Photos by L.G. Patterson

Tucked in the heart of Missouri, Columbia pulses with more than just college-town energy — it’s got a beat of its own. From basement shows packed with college kids to headliners lighting up The Blue Note and Rose Music Hall, this city has built a stage for every sound. Whether it’s a band’s first gig or a stop on a national tour, Columbia gives musicians room to grow, experiment and be heard. Here, music doesn’t just exist — it thrives. Let us introduce you to a handful of local bands who are turning up the volume on this city’s electric music scene.

Listen along as you read on Inside Columbia‘s Spotify playlist!

The Park

There’s no grass, no fountains, no golden retrievers chasing frisbees, but The Park still feels like a place you want to hang out. Their songs are hazy, heartfelt and just rough around the edges enough to keep things interesting. It’s less picnic-in-thesunshine and more after-hours hang, where the amp buzzes and the lyrics hit a little too close. With a sound that’s equal parts grit and charm, The Park is carving out a space that’s entirely their own.

The Park has been a concept in motion since 2022, but the current six-member lineup didn’t lock into place until early last year. “(Alexander) and I grew up together in Cape Girardeau and ended up moving to Columbia for different reasons,” Amos says. “One day I got a text from him that said, ‘Hey, do you want to start a band?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, sure — with who?’” That impromptu invite led to a jam session with Smallen and a few others. And just like that, The Park was born.

As members cycled in and out, The Park transformed, eventually landing on the lineup it has today. Miller was often called as a fillin for shows before becoming a permanent fixture. Thives had a class with a few of the other members, got a last-minute invite to sub and stuck around. And Case? He had a cool jacket and played guitar — so naturally, he was in.

“The chemistry wasn’t immediate,” Amos says. “But we have some great musicians coming together and through the years, it has grown to our distinct sound.”

United by a shared love for music, the members of The Park come from all corners of the scene: some studied it in school, others played in jazz bands and a few simply grew up dreaming of “one day” with headphones on. “I think all of us thought it would be really cool to be a professional musician and play music all the time,” Amos says. “Being in a band might be the coolest thing to do for a living.”

The Park’s music can be desribed as “soft mosh, brassy emo you can dance to,” according to their Spotify profile. An undeniably unique aspect of this emo band, though, is the implementation of a trumpet. “Depending on the song, it becomes a completely different part of the band,” Miller says. “It’s super fun because our sound is always evolving. The trumpet does something new every time.”

One of the best things about the Columbia music scene is the friendships found along the way. The Park makes a conscious effort to continue to reciprocate that. “There’s so many talented people in Columbia and it’s beautiful to be in it and consider these super cool bands some of your closest friends,” Case says. For Miller, the best feeling in the world is seeing familiar faces in the crowd: singing, taking photos and having a good time. “It shows us this is where we belong, and no matter how big the show is, no matter how high the stakes are, we have people in the front row who know how hard it is, and they are so excited for us — maybe even more excited than we are.”

However, none of this would be possible without people actually attending the shows. By definition, local music is extremely accessible; it’s all about taking the effort to seek it out. “For most people, they may only see their favorite band once or twice in their lifetime,” Amos says. “It’s such a cool opportunity to find a local band you like, see them three times a month and even meet them afterward.”

The Park had two goals from the beginning: to put out an album and go on tour. Now, as members graduate or move away, the band is entering a new chapter — one that’s less about the stage and more about staying connected through their music. “This is kind of a semi-farewell to live shows, at least for now,” Amos says. “Over the next year, we want to continue collaborating and making music with each other because at this point it would feel weird not to.”

Check out The Park’s next adventures beyond Columbia on Instagram @theparkisaband.

Find Fiona

While the identity of Fiona may forever remain a mystery, one thing’s clear: we’ve found a standout band with serious potential, despite rehearsing in the dark, cramped corners of PDM. Nearly two years ago, Sabarth and Doolady decided it was time to start a Midwest emo band. They brought in Reid Boyd, who had been working on solo music, to round out guitar, bass and vocals. All they needed was a drummer — enter Jalen Julian. “He kind of saved the project, to be honest,” Boyd says. And that project became Find Fiona.

With the lineup finally in place, the chemistry was immediate. “We all just kind of fell into our niches very naturally,” Julian says. “It clicked right away.” The band describes their sound as Midwest emo, with elements of shoegaze. “It’s like fun emo, with indie or pop punk vibes,” Sabath says. “The lyrical content can be sad, but we want it to be a show where people are excited and happy and jumping around, instead of depressed.”

