Interview on WVXU FM about the very subject this blog is an archive for...

Fun House: Cincinnati's underground music venues

Published October 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM EDT (by Selena Reder and others)

https://www.wvxu.org/show/cincinnati-edition/2025-10-13/cincinnati-underground-music-venues

Photo courtesy of Robert Inhuman

"The air in the basement of the house on Rohs Street that winter was hot and dusty. That’s because the lead singer of the band performing that night was swinging from the ceiling duct when it gave way to his weight and broke, pumping heat into the crowd.

It was a basement show booked by some college kids who were clearly going to lose their security deposit on the house they were renting.

Call these shows underground, unconventional, maybe illegal. Surely a nuisance to neighbors.

Young people drift in out of these spaces. Memories of these shows drift in and out of our thoughts, but are never truly forgotten.

On Cincinnati Edition, we discuss the history of Cincinnati’s DIY venues.

Guests:

• Faith Maynard ran the Warner House beginning in 1999
• Robert Inhuman founder of Realicide Records
• Holly Kadish ran the Electric Company on Vine Street"

Envenomed (Cincinnati 2000's crust)

 

 

 

 

ENVENOMED was crust punk/grind around from 2002-2006(07?).  They had a self-released tape demo and a 7" on Torture Garden.  Might have been on some compilations, too.  Members included Diamond Doug (Saretsky) on guitar and vocals, Trevor Payne on drums, Isaac Rethy (original bassist), and Francis Pospisil (bass and vocals).  A number of people (or maybe just me, hah!) discovered ANTI-CIMEX through their cover of "War Machine" (which was spot-on!!).  The crust punk scene in Cincy was pretty small back then, unlike now.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2124362-Envenomed

Truly THE MOTHERLODE of live Cincinnati music footage...

 

George Forste of IDGF Productions has been videotaping local punk rock, hardcore, metal, indie, emo, and other bands for decades.  His channel on youtube and the one on vimeo are INCREDIBLE!!!!!!  There is, no joke, over a thousand videos.  He has some of the only archival footage that exists for A LOT of bands... and even has me doing experimental noise too loud at a pizza place/bar/venue and getting kicked off the stage.

Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaF2Ouuo1efnfg2bd_Vkcwg

 

 

Vimeo channel:

https://vimeo.com/user998330/videos

Some hard-to-find and obscure old heavy stuff I just remembered

ABDUCTION (RIP) - "X-files-themed hardcore"

Cincinnati, OH

https://abductionhc.bandcamp.com

 

COUGH IT UP (RIP) - "hardcore"

Cincinnati, OH

https://coughitup.bandcamp.com

 

FORCED OPINION (RIP) - "powerviolence"

Cincinnati, OH

https://forcedopinion.bandcamp.com

HENTAI LACERATOR (RIP) - "pornogrind"

Cincinnati/Dayton, OH 

Link might be NSFW / 18+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FmzGaoVIKA

IMPIA (RIP) - stoner metal/doom 

Cincinnati, OH

https://impia.bandcamp.com

 

SNUFFER (RIP) - "heavy grunge"

Cincinnati, OH

https://snuffer.bandcamp.com

TUMOR FEAST (RIP) - "grindcore"

Cincinnati, OH

Clowned demo (search some blogs and you might stumble across it)

Live set at Sudsy Malone's from The Cincinnati Music Archives:

UTOPIATE (RIP), later became GAPING MAW (RIP) - "sludge"

Cincinnati, OH

https://utopiatecincy.bandcamp.com/releases

https://gapingmaw.bandcamp.com/album/the-big-fuck-over

Brain House Stuff

Go here: http://eyemachinerecordings.blogspot.com/p/shows.html

Excellent youtube channel with lots of local shows!

Born in the Wrong Place

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs2IVlodwiOOn6J5_EHW_CQ

Here's a couple of them...

Weakness @ Babe Haus in 2014

Cloudrat at Fickle Ramps in 2014

Old interview with Robby Wright

http://alwaysagainsttheodds.blogspot.com/2008/12/friends-interview-with-robby.html

Old Brody's Militia, File & Claw webpages unearthed!

Pretty outdated photos don't come up, but you can at least see thumbnails...

http://www.thrashyourface.com

http://www.geocities.ws/file_and_claw/theband.html

Practice recording from 2007 here:

http://fileandclaw.stereokiller.com

Ohio punk show calender from the 90's, courtesy of David Wipfler

Some of the harder-to-find stuff I'm seeking...

