Katy Taylor Rhinoceropolis / Club Scum

 The following interview was conducted via text with Katy Taylor:

Katy: i’m ready whenever you are 

Eddie: Awesome! So firstly, what do you like to go by?

Katy: ah. i have lots of names/nicknames. i am not super partial to any of them? so katy/katie/kathryn/gato taylor. i am not a big fan of being called kat anymore because that was always the name i used at work. lol. long winded answer to a v easy question 

Eddie: Definitely be as long winded as needed!

So, how did you first get involved with DIY venues?

Katy: i started *going* to diy venues and shows when i was 16, but started getting involved when i was 20, in 2011 my friend franny asked me if i wanted to move into rhinoceropolis with her and split a loft. i couldn’t really say no to $175 rent, and i’d gone to shows there so i felt sort of comfy in that space. however i didn’t know a single person who lived there at all, so it was crazy to just jump into this chaotic living situation and get thrown into the diy scene with no experience

i also didn’t know people actually lived there until right before me and franny moved in, haha. i was pretty oblivious when i went to shows there before. i was really intimidated by warren and all the other guys who were running the shows and didn’t talk to anyone much when i went to shows there as a kid. 

Eddie: What was your reception like?

Katy: do you mean like a reception to us moving in?

Eddie: Yeah

Katy: everyone was really nice and welcoming. it was actually kind of calm the first few months. there were a few rooms unoccupied and the dude on the lease left town for a job for a few months. so it was only heidi, franny, john and i who actually lived there for a minute. i don’t fully remember how we actually pulled that off with all of the shows that happened and us new / young gals didn’t know how to run sound yet or anything. lol. john golter came by once and had a meeting with us trying to figure out like how to integrate us into the space better? but i don’t even remember that meeting. lol. i was drinking a lot, those were like my “college dorm” days but in a diy world

after a while i got more comfortable and moved on from just being a door person to like a kind of security role. haha. i made sure things were chill and kept people in check as much as i could

it was hard learning anything about sound because none of the guys would really show me how to do it. they’d just say stuff like, “it’s really easy” and walk off. haha. when colin ward moved in he taught me a little more about that stuff. i didn’t fully learn about how to run a sound system until a couple years later when clay dehaan and i started club scum. he taught me pretty much everything i know about running sound. mostly on our crappy old system we had 

our PA was like always half broken so that was an interesting and maybe a good way to learn how to do it, because now other systems i’ve used i can troubleshoot (a little) with the knowledge i have. but i’m definitely not an expert now by any means or anything

Eddie: Awesome! So how long were you there (at Rhino) before you started kind of taking on those responsibilities?

Katy: i think it took a couple months before i started feeling like it was my home and i wanted to make sure it was as safe and comfortable as a place like that can be for young people

i’ve always had a kind of nurturing motherly role in the diy scene. which is fine but can also be annoying having people treat me like a mom. i just don’t really fuck around with shit and back then i was a bit opinionated and damaged from an abusive relationship i had been in, so i felt like this need to protect others

Eddie: That’s important! I was just gonna ask if you thought there was anything about Rhino that made it last longer and be relatively more successful than other DIY spots and I’m wondering if you think having people who lived there have that kind of looking-out mentality helped?

Katy: i think the only reason rhino lasted as long as it did is because of the timing of when it was existing, i could be wrong but i think they started it in 2005 or something? the fact that people could live there so that shows were not the only way to pay rent helped a ton. people wanted to play there because they got paid well, we didn’t keep a ton of the $ at the door because we didn’t need to. 

i’d like to believe that the looking out mentality helped, but i’ll be honest in that sometimes i felt like [I was] the only person who really was actively looking out 100% of the time i was in that zone. that was pretty frustrating for me

[the following was a little glitch in the text interview approach] 

Eddie: So do you feel like that cultural climate that existed, is that history now?

Katy: not trying to talk shit or make it sound like nobody else cared, i just had a lot of frustrations over the years of helping run rhino because of that. the whole thing about that place is the total freedom to express yourself and be a freak. which is great. but that can bring out some bad sides of people as well. and being a short young 20something yr old girl trying to keep a balance of like good and evil almost hahaha.. it was hard to do all that kind of stuff alone - or rather be the first person who decides something needs to be done or somebody’s gotta go and ask for help. 

oops that is not an answer to your last question ^^ haha

Eddie: I know what you mean! I can’t really imagine what it would have been like to be a young woman in that scene

Katy: the amount of disrespect i encountered was craaaaazy

it’s funny to think about how the word gaslighting became a big thing like well after my time living there, cause i was gaslit so often but had no word for it yet hahaha

i can laugh about it now because it’s been years and i built myself up and earned enough respect in the scene after being in it for so long now. i say earned because that’s sadly just how it is. you don’t demand respect immediately like most of the dudes do in the music world. you gotta be in it forever, date someone respected, be hot, or extremely talented for anyone to respect you as a woman in the music scene 

i feel like that’s honestly totally obvious and everyone knows it but maybe just cause i lived it lol. i’m not trying to turn this into a super feminist centered interview either