Their writing process is chaotic in the best way: a collaborative effort from the first riff to the final lyrics. “I feel like a big part of our writing process is that we try to impress each other,” Sabath says. “If all of us think it sounds cool, then surely someone else will like it too. We like all of the music we’ve made because we try to put a little bit of what we all like into it.”

When it comes to lyrics, each member brings their own flavor. Boyd tends to write about life experiences in a subtle, metaphorical way. Sabath, on the other hand, takes a looser approach. “My process is all over the place,” he admits. Often, while playing guitar, he’ll start ad-libbing whatever words feel right. That’s how “Twisted Ankle” was born. “I was at a show and I rolled my ankle, so when I went home I couldn’t do anything except play guitar,” he says. “I came up with ‘I twisted my ankle … running from you,’ you being a past version of myself. So the song is now about growth, a dialogue to a past version of myself.”

While the foursome has been playing together for nearly two years, they didn’t make their way to a live stage until July of this year. Why? Because they’re perfectionists. “We want to get things sounding as good as they possibly can, so we take a long time making sure everything’s recorded just the way we want it,” Boyd says. “We also want it to sound cool, so all the music nerds out there are like, ‘wow, that’s crazy.’”

In addition to that, it was important to the band to put together something they were proud of before even announcing their existence. They have now reached that point. “It took forever, but I think we can all say that we’re glad it took this long,” Julian says. “I think we’ve all become better musicians in that time.”

As it turned out, the wait was worth it. “We announced that we were a band and then not even a week later, we released a song and immediately all of our friends were like, this is so sick,” Sabath says.

With momentum on their side, the band is setting their sights on playing more shows — and eventually, hitting the road.

They’ve even coined a mantra: “multiple shows, consecutive days, different locations, at least 20 miles apart.” It’s their game plan for touring. “If we had the ability to, as a band, just go play around different cities in different states, we would absolutely do that,” Boyd says. “We’re prepared to do that.”

Keep an eye out for Find Fiona’s new single and upcoming shows on Instagram @findfionaband.

Nightstand

It’s there when the room is spinning, when the silence feels too loud, when your hands are too tired to hold anything else. The nightstand doesn’t speak, but it stays, collecting fragments of who you are in your heaviest moments.

Nightstand, the band, is that same kind of presence, producing music that doesn’t just sit beside you, but knows you. “Nightstands are just cute little things next to your bed, and they’re always there in your darkest moments,” Warnecke says.
Before there was Nightstand, there was a group of guys who just loved music. “We didn’t really have any expectations at first,” Schmitz admits.

Each member of Nightstand comes from a different background, inspired by different musical genres and icons. For Murphy, it was the rockers of the ‘90s. “There’s a kind of caveman drumming style that got me into it,” he says. “It’s simple and effective. That’s the approach I try to take — not doing too much, figuring out how to be tasteful.”

The first song that made Huhmann want to learn the guitar was “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits, but he also dabbles in producing electronic music with synth design.

Warnecke played piano as a kid and ended up quitting — temporarily. “My mom told me I’d regret it … go figure, Mom was right,” he says. “I love the piano. It’s the most versatile and raw instrument in the world.”

Going to live country and folk music festivals with his parents, Laswell grew up surrounded by a different style than his counterparts. But he eventually found his way to Green Day, Twenty One Pilots, Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd. “That’s when I started taking guitar seriously, and I practiced alone for a couple years,” he says. “Then I became friends with these dudes, who have inspired my playing.”

Finally, Schmitz had always wanted to be in a band. “My dad and uncles were all crazy musicians, so I was always a little jealous I didn’t have a guitar to play,” he says. “The first lick I ever learned was ‘Brazil’ by Declan McKenna. That song changed my life and music taste.”

Putting this experience, knowledge and passion together, Nightstand’s sound can be described as “expansive,” according to Huhmann. “We’re raw from genres, and what we lack in proficiency, we make up for in authenticity,” Schmitz says.
In July, Nightstand played their first show featuring all original songs. “I’m really proud of that — we all are,” Murphy says. “It’s been a really natural progression of opportunities and commitment, and that show felt like our apotheosis of all original songs with the full band.” While an EP will likely be completed sometime this month, an album is on the horizon.

One of the primary aspects that has led to Nightstand’s continued success is the vibrant music scene, especially through student radio at Mizzou. “We all fell into the perfect storm for making a band,” Schmitz says. “After COVID-19, there wasn’t a ton of live stuff happening, so everyone was amped up to go to backyard shows. We really fell into a music-loving community and got really lucky.”

