday in a room next to the bar. The staff mixes, cans, seals, and even hand-labels each unit weekly.

Beyond the canned cocktails, Nighthawk has a pool table, happy hour from 7-8 p.m., and live music. The July lineup features DJ Jonisthewblack on Friday, July 14; Shakedown Strings on Thursday, July 20; Lorna Kay’s One Night Stand on Saturday, July 29; and many more.

Sarah Sipple

Sarah Sipple

A locally owned mom and pop pizza joint featuring Chicago style deep dish pizza.

MISE EN PLACE

MASS STREET FISH HOUSE’S LAURA KLEIN GIVES GRADE-A HOSPITALITY INSIGHT

By Kate Frick

Laura Klein holds a stem of daylilies as she looks out the small restaurant storefront at pedestrians on Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence. As owner-operator of the LFK seafood institution, Mass St. Fish House, she has elegance and a sense of ease about her while she arranges fresh bouquets to adorn tables. Her composure and grace support the ethos that makes the restaurant and bar a comfortable, hospitable environment for guests and employees alike.

The Pitch: When you’re self-reliant and working in hospitality, is it easy to delegate?

Laura Klein: When I first started, in order to prove myself, I never called in sick, I didn’t request off, I worked every holiday, and I don’t know if this is everyone’s experience, but especially being a woman in this industry, I felt I had to be perfect.

How do we break expectations of perfection? You know, when you get into a position of power, you’re really worried about putting too much on someone else’s plate; that’s a thing I think about a lot. This should be a better working environment for my peers. But, I’m sometimes still not extending that to myself. One person really can’t create a really magical experience, you need a high-functioning team.

Let’s talk martyrdom in the industry. Do you feel guilty for time away? Oh, my God. Absolutely. When I’m away and tempted to feel really guilty, my husband Dan says, “Do you not trust your staff?” And I’m like, “Oh, yeah, I trust my staff.” I feel like it’s a little jab, and he puts it into terms I can process.

Do you cook at home? I love cooking at home. I’ll get obsessive about one recipe and try to get it right. Earlier this year, I was making Caesar salads for myself at home, trying to get my recipe perfect. I grew up next to this Greek Orthodox Church in Wichita, and they’d have Lebanese dinners as a fundraiser, and I looked forward to it all year. I had a single working mom, putting herself through grad school. She didn’t complain. I feel like a lot of my preparation for this industry was watching my mom, who is, to this day, well into her 60s, work-

Mise En Place is a series of questions, answers, recommendations, and culinary wisdom from the food and drink masters that push KC flavor further. The following answers have been edited for length and clarity.

ing 12-hour days at the hospital. She would definitely tell you that working hard for others is her self-care.

Do you know your family’s heritage? How does it play into your daily work experience? Yes. I am mostly German Mennonite. I love the history of German Mennonites because they’re a bunch of hippies that were like, “Martin Luther didn’t go far enough. You know?” I really think that there is a shared cultural value: the needs of the community over the needs of the individual.

At some point, I would love to just be way more of a realist instead of, like, oppressively optimistic. My chef calls me aggressively optimistic all the time. Maybe that’s what it takes to make it in the service industry. I remember the time we hand-wrote tickets all night because there was a power surge, and it fried our router. At the end of the day, when you have your worst defeats, you can just be like, “You know what? We’re serving food. No one died.” We come back the next day and be a better version. When we’re tempted to put all that pressure on ourselves, it’s like, “Hey, this is a pleasure experience.” It is nourishment, but it’s for pleasure, ya know? These are little luxuries that all human beings are seeking. Everybody wants to feel like “I got to treat myself, or I got to treat someone else. I got to have an experience outside of my regular day.” And really, that’s the foundation of it. If I’m riding myself too hard, or riding my staff too hard, then I’m forgetting that a big part of this job is that it should be fun. And when I was young, my mom went back and got an MBA, and I remember her telling me that one of the biggest contributors to customer satisfaction is employee satisfaction. With customer-facing industries, if you have a team that’s emotionally exhausted, or it’s chaotic, or a toxic environment, that’s going to translate to the guest experience. It’s a lot easier to be loving, welcoming, and generous with your patrons, you know—if you’re feeling love and respect.

