Chip McIntosh's FrogNet's Celebrates 9 Years with Free Show
By Matthew Toledo - 2/24/2005
Chip McIntosh: business man, man's man, man about town. Am I artificially bolstering my descriptions of this man--this dynamo of a human being? You betcha! He's been allowing me to co-locate the AMN's webserver at FrogNet for absolutely nothing since 1998. For this, and his general support of the local music scene, he deserves all the flowery descriptions that I can give him.
I ran into Chip at the Union the other night while interviewing Chandra Trembly of the Loaded Revulvas. Since I needed to interview Chip about his upcoming celebration, I thought this would be the perfect time to ask him some questions.
This Friday the 25th of February, Chip's company, FrogNet, will celebrate nine years in business by throwing a free concert at The Union in Athens, Ohio. The bill will feature Red Dahlia, The Loaded Revulvas, and We March with The Serfs and Leslie Keffer on the side stage between acts. There will be free food and drink specials too. When questioned about the food, Chip responded "We're going to have an ass-load of Avalanche Pizza"
Chip is the CEO of FrogNet, a locally owned and operated internet service provider which he started along with three others during the peak of the internet bubble. The company was Incorporated on January 1, 1996 and during that time, his business has had a habit of employing musicians.
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FrogNet's first musical hire was Dan Driefort back in 1996. He was then the lead singer for Our Smiling Jesus Band. Other musicians followed: Jodi Toledo and Myself from Red Dahlia, Tonehog, Kevin Glidden of the Ferocious Gnomes, Matt Fernow, Tim Farmer, Craig Simmons of the band Nanny Jones, and the current system admin of FrogNet, Tom Clintron, toured with a band from Chicago when he lived there. Chris Perisho, one of the original founders and employees of FrogNet, started an "art space" in town called Lacuna, which unfortunately ended when Chris recently moved to Portland, Oregon.
When asked why FrogNet has hired so many musicians and artistically minded people, Chip responded, "It's actually just a freakish accident." He went on to explain that computer geeks and musicians tend to be nerds with complementary skills. "It doesn't hurt that they are creative."
Chip has been a regular at local shows for the last decade. Often times he's supporting an "employee band" however recently he's been out for the sake of the music and the people in the crowd. For example, he rarely ever misses a We March concert. I asked him what he thought of the local scene in Athens based on his experiences as an audience member for local live music.
"Everywhere in town needs better sound systems," Stated Chip, "I'd like to hear everything equally, but often times the lead singer is buried or just too blurry." He went on to say that some of the onus is on the band as well. "Vocalist, plus sound guy, plus band volume equals good sound"
Chip and I were sitting at the corner of the Union bar. The "art school" corner. However, the label that used to be on the bar has long since disappeared. That corner of the bar is located right next to the Simpson's pinball game, arguably the best pinball game in town. I asked chip some questions about his favorite types of music in-between bouts of smacking pinballs about the Simpson's universe. His personal taste in music is quite broad that extends beyond a single genre. Some of his major label favorites include RadioHeah, The Velvet Underground, Queen, The Roots, Outkast, Al Green, Public Enemy, and--no kidding--Zamfir--the pan flute guy.
I asked Chip how he selected the bands that are playing the party. "Well, first off, I'm close to each of the bands and I think that the bands are awesome enough that more people should know of them."
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Where does Chip see FrogNet in 10 years? He hopes that FrogNet will continue to provide affordable internet services to the local community. Over the last few years, several ISP's have come and gone, yet FrogNet has survived the lean times by adapting to the needs of Athens. He hopes that FrogNet will continue to listen and respond to the needs of the community forever.
Come to the show.
