The Kansas City Regional Aggressive Music Festival
RockKansas.com
Shane Murray is serious about music.
Murray's band Truth Cell has taken its hardcore metal to hundreds of local kids for four solid years now. The band's music demands attention, but so do the stunts at shows that Truth Cell is known for -- like unloading a clip of blanks from an AK.
"If you set yourself on fire in a crowd, people will look at you," Murray said. "And that's the idea. Let's set ourselves on fire and people will turn around and look."
Murray's philosophy has put him at the vanguard of the region's hardcore scene. Now he hopes to set the entire scene on fire with Put Up or Shut Up, a two-day festival he helped organize.
After Truth Cell nabbed some national coverage with articles in Metal Maniacs and Metal Edge magazine, Murray seized the opportunity to tap into his band's surging popularity.
Metal Maniacs -- the New York Times of metal media -- called to interview Murray for a story about the Midwest's metal scene. Not only did Murray oblige, he began planning a two-day metal festival to showcase 17 of the regions best bands for the magazine's reporter.
Murray is pumped for the metal fest, for the national attention and because the festival could clue in the rest of the Midwest crowd to the caliber of local talent in their backyard.
"There's a lot of people in this area that are into metal that have no idea that there are even bands here," Murray said.
"That's because they're stupid. They don't know. Our goal is to let the dumb kids know 'Hey, we're over here!'"
Murray's attitude spills over from years of hearing kids complain that there's nothing to do, instead of getting out to here local artists.
"People say I come off a little gruff about the whole thing," Murray said.
"But, hey, it pisses me off when there are so many good things going on around Kansas City and people are either too lazy or too unmotivated to go find out that it's there."
If it's not already obvious, that's where Murray came up with the name "Put Up or Shut Up: Kansas City Regional Aggressive Music Festival."
Murray said he wanted Neiner's to host the show because it's the definitive metal venue in the area.
The booking manager for Neiner's, Jeff Doelling, was only too happy to oblige.
"When you go to Neiner's, you know you're going to see good heavy music," said Doelling.
And local heavy music, not just touring acts with name recognition.
"Neiner's is the only club in this area that specifically supports local metal," Murray said.
"I'm not talking about bullsh*t MTV metal," Murray said. "I'm talking about in your face, raw-balls, gut wrenching, blood curdling metal."
Murray said deciding which bands would make the cut in such a high profile event was tough, but he knows he booked the best.
"All the bands on that are solid bands," Murray said. "They are hard-working, they are standing on top of the heap in the local area."
All the bands are playing so pro bono, but no one has complained so far. To Murray, this is what "Put Up or Shut Up" is all about. He sees the members of these bands contributing to something important instead of sitting around and complaining about how boring life is in the Midwest.
"If you're not willing to put something back into the scene, you've got no reason to complain," Murray said.
"I'm asking all of these bands to play for free just to be able to pay for the heavy duty advertising and getting the people there. They're putting up and now they're playing."
Murray has high hopes for the festival and "for the scene, for the kids, for the one guy who heard about Neiner's and went to go check it out. I want this to be for everybody."
While Put Up or Shut Up might be a local metal fan's dream, other bands not billed are encouraged to attend the event. Murray wants to let them know that they should be loaded with demo tapes and press kits ready to make connections.
"Even though you're not playing, you can still make it work for you," Murray said, "because there will be industry people, other musicians, other press - you don't know who you're going to bump into."
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