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Robert Koons is the patron of Knoxville's hardcore/emo scene

by John Sewell

A sociologist could have a field day with this subcultural phenomenon. Every American city of any size has some kind of punk/hardcore/emo scene. And each scene, wherever it may be, follows a similar hierarchical structure: The core group, often referred to as "the kids," focus their lives on local music happenings, trendy fashions, partying and dating and mating within their subculture. Band members have a somewhat higher ranking within the scene, for obvious reasons. And every town has at least one longtime scenester who is totally committed to keeping things happening by booking shows, releasing records, housing traveling bands and being an all-around dependable, benevolent presence. We'll refer to this pivotal presence as "the dude." (Take note that the term dude is not gender specific in this case.) Well, the dude in Knoxville is Robert Koons. The 27-year-old drummer, web designer, producer, graphic artist, promoter and salt-of-the-earth good doobie is now making inroads with a record label, The New Beat, that just celebrated its second anniversary.

Starting an indie label is a tenuous proposition, at best. And, sure, Koons has had his share of setbacks and, shall we say, "learning experiences" since the label's inception.

Running a label is a demanding and thankless task that requires tenacity, patience and pure, blind faith. But with six releases to it's credit (The label has released discs by Past Mistakes, The Moviehouse Arcade, Picturebook of Saints, Hifi Drive-By, Why Intercept? and Red Winter Dying), The New Beat is finally beginning to make its presence known, if at least in underground circles. Koons recently linked a deal with Lumberjack Distribution, one of the nation's top indie distros.

"It's really exciting how it worked out for me," says Koons. "When it came time to release the Past Mistakes/Red Winter Dying split, I contacted Lumberjack, who had carried other Past Mistakes releases on other labels. That's how I got my foot in the door.

"Then I sent them the next two releases, they [Lumberjack] liked them, so they took on the entire catalog. Lumberjack is one of the biggest indie distributors in the country, and I'm finally beginning to sell some CDs."

Koons is one of the lucky few who, through talent and force of will, has managed to build a cottage industry doing what he loves best. He has his own recording studio, the appropriately named Severe Sound, housed in the basement of his suburban South Knoxville home. Most of the releases on The New Beat were recorded and mixed there. And then, upstairs in a makeshift office, Koons designs the layouts for all of the CD covers. A whirlwind of activity, Koons also runs a business called The Burning Tree Interactive which designs websites and does computer programming.

And then there's Old City Java. You guessed it, Koons is the co-owner of what has become the epicenter of Knoxville's all-ages hardcore/emo scene. Java has consistently hosted a couple of shows per weekend for over a year. It seems that every aspect of Koons' life is somehow involved with music.

When he's not immersed in his umpteen projects, he can be found playing drums. Koons has played in several area bands, most notably with Knoxville emocore standard bearers, Past Mistakes.

"It seems like I'm always doing something with music, but the label is the most time-consuming thing," says Koons. "I try to stay in contact with all the bands, do promotion, keep up with magazines, fanzines and websites, place ads here and there, whatever. And I'm also trying to start a kind of liaison with college radio stations and indie record stores, at least in the Southeast.

"Business is picking up with the label, but it's tough," Koons continues. "Things are looking better, and it shouldn't be too hard for me to at least start breaking even in the near future. Really, that's always been my goal—just to break even."

Koons' unflagging devotion to his favorite music, and to perpetuating the DIY/all-ages scene is Knoxville, has earned him many friends. But it's a constant job, there's no money, and sometimes "the kids" can turn on you. Nobody said being the dude would be any easy job.

"Well, I kind of just stumbled into doing all of this stuff," says Koons with a shy laugh. "It kind of just toppled over onto me, really. I'll hear these bands that I really love, and I want to help them out if I can. I just love being involved with things that are creative. I know this sounds so freakin' corny, but I really like helping people. And yes, sometimes I actually regret being the dude."