Mass St. Fish House owner Laura Klein. Courtesy photo

KC Pitch Scavenger Hunt 2023

By Sarah Sipple

Our Pitch readers must trust us… because, once again, they let us guide them on an adventure of riddles and challenges that sent them from Olathe to Raytown, then Crossroads to Strawberry Hill, and everything in between.

Each of the 49 teams showed off their KC expertise, but Pinkies and the Brain took the top prize of $500 and goodies from our sponsors. Their creative photoshopped Pitch cover tie-breaker submission sealed the deal.

“We had such fun doing the scavenger hunt, and as two 63-year-olds who have both lived in KC for 50 years, we couldn’t believe how many surprises there were,” says Dawn from team Neon Bulldogs.

Some teams ventured in the rain, others brought their dog along, and some turned it into a romantic date. The hunt was far from grueling. In fact, some teams enjoyed a lunch break when visiting Bay Boy Speciality Sandwiches, took a relaxing breather atop Green Roof Park, and celebrated their game progress at Crane Brewing.

The Pitch Scavenger Hunt has wrapped for the year, but keep an eye out for next year’s game and upcoming Pitch events like our Margarita Experience on Thursday, August 17.

Now - September 3

Fortopia

Powell Gardens

Powell Gardens invites visitors to explore Fortopia, a series of fort designs created by various artists, including preschool children, elementary students, architects, and more. The outdoor forts encourage all guests to engage in outdoor play. This year, the Fortopia collection features The Beehive by sisters Celene & Ceanna Oberlechner and represents the bees’ importance in plant life. Additionally, Box City by City Playcorps represents the use of children’s imaginations with cardboard boxes and recyclable materials. Fortopia includes experiences for all ages. Adult, children, and senior tickets are listed online. Fortopia is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. through September.

July CAlENDAR

By The Pitch Staff

ONGOING/MULTIPLE:

July 7-8

Taylor Swift, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium

July 7-9

Summer KC Metaphysical Fair 2023, Harrah’s Kansas City Casino & Hotel

July 14-16

KantCon 2023, Overland Park Convention Center

July 20 - August 6

Festival of Butterflies, Powell Gardens

July 21-23

Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles, Starlight

EVENTS

July 2

Between the Buried and Me, The Truman

July 7-13

Legally Blonde Starlight

The award-winning musical Legally Blonde is coming to Starlight July 7-13. Based on the 2001 movie of the same name, the production follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she gets accepted to Harvard Law School after her boyfriend Warner dumps her so she can attend the same prestigious law school. What starts as an attempt to win him back ends with Elle forming a passion for law and creating a new life for herself along the way. Filled with action and memorable songs, this is a fun show that will… make you wanna hot dog real bad. Tickets range from $16-$100 and can be purchased online.

July 8

The Reveal: Presented by The VAMP INTENSIVE Class, Lifted Spirits Distillery

The Emo Night Tour, The Truman Queer Bar Takeover, The Black Box

Sparks, The Midland

Party On with DJ BOATSS, Replay Lounge

July 3

Summerfest 2023, Douglas County Fairgrounds

Red, White and Baseball, Kauffman Stadium

July 4

Stars and Stripes Picnic, National WWI Museum and Memorial Poetry Munch: Free-dumb Party, Replay Lounge

July 5

Taylor Swift Trivia Night, Bar K Rashomon, Screenland Armour

July 6 Taylor Fest, recordBar

July 7

Heather Land, Uptown Theater

Houston, The Bottleneck Crusty Mustard Improv, The Black Box

The KC Eid Festival, Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park

Summer Vibes + Black Art, The Black Archives of Mid-America, Inc.

July 9

Cinemartyr, recordBar

The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir, Nerver, Nightosphere, Missouri Executive Order 44, Farewell KCMO

July 11

Gogol Bordello, The Truman Cloud Nothings, The Rino

July 12

Pepper, The Madrid Theatre

Replay’s Coyotes: A Tribute Show, Replay Lounge

Martin City Taco Mile, KC Running Company Store

Crobot, The Bottleneck

July 13

Kim Moore, KC Live!

