Two years ago, Alesana front man Shawn Milke founded Reviving Raleigh with the band following a return to the city of its namesake and origin. A native of Raleigh, Milke and his band formed Alesana here in 2004, a fledgling local act in a city of similar thriving groups.
“The scene was booming back then,” Milke said. “Years after departing from Raleigh on tour with Alesana, however, proved unkind to the fate of local music. When I came back here to relocate my family and start the company, I noticed that it wasn’t what it once was, and I wanted to start a series of events that could hopefully grow into something larger.”
Recently, Milke sat down along with Nick Onorato, director of operations at Revival Recordings, and shared their message in anticipation of that night’s Reviving Raleigh hosted concert at Deep South bar.
“[The shows are] rock-based, but we never really limit it to certain genres,” Onorato said. “We’ve done pop-punk, we’ve done like, chillax kinda reggae-type stuff, I mean we’ve done just, alternative rock … We’ve done a couple of things along those lines.” Milke is quick to add that they’ve also showcased an acoustic night as well.
With this concert series, Milke and Onorato aim to bring it back local shows while promoting local talent with Raleigh. Reviving Raleigh is open to anyone willing to reach out and be a part of the series, according to Milke and Onorato.
“We’ve fantasized about what Reviving Raleigh can be when it’s larger,” Milke said. “Involving not just music and art, but culinary and all different kinds of local artistry of any sort.”
The concert series is currently loosely scheduled to occur once every three months in Raleigh. With the latest concert having just finished, there isn’t currently a date set for the next concert.
Milke said Reviving Raleigh is considering expanding outside of Raleigh once they are satisfied with its music scene.
Using the capital earned from the parent company Revival Records, the concerts are hosted at varying venues across Raleigh. Revival Recordings was also founded by Milke and the other members of Alesana. Onorato said this is the only source of money for setting up the concerts beforehand.
“We don’t have any current sponsors or partners outside of our artist management group.” Onorato said. “We do have somebody that helps promote with that side of things, but this [the concert series] is all what we’ve done just from Revival’s side.”
Despite being a transplant from Philadelphia, Milke shows a clear passion for the Raleigh music scene, and perhaps even for the city itself. Milke originally moved to Raleigh to start Alesana, achieving a good deal of success with their first album. Milke said he always intended to return to Raleigh after Alesana’s world tour and apply everything he had learned to keep the music scene alive.
Revival Recordings itself is relatively tight-knit. It boasts a staff of eight dedicated employees across the country, with the core group of four located in Raleigh. Onorato describes the decision to form Reviving Raleigh as an apparently mutual one among the core staff.
To anyone wishing to join either organization, Milke said they should bring positivity and keep in mind that it should be about the music itself, and not a competition.
“It’s not this band versus this band, it’s all the bands together […] the whole scene together,” Milke said. “In order to revive anything, it’s going to take community, like-minded individuals with the same goals in mind.”
Reviving Raleigh and Revival Recordings are a collaborative effort among their members, and should be treated as such by new recruits, according to Milke.
Onorato and Milke advise those interested in the concert series keep an eye out for their winter concert installment in the next few months.
This article has been a collaborative effort between the Technician and WKNC’s Eye on the Triangle news show. To hear the audio version of this interview, please check here for the Aug. 31 show, or tune in Wednesday at 4 p.m. to 88.1FM.
