I often wonder where I would be as a music fan if I hadn’t spent the end of my teens and the first part of my twenties in Provdence, RI. The small New England city has a music culture that is both legendary and delightfully home grown. I completely owe my appreciation of and investment in DIY music culture to my time there. As I was finishing up my final semesters at Brown, it seemed like the identity of the city — and the vibrancy of the scene — were in sort of a state of flux. Spaces were getting shut down, and some of the more prolific bands were fleeing to places like Philadelphia and Oakland. It was sort of a sad note to leave on, but from what I gather Providence’s music culture still persists — although it might look and sound slightly different.

Luke Fishbeck and Sarah Anderson of Lucky Dragons were two consistent faces throughout my time in Providence. Luke was a grad student at Brown’s Electronic Music department. The band started off as his solo project. He would position his incredibly tall frame as low to the ground as possible and generate beautiful, expansive electronic sounds. Often he would flail about, as though in the throes of some sort of cryptic religious rite. Sarah, his girlfriend and collaborator, became a permanent fixture in the band later on. She was also incredibly tall. She sat relatively close to me in a seminar called “Middlemarch and The Sopranos” (yes, that was a real class). One night, I curated a film screening on the second floor of the visual arts building. What must have been one of the first Sumi Ink Club drawing sessions was happening down the hall. I remember being a little bit confused, but delighted by the loose, creative atmosphere of that particular gathering.
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