thePULSE“We’re going to the mill”
Southbridge’s Artist Development Complex is launching pad for local musicians
Seth Loconto, third from left, with his band Gutta.December 2004 – Southbridge’s innovative Artist Development Complex, or ADC as regulars call it, is unlike any musical entertainment enterprise in the area.
Featuring live web casts, stage performances and several other all-ages events focused on music, art and entertainment, ADC is steadily becoming one of the most influential and popular venues for local artists.
“What we’re trying to do here is promote, never mind just local music, but all evolving artists,” says Seth Loconto, owner of Mill Street Brews, the building’s second-floor barroom.
ADC’s purpose is unique. At the forefront is www.evolvingartist.com, which is managed out of a dark, fog-filled sound stage on the second floor of the mill building. The website, which receives hits from all over the world, transmits live web performances, featuring artists from the Worcester area and beyond.
Likewise, Mill Street Brews has a packed line-up consisting of Tuesday night karaoke, Wednesday night open mic, live bands on the weekends and simulcasts of performances showcased on the evolving artist website. With performances by local up-and-coming artists like The Bee’s Knees and Kim Divincenzo, the barroom is regularly proving itself an independent venue that can attract popular local musicians.
ADC is the brain child of Seth’s father Ralph Loconto, founder, owner and once prolific rhythm and blues guitarist (although he’s tight-lipped about which famous acts he played with in the 60s and 70s). The idea is to provide an arts “center” that nurtures art in all its forms.
“We provide an outlet for independent musicians and artists to get art out to the world,” he says.
But it doesn’t stop there. In July, the complex unveiled a recording studio under the direction of Tim Plouffe, head sound engineer for Evolving Artist. Eventually, the complex will even offer specialized programs to elderly individuals and families, as well as outdoor events and festivals.
“We’d like to have the place cooking all day long,” Ralph Loconto says.
From the outside, the huge brick building, which was once a textile mill that manufactured uniforms for Union Soldiers during the Civil War, looks like just that: an old mill-building that last had its heyday during the Industrial Revolution. Inside, ADC is distinguished by an atmosphere that provides a refreshing substitute to the cramped, dark, aesthetically challenged barrooms that are so common in the area.
“We wanted to keep the old mill feel to it,” Seth Loconto explains.
Currently, ADC is at the tail end of a 3-year development project that started in September of 2001.
Leading the way through the building’s narrow passageways, Seth Loconto outlines his plans for the 800-occupancy bar that will eventually be opened on the ground floor.
Plastic sheets hang from the ceiling, serving as a barricade for dust and wood chips. He demonstrates with his arms the dimensions of the 30 by 40 foot partitioned stage that, when completed, will have the ability to showcase up to 8 bands at a time.
“We’re not going to have Bruce Springsteen here,” he quips, “but I think we’ll draw a pretty good crowd.”
Later, as he strolls down the paneled hallway that separates Mill Street Brews from an adjacent game room equipped with air hockey, arcade games and a dance floor, he says he’d one day like to see ADC compared with the likes of the Tweeter Center or the Palladium — a place that people flock to because it has a reputation for showcasing good, quality music.
“I’d like people to say we’re going to ‘The Mill,’ we’re going to ‘The ADC,’ and have everyone else know what they’re talking about,” he says, glancing at nearby posters of musical greats Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. “I hope it puts Southbridge on the map in terms of a music city.”
