If you’ve lived in Las Vegas for any amount of time you quickly learn that trying to keep an all-ages venue running is almost as hard as beating The Legend of Zelda “second quest” without a sword. Thankfully, the folks over at The Artistic Armory have stepped up to do just that and on top of it, they also create fantastic pieces of art, such as this awesome The Legend of Zelda themed table. We’re celebrating the Armory all week on PIV so it seemed only natural that we’d sit down and have a quick chat with Armory head honcho Dustin Hoots.
Can you tell me a little bit about The Artistic Armory? How did it start and where did the name come from?
Jeff Lewis and I are partners in an art collective called Dead Girls and Robots and we’d go to a healthy amount of live painting events, which we smuggled a lot of our friends into. We joked that it was our “artistic army,” so when we teamed up with a few more artists to open up shop, we all figured every army needs an armory, and the name just formed naturally.
What are your biggest artistic influences? What inspires you to create?
Most of my influences are people I know. Hell, the only reason I even pursued any of this is because my ex-girlfriend kept getting pissed that I had a bunch of finished paintings that I wasn’t doing anything with. Since meeting [local artist, Unfair Fight frontman] Dan45, he’s become a huge influence. His work ethic and consistent evolution is something everyone should be jealous of.
As far as famous people go, I’m not sure. I just know I fucking hate Andy Warhol.
A lot of our readers know the Armory as a venue first. Sell them on the art side of things. Why should they buy your art?
The art is what we at the Armory actually profit from. We make 0 money on the shows; those don’t pay for bills. We actually pay most of the rent ourselves and use our art to do so. Think of it like this – you buy band merch to support bands, so buy a piece of art to support artists.
You guys have been a huge boon to the all-ages scene out here. Why do you think all-ages shows are important to the local music scene?
It’s the most important part of a local music scene. It’s like a gang or a cult – without fresh blood, the scene dies with us. Local shows saved me from myself so many times when I was a kid. Without the Huntridge, Sanctuary, Balcony Lights, Sound Barrier and countless others I’d be dead or in jail for sure. Be an elitist, old punk all you want, but you know that one show when you were 16 changed your fucking life. Let today’s kids get that epiphany too.
You’ve had a bunch of rad bands play at The Armory. What is your favorite band that has played there, and who is your dream band to book one day?
Favorite band that’s played here is rough. If you’re talking local bands there’s a slew that have played here many times – TheCore., Mercy Music, Hard Pipe Hitters, Bogtrotter’s Union, The Quitters, The People’s Whiskey, Be Like Max, Unfair Fight… I could go on forever.
But I feel like the answer should be a non-local, and that has to be Tartar Control. They’re fucking amazing live and the nicest guys I’ve ever met.
Dream band to book here? Easily A Wilhelm Scream or Dropkick Murphys. I would fan boy all over the place.
Thanks Dustin! For more info on The Artistic Armory, you can check out their official website here or go and give them a “like” on facebook here to stay up to date on their goings ons.
Photo by Aaron Mattern
One Comment