Rocking our World

Summit puts local music on the map

Lovers of the Tampa Bay area music scene know this is a very big weekend. The Southeast Music Conference, the first music industry summit ever hosted in St. Petersburg, takes place Friday and Saturday, featuring live entertainment from 40 local bands and one big-name headliner: John Doe of legendary Los Angeles punk rock band X. (See today's Weekend for a complete schedule.)

The conference also features industry panels with national guests.

SMC is the kind of conference that happens annually in cities with strong music scenes such as New York, Seattle and Austin, Texas. Local musician Joran Oppelt felt it was about time the Tampa Bay area had it happen here.

Conferences such as Austin's South By Southwest are organized by a huge staff of paid professionals, sponsored by all sorts of companies with fat wallets, and heavily advertised in the media. Oppelt, a guitarist for the popular jam band the Gita, had a staff of two help him.

Touring with the Gita, Oppelt, 27, had seen his share of musical cities.

"I'd been to New York, Texas, Amsterdam, all these cities that were supposedly so hip and cool," Oppelt says. "I realized I'd rather be here when it came to live, original music. We have the best bands going."

Oppelt found the same passion for the local scene in Roger Peterson, bassist for the punky Crippled Masters, and Margaret Murray. Murray, a tireless supporter of the local arts community, is best known for her two-year stint as the executive director of the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

The trio invited music industry representatives, entertainment lawyers and members of the media to participate in the conference. (They had help from supportive members of the arts community, Kim and Jim Lomus from the Gulfport Museum of Art and Greg Norris, who performs at SMC as Lucious P. Slugworth.)

The results are two nights of terrific music, including performances by some of the area's most popular bands - Car Bomb Driver, Urbane Cowboys, Sparky's Nightmare, and Four Star Riot. Also on the bill are great acts that don't play out often enough, including solo chanteuse Anna O. and Experimental Pilot, as well as new talent like the edgy Arcade Inferno, Shotgun Wedding and Auditorium, Oppelt's new project.

Oppelt says he believes the bay area's lack of a trademark sound, while a marketing liability, is one of its greatest assets.

"We're not genre specific, and I think that's a strength," Oppelt says. "Our hip-hop scene is blowing up. We have a lot of cool jazz, all kinds of different sounds."

Oppelt acknowledges, however, that most of the bands participating in this weekend's conference are rock and alternative rock bands, although that wasn't his choice. Early into SMC's planning, Oppelt was frustrated to realize many local musicians were unwilling to pay the $35 application fee to participate in the conference. He says many local bands were unfamiliar with the concept of paying to play for industry insiders.

Oppelt also says the bands don't know how expensive it is to host a conference of this kind.

SMC also features two Saturday morning workshops to help bands learn about the music industry and how to market themselves. One panel, "Getting Your Name Out There," features two local music critics (including yours truly) and program directors from Clear Channel and WMNF. Another, "Making (and Keeping) Your Money," features an entertainment lawyer and the director of A&R at Atlantic Records.

"Bands around here deserve the ability to succeed and to be recorded," Oppelt says. He says the talent is here, although he worries sometimes that the area's lack of a breakout act has allowed the scene to lose focus. Still, Oppelt is optimistic.

"We've had that lack of success for so long that the bands here have become a little jaded," Oppelt says. "Now, the upside to that is that everyone here is playing because they like to play. Bands here aren't expecting fame and money. It's just dedication to music. It's a love of playing. They don't just wake up one day and say, "Screw it, I'm going to go work at Target and never play again.' "

Oppelt's goal for SMC: "To continue fostering a healthy local music scene, where bands know and help one another." And to get the word out nationally that the bay area packs something special musically.

"I want it (the music) to be like the Super Bowl. Instant recognition," Oppelt says. "When we're out traveling in the world, I want people to say, "You're from Tampa Bay? I hear you have a cool music scene down there.' "

For more on the Southeast Music Conference and the Southeast Music Alliance, go to www.smaflorida.com WOOING JOHN DOE: How the heck did Oppelt nab X's John Doe to play at St. Petersburg's first music conference? "We had a wish list a mile long of dream bands we wanted to come," Oppelt says. "We really, really wanted John Doe. Everybody here worships him. It was tough. Because of the season, not many bands are touring. We knew whoever came to play for us, it would have to be a one-off show. We couldn't afford to pay too much. I don't know how it happened, really. But, he's doing it."

WHAT'S ON JOHN DOE'S RIDER? "It's so funny, hardly anything," Oppelt says. "A bottle of red wine. Some Red Bull. Assorted teas. A pack of Trident original flavor gum. Like, one pack only. A mirror." Oppelt laughs. "I just want to be the guy to hand him the gum, "Here's your Trident, Mr. Doe.' "

ATTENTION, YOUNG BANDS: Get your talent recognized by entering the eighth annual FLARO Florida Rock-Off. Original high school bands from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando, Manatee, Orange, Pasco, Polk and Sarasota counties are invited to compete. Contact Reindeer Records at (207) 878-4554 or ReindeerHQ@aol.com

- Gina Vivinetto is the Times pop music critic. E-mail her at gina@sptimes.com

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