Oakland DIY is back after months of next-to-nothing. Very few accessible venues were in the area, and those that were open rarely had shows. However, when I returned to the city this summer, I was pleasantly surprised. The newest of these venues is Kame House, located in West Oakland.
Alex Piekarski, 25; Charlie Wire, 21; Owen Loughman, 24; and Cade Gilbert, 22, all moved here from Athens, Ohio over the summer. Loughman had previously run a successful house venue in Athens called Mouse on the Mound, which started in October 2022 and is still running today, pulling in crowds of roughly 150 people. Together, the four of them perform in the band Scrum Force and run their new venue. Kame House hosted its first show on Aug. 30, featuring the Chatham band Fosh.
The idea for Kame House started as soon as the group moved to Pittsburgh.
“We were inspired because we kind of outgrew the [Athens] scene and wanted something a little bit bigger. I think [Gilbert] preaching Pittsburgh, hearing about the scene here and coming down and seeing shows at Hammer House and West Egg. Even the non-house venues like The Mr. Roboto Project and the Government Center,” Loughman said.
Gilbert and Loughman take on most of the work, Gilbert handling booking and social media, and Loughman running the sound, with Piekarski helping out with grounds maintenance.
“I just live here,” said Wire.
Kame House (pronounced kah-may) had me curious, where did that come from? The obvious answer is from the anime “Dragon Ball Z”. The name was originally Gilbert’s idea with the help of a friend.
“Me and my best friend Ace… when we became friends, we watched a lot of ‘Dragon Ball’. We would just make fliers for shows around Athens and we’d sit in a dorm and make show flyers and every time we did it, we just watched ‘Dragon Ball’. Master Roshi’s house in Dragon Ball is called Kame house. So we’ve said from that time on, hey, if we ever make a house venue, we are going to call it Kame House. So it just kind of stuck.”
As of now, Kame House has hosted a handful of shows with growing crowds each time. When a venue starts to grow, you start to look for ways to improve.
When asked about their goals for the house, Loughman answered, “Support the scene and make it bigger and have fun.”
Today, event tickets have become exceedingly expensive due to large corporations and resellers price-gouging. This makes DIY stand out, most times you will pay $15 at maximum for a show. Kame House charges $5 for all of their shows.
“Nobody wants to go to a $300 stadium show,” said Piekarski. This is correct, broke college students cannot afford these experiences, exemplifying the importance of music accessibility.
“I remember when [Loughman] was throwing shows at his house and there are so many bands that were formed because they went to those shows,” Gilbert added, which is how Scrum Force came to be.
Creating a venue on a love of music and accessibility is truly a do-it-yourself task. Sound, visuals, decorations, a drum set, and many other things go into hosting a “successful” show. However, the whole point of DIY is that it is not perfect. Kame House embraces this and carries it from show to show.
Loughman defined DIY as “accepting the fact that things won’t always be perfect. It’s a culture of ‘let’s just go and play in someone’s basement and whatever happens happens, however many people show up show up.’ But we’re all here to support the music and it’s more importantly about the love and appreciation of the music than it is about how good the space is.”
As Kame House continues to host shows, the group’s aspirations grow larger. Loughman mentioned getting a better sound system, bringing in more guests, some kind of “porch fest” and even collaborating with the neighbors at West Egg or Hammer House.
“We want to book a lot of good people and ball out,” he added.
Music brings people together, probably more than anything else in this world. These venues and artists would not exist without a love of music, and that is Kame House’s goal – bringing music to the people.
“What we’re doing now is so definitively this part of our lives. I think it’s just awesome that you can capture something like that and have it forever,” Gilbert said.
Loughman added, “…the vulnerability of being an artist is second to none. I mean it’s beautiful, and I love watching it, seeing it, having new bands here and hearing their side of life.”
Kame House is moving forward with their next shows on Oct. 2, featuring Giovanni Orsini, and on Oct. 5 featuring Histrionic. The venue can be found at @kamehouse.pgh on Instagram, and they are constantly posting flyers for upcoming shows. Remember to get out and explore your local music scene, you never know who you will meet.