July 14

September Mourning, The Bottleneck Jamaican Jam, Legacy Park Amphitheater

Souls of Mischief, recordBar

Tears for Fears, Starlight

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, KC Live!

July 15

Summer Fest, North Park at Zona Rosa Making Movies, Knuckleheads

Party Like It’s The ‘90s, Lemonade Park

Dave Koz & Friends: Summer Horns 2023 with Special Guests Candy Dulfer & Eric Darius, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

July 16

Killer Queen - A Tribute to Queen, Uptown Theater

Etran de L’Aïr, recordBar

Great Car Show of KC, Liberty Memorial

July 17

Air Traffic Controller, miniBar

July 18

Foreigner with Loverboy, Starlight

July 14

The Mountain Goats Liberty Hall

The Mountain Goats are taking their punchy alternative indie folk rock sound to Liberty Hall in Lawrence on their Spectral Tide Tour. The group—which started out with the founder and sole member John Darnielle—is selling out theaters and auditoriums across the country. Their discography consists of over 20 albums ranging from anthems Darnielle recorded and released on tape in the early ‘90s to the group’s latest 2022 release, Bleed Out. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $35.

July 25

Death Grips The Midland

Experimental hip-hop group Death Grips is making a stop in KC this summer as a part of their North America 2023 tour. Fans can see their raucous antics live on Tuesday, July 25, at the Midland. Whether you comprehend the group or not, don’t miss the rare chance to be part of the noise. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets range from $35-$65. All ages are welcome to join in on the rage.

July 19

The Smile, Robert Stillman, The Midland Shania Twain: Queen Of Me Tour, T-Mobile Center

Arrows in Action, The Rino

July 20

Lomelda, recordBar

July 21

Barbie, Theatrical

The Backseat Lovers, Grinders KC Third Friday Art Walk, Strawberry Hill Up All Night - A One Direction Party, recordBar

July 22

Ann Wilson of Heart & Tripsitter, Uptown Theater

Jagged Edge, Ginuwine, Shai, The Midland

July 23

MIIRRORS, Ebony Tusks, Collidescope, Replay Lounge

July 24

AJJ, The Bottleneck

July 25

Youth Lagoon, recordBar

YUNGBLUD: The World Tour, Uptown Theater

July 26

Julia Jacklin, recordBar Baylen Levine, The Truman Florist, Skullcrusher, Adelyn Strei, Replay Lounge

The Spill Canvas, Nathan Hussey, The Rino

July 27

Telekinetic Yeti, The Bottleneck Brothers Osborne, KC Live! Kansas, The Midland

July 28

Wolf Eyes, The Bottleneck

We Are Arya, Raviner, Mooncaller, VIVO Live Events

July 29

Ekkstacy, Encore Room

Jinkx Monsoon: “Everything at Stake,” The Folly Theater

Downward, Bedlocked, Nightosphere, Flooding, Farewell KCMO

July 30

FOOTLOOSE, Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park

Run With It, Guitars and Cadillacs KC Flamingos in the Tree, The Bottleneck

July 31

Paint Your Pet, Bar K

July 29

An Orchestral Rendition of Dr. Dre: 2001 The Truman

Alternative Symphony is giving you the opportunity to immerse yourself in an evening of expert musicians honoring hip-hop history. Not only do they have a full modern orchestra playing some of Dr. Dre’s best hits, but there will be a high-end production team providing some of the best visuals in the game. The musicians also happen to be some of Dre’s biggest fans. They’ve been practicing non-stop to introduce classically-trained trumpets, horns, strings, DJs, drums, live vocalists, MCs, and more to a pop-culture legacy. This event is 21+.

“I have no objection to anyone’s sex life as long as they don’t practice it in the street and frighten the horses.” —Oscar Wilde

We all exist because of sex, but that does not mean all adults are comfortable discussing, accepting, and embracing their sexual expression, let alone others. It’s easy to be less than sex-positive in a world that often stigmatizes and shames sexuality. We could all live healthier, happier lives if we release the negativity around basic human nature.

