Watering the garden: Album release show proves Stillwater's scene is alive and loud
Garden Ants brought Stillwater's punk and alt community together for a full-album performance of their debut record, Workhorse.
Fans of Stillwater's local punk and alt music scene descended on i&i Skateshop on Main Street to celebrate the album release of Garden Ants, a local band whose sound blends folk, indie, and DIY elements into Midwest emo.
The Feb. 28 show featured supporting sets from Peoria, Fighting Sleep, and Morris Village.
I arrived early to chat with Garden Ants about their new album and what the local scene means to them. Bassist Donald Stark and drummer Preston Loucks both said they come from different musical backgrounds — Stark from funk, Loucks from prog rock — making this their first emo band. Guitarist and vocalist Connor Edens and lead guitarist and vocalist Aaron Sageser rounded out the lineup.
The band recorded Workhorse with producer Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden in Oakland, California, over two days.
"With the drive there and back, all we could really afford as broke college kids was two days to get it done," Edens said.
On the drive, Stark and Loucks got a crash course in emo as a genre from Sageser and Edens. That camaraderie shows in the album's title: Workhorse, named affectionately after Stark's bass.
"It's got my blood on it, other people's blood on it, I've thrown it down stairs, I've spilled beer on it… yeah, it's a workhorse," Stark said.
Edens said the name was originally intended for the band's first EP, but they hadn't yet recorded the songs Stark had written at the time.
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For Garden Ants, success doesn't mean streaming numbers. They're focused on the scene they're part of — supporting other bands and inspiring new ones to form. It's a sentiment I've heard repeatedly in Stillwater's local music community. Bobby Wintle, co-owner of District Bicycles and founder of The Mid South — an endurance and music festival — Isa Edge and Ivan Serrano of Mama Tried Vintage and i&i Skateshop, and Henry Ramsay of Velvet Fudge, a new Stillwater record shop specializing in vinyl and vintage media, have all expressed the same desire: keep this scene alive.
What sets this community apart is a level of collaboration rarely seen in local music. Ivan said he lets headlining bands choose which acts share the bill with them — a model that puts creative control in the hands of musicians and builds goodwill across the scene.
"I let the headlining bands choose which other bands they're playing with," Serrano said.
Kristian Brooks of Fighting Sleep, left, and Frank Blation of Morris Village perform at i&i Skateshop on Feb. 28 during Garden Ants' Workhorse album release show. – Photos by JD Graumann/GmannCreates Photography
The evening opened with Edge welcoming the crowd and noting that Garden Ants played the very first show at the skateshop. Peoria kicked off the music, debuting a cover of "Crickets Throw Their Voice" by Basement. Fighting Sleep followed — their first performance since November — and introduced a new member, Taj Bright on guitar, joining vocalist Jaron Thompson, guitarist and vocalist Kristian Brooks, drummer and vocalist Kasen Lehenbauer, and bassist Nathan Cantrell. Their more traditional Midwest emo set fit naturally into the evening's momentum.
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Morris Village brought high energy to their set, with guitarist and vocalist Noah Arizoki delivering a vocal performance that filled the room, backed by guitarist Frank Blation, bassist and vocalist Trace Brown, and drummer Cam Schollenbarger.
Then came the main event. As Garden Ants took the stage, a chant built in the front row — first between Wintle and me, then spreading through the crowd: "GARDEN ANTS, GARDEN ANTS." Edens thanked the audience before handing the mic to Sageser, who announced the band would play their new album, Workhorse, in its entirety.
Their set was electric. At one point, Sageser played a guitar solo in the middle of the mosh pit, the crowd reaching toward his instrument as he played. An acoustic interlude drew the audience to the floor in an unexpectedly intimate moment. By the final song, Edens' voice was spent.
"My voice is tired. If you want to come up and sing with us, we welcome you," Edens said.
They did — with rotating singers carrying much of the last song to the finish.
It was clear the audience was there, in that space, fully focused on the community and music around them. That feeling echoed through every conversation I had that evening. Edge and Wintle both put it the same way: "It's magical what we're experiencing." That may be the most honest description of what Stillwater's scene has become — something built collectively by fans, venues, and bands alike.
I've watched scenes like this emerge up and down the West Coast before moving to Oklahoma, and I've watched them collapse when the one thing holding them together disappeared: a community willing to support each other. Stillwater has that. It's rare, and it shouldn't be taken for granted. So the next time you hear about a local show, don't deliberate — go. See what's being built with your own eyes.
📻 Listen to Workhorse on Spotify and Apple Music
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