A venture benefiting local music is on the verge of celebrating its one-year anniversary, and many people are still not aware of its existence.
Perhaps this is because it's not a place you can go to, but something you could carry in your pocket -- an all-local music magazine called Transmission.
Transmission was created one year ago this month to be what founder and designer Steve Maez explained as "a venue specifically dedicated to local bands."
"We're trying to be a complete resource for all New Mexico music and hopefully expand to the region, including bands from El Paso and Southern Colorado," Maez said.
The magazine also plans to start a section on national acts coming through New Mexico, focusing specifically on how they relate to the local scene. They hope to help get local musicians used as opening acts and "get clubs more interested in bands from around here," Maez said.
Maez graduated with a bachelor of University Studies degree in Media Arts from UNM in 1994. He was working at Alpha Graphics when he began printing a newsletter for his band, Radio Jet. He would print a few hundred copies and leave them at various music stores. This preceded a stream of responses from other bands wanting to be written up.
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This is when he decided New Mexico needed Transmission, named after a song he had written with Radio Jet.
"It snowballed from there," Maez recalled when he turned his little newsletter into a glossy 16-page magazine.
After the first three black and white issues, Maez called two more people into the project. Chris Martinez, owner of Bare Bones printing offered color covers which have brightened up the magazine ever since and Andrew Castellano, graduate of the Anderson School of Business, came in as marketing and sales director.
Now, there are from 5,000 to 5,500 copies of Transmission in 65 locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Belen, Los Lunas and Taos each month. They sell subscriptions for $15, but are otherwise free. They can be picked up mostly in music stores, bars and any outlet affiliated with local music.
They also have two new and valuable columnists writing for them. Tim Stroh, a Grammy Award winner who owns Step Ridge Studio in Santa Fe, gives studio tips and John Strader, from KUNM's "Ear to the Ground," has a monthly column as well.
"We're getting more people involved here every month," Castellano said.
In the beginning they weren't sure there was enough of a local scene to support a monthly magazine but they discovered "there are enough good bands in the state working really hard, gigging every week and recording music," Castellano said. "At first we thought we better space these bands out, but there's still plenty after a year that we haven't written about."
Now the magazine is up to 28 pages each month and it has an interactive Web site as well.
"We want to make a big New Mexico jukebox," Maez said of his plans for www.transmissionmagazine.com.
The site features all original, local music streamed so it doesn't have to be downloaded. The music will be looked up by genre and they hope to have as many local bands on it as possible.
"Hopefully Transmission will be a focus for the music scene," Maez said. "Other musicians will know who's out there and they can showcase their music."
Almost all of the bands featured in the past 12 issues will be playing at the giant one-year anniversary party Saturday, Nov. 30. The Golden West Saloon will feature 12 acts from the Indy to metal genres. Free food and DJs will start at 1 p.m. and the bands will start at 2 p.m.
The El Rey will feature six bands from Latin, Funk and dance music genres with DJ Fido in between acts. The show starts at 6 p.m. They will be selling t-shirts and giving out stickers and back issues of the magazine. Overall, they said, they will be there promoting "pride in New Mexico music."