To me, when people are sex-negative, it’s an opportunity for an educational conversation. The World Health Organization says, “Sexual health, when viewed affirmatively, requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence.”

Sex positivity encourages open and honest conversations about sexuality, consent, pleasure, and sexual diversity, empow-

ering people to acknowledge and explore their desires safely and respectfully. It begins with embracing the inherent value of consensual sexual experiences. It’s about cultivating a mindset that sees sex as a natural and positive part of our lives, free from judgment.

You can absolutely be vanilla in the bedroom and be sex-positive. You can try everything under the sun and be sex-negative or even sex-averse. This isn’t about how much you do, have done, or will try one day.

Sex aversion refers to an individual’s deep-seated discomfort and/or avoidance of anything related to sexuality, while sex negativity is a broad belief that sex is inherently dirty or morally wrong.

Sex-averse folks often feel immense anxiety or disgust at the thought of having sex on their own or in partnership. They may feel disconnected from their desires or be absolutely grossed out by fantasies. They often avoid dating and relationships. In addition, if someone feels physically ill thinking about sex, they are considered sex-repulsed.

In a sex-negative culture, things like sexual expression and orientation are often shrouded in secrecy and shame. People who have sex-negative views might judge others for their proclivities, viewing certain acts, identities, or orientations as deviant or hell-worthy. Sex-negative people often have hard and narrow limits on their own sexual expression, and they can expect others to hold similar values. This mindset can lead to the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes, discrimination, and violence.

I find that people who are on a path of learning to authentically express themselves sexually have had to release sex negativity. Few of us were raised in environments that were affirming of all bodies, identities, genders, and expressions of pleasure. Moving into adulthood involves re-education on almost all these topics.

De-programming and unlearning limiting beliefs to move from negative to positive takes work. Your brain is not going to make new neuropathways on its own.

How can you learn to be more sex-positive?

Consent and Boundaries: At the core of sex positivity lies enthusiastic consent and respect for personal boundaries. It is about understanding that individuals have the right to make decisions about their own bodies and sexual experiences. Recognizing and respecting the boundaries of ourselves and our partners fosters an environment of trust and open communication in relationships. Safety is rooted in giving consent and maintaining boundaries, both physically and emotionally.

Education and Awareness: Sex positivity encourages lifelong learning and ongoing conversations about sexual health, pleasure, and relationships. It involves seeking accurate science-based information, challenging myths and misconceptions, and staying updated on topics such as STIs, gender identity, or kinks. Education empowers you to make informed choices so you may explore in a healthy way. Sometimes you don’t know you’re into something until you read about it and feel that little tingle in your nether regions. Read a book, listen to erotica, and follow sex educators online to expand your awareness.

Sexuality as a Spectrum: Sex positivity embraces the diversity of human sexuality. It acknowledges that sexual orientation, gender identity, and expressions of pleasure are varied and unique to each person. By recognizing and celebrating this spectrum, we create a more inclusive society that values and uplifts all individuals, regardless of their preferences or identities.

Pleasure and Well-being: Sex positivity encourages the pursuit of sexual pleasure

as a legitimate and essential aspect of our overall well-being. It emphasizes the importance of prioritizing pleasure, whether it’s through self-exploration, communication with partners, or the incorporation of new experiences and techniques. By embracing pleasure, we tap into our inherent capacity for joy, connection, and personal fulfillment. Try using a daily mantra to help you embrace more pleasure in your life, such as “Pleasure is my birthright” or “I welcome abundant pleasure”.

Sex positivity never means agreeing to perform an act against your will. It also doesn’t mean you must dress a certain way, tell others what you do at The Black Dog on the weekends, or allow access to your body to someone you don’t grant consent. It also doesn’t mean you want to fuck everyone, but we aren’t going to slut-shame those that do.

Sex positivity is about having a mindset that is liberated from societal judgments, stigma, shame, and limitations surrounding sexuality. It allows you to embrace your desires, explore your boundaries, and foster healthy connections with yourself and others. This gives everyone the space to be themselves.