As a whole, the band wants to play as often as possible, to the biggest crowds possible, in different cities. Laswell describes a more humble goal. “I’m really hoping just to enjoy the time we have as a band,” he says. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often, so it’s really cool to be a part of.”

Before a recent show, three local bands were crammed into a living room. Schmitz and Laswell shared a look and said, “Does it ever get better than this?”

Stay in touch with Nightstand on Instagram @nightstand.mov.

Post Sex Nachos

Post Sex Nachos may call Nashville home today, but their roots are deeply planted in Columbia, where their journey as a band began in the college houses, garages and dive bars of Mizzou’s backyard.

What started as a group of friends playing house shows quickly evolved into a full-fledged funk-rock force, blending indie-pop, jazz and unapologetic weirdness into something entirely their own. “It’s just a bunch of funky fun, like sad music you can shake to,” Elfanbaum says.

This description may not give much detail as to what their sound truly is, but that’s the point. The idea was to play music, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. “People have told us, ‘it’s just … music,’ and that’s all we’re really going for,” Elfanbaum says.

The birth of Post Sex Nachos came from two cheesy ingredients: a shared passion for similar music and a group of guys who like to jam. “This very much started out as a ‘let’s see what happens,’” Mueller says. “But when you connect a love of the same kind of music with having a good time together, that’s how it kept going into what it is now.”

At one point, four of the five band members worked at The Heidelberg, which helped them build an early following; coworkers and regulars became day-one fans. “They would show up at all of our shows, helping us sell merch or running the door when we had concerts on the roof,” Broddon says. “We had a lot of support from that specific community, as well as just all of our friends we met through school.”

Those early shows eventually turned into gigs at bigger local venues like The Blue Note and Rose Music Hall. What started as a joke about going on a national tour slowly became a reality — one email at a time. With the help of their manager, the band sat down and emailed as many venues across the country as they could, piecing together a tour based on whoever said yes. “The routing was terrible and we’d spend days driving for one show, just to turn around and go across the country for another,” Broddon says. “It’s a miracle how it all ended up and we didn’t bankrupt ourselves. Our dumbest trip was Columbia to Denver, back to Columbia, to L.A. and back.” But through all the chaos, they still had a blast. Mueller laughs, thinking back on those early days: “We were so young.”

That young band grew, becoming a highlight of the region. “It’s truly a product of being in the Midwest,” Mueller says. “It seems like people really do appreciate live music here in a way that you don’t experience in other places. As a band, that helped with growth and followership for sure.”

To that point, Elfanbaum says college bands are in a great position to build a presence while in school. “Everyone that we graduated with, and a couple years above or below, still come to our shows in every city,” he says. “And if we don’t personally know them, they saw our shows in Columbia and that’s been the ticket that helped us reach people far and wide.”

When asked about their favorite moments or experiences along the way, the answers were … unexpected. For Broddon, it’s the stops at Wally’s while driving from city to city, which he firmly believes is a superior version of Buc-ee’s. Mueller reflects on the perks of their early days: “In seven years of performing, I never would’ve gotten that much free Pabst Blue Ribbon anywhere else.” (Unfortunately, he adds, they get paid in actual money now.) Elfanbaum took the past several years to learn which surfaces are best to sleep on. “It’s truly a spectrum because my face at this point has touched kitchen tile, hardwood floors, a table, leather couches … and sometimes I get lucky and have a pillow,” he says.

Pendleton provides a more direct response. “I like playing shows, you freaking weirdos,” he says to his bandmates. “What are we doing if not playing in a rock band? That’s the best part.”

In keeping with the chaotic, quirkiness that is Post Sex Nachos, the group is also highly superstitious. They to the same five songs on the way to the next venue: “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult, “Read Me My Rights” by Matt F Basler, “Cocaine Country Dancing” by Paul Cauthen, “New Guru” by Vulfpeck and “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan. “They have to be played in that order,” Broddon says. “The last time we didn’t play those songs before a show, we got robbed. Our trailer was stolen from our van the next morning. We learned our lesson.”

Regardless of that (tragic) lesson, Post Sex Nachos has produced four albums, with another one on the way. “We can’t talk about it yet, but big things are coming; we’re very excited,” Pendleton says.

Through the success the band has found over the past several years, they never forget their roots, and encourage other passionate bands to play well and be nice. “To anyone that’s starting local at a slower pace and looking to become a nationally touring band, it’s all about playing shows and making friends,” Broddon says. “Any connections you can make are the best in this industry because you never know who you’re going to meet or what can come from it.

Catch Post Sex Nachos on tour at postsexnachos.com or find them on Instagram @postsexnachos.