Q&A: How to Make a Music Haven with J Opp and Benjamin Reese

Musicians and co-owners of HavenHaus, Benjamin Reese and J Opp. Photo by el Diáspora.

J Opp and Benjamin Reese—musicians and co-owners of music venue HavenHaus—are like really creative. Read the Q&A from our interview available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

ZACK ORSBORN:

So I'm joined by J Opp and Ben Reese. They are the co-owners of Havenhaus. I found about out about Havenhaus through a GoFundMe you guys started, to get funds to expand Havenhaus, and I know it started out as a small house music venue.

And I thought it was really interesting because I've always been fascinated with the DIY scene and I don't know much about it. So I was very curious and I wanted to get yall on, so thanks for joining.

J OPP:

Thank you so much.

BENJAMIN REESE:

Yeah, thanks for having us.

ZO:

No problem. So before we start talking about Havenhaus, how did you two meet?

JO:

We're part of the same social clubs. You know, we hang out in the same places and just kind of ended up meeting. Ben moved here about how long ago?

BR:

Moved here in August of ‘22.

JO:

And we met, like, not long after then. Maybe a few months after.

BR:

Yeah. It was the Plasma Canvas show.

JO:

Yeah. And I'd been running Havenhaus for a while myself, and Ben came in, offered me some assistance, and really helped streamline it to the point where, like, I couldn't do it without him at this point, you know?

ZO:

So, both of you are musicians. Have you collaborated musically before or do you all have your own separate projects?

BR:

We were going to do like a split EP with our bands, but it just never really came out. You know, we've been chatting about doing some stuff together, but just timing right now. J's got their own stuff.

I have a couple of different projects and then we also have the venue. So it's just finding time and then we've had like, mutual friends who've wanted to do stuff with us too. So we've been trying to get that going, but we'll see what happens.

ZO:

So both of you have your own bands.

JO:

Spitehouse. Correct.

ZO:

And then, pronounce it?

BR:

I have Banales and then Crum B.

ZO:

All three of those are great names. Each one of you, talk about kind of how your bands got started. I've always wanted to know, like, how a band starts because I have a secret desire to start my own band one day.

So how did that go about?

JO:

Well, I started HavenHaus because—well, one of the reasons I started HavenHaus—was because, like, I wanted so badly to be involved in the local music scene, but had, like, no musical talent whatsoever. And then as time went on and I, you know, cleaned myself up a little bit, I was able to find time to, you know, practice and work on music.

More to the point where I can play a little guitar and I've worked on my vocals and a group of friends and I just decided we wanted to try it, and we did. And, you know, we've been going for about a couple of years now.

ZO:

That's awesome. What is it like working with other musicians?

JO:

Oh, it's great. It's really wonderful. I have had the pleasure over the last couple of years of having all of these musicians from across the country come in and working with them is just seeing how diverse music is across this country is awesome. And seeing how I get to play a part in all of that is just it's incredible.

ZO:

What about you, Ben?

BR:

So Banales started—so I was moving here from Pittsburgh, and I have moved around a lot in my adult life. So the last couple times I've moved out of state, I would go on Facebook groups and try to make friends before I moved there, so I already had friends. And that worked really well for me in Pittsburgh when I moved there.

And it also really worked out here. And so I went on Facebook and like typed in like Memphis punk, Memphis music scene, DIY, anything Memphis tagged. I just like went in there with like, hi, my name is Ben. You want to be my friend? I play a bunch of music. I like shoegaze, and, I met my guitar player over there and we chatted.

It was like, I swear to God, like 8 or 9 months before I actually moved. I just knew I was going to move down here. And we stayed in touch all that time. But we talked like every like quarter and when I finally showed up, he hit me up like a day or two after I got to Memphis, he's like, hey, are you in town yet?

I'm like, actually, I just got here two days ago. He’s like, cool, you want to jam? I'm like, all right, why not? So I drive down to Southaven, first time to Mississippi, by the way. And we start jamming and we're like, oh, this is pretty cool. We should keep this going. And then, I started going to open mics.

That was a way for me to get in touch with the music scene. And I went to Java Cabana to their open mic, and I met my drummer. He just so happened to be at a time and place where he didn't have, like, any projects going on, and he was looking for something. I was like, hey, let's jam.

So we went to his house and the three of us were like, oh, this is pretty sick. And we wrote a bunch of songs and we were billed as a three piece for a while. I was playing bass and I was the front man. But we had one song where I was off bass, and my guitar player was playing a bass six, and I was just doing vocals, and it seemed that that was a really big crowd pleaser.

