Desert, Anyone?

With a new compilation, Phoenix's AZPUNK.com is breaking grassroots ground

By: Michaelangelo Matos • Zia Zine • November 2002

"When I think about the site, I think of it as a window to our scene out here, you know?" says Bryan Sandell, one of the operators of Phoenix, Arizona's AZPUNK.com, a website devoted to his local underground rock scene. "This represents every band out here that's in the punk genre-the fans, everyone, just the scene generally. If you're in New York and you didn't have a clue what's going on out here in Phoenix, spend a day or two here and you'll know more than you do about your own local scene."

Sandell isn't kidding. One of the most exhaustive music sites on the Internet, AZPUNK.com is a community-based effort, spreading the news about local shows, upcoming tours and scene happenings. According to Sandell, "We looked a lot at what other people were doing and got a lot of ideas from that. There's some other [Arizona punk] sites out there but they're not as comprehensive."

"It all goes back to Chris Lawson," Sandell continues. "His name's on the title of the site, as they like to say. He started TotalPunkRadio.com, a 24-7 radio site; he had a dream to start the ultimate local punk site, and he bought AZPUNK.com and sat on it for two years."

The site launched at the beginning of February this year, and it's already become a local cause célèbre, having been named Best Local Hero by the readers' poll in the Best of Phoenix issue of Phoenix New Times, a local news and arts weekly.

"We all have daytime jobs," says Sandell, "but this has become our second-it's really has turned into a full-time job. We spend straight out of our pockets for this, but we've seen a return; people have been donating money to us, which is very generous. Last month, we generated 30 gigabytes in traffic; we only have a 15 gigs on our server, and they charge us for those extra 15 gigs. If you've been on there today, you've seen 40 people on it. That was our goal, to ignite the scene."

Despite the high number of viewers, the site has remained independent. "We're not out there trying to make a lot of money," say Sandell. "if we were, you'd see ads all over the site. We don't want to turn into some big commercial site; we just wanted to unite the community. Every time we make an accomplishment, we owe it to every person who's on the site. By keeping our ethics like that, keeping it in the community, we feel like the site's for everyone."

As with the site, so with the music: AZPUNK.comp Volume 1, AZPUNK's newly available compilation disc, features 30 songs by 30 artist, among them Stereotyperider, Logik, No Gimmick, Redfield, The Liar's Club, West End Crooks, Where Eagles Dar and many, many more for only $3. "We plan on shipping it to just about every college radio station we can," says Sandell. "We want to be a loud voice in the whole United States punk scene."