Mr. Roboto Project enters fourth year and celebrates with ADD Fest

Clubs in the area are closing down left and right, but one has managed to stay above it all… Clubs in the area are closing down left and right, but one has managed to stay above it all for four years. The Mr. Roboto Project, located in the heart of Wilkinsburg, is well known for putting on shows, as well as having a ‘zine library and art gallery. For its fourth anniversary, the venue will hold it’s annual Attention Deficit Disorder Fest, featuring bands that play 10 to 20 minute sets, as implied by the name. The short times are used so no one will grow too bored with a band.

Mike Roth was one of the main organizers of Roboto. He’s known as “Q” to everyone, including his girlfriend. He was one of about 20 who had a mission to start a true do-it-yourself club that would promote local shows and support bands. “Many shows that now happen at Roboto would’ve happened at houses, colleges, or some other venues that would sporadically allow shows. The main issue was control; control over our situation, including what type of shows we wanted to do, how we wanted to do them, keeping them reasonably priced, no big promoters or clubs taking a cut of the door, et cetera,” Q said.

David Stein – a materials science and engineering major at Carnegie Mellon University who also was the administrator/moderator for Pittpunk.com, a Web site that helped support Roboto as well as his shows – also sees the birthday as special.

“It means that it’s been around Pittsburgh longer than I have. Not that places like Roboto are unheard of, but making it through four years says something about how it’s run – how well it’s appreciated here in Pittsburgh, and it also says that it’s likely to be around a lot longer, which is a feat for Pittsburgh venues,” Stein said. “I respect what the Roboto kids do immensely. I think it may be my favorite part about Pittsburgh and probably the one I’ll miss the most when I leave.”

Stein is right. Roboto has been through quite a bit in its four years, from the Roboto II being opened and then shut down for fire code violations, to a theft in August, where $3,000 worth of public address equipment was stolen. But even through this adversity, Q remains optimistic.

“Our main priority is to continue to offer the best example of do-it-yourself in action that we can. We just want to continue to do shows, empowering kids to take control, whether that be booking shows, playing in bands, putting out records, making art [or] getting involved in their communities in some other way. Our main purpose is to show people that by working together they can make awesome things happen,” Q said.

You’d think after four years, the idea would be to keep the formula the same. However, future plans for Roboto were explained by Q, as well.

“As an extension of this, we are also hoping to take Roboto to the next level up. We are currently looking to buy a building, thus moving Roboto into a bigger location and hopefully allowing us to expand our activities. We have been talking with the people of Project 1877 who are getting evicted from their space at the end of the month, about working together to create a space where our two projects can complement each other’s activities nicely.”

Roboto is one of the strongest things Pittsburgh’s music scene has going for it these days, and it’s almost a birthright for any fan of indie, punk, hardcore, metal, emo, jazz, art and music in general to attend this show.

Behind Enemy Lines (ex-Aus Rotten), Conelrad, Anita Fix, Mary Celeste (ex-Ezekial/Forward Motion), Point of Attack, Vale and Year, Arrivals and Departures, Curses and Kisses, Ice Capades and Sequoia (ex-Farewell Euclid) will play the Mr. Roboto Project in Wilkinsburg on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5. For more information, call (412) 247-9639.