I pulled into the dark lot and parked along the brick wall of the once abandoned building that I now know as The Woolen Mills. On previous occasions, I had come to The Woolen Mills listening room for a few DIY shows. Do-it-yourself (DIY) shows are musical events that take place in spaces that are dedicated to these small scale concerts. The purposes of DIY shows are not to profit and promote like larger venues, but to create an experience that encourages local artistry. On this night, I was meeting with the man behind the action of the Woolen Mills shows, Joel Mongeon, to discuss DIY music and his involvement in it.

DIY shows are usually situated in non-traditional venues that have or had some other function and repurposes it into a live music listening room, like what Joel has created at the Woolen Mills. In the book, Underground: The Subterranean Culture of D.I.Y. Punk Shows by Daniel Makagon, he defines what a DIY show is capable of and recommends it as the ideal gigging opportunity for upcoming songwriters and musicians. Makagon writes, “DIY shows have historically been infused with a desire to blur the boundaries between performer and audience.” Underground also describes the function of DIY shows as redefining the rules of live music performances, exploring alternative economic systems within the scene, and bringing people together for matters that do not benefit organizations and people outside of the DIY scene.

Before the night of our discussion at the Woolen Mills, Joel and I had only talked at previous shows he was hosting. Joel is thirty-three years old and hails from Lancaster, MA. I assumed that his role at The Woolen Mills was only the organizer and promoter of the shows. During the time we spent together, I learned that Joel actually rents out rooms in the facility and is a property manager of the repurposed factory. The Woolen Mills space came to Joel from doing side jobs for the other property manager of the repurposed factory. The building was being rented out as office spaces and hosted other recreational events. Getting ready to retire, the property manager asked Joel if he would like to split the responsibility and become a co-manager to which Joel accepted. Being a property manager at The Woolen Mills factory however is Joel’s second job. His primary occupation is at Indian Hill Music in Littleton where his role is essentially the same as the Woolen Mills shows, but in a more professional setting. He hopes to one day run his own established venue like this.

Joel greeted me at the door of the old factory on the night of our meeting. I followed him through the corridor on the creaking wooden floors to a room littered with furniture, tools, amplifiers, and an assortment of musical gadgets. Joel then opened another door within the room that contained more furniture, shelves filled with microphones and wires, a few instruments, and a typewriter on a shelf in the corner of the room. It was clear to me that I was inside of Joel’s work space. The disorder and the state of how lived-in the rooms appeared to be was telling to how much work Joel puts into music. I was in the habitat of a true artist who had manipulated his surroundings to create a work space effective to his productivity.

One product of this work space is the EP Paper Thin, written by Max Clark and produced by Joel. Clark considers Joel as “one of the kindest hearted musicians in our scene. If he believes in someone’s sound, he’s going to do everything he can to help further that band/musician.” He even credits Joel as evoking the general tone of the recordings. During our meet up, Joel regarded Clark as a talented artist he enjoys working with. “Max is about to unlock a new sound. I don’t want to push him too much, but I’m excited to hear it when he finds it.” Joel had the tone of a mother bird watching her young gain strength, preparing for its first flight. While both can agree that Joel supports and cares for Clark’s work, Joel allows him the chance to grow on his own as an artist while he excitedly observes.

Max Clark has also been in attendance and performed at the Woolen Mills shows. He expresses that he enjoys the intimacy of the shows, the involvement of the crowd, and the shared love for music in the room. He also notices that even if Joel is not on the performer’s bill, he is still putting all of his effort into bringing an amazing show to life. Clark says of the Woolen Mills shows that he would, “rather play there to three people than a packed house, because [Joel] cares.”

My experience in attending the Woolen Mills shows is similar to what Clark expresses. The shows take place in the vast, abandoned second floor of the factory. One corner of the expansively empty second floor is sectioned off by hanging sheets and murals of musical notes and instruments on banner sized pieces of paper. The venue is lit by a few lamps scattered against the walls and Christmas lights spanning the rafters overhead. The old floorboards were creaking under my feet as I walked toward the chairs set up six-by-five with four upholstered armchairs lined in the back.

Set up near the door was a refreshments table that included free drinks and snacks. Also on the table was the suggested tip jar for the artists’ and venue’s payout, increasing its contents as the night went on, but never quite filling up. Unlike other shows that require tickets or expensive admissions charge, DIY shows like The Woolen Mills run on a donation based economic system. This allows the audience to support musicians without pressuring them into spending money and lets them decide how much the show was worth to them.

Before and in between performances, people mingle around the venue conversing. During these periods it is nearly impossible to discern between audience and performers if you did not know of the band before the show. Here, the “blurred boundary” that Daniel Makagon mentions in his book is in one way exemplified. Artists are also a part of the crowd at DIY shows, and they participate and enjoy the show like any other member of the audience.

Each time a performer starts their set, the crowd sitting only feet away is immediately captivated. Some would assume that the music adds to the atmosphere of the DIY show. Contrarily, it is the music that is accented by the atmosphere. The purpose of Joel’s effort to create a tranquil and couth venue is to accentuate the artists’ aesthetics. Joel hosts acts that are usually off-brand folk and he has created a venue that feels as cozy and grim as the music being played.

One intention that is kept in mind during the planning of The Woolen Mills shows is serving as an outlet for expression to artists. Joel wishes that live music venues like dive bars, coffee shops and restaurants did not set the expectation for their performers to play a majority of covers for long durations of time. Joel requests that people booking shows should “set the precedent that real artists can come and ask for stage time.” Venues like these omit the outlet for an artist to showcase their work and play their original music. At these gigs, the music is used to accent the atmosphere. Shows like The Woolen Mills are sustained by creativity. The artist’s urge for creative expression matched with a receptive crowd eager for local music creates a symbiotic relationship between the two.

Another distinction that sets The Woolen Mills from these businesses is that it is specifically a listening room. “If you want to get out of the noisier environments, there are places for you to perform that don’t force you to strain your voice in order to be heard.” Joel provides such a place with his shows. At the Woolen Mills and DIY shows alike, the crowd is captivated by every chord picked and every note uttered. There are no distractions. It is solely an accessible and vulnerable performance to a listening audience. There is no other noise that the artist has to compete with and their music is heard against silence, due to a preference of Joel’s: “Acoustic music is best when contrasted with silence,”

Despite his efforts and work, Joel claims he is not married to the DIY scene. In his perfect world he would be running a legitimate music venue like his job at Indian Hill Music, possibly a coffee shop hosting original performances. Joel longs to host shows in a more permanent space with higher sound quality and better temperature control. The reason he puts so much time into his DIY space however, is because he understands the artist’s desire for a different economy based on art and not profit, and the need for spaces dedicated to performance. These are inclinations rooted in Joel that keeps him running a space that is funded by donations and out-of-pocket payments. “I am a proponent of putting on cohesive shows with bills that make sense, and getting people out of the noise, out of the bars, and getting people away from the kind of consumerism that is going to affect their art.” Joel’s passion for true and genuine artistry is what keeps his elbows greased while putting in the work that allows for a DIY scene in a place like Clinton, Massachusetts to be possible.