Eddie: This is more important than just party memories

Katy: lol i was about to say we could change the subject if you want it to be more light hearted 

not allll of my experiences in the diy scene are as fucked as i am describing right now hahahaha

Eddie: Well honestly I’m just personally interested because my whole approach to stuff back then was, “Am I cool, am I cool enough” and the luxury of that being my main concern probably WAS because I’m a man

Katy: oh yaaaa no totally 

i watched sooo many dudes struggle with that 

Eddie: Lol

Katy: lol i was always like damn look at all these egos they are the most important

i was such a lil bitch

hahaha

Eddie: But that’s probably cause you had other shit to worry about other than just being cool, I would imagine?

Katy: completely

which in some ways, was actually probably great because i didn’t ever feel concerned about the way other people viewed me 

which is actually a great blessing. i’ve seen so many people struggle with the pains of worrying about what other people think of them

my heart goes out to anyone that gives a shit about that

💐💐💐 

hahahaha

Eddie: Lol 😂

Katy: why do i feel like i’m coming off as such a dick in this interview 

hahaha it’s fine

hey i did it - i thought about what people might think of me - so nevermind we all do it a lil bit 

Eddie: There ya go

So, how did club scum come about?

Katy: when i first moved into the house, i wanted to throw shows in the garage but i didn’t really have any equipment. i also didn’t make enough $ at the time to buy anything and wouldn’t even have known where to start to be honest. then when clay moved in, he brought his PA, john golter gave us his old PA head and we went from there. we started having shows and hadn’t named the house yet, then mark masters booked something and took it upon himself to name our house “hamsterdam”. i thought that name was so bad. we went as that name for a few months before me and clay watched this movie hobgoblins, there was a club called club scum in the movie and we changed the name to that. mostly had punk shows that clay booked and sometimes i would book more electronic or experimental shows 

the club scum days ruled honestly. it was a totally different vibe than rhino even though we all shared a backyard and still had shows on the same nights sometimes. but the vibe at scum was more respectful and relaxed usually. i think something about it being behind an actual house changed peoples behavior 

lol describing it as respectful and relaxed is kind of funny tho, since the reality is some of those shows were wiiiild. lots of moshing and dancing and great performances. just respectful/relaxed in the way that people weren’t like trying to spray paint my bedroom door or steal shit lol

Eddie: Would you say scum kept a lower profile / had some more gatekeeping?

Katy: yes we kept a lower profile. we had a facebook page for a while though, so we weren’t completely under the radar. i think i deleted the page after rhino got shut down tho. the main rule we had was not selling alcohol ever. the rest of the control was mainly just picking and choosing what shows we wanted to host

i was a bit controlling with that. there was some stuff that i just didn’t want happening at my house. the garage was an extension of my house so i was pretty protective. some people and bands were a little reckless and i knew they’d disrespect us and our home so i’d try to keep that from happening by not booking certain people

i think that me and clay were actually a really great team running club scum. he was like the super nice easygoing guy who was kinda down with whatever, and then i was a little more strict and opinionated and knew exactly what i did and didn’t like and wasn’t afraid to say it lol

so there was a good balance with that. it’s probably way easier to run a space with two people rather than 10+ 

depending on the situation of course

Eddie: That makes a lot of sense 

Was the desire to switch to club scum based on a desire to be in a more homey environment?

Katy: kind of, i actually left rhinoceropolis mainly because i didn’t want my dog to live there anymore. not a good environment for a dog. i probably would have stayed a lot longer had i not had my dog

i moved out of there and wasn’t living on this block for a year before i got the lease to club scum, i wanted to still live next door to rhino and be closer to colin since we were still dating, and the house was kind of the perfect scenario 

to be able to still live that lifestyle but my dog gets to live a normal life as well 

Eddie: Haha, that’s really thoughtful

Katy: lol yeah it was hard to keep a puppy out of the show room during events 

and people would be all mad at me for taking him out of the room and i was just like, he will go deaf if i don’t?? 

got real tired of that conversation lmao

also it was SO hot in there in the summertime. i was like damn ok this is not ok i gotta get my lil dude out of here

Eddie: And he seems to have appreciated the looking out! He was a happy guy when I saw him

Katy: he is a happy boy lol

Eddie: So would shows for all three of the Brighton Blvd venues get tossed around or was the booking unique to each spot?