Remember, the journey toward sex positivity begins with self-acceptance and an open mind. Start by reflecting on your own beliefs, attitudes, and past experiences. Write in a journal, call a trusted friend, or talk to a trained professional who will support you and help you challenge internalized shame or negative narratives. Replace them with compassion, curiosity, and a commitment to growth. You could even consider trying to speak to someone who practices the thing you were super judgy about and asking them if they would talk about the topic with you.

If you struggle to move from negative to positive, consider trying to simply shift to neutral. For instance, if you can’t think of anything nice to say about Furries, can you say something neutral such as, “It’s not for me, but I’m sure someone out there really enjoys that?”

Truly, this is the basis of not “yucking” someone else’s “yum.”

Continue to break down the barriers that hinder your sexual freedom and expression. You are not static, and you can absolutely learn to embrace your desires, celebrate pleasure, and allow sex positivity to thrive in your life. You have the power to define and shape your own sexual narrative while allowing space for the differences in us all.

You can find Kristen @OpenTheDoorsKC on Twitter or openthedoorscoaching com. Check out her podcast Keep Them Coming

You can find Kristen @OpenTheDoorsKC on Twitter or openthedoorscoaching com. Check out her podcast Keep Them Coming.

DON’T “YUCK” SOMEONE ELSE’S “YUM”

Photo by Nicole Bissey. Illustrations by Shelby Phelps

Solve for Stuck

By Britt Frank

10 THINGS TO ASK BEFORE HIRING A THERAPIST

Disclaimer: Accessing mental health professionals—let alone trauma-trained specialists—isn’t always easy, and for many people, it isn’t even possible. If you are court-ordered to see a therapist, or if you are hospitalized and assigned an inpatient therapist, your choices are limited. This article assumes that you can choose between multiple providers. Whether your provider is trauma trained or not, never stop taking your medication without speaking to your doctor.

The therapy intake process is stressful. You walk into a total stranger’s office and are expected to share your most painful, vulnerable, intimate truths. But the reality

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is that the therapist in the room works for you, and the intake process should be about your comfort with them, not about their dissecting of every detail about you. To be an advocate for yourself in the therapy room, it’s crucial before signing on to work with a therapist that you know this shocking fact:

Most mental health professionals (including psychotherapists) are not required to be trauma-trained, not required to take any classes about the brain, and are not required to disclose the limitations of their training.

Because therapists do not have to disclose their training (and because many don’t know to ask), people can end up with a mental illness diagnosis that does not take environment or trauma into account. If you are in a position where you are fortunate enough to have options, here are 10 questions you can ask before signing on with a therapist:

1. Do you see a therapist?

The answer to this question should be yes. Not every therapist needs to be in weekly therapy, but every practicing therapist should have someone with whom they also work. A therapist without a therapist is a red flag.

2. What populations are you less comfortable working with?

Not every therapist needs to (or should) be able to work with every single type of person. The difference between a safe therapist and an unsafe therapist is their awareness of limitations. It is a red flag if they say to you, “Oh, I help everyone…”

3. What is your policy if I ever feel uncomfortable/upset/unsafe with something you say during a session?

The burden of creating safety is on

the therapist—not on you. Before beginning your work with someone, it is useful to know what the procedure is should a relationship rupture occur. Because all therapists are human and no humans are perfect, miscommunications happen. A competent therapist should have some type of policy so you don’t end up smacked in the face with no idea what to do next.

4. What specialized training in trauma do you have?

Not every therapist needs to have specialized training in trauma. But, if your therapist has no training in trauma, then I would take their “DSM diagnosis” and seek out a second opinion before you accept that diagnosis. Often, trauma can create symptoms that mimic other mental health conditions.

5. How will I know if therapy is working?

The answer should be: That is totally up to you to decide.

6. How will I know when it is time to stop therapy?

The answer should be: Whenever you want.

7. What is your policy on me working with another therapist? The answer should be: Do what’s best for you.

8. What are your self-care practices?

A safe and competent therapist will be more than happy to disclose their self-care.

9. What are your boundaries around social media?

10. What type of continuing education classes do you enjoy the most?

Bottom line?

