Abby Finch is a member of Cincinnati-based folk punk band Run Rabbit Run. She’s in Columbus for a few days, and we talk about her band as well as the Cincinnati scene.

TUNED UP: Tell us about Run Rabbit Run.

Abby: We are a 3-piece band from Cincinnati. And we make folk-punk music.

TUNED UP: Where can we find your music?

Abby: We have CD’s with us at every show. We have a few things on bandcamp. We have videos online on our Facebook page, and we’re also going to be on the Casual Crust [Records] compilation thats coming out.

TUNED UP: Where did you record your last Run Rabbit Run album?

Abby: Our guitarist lives with a guy who majors in recording at school, so he did it all for us for free. So we kindof just holed up in the country for a few days and got that done with him. Its nice to have someone that is willing to do that for you and spend that much time. He actually is a hip hop artist, so its kind of a challenge for him to figure out how to mix something that doesn’t need to sound perfect.

TUNED UP: Tell us about whats going on in Cincinnati’s DIY scene.

Abby: It’s definitely grown in the past few years. It’s definitely become a lot more accepting of all different kinds of music. Like we’ve always had a strong punk scene. But we’ve been doing a lot of performance art shows and a bunch of different weird stuff. And things you didn’t even think existed. A lot of bars have begun having shows that didn’t have shows before. A lot of people are moving into houses that want to do shows. It’s definitely become more of a good destination to tour to and everyone is really interested in what everyone’s doing.

TUNED UP: What do you think about Columbus?

Abby: I think the Columbus and Cincinnati scenes are actually really similar. I’ve been here, every night there’s a show. Its the same thing in Cincinnati now, whether at a venue or a house, there’s always something going on.

TUNED UP: What are five spaces and places that you recommend in Cincinanti right now.

Abby: Da Vida house. Its run by a lot of cool people who have ideas for shows beyond just people coming to a basement and playing. They want to record things for bands. [And] Like there was that band that was screaming into pillows. It was crazy and didn’t make sense, but it was cool to see. And I don’t know of a space that would host something like that. Like, yeah just come to my basement and scream into pillows.

I would say Last House on the Left is definitely the most popular house show venue in Cincinnati. Its amazing for punk and metal music, and they also do a lot of hip hop. But definitely if you were trying to do something hardcore, metal or punk that would be the place to go. And there’s always at least 30 people at every show there, sometimes over a hundred.

I’d say Tacocracy. They genuinely care about the bands that come though. They feed you and make sure you’re having a great time. They collect donations for you, they don’t make any money of the show except for what they make at the bar, of which they even give a cut to the touring bands.

Fickle Warehouse is a warehouse run by former professional skater Lou Fickle. And its really cool because it is a warehouse filled with skate ramps. So people come there to skate, they come there to see music. Its really cool to be somewhere where you’re seeing a show, you went there for free, you brought beer, and people are skating and doing amazing things on the half pipes. It creates this crazy environment.

And then… I would probably say that The Comet is another one of the good actual bar venues that I would play at. They also tip you out and pay you regardless of the money you made them. Its in a good area with a lot of people who come there for shows every day, just because they know somethings going on. Everyone that works there is awesome, they have good food, a good stage setup, all the people that run sound are awesome.

TUNED UP: Any shout outs you wanna make?

Abby: Shout out to Joe Foster for letting us play there more than anywhere else, and for letting me bring acts that I know he’s never heard of and just trusting me to make that happen at his spot. Shout out to everyone that runs a house venue in Cincinnati that lets people come and play. Also to anyone that’s really involved with Soapbox or the Cincinnati DIY page for making sure that everything is a safe space, and reaching out to things outside of the music scene like poetry or comedy.

Also to add on, I’ve been noticing a lot more younger kids coming, which is good, and a lot of people coming from surrounding areas of Cincinnati that found out they can drive 30-40 minutes and go where there’s somewhere that’s happening. Its bringing together Cincinnati and the areas surrounding Cincinnati.

Abby’s currently in Columbus for a few days before making for the West coast with Koi from Escape from the Zoo. It sounds like things are popping in Cincinnati and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard it. Our brethren to the South are really knocking things out, and it didn’t happen overnight.

Relevant Links:
Run Rabbit Run’s Page
facebook.com/caulfieldkids

Soap Box Cincinnati
https://www.facebook.com/SoapboxCincinnati

Fickle Skateboards
https://www.facebook.com/FickleBoards

Written by Sandeep Sehbi