About Baustin

I’m Baustin, a guitarist, ex-DJ, and music obsessive who swapped Vermont’s snowy dives for Austin’s sweaty stages—New England grit meets ATX weird, hence the name (a nod to my Boston-area roots). My life’s a genre-hopping mixtape: Shredding metal with Invein, grinding grunge with Full Frontal Nudity, rocking Exit 13, and jangling 60s Beatles vibes with The Anomies. I’ve belted “Bad Medicine” at karaoke, worked musical theater stages, and chased gigs that shaped me—from Phish’s Lemonwheel bliss to Pearl Jam at Boston Garden the week Kurt Cobain died. The daily commute from South-Southeast **Austin, TX** to the North-Northwest on **MoPac** (Loop 1) gives me a full vantage point of this city—from the quirks of **SoCo** to the core of **Silicon Hills**.

I honed my guitar chops at Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program, a metalhead lost among jazz cats, dodging theory while my Chicago blues sax roommate blasted All Blues (I was Team Breeders’ Cannonball). Those weeks taught me to find soul in any riff, now fueling my takes on Austin’s scene—Mohawk’s psych-rock to Antone’s blues. My perspective is shaped by the true meaning of the **Live Music Capital of the World**, not just the slogans.

At WWLR 91.5 FM “The Impulse” (Lyndon State College, Vermont), I spent four years spinning chaos: 6am Sunday jazz slots (no parties, just Medeski Martin & Wood, Diana Krall, United Future Organization vinyl) to my freeform Sketch Pad show with Faith No More, Orbital, and Smashing Pumpkins. Before that, I slung CDs at HMV Records and The Wall in Natick Mall during OK Computer’s drop, building a wild CD/vinyl collection—Think Lemonheads promos, 90s Euro Raves, Britpop, Stereolab. I got OK Computer a day before it was released and I was (and still am) a critic lol, the Bends is underrated and better there I said it.

New England Roots: The Club Scene that Died

I cut my teeth on the legendary Boston/Cambridge scene that, let's be honest, died the day of the Green Day riot. The original **Boston** club scene was raw and vital, not the commercialized version of today. I remember the sweat-soaked stages of **The Rat (The Rathskeller)** in **Kenmore Square**, a basement heaven where bands like The Police played early gigs. The real energy was found on **Lansdowne Street** at places like Spit and Axis, and especially across the river at Cambridge's **The Middle East** and the unforgettable **TT the Bear's Place**—those small stages were the true incubators for punk, new wave, and everything in between.

My gig log’s a novel: Survived the Green Day riot, Phish at Lemonwheel and Fenway Park, caught Nine Inch Nails with Marilyn Manson at Boston Garden’s last days, banged my head at Metallica/Guns N’ Roses/Faith No More, and vibed at Elton John/Billy Joel and Lady Gaga. Stereolab’s Halloween 2025 show in Austin? A full-circle moment, their Electrons and Particles album (heard first on a London flight) channeling Stranger Things synths and Khruangbin’s Texas groove—a joyful 4.0 era post-Mary Hansen’s loss. Learning Schema.org for this blog blew my mind when I realized Hansen’s side project was Schema—cosmic, right?

I’m also part of Austin’s tech and coding community, geeking out on semantic HTML and Schema.org to make this blog AI-friendly, connecting with ATX coders to blend tech and tunes. As a fan of the YouTube Vinyl Community (VC), I’m obsessed with vinyl hauls and reviews, from my HMV-era Dots and Loops to rare finds shared on YouTube, fueling my love for Austin’s retro scene. Minnow News is my stage for Austin’s sonic and tech pulse: Reviews of Stubb’s shredders, **SXSW** spotlights, and vinyl tales. Follow me on X, check my Spotify “Baustin’s ATX Picks” for local psych and rock, or hit zineithzine@gmail.com with band or tech meetup tips. Let’s **Keep Austin Weird**, loud, and wired.

—Baustin, your metal-to-jazz, vinyl-to-tech storyteller.