And it came to the point where was like, well, I can just really lock into my vocals and just find another bass player. And so I went on Facebook again. And, and I found another guy who just moved to Memphis from Orlando and that was my bass player. And it was a little hard at first because with him, we had already been locked in with a three piece for a while. And so it slowly became to the point where he finally became part of us. And like, we don't see this band without him at all.

As for the other band, Crum B., we're part of the same social circle we had, there was like a private festival that was coming up, and one of our friends had just locked in a slot and was like, I want to do a thing.

So a few of us had some extra time and within like two practices, I wrote five songs, like, pulled it out of our back pocket, and we did a set and after that set, we were like, oh, that's pretty fun. We should probably keep doing this.

ZO:

And that’s Crum B.

BR:

Yeah, we've been a band for like five months.

ZO:

So how would you describe the Memphis DIY underground, like, house music scene?

JO:

It's a great question. I describe it like, it's a community, right? It feels like—I've heard a lot of people use the term “friendship central.”

Everybody loves everybody in this local scene. You know, you'll have your little beefs and spats here and there, and that's just like being a person, right? It's being human. The amount of love that I see pour between, like, different artists and bands in the city and the way that like they overlap and connect and work with each other.

It just makes me so fucking happy, dude.

ZO:

So how did you find yourself in that scene? Like, what's the backstory of young J?

JO:

So, young J? I don't know. Coming up, high school, I wasn't really good at, like, making friends back in the day or anything. And so, you know, I really found myself—I would dive into music quite a bit, and I would catch Ubers out to the Hi Tone when I was, like, 16.

I remember, like, the first show that I went to at a local venue—well, the first show I took myself to was like Beale Street Music Festival to see St Vincent. Great show and all that, but the first, like DIY venue show that I went to was a band, Ice Age.

And they were coming through and I was a big fan of Anthony Fantano back in the day, and he had just reviewed their new album, and I was like, okay, cool. And I went and saw them, and I had never been in a room like that before. You know, you've got these, you know, kids that all kind of look like me beating the dog shit out of each other.

And I, for one of the first times in my life, really felt a part. I felt like a part of something and that, like, really helped me stabilize growing up. And when the Covid pandemic hit and all of these house venues shut down and, you know, Pagan Mom House shut down, and that was a place that I loved to frequent.

And there really wasn't anything left in that sphere. I knew I needed to do it.

ZO:

You were talking about people beating the dog shit out of each other, you know. I have to know about that because I have a low pain tolerance, and that would scare the shit out of me to, like, go in the pit.

What is it? What draws both of y'all to do that?

JO:

So, that's a really good question. I don't think I can give you a concise answer other than I have a higher pain tolerance. And it's fun, right. But, you know, there's a place in that room for everybody, right? You know, if you don't want to get hit, just stand a little further.

I think that it's a welcoming environment. As dangerous as it can sound. You know, I think that it's safe and welcoming.

ZO:

It's part of the scene. What about you, Ben?

BR:

I enjoy it.

I enjoy going down to a show and getting in the mosh pit and stuff. I feel like now that I'm a little bit older and I'm like—I'm not trying to, like, sound like I'm like self-inflating myself here—but I started hitting the gym—I feel like I'm actually afraid to sometimes cause I'm like, I feel like I can hurt somebody and I get like, really, like, self-conscious in the pit.

I feel incredibly bad if I hit somebody and then they fall over, I'm like, oh, my bad dude. Like, oh!

JO:

When people go into the pit, they go in with an expectation, right?

I'm going to do my best to not cause harm, but I do apologize, you know.

ZO:

That's fair.

How has the energy of that scene come to life in HavenHaus?

JO:

That's a really good question.

So varying ways. You know, I think that the DIY scene is constantly in need of like, homes, right? You know, it's not a scene that has a lot of money to throw around. It's not a scene that has a lot of like big names at its back that's going to put them in these bigger places like Minglewood or things like that.

So you have to have these like smaller homes for them. And I think that like, you know, these small areas, these small venues where like you can cram 50, 75, 100 people in, you're tight and pushed together—I think that's like the perfect room for action where they can they can really —like the energy in the room, the feeling between one another and that like, mutually assured destruction type feeling—like you go in and you're like, I'm going to go in here with a mission.

And I'm going to come out however I come out, you know? I think it's a great way for like, you know, people of all ages, all genders to come together and let out some fucking aggression.

ZO:

We need that. People are so pent up.

