Beats From The Under Ground

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

By Grace Hammond

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Some people use it. Most people don’t.

Most people aren’t sure what to do with their boredom. It renders them apathetic. They lie on their couches, legs draped over the side, moaning into the telephone about how there’s nothing to do, they’re sick of the internet, nobody’s home and it’s too damn cold to leave the house. They soak in boredom until it fills their pores. They wallow.

It is a rare person who decides to tackle boredom head-on – to use it. Hole Underground is a group of four individuals who got off their couches and decided that “today is the day we make something.” Together, they hatched a plan to combat boredom and to help other young Jackson people do the same.

Hole Underground is the brainchild of Jared Christian, Shelby Callaway, Dottie Ryan and Chris Ryan (no relation). The organization has thrown some of the most successful parties of the summer: weekly drug- and alcohol-free nightclub events with live DJs, mad dancing and glowsticks galore.

Hole Underground happens “every Friday when we can afford it,” Callaway said. Last Friday was the first time since June it did not take place, due to booking issues. Usually it starts at 10 p.m. on Fridays and ends around 1 or 2 in the morning. It’s all ages, but most attendees are between 16 and 22 years old. The cover charge is $5, and it currently takes place in the basement of the Pink Garter Plaza, 50 W. Broadway.

On a typical Friday night, 60 teens show up. Many come early. They pack the dance floor all night long and mingle between sets and songs. Sometimes the organizers bring in gaming consoles for everyone to share, and they huddle around Tony Hawk. DJ Ellipse and DJ Therapy (Calloway and Christian) are the resident DJs. Sometimes they spin all night, sometimes they open for other acts. The most popular night was a hip-hop night, with close to 200 attendees.

Drugs and alcohol are prohibited at all Hole Underground events. The zero-tolerance policy is well-known by partygoers, who help police the crowd. The organizers take turns guarding the door and denying entrance to anyone who appears to be under the influence.

It’s a personal commitment for the organizers.

“I don’t think there’s a person in this room who has not had a friend injured, jailed or killed due to drug and alcohol use in Jackson,” Chris said.

At Hole Underground’s first party, a drunk teen “fell all over the floor” and got kicked out. The group ordered his friends to take him home. Dottie considers it a major success that the same teen has returned every single Friday, “stone-cold sober, just to have fun.” Now, he volunteers to help keep drugs and alcohol out of the venue. He doesn’t want the event “ruined by alcohol.”

The four organizers complement each other. They share different hopes, fears, histories and dreams. Chris Ryan, 25, is from Jackson. He struggled with Attention Deficit Disorder growing up, and during his teen years was “in and out of the jail, court and Department of Family Services.” He was arrested for drinking underage. Still, he was a smart, enterprising kid, with a 3.5 GPA and too much time and energy on his hands. He built elaborate rocket launchers and made dry ice bombs to entertain himself and his buddies after school.

Ultimately, “problems with authority” got the best of him. He was expelled from school, GPA and all.

Chris left Jackson for a few years after that. Living in bigger cities made him miss home. He began to realize that even though Jackson has its problems, and he had his problems in Jackson, “there’s no place like [it] anywhere else in the world.” He came home.

Life in Jackson has been easier for Chris this time around. He’s older, wiser and worldlier. He’s got his GED and a job. And while he was away, something significant happened, something that would open up a new, Jackson world for him: He turned 21.  
Turning 21 in Jackson Hole isn’t quite like turning 21 in college. It means more than a free, all-access pass to get drunk at the bars. Suddenly, there are places to go, things to do. Chris can go where people are.

He can hit the town, old rocket-launching buddies in tow, and come home with stories, maybe even new friends. He can shoot pool, people-watch, or snag a front-row seat to see a band he’s been following since ’96. It doesn’t matter if he drinks or not; that is incidental. What matters is that after decades in Jackson, Chris is finally allowed behind the velvet rope, the social scene Jackson is known for.

Chris spent a lot of time in the bars, making a Mardi Gras out of his early adulthood. Now, he’s a web designer and he spends much of his time thinking of ways to make Jackson better for teens that need something fun, productive and harmless to do.
Chris feels that if something like Hole Underground were around when he was younger, he might not have had some of the problems he did.

“Certainly an alternative is better than none,” Chris said. “I believe it needs to be done, there’s nobody else doing anything about it. I’m glad to be [in Jackson], but I still wouldn’t wish [growing up] here on anyone else.”

Dottie Ryan, 19, was born in Pocatello, Idaho. She lived in Jackson during second grade and spent a few summers in Moran as a teen. Now she lives in Jackson year-round.
Dottie grew up with her mother and stepfather. They were “really big on drugs,” she said. She lived with her father for a year at age 14, but returned to her mom and stepdad’s house after they served time in prison for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamines.

“I went back because my mom asked me to,” she said. “At the time I still had hope for [her].”

For three years, Dottie bore close witness to the aftereffects of drug addiction. At age 17, she “gave up” on that side of her family. She left.

Dottie is the only person on her mother’s side to graduate from high school. The last she heard, her sister, who won’t speak to her, was a waitress at a strip club. Dottie maintains contact with her father, a retired engineer for the Navy.

