Thursday marks the debut of Matt Brownlie's brainchild, Houston Underground Social Hour (aka HUSH). It's a monthly event, going down 6 p.m. Thursday at Rudyard's. Monies raised ($5 cover) will benefit a different charity each month (this month: Planned Parenthood of Houston). Performers this time around will include Benjamin Wesley, The Takes and Muzak John. Want to know more? So did I, so I asked Brownlie a few questions:
29-95: What inspired this concept for the early happy hour?
The inspiration to do regular early shows came from months and months of being stoked to see this or that normal show, only to be unable to persuade myself to get off the couch when 9 p.m. rolled around. Between getting older, becoming a morning person and the band [1] slowing (way) down, I've fallen completely out of the loop with local music. I'm looking to get caught up, and all my pals who I never see because I never leave the house should come to these, too.
29-95: What are some other charities to which you hope to contribute through this event?
I haven't thought too hard about that one except to essentially rule out arts organizations. Not that I don't love them! But I want the money from these shows to go to truly underprivileged people and animals.
29-95: Say I'm an inner-looper who likes, you know, pretty good music. Why do I come to your event as opposed to letting loose at the beer joint down the street from my office?
Number one because it's at Rudyard's, and Rudz is better than the beer joint down the street from your office. Number two because you're going to hopefully see an interesting combination of really good musicians with an equally diverse crowd. I don't know, fuck it, it's once a month, have some drinks, come hang out.
29-95: What is your dream lineup for the show?
Bun B, early-2000's Rotten Piece and Something Fierce. In all seriousness, things seem exciting in a bunch of different scenes here. Good rock bands seem to be cropping up at a good rate, non-radio hip-hop seems to be more active now than any other time I've lived here, and the experimental/noise scene is as consistently fascinating to me as ever. I am honestly a fan of all three genres and hope to book as much of all of it as possible. Although showing people a good time is important, too. I don't want to scare too many people off.
29-95: What's your favorite happy hour drink?
Right now, a pint of beer seems to be my jam.
29-95: Um, what happened to your band? Because I love your band.
Thanks thanks! If there's ever a compelling reason and convenient time for us to play again, we just might. But we were kind of grinding down a little at the time I had my scooter wreck, and that put me out of commission for a few months. Since then, I've personally been enjoying the living fuck out of not being a musician for the first time in about 25 years.
29-95: What's coming up for you personally? (I am hinting at, of course, your theatrical debut.)
Yeah, so I'm going to be portraying Daniel Johnston in a new Catastrophic Theater production. Jason Nodler, who I've known socially for years and years, approached me to audition. He needed someone who can play piano and come off as young. I've never even remotely considered acting and don't even really enjoy most theater very much, and honestly, taken together, that's the main reason I even considered giving it a shot. Plus the band had wound down and I was ready for a different creative endeavor.
Links:
[1] http://www.29-95.com/music/bands-and-artists/bring-back-guns