JO:

Look at the world right now. It's fucked. You know, we've got another Trump presidency.

Shit is going down the drain, and, people are mad. I think this is a great scene for people to be mad at him.

ZO:

It's a healthy way to get out anger. Like you can scream and thrash around. You know, we don't really get to do that in our daily lives. Like, you can't punch somebody at work.

JO:

You can, but there are consequences. In the pit, there's no consequences.

ZO:

That would be a good shirt.

JO:

There are consequences—don't target people, you know?

ZO:

So now I want to talk about the next step of Havenhaus. You found a venue next to Earnestine & Hazels downtown. So what was it like finding that venue and kind of walk me through what happened that day you walked into that venue for the first time? What were you guys thinking?

JO:

So I found that pretty much every step of the way, you know—I'm a believer in God. You can call it God, but honestly, I got lucky, right? From starting original Havenhaus and using equipment from Pagan Mom House when they shut down to just kind of having that larger garage space in Cooper Young fall into my lap and then, my employer happened to be connected with the owner of that building downtown.

And, you know, I was able to get, like, an insane deal on it and couldn't turn it down. So, you know, I walked into that room and when I looked in there, I was like, this is the next logical step. This is the correct progression for what we're working on.

You know, it's nothing too big, too over the top. It has enough space to where we can do bigger shows. One of the last shows that we had at the Warehaus was a band called Feeble Little Horse. Huge Pitchfork-accolated band, whatever. And we got like 160 people in that garage before we had to start turning people away.

And I knew we needed more space at that point. And so I went down there and I looked at this place and like, I mean, it's perfect. Built-in bar already there, stage already there, lights, speakers were left by the previous owners. And I'm just like, I mean, it couldn't be better, you know.

ZO:

You were talking about God. That's like, on your path. It's like a God given thing.

JO:

Yeah, absolutely.

ZO:

What about you, Ben?

BR:

Oh, I mean, it was really cool, just like watching, like to be able to see every time something came up—same thing as J was saying is, whenever enough work is done, it's just like something would pop up and like another opportunity it’d be like, wow.

Like, fuck. It's incredible. Like, it's just—something else would come up and you're like, wow, this is like the next logical step. And it was just like another—it's like the universe just throwing another like little bow and you're like, oh shit. And it's like—that's the bone.

And it's up to us to grab it and do something with it. And, I feel like we've made mostly the right decisions along the way. You know, there's obviously some bumps, but it was just beautiful. It's awesome to see that. I remember we got to the Warehaus last year and we were like, dude, this is like, this is it.

But then we started seeing some writing on the wall. If people who have been there have noticed that there's like one PortaPotty outside. In the summer, it's a garage and there's no AC. So everybody's like, sweltering. And I'm like, oh man. Like, that's not good.

We had an industrial fan, like a giant one, and we plugged that in so nobody would die in there. I mean, it only helped so much, but then it, like, flipped the breaker.

First set, first show, flipped breaker twice. And we're just like, okay, well I guess we're just going to—I think we turned it off that night?

JO:

No fan.

BR:

Yeah. No fan. Just pray. And we tried to look into upgrading the electricity and getting some AC in there, and then we're also dealing with like, soundproofing for the area because we're in Cooper Young. It’s residential and the neighbors—I'm surprised they didn’t complain more because we got like three complaints the whole time.

One of them was like incredibly mild.

ZO:

Have yall ever been at shows where the cops have been called on, like in your heyday?

BR:

So I've had a couple of experiences with that. Only two times were shows that I've hosted.

I used to—before HavenHaus, I ran the third or fourth iteration of an old house venue called Fort Dog. And we had the cops called on us one night and they came and, you know, they talked to me and I was like, we'll be done soon. We'll be done soon. And then they came back 30 minutes later and I was like, we'll be done soon.

They were like, look, we gotta write somebody a ticket. And I was like, all right, okay. And they wrote me a ticket and they went on their way. And I was like, so are you guys going to come back? He's like, I got shit to do, man. And so I paid 50 bucks. We finished the show.

We played till like one in the morning. Didn't care. It was incredible.

ZO:

Worth the 50 bucks.

JO:

The only other time was the first show that I ever did at Havenhaus, O.G. Havenhaus in the house. And it's because I decided to do it, not in the house. I built a stage in the backyard, and I was like, this is gonna be great.

And within 30 minutes of the first set, the cops said, oh, no. Not good. Every other show after that I did in the house. And I never had another complaint over there, you know?

ZO:

Are y'all both good at building things?

