Elise Roche got into DIY music through her freshman year roommate and went to shows at the Lillypad in Cambridge at least once a week. Now a senior, Roche is managing Artificial Contact, a booking company geared toward DIY musicians, who work independently from record labels and have total control over their sound.
Roche began booking unofficially in September 2015, when she started helping friends out with organizing and booking bands. This eventually birthed the booking company Artificial Contact in August 2016, which is run by Roche and several friends.
“We kind of wanted Artificial Contact to be little more serious than just kind of our casual booking with no name,” she said. “We wanted to differentiate the shows that we were putting together from the shows that we were hosting.”
Today, Artificial Contact is still run by its original team: Roche, fellow Boston University students Kailen Santos and Tiffany Topor and Northeastern student Luke Osenberg.
Roche has booked and interacted with dozens of groups, but a few stick out in her mind.
“I don’t want to say I’m proud cause that sounds a little bit self-centered, but one of my favorite bands that we’ve worked with that we’ve kind of become friends with is Crumb,” she said. “We actually booked their first show [outside of Tufts], and they blew up so fast after that.”
Roche said that even if there are some bands that stick out, she appreciates and admires most of the bands they’ve worked with.
“We’ve had the privilege of meeting so many cool artists and working with a lot of really cool bands, which I’m really grateful for,” she said.
Recently, Roche said, Artificial Contact booked a show featuring Negative Gemini and George Clanton, artists the company has been hoping to work with for quite some time.
“We’ve had that as sort of a goal that we wanted to book them for a long time and we didn’t really have a good time to do it until now,” she said, “And we got the Great Scott, so I’m excited.”
After she graduates, Roche says she has plans to continue booking, even if it’s not her primary career.
“It’s obviously not very lucrative, but I don’t think that’s what I’m really in it for,” she said, “that said, I know there’s people in the community where DIY booking is obviously not their day job.”
Illegally Blind, a Boston area booking company, focuses on local music and not recognition, Roche said.
“He just kind of books DIY shows because he loves it, he’s not looking for recognition,” she said.
“I think that’s kind of how we want to do things — we purposefully don’t have our faces all over our Facebook page — we don’t want this to be about us.”
Roche’s love for the DIY scene and smaller bands had been a major component of her experience at BU, including WTBU and “The Beat,” WTBU’s music zine, of which she is former editor-in-chief.
“I’m always trying to spread the love of DIY music,” she laughed. “I want more people to care forever.”
Roche started working on “The Beat” during her freshman year and said it’s a great spot for people who want to get into DIY music but don’t really have a starting point. As a freshman, Roche said, she got lucky having a roommate who already knew where to go, and they spent their nights picking which shows they wanted to see.
“Knowing people is helpful, especially if you’re a freshman,” she said. “So, now I’m a big ‘ole senior and maybe trying to help other people find the DIY scene.”
Roche said she wishes colleges like BU would “put more stock into live shows.”
“I know there’s school regulations that surround that kind of thing, but I don’t think it would be impossible,” she said. “I don’t know if there’s a disconnect in communication or a lack of demand for it, but it can be frustrating that we have a spot like that and that its underutilized.”
Overall, Roche just wants an established place for DIY music in Boston.
“I think this is common sentiment among people involved,” she said. “If there were more DIY spaces that were sort of above ground, things would be easier and safer and we would have a better relationship with the community.”
