If you’ve ever tried to play the Battletoads “Wind Tunnel” level without a Game Genie, you might have a ballpark idea about the frustration that comes from running a music store during an era when Compact Disks were being replaced with free downloads, or running a music venue where many of the people you cater to would rather spend their money on alcohol than a $3 donation. Frank DeFrancesco knew that frustration firsthand, especially toward the end of the Balcony Lights era, a shop he opened in his early 20s. But of course, it wasn’t all frustration, as the independently run shop was the perfect creative hub, where anyone was welcome to come in and see a band, read a comic, buy a CD, or just chat with newly made friends. It’s been over a decade since the shop closed its doors, so now seemed like a good time to ask Frank five questions.
A lot of our readers are a bit too young to have shopped at Balcony Lights. Can you tell us how you came to own the store and what your mission statement was with it? If memory serves me, you were fairly young for a business owner.
It started when I was 23, maybe 22. I know we opened on September 10th, 2000 and closed up shop around Christmas of 2005 or 2006 (I forget). Of course, before we were in that spot, Sound Barrier and before that Benway Records had the space. That shopping center had a record store in that location for over 20 years.
I was sitting at home and logged onto AIM (yes it was that long ago) and one of my best and closest friends, Kristina Marcus told me that Sound Barrier was going out of business. Upon hearing that, I went down to Sound Barrier, found the door locked and left a note saying I wanted to take over the store.
At the time, my grandfather had just passed away and left me with money for College which I, in turn, used to open Balcony Lights.
A funny side note to this; the day I signed on to AOL I was looking for plane flights to go to Portland to check out Lewis & Clark College, where I had been accepted into the sociology program. Before I could order the tickets, Kristina told me about Sound Barrier and I ditched the idea of college for my dream of owning a Record and book store. So I guess you can say that, without Kristina Marcus, Balcony Lights would have never existed.
As for my mission statement, it was simple. Never judge anyone for their musical taste, never let anyone who came into the store feel as if they had to prove some kind of musicologist background just to shop there. My mission, really was to have a central space for forward thinkers and future innovators, writers, artists, explorers, visionaries, those who felt let out, musicians and the like. In our five years as a business, I feel that we reached a few souls and helped them to notice their own true strengths and not fear how different from the rest of the world they might feel. I know, pretty strange mission statement for a record and book store but, it is what it is.
Besides selling CDs, Balcony was also home to many all ages shows, including some bands that went on to greater fame. What were some of your favorite sets you saw there and why do you think it’s important to have a place for all ages shows? What problems came with keeping shows all ages?
First I will address the fucking problem with all ages shows.
Punk kids. Plain and simple.
We had one rule, don’t let me see alcohol on the premises. Put your shit in a god damn paper bag or buy a fucking Slurpee cup (there was a fucking 7-11 next door at the time so it was a simple thing for them to do), and pour it into that.
But the punk kids were too far out on the fringe to hide how fast they could chug a 32 of Miller High Life. So after allowing a few punk shows and having to hear grief from my landlord (an amazing man who, due to health reasons had to sell the property to the Equity Group – the vilest of property managers.) You want to know why Maryland Parkway fell apart in the UNLV area; It was due to The Equity Group not understanding the money their tenants were taking in and raising rents to push out those who were already there for more hi-end businesses. The idiots didn’t realize the damn signs on the walls pointing to the housing bubble burst which hurt every business in town.
The Equity Group is one of the main reasons Maryland Parkway went to shit. There is a reason Alternate Reality Comics left the complex soon after I did and moved into a property not managed by the Equity Group. And they are still open and kicking ass on Maryland Pkwy. Hi Ralph!
Back to the shows, every morning that the parking lot was trashed with beer bottles, it was after a punk show. Indie, hip-hop, Jungle, alternative, acoustic, whatever it was, I never had a problem. So we stopped doing punk shows and some of the punk scene lashed out against us for not allowing them to play at the store.
I made it simple, if you, as a band, can patrol and monitor the parking lot and make sure no alcohol was present during your show then I would allow punk shows again. The Loud Pipes were the only ones who would honor this request and for them, I would put on a show. So for all you punk kids out there, yes it is your fault all ages venues in Las Vegas get shut down. Shut your fucking mouths because you know it is the truth. You get so damn anti-establishment that you forget the establishments that hold all ages shows are not run by the 1% or whatever you want to call them. They are mom and pop shops trying to give back to the community.
Now don’t get me wrong, the punk kids who used to come around the store, the ones who shopped there or just hung out and got to know me and know the real me and I, in turn got to know them and the importance of their names; they were never the problem, but they also never put their foot down hard enough to control the rest who showed up and just sat outside drinking instead of donating 3 bucks to see a show.
