31 Tips For DSM In 2012

#8: Use Des Moines’ Size To Your Advantage

Des Moines isn’t a big city, but it isn’t a small town or suburb, either. It’s easy to get hung up on the disadvantages of living somewhere this size. No, we don’t have a major-league professional sports team. No, Guns N’ Roses didn’t stop here on their most recent tour. But living in an honest-to-God city that isn’t overwhelming has its benefits, too.

On New Year’s Eve, I had the privilege of DJing at Vaudeville Mews with one of my musical heroes, Des Moines’ own Bob Nastanovich, best known from the band Pavement. As an actual Des Moines DJ like Richie Daggers will tell you, I don’t really know much about the technical aspects of DJing. I just happen to have a turntable and enjoy playing my records for people. In a bigger city, Bob and I would’ve been crowded out by the professionals; in a smaller town, maybe no one else would’ve cared to hear our weird records. But here we could be up on stage sharing our idiosyncratic tastes, and I got to have one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life.

You can take advantage of Des Moines’ size no matter what your interests are. I started thinking about all this because of a Des Moines Register piece on “The New Des Moines,” which quotes local artist Cat Rocketship as saying that here, “I can have a hare-brained idea and the next day just do it.” One day she came up with an idea for a crafts fair; before long, she could actually put it into effect, and tap into the popularity of a farmer’s market with weekly attendance of 20,000 people.

So no, Des Moines isn’t the biggest pond. Use that to your advantage.

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Marc Hogan is a writer for SPIN, Pitchfork and more. Follow: @desnoise.