For a creative scene to thrive – and probably for one to exist at all – it needs the kinds of spaces and supportive environments that can offer artists an outlet for their expressions or even just a stage for their voices and sounds, no matter how unique or experimental.
For the past two years, Tulsa’s Noise Town has been one such space.
The brainchild of a couple of Tulsa music scene mainstays, Noise Town was launched in Tulsa’s Red Fork neighborhood in 2023 by recording engineer and songwriter Mike Rodriguez and Dustin Edward Howard, a film composer, music educator, and leader of Tulsa-based hard-rockers Groucho.
The pair dreamt of an all-encompassing musical space and one-stop resource shop for the Tulsa scene, but, as Howard explains it, they didn’t quite know at first how to structure or realize those dreams before jumping in and making them a reality.
Dustin Edward Howard: I personally think, like, you don't have to know what something's going to look like to get started.
And Mike and I both needed a place to work, and, you know, our bands needed a place to practice, and we had kind of toyed around with this idea for a long time of, like, a hybrid recording studio/rehearsal studio/teaching space. But then also we could do some forward-facing shows.
Just based on that kind of ambiguous, like, “okay, let's stop talking about this,” because we talked about it for a couple years. It was like, “let's do this, or let's, like, never talk about it again,” you know?
Brett Fieldcamp: Throwing caution to the wind and learning about building and managing a venue and creative space on the fly, Howard and Rodriguez quickly realized how much demand there was for a space to showcase Tulsa’s underground music and the esoteric styles that are often overlooked in favor of the country and folk sounds more closely associated with the city’s scene.
Dustin Edward Howard: Tulsa is the “Tulsa Sound,” right? And what do you do with a lot of that music in a town like Tulsa that’s notorious for kind of, like, the pickin’-n-grinnin’?
Part of that was Mike and I feeling like we make a lot of this music that doesn't really sit in this other thing, and a lot of my friends make a lot of music, and I'm aware of this whole other thing. It’s not like as to plant our flag and draw a line in the sand, but also to just draw a really big circle and say, like, “hey, also this is happening.”
Brett Fieldcamp: But drawing that circle is about more than just booking and showcasing artists on the Noise Town stage.
It’s also about using the space to provide music lessons, working alongside non-profits and charitable organizations, and even hosting community-led benefit events like July’s “Metal for Meals,” bringing together bands from Tulsa’s heavy metal scene to raise funds for the Regional Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.
That’s a role that Howard hopes to see Noise Town continuing to fill in the city, as well as just providing young artists with a space to cut their teeth on a small but supportive stage.
Dustin Edward Howard: It is extremely important for us to be involved in the community.
I believe the secret of life, if you want to say it, is being of service to something greater than ourselves. And you know, that can look like a lot of things. In my case, I found myself working through education initiatives, teaching music.
We had the Metal for Meals benefit and that was, like, young kids getting organized. I love that. That makes me really happy that there's a point of entry for people that want to get involved in the community, or maybe booking a show. We're like level one of Guitar Hero.
Brett Fieldcamp: The Noise Town team’s focus on music and audio education isn’t limited within the venue walls, however.
Howard has also been bringing that same energy to Tulsa youth through the city’s Street School program and the Oklahoma Arts Council with classes focusing on songwriting in all forms and styles, and the team has even been working to bring their audio engineering and production education directly into area schools themselves.
Dustin Edward Howard: We worked with Bixby Public Schools, and we just built basically a recording studio and video production setup for them, and it's like, what skills are kids going to need to learn right now for real that could provide maybe a career, you know?
So like audio engineering, video editing, all that stuff. Those are real skills right now.
So education is a really big part in my life, and therefore in Noise Town, it's become a big focus.
Brett Fieldcamp: Now, on the verge of their second anniversary celebration, Howard, Rodriguez, and the Noise Town team are still looking forward, and still looking to the Tulsa community for what holes can be filled and what underground artists can be elevated.
Dustin Edward Howard: I’m really excited to see what it'll become and the direction it's going.
We landed and were immediately supported by a cool community, and that's why it's, you know, that's why the last two years have been successful.
You have an idea of what you're trying to do, and then the public and the community just kind of presented itself, and it makes a lot of sense, and, you know, we're thrilled to be doing as many shows as we are
Brett Fieldcamp: For more, including the full upcoming lineup of concerts and events at Noise Town, check out noisetowntulsa.com and follow @noisetown_tulsa on Instagram.
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