by Jacob Zlomke | photos by Molly Misek
Tom Flaherty, who DJs under the name Teetah, is a musician. But he might be a cultural history buff first.
One of the principle organizers behind //FITNESS, a series of electronic music showcase events, Flaherty says one of the aspects he enjoys most about any kind of art or craft is its tradition and history, the idea that any creation is made in part by everything that came before it.
“Music or booze or movies,” Flaherty says, “it all has this rich culture and history. It makes the whole thing more personal.”
Over the past five years or so, Flaherty’s passion for a mode of art’s roots and how they’ve grown has been honed in on electronic music, which, in large part became the impetus for //FITNESS.
Tomorrow night, //FITNESS hosts its second event at the Sweatshop Gallery in Omaha. RSVP here. //FITNESS #000002 will feature DJ sets, by Forest Television, Plack Blague and FXTHR^, who Flaherty says has a history of collaboration with members of The Faint. Teetah will provide music in between sets.
The events are a chance for Flaherty and other organizers Nick Holden and Nathan Young to share a music from with that, so far, Flaherty says has been somewhat overlooked in the city.
Darren Keen at //FITNESS #000001
“We want to focus on non-traditional live performance and get away from the indie rock scene that really has a monopoly in Omaha right now,” Flaherty says. “We wanted to pounce on something that hasn’t been tapped in Nebraska really.”
In that way, //FITNESS is as much for Flaherty about putting on good shows as it is about education. To him, electronic music often goes misunderstood. He talks about EDM and dubstep, what he calls “big room sound,” the kind of electronic music that’s most pervasively a part of the public consciousness. //FITNESS aims to curate more diverse and, as Flaherty sees it, more interesting music.
“We’re focused on electronic music with a lot of culture. A lot of the popular stuff is kind of garbage. Like you go to these huge festivals and they just play the most boring, trite, cultureless pop music. It’s no different than Backstreet Boys or Nickelback.”
Flaherty can go on about the history electronic music that reaches far beyond familiar names like Bassnectar and Skrillex.
Detroit techno. Chicago house. UK dub. The landscape of electronic music and the cultures from which it stems are as diverse as the locales in which subgenres have originated, and Flaherty is a student of it all.
“We all come down to preserving and advancing that culture,” Flaherty says. “There’s a lot of fun stuff going on [in Omaha], but we want to centralize it and let people know that there is a community for that here. There is this culture and anyone can come be a part of it.”
Rogue Moon at //FITNESS #00001
Flaherty says hosting their events at the Sweatshop, which is as much artspace as it is music venue, has helped to differentiate //FITNESS from that big room sound.
“People dance, but there’s no super heavy drug use or glowsticks,” he says. “People are there to chill and listen to something they haven’t heard before. Or maybe if they’re really into techno, they’ll get to hear that. We want people to know there’s a place for it.”
Flaherty says he wants to expand beyond showcases, too. //FITNESS recently put out a tape for Darren Keen, of Touch People and The Show is the Rainbow, for which Flaherty says they’ll have a release show. There’s also talk of expanding into Iowa and Lincoln, as well as a streaming service for the events.
For Flaherty, it’s all in the name of building on the years of electronic music that came before.
“It’s a constant work in progress. You’re always trying to push it to do, not necessarily better or cooler stuff, but something that hasn’t been done. Something that enriches that culture and progresses that stuff. //FITNESS is all about trying new stuff.”
Jacob Zlomke is Hear Nebraska’s staff writer. Reach him at jacobz@hearnebraska.org.