When we had larger shows such as Death by Stereo, Curl Up and Die….ah fuck, I don’t remember all the names. We did over 400 shows so they start to blend together after a while. Anyway, the kids would line up outside before the show would start and when I unlocked the door to start allowing them in – I and my partner in arms- Paul Tompkins would get a huge thrill (and a huge annoyance) from telling the kids who only had pennies to get into the show and yet, had plenty of beer money, that they had to go to the back of the line and hope we didn’t reach capacity because once we hit that mark no one else was let in. If you can buy beer but can’t afford to get into a 3 or 5 dollar donation show, stay the fuck home and let the real punk scene run the show. Morons.
I missed one of the best show at my own store. I was growing tired of the shows. Remember I had to be at the store at 10am to get ready to open at 11am and then if we had a show I had to move everything in the store to accommodate the show and then put it all back that night (which would be around midnight, or the next morning before we opened. That is a long fucking day. Paul Tompkins and Brian Gregory wanted to do a show with a few bands, Ten Grand was one of them, I believe, and I gave them the go ahead as long as they took care of everything and had the store back to normal by the time I walked in the next morning. That night a man named William Elliot Whitmore played. At the time I did not know who he was but I soon learned that he would become one of my favorite artists. Up there with Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Fugazi, and Jawbreaker.
Lucky enough for me I was able to see J Church play at the store before Lance passed away. Also, Hot Cross, The Shins, Bleeding Kansas, Pistolita, Sea & Land, 1905, and a ton more that played. If anyone out there remembers other bands that played at the shop, let me know.
Balcony had a hefty book section and I remember you being a pretty avid reader. Why do you think books so often go hand in hand with music (Zia, for instance, has a large book section as well). What are you reading now? And since I remember you being into comics, what do you think about the rise in mainstream popularity comics have enjoyed this past decade and do you still keep up with any titles are authors/illustrators?
Comics – Alan Moore and Brian Michael Bendis are the two who I have tried to keep up on but, when I left Las Vegas in 2006 or 2007, I stripped my life down to the bare minimum (1 bottle 10mg Lortab, 1 bottle 10mg Valium, typewriter, laptop, car, sleeping bag, tent, 2 T-shirts (a maroon Disneyland shirt and a black Marvel Comics Vision shirt – who I feel will have a strong hand in the downfall of Thanos and Ultron in the Marvel movie universe), two pairs of jeans, black suit, 4 ties, boots, sneakers, 2 books, HST’s The Proud Highway pt.1 and Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent and the usual necessities such as underwear and a toothbrush and the such.
Every person should read The Winter of Our Discontent. To give nothing away I will only say that it throws a backbone into the idea of raging against the dying of the light, as Dylan Thomas once wrote about.
This abandonment of material items allowed me to focus on my writing and drinking while in Portland. I became much better at drinking than I did at trusting in the truth in my writing and soon found myself blocked with no way to feel that the words I placed on the page held any merit.
So, as others who have a problem with truth in our social situations, I applied for grants, went back to College and got my degree in Geography/GIS. I build fucking maps and analyze data. Yet, all I want is to get back on the road and get my pen back in my hand. (Which is what I am doing with my #tellfrankwheretogo road trip). Fuck the norms, I just want to drive, write and when I run out of money I will pull over and decide that I have done everything in life I wanted to do. And I will be at peace.
Back to the question on why music and books go hand in hand. It is simple. Art and expression. Mathematicians, such as Lucas Bang, one of the most brilliant minds I know, helped to show me the bridge between art and math. Without him I would have become disillusioned with Statistical analysis and would have never earned my degree. Art, math, music, writing…they all require tempo, pacing and movement.
Oh and Zia is not a real record store. Look towards other cities. Portland, Brooklyn, Oakland, Austin, LA, etc. The small mom and pop shops that dominate the landscape while foolish Las Vegas children seek out the leftovers that Zia offers. Fuck them. Once the original owner passed on, the place lost its soul. There is no music without soul and you can’t trust those who sell their souls for chain stores that don’t serve the neighborhood. You can read more about that here http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2004-01-15/music/spun-out/ My favorite quote from that article “Zia is the last real record store like Circle K is the last real grocery store.” Las Vegans need to realize that Zia is a blight on the culture of Las Vegas history and its future. Seek out the independents. The shop opening on 11th street, The Beat coffee house, anything other than Zia. Zia is for those who think living close to a Wal-Mart is a plus in their book.
Currently I am reading Quiet Kingmaker and my newest issues of ArcUser.
The switch from Compact Disks to MP3s obviously had a negative impact on the shop. But since its closure, vinyl and, surprisingly, cassette tapes, have experienced a huge resurgence. Why do you think these older formats have increased so much in popularity these past few years and what’s your personal favorite format for listening to music?
