“How I Became One With The Trunk Space” by Diana Welsch
In keeping with the “6” theme, the first time I ever went to Trunk Space on purpose was actually 6/6/06. My boyfriend was out of town, I was bored and lonely, Corey Busboom had given me a flyer for some show there, and I had nothing better to do. I went, saw the Coitus and Animental, and they were both awesome. There was hardly anyone there, but I remember dancing around with 5 other people to Animental and having a great time. I also ran into my old friend Sammy whom I hadn’t seen in years.
Trunk Space is the venue that literally drove me crazy. I went to see Peelander-Z there on March 29, 2008. I got tackled by Father’s Day, danced with a guy in a giant octopus suit, was forced into playing bass with Peelander-Z on stage, and had so much fun that I realized that I had a miserable life and wanted every night to be like that. Three days later, I literally had to seek medical attention because I had lost my shit mentally. But I got it together, made some changes, got on medication, and now every night IS like that, and many of them are spent at Trunk Space.
That summer, I was living alone in my new apartment in an old building. It was so hot I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I eventually would, I would go to work or stay home during the day, and then at night I would usually go to Trunk Space if there was anything that sounded remotely familiar or interesting. One of the best times I had during that period was July 30, when I went on a whim and ended up catching a few songs by a guy named Harry Merry. He’s this crazy Dutch guy who wears a sailor suit and dances awkwardly to songs that are way too long. After this show, I hung around for awhile, and these people that (at the time) I barely knew decided that they wanted to take Harry Merry to a creepy diner called Jerry’s. I was the only person there that had a car, so all six of us crammed in and went there. Harry Merry made a hilariously small amount of sense and told us some awkward jokes that none of us will ever forget.
Trunk Space changed my life again, when I was hanging out there working on the Band Grid (June-July 2009), and I started talking to a man named Ryan Avery about Twilight. He was thinking about starting a Twilight-themed band, and I had actually read the books. He invited me to a midnight showing of Twilight at his house. I can’t believe I almost didn’t go. I went, and now I’m the bassist for that Twilight themed band. We traveled up the west coast on a two week tour in the fall. I had the time of my life!
At the beginning of that fall, I was helping out by running sound and bouncing troublemakers at the Trunk Space. I don’t even remember what show this was, but the uptight nerd that co-owns the place, who was terrified of me and probably still is, accidentally and awkwardly hit on me. I had been anticipating my first long, cold winter all alone in my freezing apartment, but that made me realize that…yeah, my winter would be a lot warmer if I had an uptight nerd to curl up with. Several months later, while many people love the Trunk Space, I’m one of the privileged few that literally gets to have sex with it. <3
On October 10, 2009, Shizzfest II transpired at Trunk Space and Sweets & Beats on 3 stages. I ran sounds for several of the bands on the indoor stage, but I had some time to run around and see other bands. I had the unique privilege of seeing chiptune artist Wizwars perform (his set was actually in Sweets & Beats, but shut up). I couldn’t help but dance like a fool to his incredibly upbeat and danceable songs, and his music made me feel this kind of perfect happiness that is hard to match. There’s a picture of that show where you can see my face in the crowd and I look like I just won the lottery. In a sense, I did. I really did. Thanks, Trunk Space.
