Local indie rockers Radio City to celebrate anniversary, open for Anchondo

Eric Sonnakolb / The Bulletin

Jack Fork, Jacob Stice, Matt Kosinski and Eric Murphy make up Radio City. The Emporia based band will be performing with Omaha, Neb.’s Anchondo on Saturday.

As local alternative country rockers Radio City reach their one-year anniversary as a band, they are taking stock of their accomplishments and looking toward the future.

“We made a decent demo, considering that we had only been together for a few months at the time and that it was self-produced,” said Eric Murphy, the band’s guitarist and vocalist. “We’ve opened for some great bands, headlined our own show, and played out of town a little bit. I’d say that sounds about right for a band that’s creeping up on the one year anniversary of its first show.”

After all they have done in the short time they’ve been together, the members of Radio City are one of Emporia’s most prominent acts. Although the band hasn’t performed many shows outside of Emporia, the members would like to expand their fanbase.

“Well, there’s always a desire to do more,” Murphy said. “But I think we’ve done well comparatively. We have a dozen or so strong original songs that we’ve collectively put a lot of effort into.”

The band’s other guitar player and vocalist Matt Kosinski currently works at Flint Hills Music and has been a staple in the local music scene for a number of years. Kosinski brings his technical expertise to Radio City’s recording process.

“We’re doing (the recording) in Matt’s basement,” Murphy said. “Using an old Tascam 8-track tape recorder. Matt’s been doing a lot of research on various old school recording techniques. We’ve recorded some ‘scratch tracks’ that have come out sounding far better than we expected.”

Both Murphy and bassist Jack Fork are currently attending Emporia State and drummer Jacob Stice is a new father and is also teaching music at Madison High School.

“I think the idea for right now is to make some sort of new recording and get out of town a bit more often,” Murphy said. “Given all of our personal situations, a tour isn’t really feasible at this point. I think we will more likely be ‘weekend warriors’ for the time being.”

In various projects, the members of Radio City have been a part of Emporia’s waxing and waning music scene for much of their lives and seen a lot of bands come and go.

“From what I’ve seen growing up here, and what I’ve heard about before my time, it seems to sort of come and go,” Murphy said. “I do sometimes think that maybe I took it for granted two or so years ago. It was pretty amazing to be able to see a new band every weekend, and even more amazing to see a few of them go on to become fairly successful.”

With their unique perspective, the members of the band are making the best of what a town like Emporia has to offer.

“The neat thing about this town is that any time it seems like the talent pool is drying, someone or some new band pops up that gets everyone excited,” Murphy said. “(Flint Hills Music’s concert series) Live in the Lot is a good showcase for newly formed bands. I was amazed at how great some of the performances were this summer.”

Radio City will be opening for Omaha, Neb.’s Anchondo on Saturday at 9 p.m. at Cole’s, 707 Commercial.