The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is a giant book with hundreds of lists of symptoms. Mental health providers check your symptoms against the lists and then assign a mental health diagnosis. Are mental health diagnoses necessary? Yes. They allow people access to insurance coverage that they otherwise wouldn’t receive.

But.

The DSM does not factor trauma, social inequality, oppression, systemic racism, or access to resources into the diagnosis process. People often end up with diagnostic labels that in no way reflect the reality of their experience. A quote often attributed to Freud (actual author unknown) says it best:

“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”

Follow along with Psychotherapist and author of The Science of Stuck Britt Frank [MSW, LSCSW, SEP] on Instagram (@ brittfrank). To ask a question about recovering from the last few years, or anything else regarding mental health, reach out to britt@thepitchkc.com

Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only and is not to be taken as official mental health treatment or professional medical advice.

855-653-2342

Front Porch Alliance

By Beth Lipoff

Since its start 24 years ago with a handful of volunteers asking residents what help they’d like to have, Front Porch Alliance has become a robust program that aids its neighborhoods on multiple levels.

Though they’re centered in the Ivanhoe neighborhood, they serve a large chunk of Kansas City’s east side, approximately between 18th and 85th streets (east of Troost).

Two of their larger initiatives have been the Youth Journeys program and the Minor Home Repair team.

For the summer, they’re focusing their youth efforts on two teen programs, Reel Collectors and Porch Storytellers. While both focus on creative expression, the former centers on documentary filmmaking, while the latter lets kids explore different art forms, from poetry to painting.

The idea is to provide “students with applicable and replicable skills that prepare them for future careers while also giving them the chance to explore opportunities that they might not get in their school,” says An Sasala, communications coordinator for Front Porch Alliance.

Leaving a long-lasting impact is one of the overall goals for all of the group’s initiatives.

“While we might offer a service for one summer, they’re gaining some sort of skill or something that will impact them for years to come. For example, we might patch somebody’s porch through our minor home repairs program, and that’s going to last five to 10 years to maintain the safety of their home,” Sasala says.

That might seem like a small thing, but a minor home issue can destabilize an entire living situation for a family.

“There was one family who had two younger children who kept getting out of their house because the landlord would not come and fix a loose screen door, so the kids could just get out. We were able to go in, help fix that door, and help maintain the safety of that house so the family could stay living in an area they loved,” Sasala says.

Their Early Heart Start and Nurturing Parenting programs are a little different than the norm in Jackson County because they’re based on home visits.

“We were able to continue to survive and even to thrive during the pandemic because we offer home visiting and not daycare center-based care for families. We’re

actually one of the only home visiting programs in the entirety of Jackson County in Kansas City,” Sasala says.

Anyi Pujols found Front Porch Alliance as a client and is now on staff there. For her, the jewel in their crown is the resources they provide for parents.

“I went to therapy connected through the program; that 100% made a humongous change. That’s what made me so passionate about it, hearing the moms say the same things I went through and just knowing there are actually resources to help you out—it’s really phenomenal,” Pujols says.

That support extended to help with baby weaning in addition to being able to interact with other parents and find a community.

“They do groups monthly. It gives you an opportunity to also meet other families. You feel like whatever you’re going through at the time is just happening to you, and those community groups really help you see, ‘I’m not the only one, I have people who can actually support—other parents,’”

Pujols says.

Just knowing that support is there is huge for parents like Pujols.

“Other than breastfeeding my son, I dealt with a lot of post-partum depression. That’s not something a lot of people speak about, and actually having someone there with the knowledge and giving me tools in my toolbox for that not to happen in the future was a breath of fresh air,” Pujols says.

Once the school year starts up again, the other youth programs will kick back into gear, and that’s where Front Porch Alliance needs lots of volunteers. Longer-term opportunities include math and reading tutors as well as robotics coaches.

If you’re not as comfortable around kids or don’t have the time for a more regular commitment, they also need help sorting and distributing donated items. And if you’re handy around the house, the Minor Home Repairs team will take the help.

For more details on volunteering, visit frontporchalliance.org/get-involved/volunteer-2

Front Porch Alliance’s programs include youth robotics and the Minor Home Repairs team. Courtesy photos