JO:

I was a carpenter by trade for years. So I can build.

ZO:

So with the new venue, are y'all going to be building a lot of things? Are y'all hiring or what is that process like to get everything set up?

BR:

We do need to make some repairs. But right now we're just trying to like, get a good cash flow so we can afford to get those materials and build those repairs.

We have some ideas for some designs of the room. In terms of—one thing that a lot of people enjoyed about the Warehaus was the wall of projectors that we had there. That was just fortunate to have that. I would like to replicate that somehow. But, that's not happening right now. And so it's too expensive.

And, we got to build up to that. We have the one projector that was left behind and we have the screen. So that should suffice for the time being.

ZO:

And you're talking about cash flow. Y'all started a GoFundMe. That's got to be a vulnerable thing to ask people for money. What has support been like? Y'all are nearly halfway to your goal right? What’s that been like?

JO:

So, it's something I've always been against personally. You know, for the most of my life, I've always been like, I'm gonna work hard and get there, but, for a project of this magnitude, like, I needed help. I wasn't going to be able to get there.

And, it was like a very vulnerable thing to reach out and ask the community for some assistance. And, they really showed out. I mean, $4,800 from the community is crazy. And I think it goes to show that the things that we've been doing are resonating with the scene, and that they're more than happy to give back.

And we're so very grateful for it. And we hope to be able to take those funds and continue to turn this into something that gives back to the scene, right? I don't want to be like, hey, thanks for the several thousand dollars, guys. And then like, make this all about me.

This is always going to be about the scene and what we can give to it and how we can benefit the people who play here.

ZO:

I love that. And how do you maintain—for the both of y'all doing this very big project—how do you maintain your creativity and being musicians at the end of the day?

JO:

I mean, funnily enough, I am going to be taking a step back from like my personal music because, I've got a lot of things going on. I've got my day job. I'm a Pokemon trading card game player, and I travel to play. So I've got all of these different things.

We're recording music at the end of the month, and then I'm probably going to take a couple months off to really hone in on the venue. But, you know, I'll be back, right? Music is a huge part of my life. And I feel like running a venue will only fill that hunger so much.

I'm going to have to have that creative outlet so, it'll be back.

ZO:

Yeah, you'll be inspired by all the people coming through.

BR:

As the venue was opening, my main band Banales took a little bit of a hiatus just because one of us was doing some traveling, and he was out.

Well, he was in Puerto Rico, but he was out of town for a while, and it gave us some time to kind of settle down, but at the same time was nice to have Crum B. kind of move up. I was able to, like, really get a Crum B. kind of going.

It's been really cool because a lot of the work that we've done in the scene has kind of come back in a way to help. It really did help Crum B. through like the first couple months. I've never had a band, like any music project I’ve ever done, go as fast as that. It usually takes [awhile].

I think Banales took us, like six months to play our first show. And then with Crum B., we had our first show within a month of forming, and then we had like subsequent shows after that. And it's been really cool to—people like ask for us and it's like really cool.

I don't see myself stopping with creative stuff. Personally, if I don't have music, I'm not doing a music something in my life, I'm like, miserable. So it's an outlet. So I make sure it's still there. I make sure it's still a priority in some way, but it's still cool to get out there and support other artists and put them up as well.

And try to get them elevated, in some way. And that's also like super awesome. That's been a new thing that I've discovered in the time I've been doing this, is about like how awesome it is to pass on that knowledge and pass on that torch a little bit. It's been like—it's fucking cool, dude.

Like, it's fucking cool.

JO:

And I’d also add that like, Havenhaus is a creative outlet, right? Like it's a place where I can like focus on a different aspect of creativity and how I can be more of service to the community around me in like these cool, new, interesting ways that I can like, provide.

And I think that is a place that I've always kind of shined—I’m always figuring out how to give back, and I'm grateful that I get the opportunity to do that on a regular basis.

So I'm going to try to be as creative as I can here.

ZO:

I read that y'all had over 150 bands come through Warehaus—like, touring bands. What did you learn from being around all those artists? Did you pick up any insights about creativity or anything like that?

JO:

Absolutely. I typically have one of two reactions every time I see like a new band. I will listen to them and I'll be like, I love these things that they're doing. How can I implement that in what I'm doing? And, you know, kind of expound on my creative process.

I look at like every band that comes through is some sort of inspiration. The others are like, these people are so good that I want to stop making music forever. I will never make music that lives up to what these people are doing, you know? But, I don't know—everybody that I've had come through in some way, shape or form has been just incredibly inspiring.

