Intrigued and Willing
Going to my first punk rock show in a garage was an experience unlike anything I have ever gone through. As a music connoisseur, I’ve seen at least over a hundred different artists live. From genres such as Hip-Hop, R&B, Alternative, EDM, and Pop. However I had never been to an aggressive rock, punk, or garage rock type show.
The band, Blind Fortune, had been on my radar for a long time as I heard and knew of them through friends of friends. I had been really intrigued by their style and music for some time and looked for the opportunity to go to one of the shows and sit down with the band to pick their brains.
I had seen that they had a billing lined up and knew some of my friends that were going to the show. I decided that this was the right time to give myself this experience to try something new out.
Let’s Get Some Movement
As soon as the show starts, with everyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the tightly packed garage, it’s an experience unlike any other before. At this point I’m standing two feet away from the lead singer for the first band, Crossing Point. There’s a lot of vibrant colors and personalities in the garage, with each band having their names spray painted on wooden boards hanging on top of the garage door.
The first lead vocalist dedicates the song to his brother who sadly took his own life. The vocalist cathartically sings his heart out before saying, “Let’s get some movement.” At the time I had no idea what that meant before I watched the mosh pit open right in front of my eyes and people starting moshing together.
I know mosh pits get a bad reputation as some say it’s just an excuse to beat up on each other, and from my experiences, sometimes that is definitely the case. In this sense, it had a different feeling to it. As I watched everyone in the pit push, throw elbows and punch each other while the blaring rock music was playing with every drum beat equating to my heartbeat, I got a sense of free-spiritedness. The people in-and-out of the mosh pit seemed so alive and in the moment, a strong sense of youthfulness and the idea that we are here for a good time not a long time. Rebelling against the system and society’s expectations of what we can and can’t do. No one was trying to pretend to be someone they’re not. Everyone was fully expressing themselves to the absolute fullest.
As the show goes on, the culture shock starts to fade and I start to really get into the music. Mind you, I have heard punk music, but only on a handful of occasions. As for each time the amp shrieks I start anticipating the next song that’s about to be played. The atmosphere of us all standing in a little house garage with a staircase, right behind us that is just as packed with the side door barely being able to close sounds crazy, but it actually heightens the show as you feel more of a closeness and connection with everyone in the crowd and with the bands.
A Sober, Straight Edge Event Interrupted
The bands that played were Crossing Point, blanket., Mira Loma, Ego Trip, and headlining, Blind Fortune. While I came specifically to see Blind Fortune, the other bands definitely didn’t disappoint. Each band brought their own style and performance style to the show, it didn’t feel as if I watched the same bands over and over again. The band, blanket, had only practiced together four times with this being their first show.
After each band played there was a 15 minute intermission where everyone would go stand in the backyard while the bands would set up their stage for performance. It was a straight edge event so there was no alcohol or drugs allowed at the house. Everyone was sober the entire time.
After all the other bands, Blind Fortune looks to close out what had been a pretty good night. The anticipation builds as they have built a great reputation for their live shows. As the performance begins everyone is very involved and into the music. They did a cover of a song that I didn’t know, but it seemed that everyone in the garage knew it word for word. Once they were playing their third song, red and blue lights started appearing from the top of the garage window.
The lights turned on as someone said, “We gotta shut down, they said if we don’t leave we have to start writing tickets.”
Everyone starts piling out of the garage while I stick around and wait to steal some of the band’s time for an interview.
This photo of the event sparked lots of comments on our Instagram, related to COVID and other community comments.
Meeting Blind Fortune
Briefly before the interview starts I sit and formally meet everyone and immediately you get the sense that these guys had all been friends for some time as they were laughing and joking at each other.
The band is made up of five members. Cooper Conway, 19, who plays bass and has been playing for 8 years. He’s been in a couple bands before this, but this one he’s really excited about.
The next is Blake Boswell, 23. His friends call him “Bozy.” He is the lead singer and started just in May of last year. “It’s all new to me. [It’s] super sick, I love it,” Bozy said.
Tyler Nelson is the drummer for the band. He has been a drummer for five to six years. He was born and raised in Reno, and grew up with the other band members.
Manning Gray, who plays guitar, likes to skate, hang out with his friends, write songs, and play shows.
Conner Bannistor, 20, another guitarist who has been playing for four years also grew up in Reno.
“[I’m] super stoked on Blind Fortune,” Bannistor said. “This new project is crazy, it’s cool seeing everything come together. Every song becoming more solid in what we want our sound to be.”
