The Englert Theatre’s Local Showcase Series returns in 2024 with three nights of performances featuring exclusively local artists.
The goal of this series, spanning January and early February, is to group musically inclined newcomers with experienced veterans on the same night. It is also an opportunity to connect area musicians.
The first showcase on Saturday, Jan. 13 will focus on hardcore sounds with performances from Bootcamp, Bovinophobic Bile Puddle and I WILL on the Englert stage.
Bootcamp consists of four Iowans, with Juliette Enloe on vocals, Oliver Weilein on drums, Molly Enochson on bass and Dolly Sperry on guitar. Enloe said they chose the hardcore punk genre because “our drummer wanted to play really fast D-beats and we all love to rock. I love music that makes you shake your ass. The whole point of punk is to get a message out and to foster a community in a physical space.”
This night promises to be loud, fast-paced and full of opportunities to let off some steam at the state of the world.
“Our lyrics are inspired by politics and justice,” Enloe said. “We have songs about police and prison abolition, animal agriculture, the liberation of all people, housing, gender identity, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism and the hatred of former secretary of state and war criminal Henry Kissinger, may he rot in hell. The cool thing about hardcore is that it’s a community. There’s a longstanding network based around reciprocity that spans the entire world even in places you would never expect.”
Jan. 13 won’t be the first time Bovinophobic Bile Puddle has split a bill with Bootcamp. BBP’s first demo came out in 2022 through Pokey’s Recordz, which is Bootcamp guitarist Dolly Sperry’s label. The band members said that they “definitely have hardcore elements, but we don’t really like to categorize ourselves. We take a lot of influence from sludge, crust, stoner and doom metal, grindcore and blues. Our lyrics are important, but the energy we emit through our riffs and performance is much more important. Even though most of the time our lyrics don’t hold too much meaning, they are well thought out.”
In contrast to the hardcore, mosh-pit-inspiring music on the first Saturday of the series, Jan. 27 will showcase more lowkey performances. The Liberty High rapper Kay Killa and folk-pop storyteller Deb Talan will open for Jim Swim, who weaves poetry with beats and instrumentals.
Jim Swim is the stage name for Tyler James, a Davenport native who came to Iowa City to finish his bachelor’s degree after spending some years out of state. Students from West High School will recognize him as one of their English teachers, but outside of the classroom he records in his home studio and gigs around the region. James says his music is a blend of rap and R&B influences and synth-forward sounds.
“My advice would be to try and make music you would want to listen to,” he said. “I think it’s OK to emulate and blend your inspirations in search of your sound.”
Most of his music, he added, “is inspired by conversation, both internal and external. My favorite songwriters have a conversational aspect to their style, and they are able to express what’s deep and true in a natural, even easy way.”
When he started out as a songwriter, words and ideas always came first. But lately, that process has been starting to “invert.”
“An interval, a chord progression, a rhythmic pocket, a guitar tone — any of these can open up a feeling or a lyrical idea,” James explained. “The more I focus on the sound, the more I get out of my own head, and I really need that kind of practice … I start with the sounds of words first, the rhythm and vowel shapes, and then work toward some kind of sense from there. I try to find the feeling first, then the idea.”
The third and final Saturday of the series is Feb. 10, featuring Halfloves, Spirit Awake and Early Girl — a lineup full of indie, alternative and pop-rock performers.
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the general public cost $15, and student tickets are $10. Both are available for purchase online at englert.org, or at the Englert Theatre’s box office an hour before the event.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s January 2024 issue.
