Almost Summer at House of J
Hey, do you live in Houston and love the DIY atmosphere of the grungy, crust-punk local scene? Then this post is for you! This Saturday, I spent my afternoon off of work at one of Houston's DIY local venues: House of J. Sitting pretty at 323 Hutcheson St, House of J (HOJ) hosts the tiny and positively grimy bands of our great city of Houston. HOJ organizes the beautiful concept of FREE AF, free entry to see a stacked flyer of bands, shopping at local vendors, and free snacks!
Colorful tents litter the lawn and interior of the main house, where you can find unique jewelry, thrifted clothes, and this time around, $10 flash tattoos. I spent time chatting with some of the little vendors, everyone was so sweet and down to Earth. The most appealing part of being at HOJ is the feeling of being in an ample house with people JUST LIKE YOU. It was like being at home if I was just constantly looking through a funhouse mirror.
I haven't been to HOJ since April 2022, so exactly three years for me. I was thoroughly impressed by the upgrades I saw. The HOJ Patreon provided an array of sweet and spicy snacks for everyone to enjoy, inside the main "den area."
Handwritten sign promoting the HOJ Patreon, supporting the FREE AF events.
After snacking on some sugar, we made our way over to the Tattoo/Piercing area where I convinced my friend to get her nostril pierced by a piercing apprentice named Dizzy.
Following that dark encounter (there was no proper lighting in the den), we found ourselves on the main lawn where we saw a band self-introduced as "Slacker" conduct their whole set. None of the members looking over 21, they sweat and cried over their cardboard stage as they begged for the audience to get up and jump around. Their indie, Houston-emo sound truly boiled underneath the hot afternoon sun.
SLACKER guy!
One of the most prominent features of HOJ is the purple-painted garage, that seems to be in the background of every Instagram post. For me, the obvious purple paint gives me a sense of being in a vibrant, homegrown space.
Check out that purple wall, so purple.
Every time I've visited HOJ, I'm overwhelmed with the adorable, hot, yet dirty, muddy feeling of being on an island with everyone I can just vibe with. We share cigarettes, beers, jewelry as we barter with everything but real money.
My view from a cozy outdoor couch.
Having a space for Houstonians who tend to flourish outside of the mainstream means the world to me, and people like me. It's a space where we can live and have fun without the worry of judgement or the fear of hate. To be able to leave our day-to-day lives to join in a little tapestry of self-taught talent and ideas, meeting under the blistering sun of real life just to blow off some steam, make new friends or mess around with the ones you came with, it's everything for us.
A city as big as ours should thrive on collaboration, mutual support and most of all, ART, and that's exactly what House of J accomplishes perfectly. In our current world of highly marketable commercialism, the DIY scene remains the best as our reminder to stay strong in community, and the beauty of self-expression.
Would you want to visit a FREE AF event at HOJ?