No would consider Boise, ID as a Mecca for music. Frankly, most people in the bigger music cities (LA, NY, Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans) would probably be shocked to learn there was any scene in the city at all.
Mylo Bybee would beg to differ. The indie rockers are born and raised in Boise, and guitarist/vocalist for the group Tyler Schlagenhauf will defend his hometown as a great place for music discovery:
Growing up in Boise, music was always tied to the feeling of discovery. My earliest memories are riding around in the car hearing whatever my parents had on the radio, then getting old enough to stumble into my own tastes through local stations like Magic 93.1 and 100.3 the X. That was where I first heard bands that engrained my love for music.
I also spent a lot of time digging through CDs at The Record Exchange. That place was like a portal. I didn’t always know what I was looking for, but I loved that I could walk in curious and walk out with something that changed how I heard the world. And then, as I got older, I started going to local shows, house shows, tiny venues, any space where someone had an amp and a reason to make noise. One of the earliest venues I would frequent was called JD & Friends. It was a bar, but had a chain link fence around the drinking area. If you were underage you had to stay outside the chain link fence.
While people these days may take radio and record stores for granted, in cities like Boise, they’re sometimes the most accessible outlets for finding new music. Of course, finding music in a small city like Boise is one thing, but what would lead someone to decide to take up a career as a musician there?
I had been in your typical garage band in college that was really fun, but wasn’t super meaningful. I knew I wanted to form a particular type of band long before I actually did. There was a point where listening to music wasn’t enough anymore, being moved by it turned into this urge to make it. MYLO BYBEE came together during a time when all of us were craving something louder, more honest, and more personal than anything we’d been doing individually. And the world was also on lockdown…
Admittedly raw musicians when they started, Mylo Bybee compensated for this with a fervor to play and getting things organized quickly.
Getting shows in the beginning meant saying yes to anything. We played wherever people would let us plug in including our first gig. When everything was shut down we played a virtual show to no audience for a local music collective. We then ventured into small bars, outdoor events, parks, and more. Word of mouth was everything. Boise is still a place where people show up if you give them a reason to care, so we leaned into that, playing hard, staying involved in the scene, and making sure anyone who saw us once had a reason to come back.
And as Schlagenhauf will attest that Boise’s music scene is “deceptively strong for the size of the city” with all genres being represented and nothing being siloed. Mixed-genre bills are common and keep things interesting. And most importantly, there is a sense of support and community amongst the artists in the music scene.
The scene stays alive because people show up, collaborate, and champion each other. Treefort was a big part of cementing that identity, but the DIY spirit was here long before that. I remember growing up going to shows in a literal bomb shelter that doubled as rehearsal spaces for bands…We have a really, really good thing going here and I’m glad that we are now a place where bands want to stop on tour or passing through.
On top of The Record Exchange, which Schlagenhauf calls a “cultural hub” of his city, he also shares his love of Neurolux, Lost Grove Brewing, Treefort Music Hall and Shrine Basement as important local sports for bands to play, gather, hang out and connect.
Even with a supportive scene, Boise’s small size still remains a hurdle for any band attempting to make a career in music.
Boise is supportive, but it’s small. You reach a ceiling pretty quickly if you’re trying to grow beyond local recognition. That means touring early, pushing your online presence hard, and finding ways to make noise outside of Idaho.
Resources can also be limited. There aren’t as many labels, managers, or industry folks passing through compared to bigger cities. You have to be self-driven, willing to wear a lot of hats, and comfortable building momentum from the ground up.
Of course, it’s that DIY grit that has helped shape Mylo Bybee, and certainly many of the other bands in the city. Schlagenhauf gushes about the number of great artists out there, including ones outside of the typical rock genre he gravitates towards. He mentions “Classtronaut who are a synth driven electronic band, Deep Heaven, Arcade Sarcasm, Bittermint” as just some of the great artists playing in the city.
While the Boise scene may be small, it remains mighty and ready for discovery. There may be no specific “Boise sound”, but if all the artists there write songs as good as Mylo Bybee‘s “Time Machine”, there’s hope that Boise will one day be added to the music map.
Watch the video for the single above, stream the track here, and keep an ear out for more new music from the band in 2026!
The Indy Review 