As Infinite Room, Columbia’s newest iteration of Tom Law’s late Conundrum Music Hall, prepares for its first night Jasper sat down with Jeremy Joseph to get the dirt on how Infinite got to where it is and where it’s going from here. Here’s what we learned:
In the proverbial nutshell, can you tell about how Infinite Room grew up from the ashes of Tom Law’s Conundrum Music Hall in West Columbia?
When Tom sadly announced he was closing Conundrum back in October, we felt really remiss that Columbia would be losing its intimate dedicated listening room where all kinds of music and arts came together from the more traditional to the very avant-garde. But we realized that the eclectic music-loving community that surrounded the club was still intact, and if you have the people you have the power. So we came together, including much of Conundrum’s former staff, and brainstormed how we could pool our time and resources, and collectively re-open the club. During this time the old Conundrum space got leased so we moved on to find an existing venue we could partner with where we could start regularly booking shows and help reignite the spirit of diversity and open-mindedness that we found at our old haunt. Our first choice was Tapp’s, which shares a similar mission of being a progressive incubator for the arts in Columbia. They liked the idea and wanted to try things out, and so here we go!
Where is this room you call Infinite?
Infinite Room happenings will be taking place at Tapp’s Arts Center on Main, down in the underground in their Fountain Room. The spot is great for us since it’s an intimate performance space, which is part of what made Conundrum so special.
Who are the key players in making this magic happen?
Here are some of the people that are involved in helping to make this thing happen (in alphabetical order): Moses Andrews, Al Black, Cindi Boiter, Carl Burnitz, William Glenn Christopher, Mila Burgess-Conway, Alex Davis, Julia Dawson, Cecil Decker, Omari Fox, JB Frush-Marple, Grayson Goodman, Bekah Gregory, Tanisha Hall, Rae Hatton, Byron Hawk, Nic Jenkins, Chris Johnson, Sean Jones, Woody Jones, Daniel Machado, Tyler Matthews, Alice Rodriguez, Lucas Sams, Greg Stuart, Ross Swinson, Ahomari Turner, Alan Woodall, and Alice Aaron Wyrd
Tell us about the shows you have scheduled, please.
I’m gonna hand this question off to Rae Hatton:
We are all so excited about the upcoming shows we have planned. We are really grateful to have such an excellent line-up of acts—all mostly local to the midlands. Our first show this Saturday, February 27th, features Danny Joe Machado, about.theWindow, and Pray For Triangle Zero, and is being hosted by the hilarious Topher Riddle. This will be a special kick-off event and we encourage everyone to arrive in their best David Bowie ensembles. This is sure to be a dancey dreamy fun party tribute to celebrate the weird and wonderful. Our second show on Saturday, March 12th includes Wasted Wine, Passing Worth, and Lost Wages. Queen It Shall Be will host and bring us spoken word and poetry readings, and the music is folky and twangy and plucky and fun. The show on Saturday, March 26th includes Ritual Abjects, Ahomari, and Infinitikiss. It will be a glamorously bewitching evening with a glamour spell, and is about subversion, experimentation, and going on a listening journey. All of these shows will be tremendous fun and we are so looking forward to the events and bringing people together to enjoy them.
What can the public do to help in sustaining this endeavor?
We are actively moving towards becoming a non-profit and then taking donations on-line, but for now what we could really use your support with most is in coming out to these shows. We have some off-beat and intriguing things in store and we want to make Infinite Room a bright part of Columbia’s infinite future.
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