Records. I miss them every day. They allow you to be a part of the listening experience. It is an active form of music (set the needle, listen, turn over, set needle, listen, etc.) and unless you own one of those 70’s car record players you have to listen to and react to the music within your own home, the home of others or in a place of activity. Bar none, it brings people together to talk, chat, listen, point out a part that they like, rinse repeat…active. Also it requires a dedication to keeping your music format clean and safe which brings the attachment between music and person that much closer.
Cassettes on the other hand serve almost the same purpose in a way but they do not offer what vinyl does when you are sitting around with friends and sharing your music. It is a great way for underground artists to make cheap copies of their music and sell it for a few bucks a pop so you can say you own a cassette player.
And why are we seeing a resurgence? Well CD’s are pointless, everything is available online but, with vinyl you get the music and the whole package. Art, words, lyrics, the knowledge of where the next track is on the album with the drop of a needle. It is a hands on experience that millennials don’t have too much of a connection to; so they are tackling it on the nostalgic route. In the 80s / 90s kids hung from their walls prints by Warhol, Van Gogh, Pollock, LICHTENSTEIN and now we see those album covers are just as important as any other artist work and belong on our walls as well.
After Balcony closed, you left Vegas for Portland to go back to school and you had talked about writing a book. Can you tell us about what you’ve been up to since then? What do you think is the biggest change in Vegas since the closing of Balcony and would you ever think of starting up a shop again?
400 pages. I have 400 pages of a book that I will never put into print because I still can’t go back and look at it and feel comfortable with the words. Like I mentioned before, writer’s block.
The biggest change I have seen in Vegas is that, save for a few such as Jesse and Roxie at Cowtown and Exile, Joey Vanas, Michael Cornthwaite, Melissa Clary, Dan Roberts, and a few others, most seem to think they need DTP to tell them or in certain cases allow them to create their own business. Tony Hsieh needs to get rid of all his Yes Men and Women and work with a group who know what they are doing. Hopefully with the new DTP CEO on board this will happen.
Vegas is trying hard and there are those in DTP who have an idea of what they are doing but the majority are just throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks. This is why the top down approach DTP is utilizing is not working properly. Instead of focusing on residential density and making sure walkability is a major factor of their design, they are just floundering. Hell they just got a new CEO or whatever the hip new term they gave him. For the next 5 years, if DTP does not learn how Las Vegas works they will end up doing more damage to DTLV than good. For more info check here or go to your local library.
To quote the study, “The Data collected revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the way that community resident perceived the two community development programs. The Program structured by the bottom-up model of social development theory (UNIR) Received higher scores on the satisfaction scale and the GCDS. The Findings indicated that as a method of intervention, the bottom-up model was better at accomplishing the goals of community development in these sites.”
Also “The common strengths shared by the communities in which the programs were successful included: 1) The existence of strong and positive relationships between community residents and program staff; 2) the provision of tangible services that were congruent with local community needs; and 3) the ability of community residents to balance the need for external resources with internally created goals.”
Since DTP removed community from their 4 C’s, counteracting points 1 And 3. Mentioned above, you can see how this could have a negative impact on residents or DTLV. All I can say is it is going to get worse before it gets better. And, that might be just what Las Vegas needs to reawaken the artists that call this city our home.
Not really sure what else to tell you. I’ll be hitting the road soon for my #tellfrankwheretogo trip and from there, who knows. I might go back to school for my PhD or just get into bartending and spend the rest of my days serving up drinks at a small neighborhood bar.
I’d also like to thank:
Paul Tompkins – The backbone, the one and only.
John Paul Harrison Rapp – The voice, the quiet before the storm.
Seth Rapp – The only man I know who can say nothing while saying everything.
Adrian De Hoyos – His music always scared me.
Marco Nevgoskidown a cliff – Loud, proud and the best Mr/ T impersonator (Halloween edition) ever.
Gremlin – The man with no plan who worked better that way.
Crystal and the beautiful pic of her baby we added to our walls.
Pitt (you want a great story, ask the one about how pitt got his CD’s back after his truck got broken into during Loud Pipes practice).
Max Miller – He put up with human feces being thrown on his car. He has the patience of a Jewish Buddhist.
Saint Mike Kelley.
Colby Dean – The robotic metronome.
And about 40 other names that it is too late in the night to remember. I wish I knew where you all have scattered off to. I miss your accumulated passion.
Also, if anyone has seen Grimace, last I heard he was hopping trains up in the Pacific Northwest. (this was back in 2006-7) if anyone knows who I am talking about or knows where he is can you please let me know through this website. I hope the strange man is still alive.
Thank you, Frank! If you want to keep up with Frank’s travels, you can follow him on instagram at @thevegasfrank
No Comments