From time to time we get asked about certain names, phrases, stories, titles – and sometimes we gotta prove or bust some myths!

Matt Grimm Reflects “Fresh Meat”

“Fresh Meat initially came out of a lot of conversations I had with friends when I was a teenager about creating an avenue for middle & high school-aged bands to perform in an environment beyond just a high school talent show or battle of the bands. I knew of so many teen-aged friends who had formed bands and wrote original music, but didnt know where/how to get onto a proper stage for a performance at a real venue, and I felt like Holland was the perfect environment for a low-stakes showcase organized by teens, for teens.

After cycling through about 20 different potential names, including New Flesh and Holland High, Fresh Meat was settled on (a fitting counterpart to the Young Blood art showcase), and the first iteration in October 2015 featured the Holland stage debuts of now-longtime Holland friends, including Erin Miller and Em Jiang in their band Who Killed Berd?, Garrett Caufield’s dungeon synth project Svartedauden, and the ever-evolving collective of Arizona Young.

Seeing Fresh Meat grow into an annual event that young people look forward to and plan around has warmed my heart in the 5 years since it started, and seeing all these young bands play Fresh Meat and then get invited back to play shows opening for proper touring acts and even headlining their own shows is exactly what I envisioned for the purpose of Fresh Meat: to give teens a proper platform to perform that I felt was lacking, and to foster a new community of teens who are passionate about DIY and music to continue passing the torch for years to come.”