Houston has a history of pushing the envelope, motherfucker

By Jack Daniel Betz

Houston often gets credit from music critics and the media for its past contributions to the blues with artists like Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins or for the pioneering of chopped and screwed beats with DJ screw or providing an incubator for country and folk with famous residents like Townes Van Zandt. However, progress in less mainstream genres like noise rock, outsider music, and experimental efforts is rarely mentioned which is tragic considering the city’s rich but underexposed culture of underground music.

Houston’s tradition of “out-there” music started, detectably, in 1966 with a group of art students from the University of St. Thomas, headed by Mayo Thompson, who founded the avante-garde outfit The Red Krayola which was avante-garde way before the genre was profitable or accepted. Just to give readers an example of how “out-there” the band has been in the past, Pitchfork music critic Alex Lindhardt reported that early on in their career the band was paid ten dollars by Berkley to stop their performance. They’ve gone through many phases and are still active today. Readers can even find their music on CD at Cactus.

Ever since then, there has always been an abundance of new underground bands and musicians in Houston; none very commercially successful but all influential in their own rite. In the 70’s Houston saw the activity of players like outsider musician Jandek (which is the genre most musicologists put the delightfully weird Daniel Johnston into). In the 80s and 90s Houston was home to the brilliantly cacophonous noise bands like Pain Teens. Building on the past, the 2024s have been an even more prolific time for the city’s complex and rapidly evolving experimental scene seeing the advent of bands like Indian Jewelry, Female Demand, Cop Warmth, A Pink Cloud, and many more.

In the spirit of Houston’s colorful experimental and noise music heritage, Super Happy Fun Land will be hosting Dead Audio Fest 2024 on Nov. 12. The bill, which reads as long as a copy of the Magna Carta, will include bands from all over the world, such as Skönhet from Sweden, and many from Texas. Some acts will be melodic and others will not be, some are loud while others are quieter yet they all share one thing in common: if you’re looking to hear some mainstream drivel, they will probably scare you far far away. To get the most out of the show attendees should come with open minds and a pair of good earplugs. Come out and support Houston’s and the world’s experimental scenes by showing up at Dead Audio Fest 2024. Whether you love experimental music or hate it, Dead Audio Fest should do a pretty good job blowing your mind.

Performers include The Haters, Steel Hook Prostheses, Panicsville, Ascites, ze’r0-sum, Sigulda, Bereft, Zahava, A Fail Association, Pusdrainer, So Boring, Serum Fantis, Priest in Shit, Immaculate:Grotesque, Awen, Goat, Kai-Ros, R.S.P., Hierchiss, White Gimp Mask, Lychgate, Static Storm Sy…stem, The Annoysters, Breakdancing Ronald Reagan, and many more.

Friday, November 12 at 6:00pm - November 14 at 4:00am

Super Happy Fun Land

3801 Polk St.

Houston, TX