Johnny Schaefer said the inspiration for one of Houston’s fastest growing music festivals came from an endearingly goofball 1993 comedy. Schaefer is a partner at House of J, the eastside music and art venue for independent local and touring artists. The venue’s festival – aptly dubbed J Fest – comes to life for a fifth installment this weekend. In all, more than two dozen acts will hit stages at multiple venues from Friday, September 30 through Sunday, October 2.
And, it all began with Wayne and Garth.
“The idea for the festival was kind of funny. We were throwing these kind of smaller shows in our living room, ones with like 30 people in there, 10 people hanging out and stuff,” Schaefer said. His favorite band at the time, he said, was Houston’s Escape From the Zoo. He wanted to create a showcase event with that band as the headliner.
“I was watching Wayne’s World 2 when he sees that naked Native American and the guy tells him ‘If you book them, they will come,’” Schaefer said, almost suggesting the movie character was speaking to him from the screen. “I thought, I don’t know if I ever could really book a festival. I was like, maybe I’ll just message (EFTZ’s singer, and the author’s son) Jesse and Jesse was like, ‘Sure dude, I’m in.’ I was like, ‘I guess this thing’s going down.’
“That was the first one and it just kind of grew from there,” Schaefer said. “It’s been kind of biannual, during the fall and spring.”
Earlier this year, the fest expanded to include sets at House of J, at 323 Hutcheson, and Trip Six HTX, a haven for heavy metal and hardcore punk acts at 6230 Rupley Circle. This latest installment builds on the idea of expanding into other venues including Kickback Bar, The End and a secret show spot.
“John Hale opened up a venue and Stupid Idiot is on his sister record label, Grimace’s Shape-Shift (Records), so we were happy to work with him and the people over there (at The End). And Norbert owns Kickback Bar, who’s actually like a good friend of House of J, he’s a really cool guy. It’s like you could literally throw a rock and hit Kickback Bar from House of J, it’s one train stop over. Kind of a cool dive with really good sound. Bassman Pep usually does their sound, he helped design all the audio out there and there’s a cool stage.
“On the second day it’s pretty much gonna be House of J and Kickback Bar at the same time. You could do some go between, if you brought your bike that would be chill, a longboard maybe. And, you could take the train, just one stop. It’s really not far,” Schaefer continued. “The way we did the bills, it’s kind of built specifically to maybe where people are going to want to move around a little bit.”
“So, we’re ending House of J a little earlier than normal. House of J’s last band is Poserz, which is a banger, by the way. If you don’t know the metal band the Poserz, they’re crazy. But then we have a secret spot that’s going to happen, there’s going to be a band in a secret spot. Secret band, secret spot to be announced this week.”
Schaefer spilled the details on the secret show. The set will begin at a gas station across the street from House of J. A full, hour-long set starts there among the Funyuns and lotto tickets featuring the headliner, artists from the indie rap record label No Empathy. Some exciting young artists are on that label including Ishgenius and Kanaki. They’ll end the set at neighboring Kickback Bar, “so everyone’s basically going to be kind of forced to do that little run right at the end,” Schaefer said.
Like many of House of J’s events, the festival is all ages for the entire event at every venue. And there will be something for music fans of all kinds, starting with the headliners, Houston punk icons 30footFALL, surging Dallas punks and Grimace Records’ act Noogy and San Antonio Chicana punk legends Fea. Schaefer said most of the fest attendees will have those acts on the radar.
“I would have to say, just to get out of the way, 30footFALL and Fea were like bucket listers. Those are kind of the obvious. Noogy as well. But the ones to look out for that people might not know about, I would say, on day one, Artificial Fun. They kind of an indie, kind of punk vibe. Really cool and different band. They’re young kids. I would definitely try to come out to see them.
“Day two, I mean it depends on the venue. House of J, I’d say Bondbreakr. They’re coming from Austin and they’ve played Black and Brown Fest. That’s a really heavy band, a husband and wife are in that band, they’re cool. At Kickback Bar, I would just say No Empathy. You gotta see them, that’s gonna be crazy.
“On the last day, if I had to pick, Fuska or Trashkat. There’s a lot of local legends on day three. You’ve got Fuska and Ganesha and Trashkat, Whitney (Flynn) obviously is playing. A bunch of local faves on the last day.”
“It’s been kind of our dream always to book these bigger bands at these small, accessible venues at a relatively cheap price,” Schaefer boiled it down. “You can get all of these bands for $30. Like $10 a day. It’s a pretty sweet deal. We keep it cheap because we want people to have money to spend on bands, you know?
“We obviously can’t do it for nothing,” though you get the sense Schaefer and company would if they could. He and his House of J partners, Alberta Rollins and Jeffer Thomason, have made it a day one objective to bring audiences close to some of the country’s best independent music artists.
“The bigger it gets the more fun we have bringing these ridiculously big and curated multi-genre festivals. It’s just a lot of fun.”
Schaefer is already wondering what’s next for the festival, how much bigger it can get and which bigger acts it can add to its growing legacy. One thing that won’t change is “it’s definitely community-oriented and always will be, kind of in the spirit of the House of J.”
Until J Fest 6 is announced, Schaefer said “Jeffer’s got a new concert series worth mentioning called Free AF. People are signing up for a Patreon and we’ve been doing a free monthly show with free pizza, free beer, free music and we’re paying for all of it with the Patreon. It’s like a crowdfunded show subscription.
“We’re just trying to make some noise in a different way and give these kids a place to be and a place to express themselves at the end of the day.”
Schaefer is a Houston music veteran, immersed in the scene long before House of J ever opened its doors. He’ll be playing sets this weekend with El Jumbotron and Stupid Idiot. We told him “we’re not worthy!” of his contributions to the local music community and asked what he’s learned in his days as a fest organizer, nudged into the life by a fictional character from Wayne’s World 2.
“I feel like what makes Houston music stand out is it’s eclectic. It’s a really eclectic city. There’s a lot of variety of inspirations whether it be culturally or just straight-up genre influenced. We just for some fucking reason have no shortage – if the music is good, and we try to find people that play good music when we can – if the music is good, people aren’t afraid to be the first one to dance. That’s what has always allowed us to do what we do. At the end of the day if people are kind of scared to take a chance on the local band or actually enjoy it, it usually takes the first couple of kids dancing to get everyone going nuts. We’ve just focused on the younger kids. I think the lifeblood of any scene exists in the all-ages shows.”
House of J’s J Fest 5, Friday, September 30 through Sunday October 2. Headliners 30footFALL, Noogy, No Empathy Power Hour and Fea, plus two dozen bands at multiple venues. $10-$30. Tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