Escape played an important part in Dottie’s life. Cops, fights, drugs and tears were the reality of her daily life for some time. She spent a lot of time outside of the house, keeping busy with activities, extracurriculars, or just wandering around the mall.  
Dottie is deeply appreciative of having those sanctuaries. She wants all Jackson teens to have the same: a place to go.

“Having my life together so well,” Dottie said, “I’d like to give kids a chance to stay out of trouble, to keep their lives on track.”

Dottie was struck by something she heard during a Jackson Hole High School graduation. Her friend whispered to her that girls from Jackson had two choices after graduation: get pregnant or leave for college.

“That’s all there is to do in this town,” she had said.

Jared Christian (also known as DJ Therapy), 26, has been in Jackson for a little over two years. Home is Hawaii, but he’s lived in Seattle and Los Angeles and got out of the Navy a few years ago. He came to Jackson for his 4-year-old son. He had gotten a taste of small-town life in Idaho and wanted to raise his son in a place like Jackson.
“It’s my playground,” Christian said. “I go to the mountain every chance I get.”

When Christian came to Jackson, he tried to find a club scene, but didn’t know where to go. He got connected with Four4 Productions, who gave him a shot at spinning at  The Lounge (formerly the Shady Lady in Snow King Resort).

“I got incorporated with the Jackson family,” he said. “This place is so musical, I’ve never met a better group of performers.”

To Christian, Hole Underground is “a place you can be yourself.” More importantly, it’s a place that might help you “become who you want to be.” He doesn’t like negative music, and his goals are rooted strictly in the positive. Christian plays indie and underground, hip-hop and breakbeats. He started spinning when he was breakdancing in Los Angeles.

“As a kid, I didn’t get these opportunities,” he said. “We did a lot of kegging and mudding and a lot of my friends either died or got really hurt.”

Shelby Callaway, 24, was born and raised in Jackson. Many people know him as DJ Ellipse, a moniker he earned when he started spinning at age 16. He’s a gifted mentor and a talented musician: two important pieces of the Hole Underground puzzle.
Callaway and his other DJ friends threw a few parties here and there when he was in high school. After high school, Callaway started playing music at the Jackson Hole Christian Center and assisting with youth mentoring. He loved it.

“I realized how much I enjoy working with teenagers,” he said. In particular, Callaway noticed how few activities were available to high school students.

“There are groups oriented toward teenagers, but if you don’t want to join the Boy Scouts, ride horses around, or glue macaroni on paper, there’s nothing to do,” Callaway said.

Hole Underground wants to make Jackson more than a place that tourists want to visit. The foursome want to make it a place where local kids want to stay.
The group agrees that boredom is the culprit for a lot of the self-destructive behavior in Jackson. Dottie says she sits at home after work because she’s not very outdoorsy, she’s not a tourist and she’s not 21. The usual refuges of the small-town adolescent – the mall, the all-night diner – haven’t made an appearance here.

Dottie and Chris talked about “Square Rats,” teens who sit in the Town Square all day. It’s something to do, but in Jackson, the real, crucial interchange for high school gossip is at “The PRs.” They are the hot spots, the hubs, where vital information spreads. It is where social networking takes place. It is also where tourists go to the bathroom. “The PRs” are the downtown public restrooms.

“That’s where you find out where the party’s at,” Dottie said. “People will drive by, over and over, and tell you.”

The Friday night events grew out of a party thrown by DJ Therapy. A friend of his enlisted the help of Callaway, Chris and Dottie. The event was a smash, and it took off from there. On July 7, the four organizers opened a joint bank account, bought a web domain and named their group “Hole Underground.” Since then, they have published a mission statement, sponsorship agreement and business plan. Their lack of a “dedicated venue” is their primary concern.

Most of the money comes from the $5 cover charge at the door. The group tries to keep the price low.

“It has to be cheaper than a six-pack,” Chris said. “If it’s too expensive, kids are more likely to spend their money on drugs and alcohol.”

The group’s priorities are securing a permanent venue and getting the community involved. Without a venue, the Friday night events can’t continue.

Education is a central part of their mission. If the group can secure enough resources, Hole Underground will expand to become more like a Boys and Girls Club. They want to create a space that is entertaining and meaningful, with everything from pool tables and air hockey to tutoring and DJ and guitar lessons. They are trying to achieve nonprofit status so they can apply for grants. Until then, they are looking to local businesses for support.

The alcohol- and drug-free Friday night event “would sustain itself with four or five dedicated business owners,” Dottie said. In return for sponsorship, the business owners would be advertised on fliers, banners and the group’s website.

Chris argued that the reason other youth-oriented ventures have failed in Jackson in the past is because they were in the business sector. Profits were important. Hole Underground doesn’t want a profit – the group loses money on each event. They just want enough money to sustain themselves. Their mission is about making Jackson a better place, not making money.

“If there’s one kid that is hanging out with us sober instead of going out, getting drunk and getting in a car, that makes the whole thing worth it,” Callaway said.
To stay up-to-date about parties, learn more about Hole Underground or get involved, contact the group at 203-9313, jhug247@yahoo.com, or visit http://www.HoleUnderground.com.

Photo by Derek Diluzio
Hole Underground founders Jared Christian, Dottie Ryan, Shelby Callaway and Chris Ryan aim to keep the under-21 crowd entertained and out of trouble.

PERMALINK:
Beats From The Under Ground | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

Leave a Comment