...are material from New Zion Haste (ex-Fidel Catastrophe/Wise Blood, ex-Pomegranates - can't get their purevolume page to play...), Pageant of Snakes (if they have anything recorded...), Moon Collision (Sacred Spirits, ex-Pomegranates), The Blueprint Coalition, The Candy Afterlife, anything that Matt Frantz did (ex-Dark Audio Project, Liar's Paradise, Red Rum Trance, Graphic Verses, etc), Brown House (Kim and Carrie Nixon), June in July (ex?-Fake Hands), Goat Semen Baptism (ex-Tumorfeast, Dead Hate the Living, etc), The Blowtorch Abortions, Envenomed (Diamond Doug's band), Shrapnelface, Miasma, Youth Empowerment Project (ex-Paralyzer, DHTL, etc), lookXalive (ex-One Nation Under, Still Crossed, xDead Heroesx, etc), Dead End Path (from Indiana) Cryovolcanism (NKY metal, Profanation (NKY/Cincy? metal), Misery in Eden/xFisherx (Hamilton metalcore), This Day Forward (Christian hardcore/post-hardcore?), One Nation Under (specifically live audio or video from 2001-2002), August Anthem, Diamond For Eyes (screamo), and thee one, thee only, almighty BOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Open, O Coloured World (ex-Pomegranates/Healing Power) - RIP

Christian Psychedelic Shoegaze Pop from Cincinnati, OH

I saw them in the basement of the Methodist Church in the Gaslight District of Clifton (Cincinnati), OH.  It was at a "Books for Prisoners" benefit.  Their music was astonishing and it (as well as their aesthetics) hinted at what was to come with Pomegranates/Healing Power.

Stream a couple of their tracks here:

https://myspace.com/openocolouredworld

If you have their demo, please contact me immediately.  timothyadams1 - gmail com

(EDIT: Other acts at the show included Bludstone/Gojira, Andreas Chronis, and Realicide.)

New archive for old Cincinnati rock'n roll and punk created (NO LONGER ONLINE! :( )

It's run by Bryan Houston, one of the few people around here who are passionate about what they do and have their shit together.  Check it out and be sure to submit any material you might have lying around.

The Dirty River Repository
http://dirtyriverrepository.com

MORE OLD STUFF THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT!!!!!!! (NO LONGER AROUND - THANKS A LOT, MEGAUPLOAD!!!! >:( )

Jon Lorenz has some other Wounded Slug sites up...

ART DAMAGE LODGE BOOTLEGS
http://woundedslug6.tumblr.com/

LONG FORGOTTEN RECORDINGS AND BOOTLEGS
http://woundedslug3.tumblr.com

LOST FOOTAGE/FOUND FOOTAGE
http://woundedslug4.tumblr.com/

WEIRDNESS FROM AROUND THE GREATER CINCINNATI AREA
http://woundedslug5.tumblr.com/

Flyers of every show that occured (and some that didn't) at Art Damage Lodge and The Damage

You can't spell "Northside" without "noise".  Major thanks go out to Art Damage Radio for providing us with plenty of that during the second half of the last decade. Both tumblr sites below were created by Jon Lorenz.

The Damage - 2005-2006 RIP





Art Damage Lodge 2007-2010 RIP

Reggieville Records

Reggieville Records (RIP), started by Mike Oberst, was successful in bring a lot of westside kids into punk rock.  From their myspace, here's some show flyers and photos.

The Sugary Slimepit

The Sugary Slimepit was on Riddle Road and lasted for part of a summer in 2006.  These photos are courtesy of Robert Inhuman.  Here's a photo of Hentai Lacerator playing there on June 16th and photos from that show...

And here is a photo of the outside, as well as a link to photos from down the Slimehole...

INSANE Archive of Cincinnati Show Videos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A huge thanks goes out to local recording engineer and producer George Forste of IDGF Productions, who has been videotaping local shows since before some of you were born.  His long dedication to local music should not go unnoticed!!  Check out the fruits of his labor below:

Cincinnati Local Music Scene Vids (Vimeo)

Cincinnati Local Music Scene Vids (Youtube)

g4ste's Youtube Channel

Wounded Slug - Archive of Live Video and Audio From Jon Lorenz

http://woundedslug.tumblr.com

"EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF LIVE PERFORMANCES/ LONG FORGOTTEN RECORDINGS AND BOOTLEGS/ LOST FOOTAGE/ FOUND FOOTAGE/ AND OTHER WEIRDNESS FROM AROUND THE GREATER CINCINNATI AREA"

LOOKING FOR PHOTOS, FLYERS, VIDEOS, ETC OF SHOWS AT OLD CINCY BASEMENTS AND VENUES

Particularly the following...

Skunkarific's
Warner House I and II (when it moved to Flora) 
The Void (1 & 2)
The G-Spot
x The Thrashzone x
Metal Blast
F-Bomb
Norwood Legion Hall
Old St. George's Cathedral & Monastery
Room 13
E-Z Rider Haus
Laundry Room
Wally World/The Electric Company
Blue Ash Civic League
X-treme Ministries Skatepark or whatever (over near Eastgate)
Guild Haus
Skull Lab
The Damage
Art Damage Lodge
Tetris House
Eastside Christian Church

I've only lived here for ten years and been going to shows for nine, so I'll be hitting a bunch of you guys up.

One thing that I would ask of you guys is that you only submit venues had more than two shows, unless they were ones that had some sort of significance.  I'm not about to list all every basement and church in the area that had a couple of shows and then shut down...

Send flyers, photos, links to blogs, youtube and vimeo channels, flickrs, photobuckets, etc to here (however, do NOT send me actual video files...):

timothyadams1 (at) gmail (dot) com