Lokion Interactive

Last week’s New York Times arti­cle focus­ing on the inde­pen­dent music scene in Mem­phis held spe­cial sig­nif­i­cance for us since sev­eral Lokion­ites are inti­mately involved in that normally-overlooked part of the musi­cal landscape.

Chloe O’Hearn, a Lokion project man­ager, and Shiloh Bar­nat, Direc­tor of User Expe­ri­ence, are both board mem­bers of Rock-n-Romp, a national group whose local chap­ters host live music shows for families.

“Every­body knows Mem­phis is the birth­place of rock and roll. And lots of peo­ple move or stay here because it’s a good place to raise kids,” Bar­nat said. “But you don’t stop rockin’ when you become a par­ent — it just gets harder to get out late. Rock-n-Romp is one of my favorite things about liv­ing in Mem­phis because it brings the city’s awe­some music scene into the day­light hours. It’s like ParentPalooza.”

Lokion’s Direc­tor of Project Man­age­ment, Patrick Miller, and his band The Stand Ins have a reg­u­lar monthly gig at the Buc­ca­neer Bar (men­tioned in the Times piece). Like the juke joints spot­lighted in the 2003 film “Last of the Mis­sis­sippi Jukes,” if musi­cians want to play at the Bucc, all they have to do is ask – lead­ing to a unique col­lab­o­ra­tive musi­cal environment.

“Mem­phis musi­cians are all about each other. They share in record­ing, venues, even bands. We share our drum­mer with another band and our bass player is in two or three dif­fer­ent out­fits. We’ve played with sev­eral dif­fer­ent Mem­phis groups at the Buc­ca­neer, and they’re all incred­i­bly diverse,” Miller said. “It’s a fam­ily. I haven’t met any­one yet on this scene I didn’t call a friend within weeks.”

That sense of com­mu­nity extends to the under­ground dance scene as well. Sean O’Daniels, a Lokion devel­oper, is a pop­u­lar under­ground dance DJ who reg­u­larly per­forms through­out the city.

“In the 20 years I have been a DJ in Mem­phis, I have been a part of a scene whose knowl­edge and pas­sion rivals those of big­ger cities,” he said. “In gen­eral, under­ground dance is not as high­lighted in the US as much as it is over­seas, yet it thrives here in Mem­phis. It’s amaz­ing to me that the musi­cal depth which makes this city famous can per­me­ate and fuel the lesser-known genres.”

Miller agrees. He moved to Mem­phis from the San Fran­cisco Bay Area and didn’t think his stay would be a long one – but his expe­ri­ences within the local music com­mu­nity made him reconsider.

“I am proud and happy to be a part of this fam­ily, and it’s changed my whole per­spec­tive on Mem­phis. It’s one of the best things about liv­ing here, and I’m con­vinced it’s the thing we should talk about the loudest.”