Utica DIY, a concert promoter based in the greater Utica area, started bringing the harcore and punk scene back to life two years ago. Now the organization is becoming a pillar of the community, as founder Josh Lyszczarz shared with NYS Music.
Hosting shows in local venues from nonprofit theaters to vintage stores, Utica DIY has brought in fans and artists of all ages. Every show at Utica DIY brings something different from the bands from all across New York State and beyond to the sub-genres catering to the sprawling sounds in metal and punk music. From nights of hardcore metal to punk pop to obscure indie, Utica DIY curates their events around a genre and brings in rising musicians to the Utica community.
Lyszczarz said he started promoting concerts not because he wanted to have the responsibility of hosting, but because he wanted to see art spaces and hardcore scenes in Utica again with young bands playing and young audiences getting amped up to feel a sense of community in their hometown.
As a musician himself, Lyszczarz said he understood what it took to put on a show, but he also knew the hardships that came with it from rowdy fans to expensive productions, so he had no interest in taking on an operation like that.
In 2022, Lyszczarz said he was approached by a concert promoter wanting to book his band for a show in Watertown. After suggesting moving the concert to Utica, helping the promoter arrange a venue and getting equipment, Lyszczarz said he found himself taking the responsibility from the reluctant promoter, making sure the community got the show they deserved.
“If no one came out, I would not have booked another show… Unfortunately they did,” he laughed.
Since then, Lyszczarz has promoted over 25 shows in the Utica area at venues like the Uptown Theater and Utica Vintage Club. At the heart of Utica DIY, Lyszczarz said, is the kindness from community members wanting to help see the concerts thrive.
From Utica Vintage Club opening up their space for the shows after hours to the local music store, Big Apple Music, providing discounts for equipment rentals, Lyszczarz said he’s been grateful for the community’s support in his efforts to bring back the hardcore scene.
“It’s not a business,” Lyszczarz said. “I’m not really making money off of this as much, as I use the power of community to make sure that bands are coming through and getting paid.”
Utica DIY brings in bands from Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse and, of course, Utica, with attendance averaging 100 concertgoers per show.
Lyszczarz said he continues promoting concerts because he realized without an all ages venue like his, fewer and fewer young people will show up to concerts and keep the scene alive. The other couple of existing metal shows in the area consist of a dozen friends in their 30s and 40s watching a band or two play in their backyard, he said.
“New kids have to start coming to these. It can’t just be me and the same ten guys that have been playing music around here forever. We will die out.”
Utica DIY’s goal, Lyszczarz said, is to welcome in as many people as possible to the community, creating no restrictions on age, from 3 year olds with protective headphones banging their heads to 60 year olds joining the mosh pits.
The concerts bring in not only crowds of all ages, but musicians as well. Lyszczarz emphasized the importance of bringing in younger bands, like high school locals Vervevan, and giving them a chance to open for established touring bands.
“It’s really cool that these kids are so young and they’re able to get the opportunity [to play],” Lyszczarz said. “If they’re teenagers and they’re starting their first band, I want them to be able to say, ‘I played with this sick band when I was 16.”
Utica DIY’s next show centers itself around alternative, punk and hardcore acoustic. Hosted at the Uptown Theater in downtown Utica on Aug. 16 at 7 p.m., all ages are welcome to see, two touring bands (Overtired and Duatra) and two local bands (Home Visitor and Lemon Law). For more information, visit Utica DIY’s Instagram page.
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