Poppy House Collective supports local music

Poppy House Collective bloomed from the passions of two IU Recording Arts majors.
Veronica Simonetti and Kendall Demarest came up with the idea for Poppy House Collective in May because the two knew they both wanted to work with musicians in the future.

From there, Simonetti said, they developed an idea of what they wanted Poppy House to be.

“Poppy House is a music collective which for us is more about bringing people together and creating an environment for artists so they can set up events,” Simonetti said.

Since May, Poppy House has taken off — they garnered six artists of various musical backgrounds including Follies, No Chance Umbrella and Sister Mary. And they’ve assisted in pairing them with events, such as Gathering, a pop-up show at Blueline Gallery in August and Big Red Eats Green.

“Now with the school year starting, we’re pretty busy,” Simonetti said. “We’ve worked and collaborated with big events like at the Gathering.”

But Poppy House Collective doesn’t just help artists set up shows. It also helps them build a brand for themselves through the help of Poppy House photographers, graphic designers, lighting crew and web designers.

“There are two sides of Poppy House­ — members and musicians,” Demarest said. “Members are the creative types that help out the musicians, they’re also mainly students.”

Poppy House Collective not only works with IU’s campus, but it also works with Bloomington artists in general.

They try to assimilate their musicians into the culture of the school and the town.
“Our network is largely college students,” Simonetti said. “But we also bridge the gap between Bloomington and IU.”

Though Poppy House is in its early days, Demarest said she hopes it will continue to grow.

“I hope to have it to continue to be an outlet for musicians in the future,” Demarest said. “I don’t know what will happen long-term but I’m happy about what’s happened so far.”

Follow local music reporter Janica Kaneshiro on Twitter @JanicaKaneshiro.