Whether that's just like, you are out here doing that—that's incredible. I've never been a touring artist. You know, my band has never left Memphis.

ZO:

You’ve toured with Pokemon though, right?

JO:

I have done that.

ZO:

So you have some experience.

JO:

That's different, I guess.

BR:

You know what you should do. You should, like, build a whole tour based around playing Pokemon Regionals.

JO:

I guess I could probably do that.

BR:

Just combine the trip. But, in terms of the bands we've had, I've learned a lot of stuff creatively. It's been cool because—one thing I like to do is drool over pedal boards.

So I'll kind of come over and be like, whatcha got over there, bud? It's really cool to kind of look at new gear and be like, all right, cool, well, I don't have money for this, but it'd be really cool if I could buy this one day. Everybody with all these Helixes.

I want one. They are so nice. Other things though, like business wise, the music business side has been like seeing it from the venue side, you learn a lot about people's experiences on the road with other venues, either like good or bad. I hear some bad stories from other venues, and I don't know these venues, but bands just come through, like, thank you for taking care of us. Thank you for offering your services. Thank you for being easy to work with. I'm just like, wow. I just I figured that's all I had to do. That's the minimum I should be doing, but then I learned, especially with some of these bigger bands we've been booking has like, had contractual stuff involved.

It’s been really eye opening about the broader side of music, about like advocacy, especially management. The managers are really cool because, like, they just sit there. They advocate for their people, you know? That's awesome. You know, I worked really closely with the management team for Feeble Little Horse through the time of booking them.

And it's been really inspiring. Like, their team is just—they're locked in and they're there for their people. And they were easy to work with and they were awesome in the follow up care with like the shows and stuff was like awesome. It showed me the progression of what the business side could be.

And that's cool. It's opened my eyes to whole new avenues and all new ways to support a creative project outside of my musical talent or hosting a venue. It's cool.

ZO:

So my favorite thing to ask artists is, what would be your dream project, maybe for you personally and for Havenhaus.

BR:

So for HavenHaus, I would like to see where we are in a year. I would like to be able to host bigger and bigger bands.

Obviously within our realm. I'm not going to, like, host Fall Out Boy. I'm going to cram a secret Fall Out Boy show.

ZO:

You never know. They could enter their intimate phase.

BR:

I think the biggest thing, though, for us that I think we both agree on is seeing Memphis be another stop that is essential for artists.

I've lived in other major cities and I've lived in D.C. I grew up in the Atlanta area. I lived in Pittsburgh. And, one thing I noticed there is that all the artists are stopping there—Pittsburgh maybe not much so as Atlanta or the DC area, but Memphis gets skipped a lot.

They come to Tennessee and they always, almost always go to Nashville because they make one stop in Tennessee and that's their stop.

And I would like to find a way to help at least create the recipe for people to reconsider and to come to Memphis. I know that our crime rates are have been kind of a maybe part of a deterrent from a national stage, but I would like them to think about how Memphis is a great place.

ZO:

It is. When people talk shit about Memphis, it hurts my feelings.

JO:

And I will talk a little shit right now. Not on Memphis, but like, stop going to Nashville. Bands: stop going to Nashville. We have so many venues, so many local acts that want to play with you. We have a huge, huge crowd of people that come to shows on the regular. You know, our scene—

I remember before 2020, we had a lot of bands coming through Memphis. You know, post Covid, it seems like it's been mostly Nashville, but like our scene today is like, I want to say it's bigger than it was before Covid, right? Like we've climbed back up from the depths of like nothing. And like Memphis music is peaking and, come here. Come here if you're watching this, come here.

BR:

Come.

ZO:

Please come.

JO:

I don't care if you're playing Havenhaus or the Hi Tone or Growlers or Lamplighter or Canvas. Just come to Memphis, you know.

BR:

I will give you their booking information. I mean, just come to Memphis. I got phone numbers. I got whatever you need.

ZO:

Well I love how passionate you are about the scene and your music and starting this new venture, and I really can't wait to see where it goes. I want to thank you all for coming on the podcast, because I've learned a lot about the DIY scene. I still probably won't get in the pit, but maybe I can watch from afar because I do want to come to Havenhaus.

So thank you.

JO:

We'd love to have you.

BR:

Thank you for having us.

Where to find HavenHaus, J, and Benjamin

Havenhaus Instagram: @havenhaus901

J Opp’s Instagram: @g0dsdrunkestdriver

Benjamin Reese’s Instagram: @ben.mages