Even though the show that night was cut short. The band expressed how well the night turned out for the other bands. It was three of the four opening bands’ performing for the first. The band also expressed how much live shows meant to them.
“We all love the support and giving back support,” Bozy said. “It's super sick to see people all come together as one. There’s no outcast, there's nobody that feels alone and that’s one thing we really aspire for because we’ve been those outcasts, those guys getting kicked out… We are stoked for the future, it’s always gonna be a blind fortune, everything that comes with. Gotta love it.”
The DIY Scene
Conway’s favorite part about performing is the crowd, standing on top of amps, and watching his friends jam out. Bozy loves singing along with the crowd as he says, “Everyone here kills it. Can’t wait for the next one.” Nelson likes the intimacy of the shows and Gray doubles down on that and talks about how good the DIY scene here in Reno is. The DIY scene means that the shows are usually set up without any sort of venue or promoters and are thrown at people’s house.
“Definitely more stoked on the DIY scene and playing more shows just because the DIY scene in it of itself is more intimate you know there’s so much love and so much support,” Bannistor said. “All of our support comes from each other, so it’s sick to see it evolve. It’s sick when new people come into the scene and like Manning was saying when there’s a spot where we can actually put on a show ourselves, it’s nuts you know. Seeing all your friends beat the crap out of each other with a smile on their face right in front of your face.”
Before Blind Fortune there was a band named Anapathic, but it didn’t last. Nelson, Conway and Bannistor were in the band. After it didn’t work out they started something new. That’s when they came up with the name.
“For the name, we just threw around names until it felt right,” Nelson said. “Every day we play a show it finds its meaning. People come to shows and that in it of itself is a blind fortune. You don’t know what you’re walking into. Most of us grew up together. [We] started music in our ways and then just put it all together.”
“Blind Fortune stuck out because it felt so much more better, you know what I mean,” Bannistor said. “It’s a blind fortune in it of itself. One band broke up so a new one could form.”
Better than 9 to 5
When talking about goals for the band, Bozy talked about how since they are all skaters, they’re on the road constantly and that’s where he is happiest.
“That’s always felt like home,” he said. “For me, my goal, our goal, if we can just be on the road all the time and seeing all the love out there. [Seeing] new places, pretty places, you know there’s always somewhere to go. I love it. I just want to be on the road.”
Conway’s end goal is focused on doing something music related no matter what it is.
“I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was a child,” Conway said. “I’ve always, I don’t know, I’ve felt that’s always been something I am good at. You know I can work, I can go to a 9-5, but at the end of the day I know I am good at music. I fully realized that during COVID and I know I can do this, so my end goal is to just find a career whether it be a roadie, sound engineering, or in a badass band.”
Nelson and Gray expressed how the artistry of creating music matters to them and they hope it reaches listeners as well.
“Starting this music and thinking about an end goal is kinda tricky,” Nelson said. “You know the goal has always been evolving. First it was write a song and then play a show and now it’s come to like set up a tour and go through with it. For an end goal you know I just want to, you know, the fulfillment to play every show. That fulfillment in being a musician is what I crave. I think dancing around the world and sharing our sound, getting other people to dance to it is my end goal, however that happens.”
“My end goal in music and with Blind Fortune is, you know when you see a band cover a song of a band that’s no longer together and everyone gets so excited that the band is playing that cover, and everyone’s singing the words so excited because that song means so much to them,” Gray said. “It means so much to them, makes them feel something because it reminds them maybe of a time in their life and it takes them back and makes them relive those feelings and like reflect on them. So, maybe my goal would be for my music to have the kind of effect on people where if someone else played my song it would have that much joy to them as if we were playing it and for it to mean something.”
Music has always been therapeutic to a lot of people and it holds a lot of emotional weight for a lot of people.
“There’s no other feeling like writing a song with your best friends and being like good, ‘Holy crap that sounded so good’ that stoke is like the ultimate stoke, it’s the best stoke I’ve ever felt, it's the hardest stoke i’ve ever felt,” Bannistor said. “Music’s always meant a lot to me, meant a lot to all of us. I’ve felt so alone sometimes you know the only thing that I can relate to was a song. It helps me navigate my emotions. Like what Manning was saying being able to do that for other people is also like the end goal. Making something for people to relate to when they can’t relate to anything else.”
The band is planning on doing more shows and tours throughout the year and look to get more involved in clothing. Follow them on their Instagram @blind.fortune for more updates on new shows, merch, and music. Check out their latest ep here: linktr.ee/Blindfortune