Katy: it was mostly unique to each spot but sometimes we would curate it lol

like oh, this one would actually make more sense over there for whatever reason 

but usually we kept to our own zones 

it wasn’t the best thing financially but everyone really enjoyed when two or all three of us would have shows on the same night. they would not be of similar genres so it’d be like a random baby eclectic music festival on accident that people would be able to freely walk thru every show since the backyard was shared

Eddie: How would you pick your shows, distinct from the other people who booked there? Was there anything you looked for?

Katy: i booked pretty seldomly actually in comparison with all the other bookers. i would book shows for friends or people that i connected with that had played rhino in the past who then decided to book thru me instead of whoever they knew previously

i’m kind of snobby with my music tastes so it’s better if other people are more in charge of booking cause i’ll be too picky

lol

Eddie: Do you think it’s gotten better for women in the DIY community?

Katy: it probably has because there’s more acceptance and pressure on people to remember that women should be treated with respect and understanding 

but i also know it’s probably still difficult 

Eddie: What’s your experience been?

Katy: all i know is i think i’ve been booked on a few shows only because i’m a woman and not because the booker actually fucks w my music 

hahaha

and i’ve seen that happen plenty with other women/bipoc/trans people etc

lol sorry i’m so jaded

Eddie: That’s totally fair!

Katy: since covid it’s hard to really say if it’s better now

i’ve only been to like 2 shows and both were great, but also my friends booked them so of course i think they were great

Eddie: Haha, definitely

So, what would you say have been the factors that have kept you involved with all of this for so long?

Katy: friendships, being around creative people and being inspired by them, also just living so close to those environments kept me on the leash 

Eddie: I’m pretty sure friendship will save the world

Katy: i hope so

also for a bit there i was just doing it for the young people and hoping they got to experience the beauty within the chaos of diy culture 

after losing colin i tapped into this serious need to try to keep things going so that maybe some cool young folks could be able to use the same space i did (under diff circumstances after the shut down and reopening of rhino) - i think what was really happening in my head was wanting to relive my own experiences but vicariously thru other people 

there was a moment actually when one girl came up to me and said she fell in love w her partner at a show in my garage and i felt so honored and happy to have played some part in that just by existing and throwing shows 

idk i’m like deeply connected to the culture in both creative and emotional ways 

Eddie: That’s beautiful, I think that’s what DIY can be

Top three best shows?

Katy: all of the alphabets and killd by performances, i was like his biggest fan. then i’d say guerilla toss — both times i saw them they were great. the first time i saw ed schraders music beat at rhino definitely stuck with me forever

lightning bolt of course is up there too because those shows were just their own experience completely separate from any other show that ever happened on our block 

Eddie: Do you think it would be possible to have those experiences at commercial venues?

Katy: nope

Eddie: Or is there a unique thing to you about DIY venues?

Katy: trying to think of how to describe the uniqueness

since there’s less structure, i think it creates a feel for more freedom

also i remember walking around as a younger person in diy shows, not feeling as trapped or meant to fit in

like i would at a venue like bluebird or whatever

not to mention a lot of shows that would host bands i like would rather happen at bars than all ages venues. so i wouldn’t have been able to see so much good music because i was only 20 when i lived at rhino

if all those shows were to happen at bars i mean

Eddie: Definitely, that’s how I found out about Glob for instance

Katy: nice

how old were you when you started going to glob?

have we talked for too long lol i just realized it’s been a LONG conversation 

Eddie: We could wrap it up, I just don’t want it to be like we ignored something big, but I think we got most of the big stuff

Katy: cool, yeah no big deal, if you think of any more things feel free to ask me anytime

Eddie: Last question: Top three weird experiences?

Katy: oh yes

the time that colin fell through the front window of rhino wrapped up inside of a big cardboard yin yang was hilarious 

also obviously was an accident, zach barnes was drumming i think, and colin and i were dancing around being weirdos, colin wrapped himself up in this big piece of cardboard and was dancing and jumping and didn’t realize where he was and just fell through the window

let’s see what else.. 

there was a really weird show once where this guy was putting a curse or a hex on monsanto. they also had these girls who were hanging by hooks and rubbed food all over each other

Eddie: Weird

Katy: i’ve got pictures of that somewhere in my stuff 

i’m like wracking my brain for one more, lol. 

Eddie: No worries! Those are good

Katy: honestly there were a lot and everything kind of meshes together. the other day i had a flashback of when i was helping do stuff for fantasia and i picked up this mirror to move it outside but then i quickly realized there was paint thinner or paint stripper all over it and it was burning my skin 

that sucked hahaha

Eddie: Woah

Any final thoughts to wrap it up?

Katy: i guess just that i hope diy doesn’t die because of the pandemic and because it’s difficult to start venues and stuff. i am taking my steps away from it to move forward with my life and i’m interested in different things now. but i hope that it lives on and i am curious to see how it evolves as technology/social media rapidly changes everything 

Eddie: Awesome! Thank you so much!