Starting an independent business is exactly as hard as it sounds – and even harder in a business as unpredictable and fickle as the music industry.

But Alex Merced, junior, who had always dreamt of being a “kick-ass” concert promoter, would be damned if the odds stood in his way, and acted upon his ambitious thoughts when he created Fashionably Numb Music in the Fall of 2005.

FNM is a promotions agency for bands interested in playing venues in northwest Ohio.

“I started being a promoter during the Fall of 2004 at the WBGUFM Expo, and a pair of benefit shows at Howard’s Club H,” Merced said.

This experience got Merced thinking about bigger plans.

“I decided to try making my own promotions outfit similar to the other main two in town, Taking on Explosives and Subtle Car Crash,” Merced said. “I thought I had youthful enthusiasm and something to bring to the table.”

What Merced most definitely has is a clear vision of how to get the most out of the University music scene.

“My goal was mainly to help bridge the gap between BGSU and Howard’s because I think it’s such an amazing venue, and people don’t realize the caliber of shows that happen each week,” Merced said.

On Sept. 4, Fashionably Numb Music had its inaugural show at Howard’s Club H with Rediscover, The Lab Rats, and The Drama Summer.

For The Drama Summer’s guitarist, Anthony Damschroder, the show was a big success – in large part due to FNM’s tireless promotional efforts.

“FNM did a great job promoting that show with flyers all over campus, ” Damschroder said. “His hard work lead to a great turnout.”

Since then, The Drama Summer has worked with FNM six other times, and they continue to book shows with Alex Merced as much as possible.

“His shows keep getting better each time,” Damschroder said.

FNM has worked with bands both local and from across the Midwest – including Chiodos, Mommy and Daddy, The Impossible Shapes, Aqueduct, 3, Stylex, Adair, The Fall of Troy, Mammoths Melting Out of the Ice, Phantasmagoria, and many others.

Phantasmagoria – a band from Toledo – has been working with FNM for a little over a month. Band member Dom Gray appreciates Alex Merced’s hard work for his band.

“He [Merced] has definitely made it easier to play shows in Bowling Green,” Gray said. “Alex got us booked at the Black Swamp Pub on November 18, 2005, and that turned out to be one our best shows, with a lovely amount of people.”

Aaron Pickens, another member of Phantasmagoria, appreciates the band lineups that FNM creates.

“We were lined up in November with Mammoths Melting Out of the Ice because Alex said that we would be an amazing match for shows,” Pickens said. “I don’t think anyone could have said it better than him.”

Members of Phantasmagoria claim to have gained several new fans, friends, and another band to play shows with – all thanks to Fashionably Numb Music.

And all the fruits from all this labor are even sweeter for those who know how hard it is to organize a concert.

“Promoting definitely is an art,” Merced said. “You need to know which bands go together and what order to put them in, and it takes a lot of mistakes before you get the formula right.”

FNM is barely three months old, but Merced has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.

“I’ve learned who really are the shining stars of the local scene – bands like Mammoths Melting Out of the Ice, Phantasmagoria, Bullet Teeth, and the Press Gang,” Merced said. “All of them I can see headlining big venues in the future, and in seeing this, I feel that it would be nice to put my imprint on that happening, a sort of legacy, I guess.”