A lifelong drummer who had grown up playing in punk bands in York Region, Mike Capobianco has always been involved in the local music scene.
It’s been a passion of his and over the last 20 years he’s played in about nine different bands and has met plenty of local musicians along the way.
During that time, The Jam Spot, 1166 Gorham St., became a staple to rehearse and perform for the punk community.
“A lot of people had a lot of attachment to it,” he said.
Around the time of the beginning of the pandemic, the owner of The Jam Spot, Max Eden, mentioned to Capobianco that he was interested in selling the space.
At that time, Capobianco had never even had the thought enter his mind that he might purchase the venue, but after speaking with his wife, he started thinking it would be an interesting career change after having worked in construction for 20 years.
But then life happened, Capobianco said, and over the COVID-19 pandemic, he had children and he almost forgot about the idea entirely.
However, the thought still lingered in the back of his mind and this past summer he talked with Eden and was asked again if he’d be interested in buying.
“It brought me right back to where I was a few years ago and I had all these ideas for the place,” he said. “It’s an amazing place with nine rehearsal rooms and a front room that’s used for the venue.”
Capobianco said that he began to think about how it could be expanded upon and better utilized as a venue on top of being a key rehearsal space in Newmarket.
With how many different venues and bars that the punk and heavy music scene have utilized falling by the wayside over the years, Capobianco envisioned this one as the place to play.
When Capobianco started thinking seriously about buying the place, Eden introduced him to Noah Laidlaw and they got to talking and realized that a lot of their ideas about what the venue could become aligned.
Capobianco officially purchased the venue on Nov. 21. He hired Laidlaw as the manager of the venue and changed the name to The Spot with the goal of it becoming a music hub in the Newmarket community.
“There’s not just the punk scene, but this young and vibrant metal scene,” he said. “It would be nice to have this be the home of the scenes.”
While Capobianco’s background is in the punk scene and Laidlaw’s is in the metal scene, they both know how grand the music scene is in Newmarket and York Region.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be punk or metal, I’m excited to see the other scenes in the community,” he said. “We have a great stage with great sound. We’re excited to see what else is out there.”
The most important thing to Capobianco is supporting local artists, regardless of genre, and he wants The Spot to be that place for them to go and perform to an engaged room of people.
“Whether it’s rock, pop, country, or even comedy,” he said. “There’s a lot of potential and I’d love to have the door open to everything.”
