‘Spread chaos and community’: The Coven’s blueprint to expand Phoenix’s DIY scene

For Briannin Gross, do-it-yourself isn’t just a buzzword. It’s life. And the local artist, community organizer and promoter is the first to tell you, as preaching the DIY ethos seems as natural a biological process to Gross as breathing.

That said, the Phoenix resident’s dedication to DIY is anything but hot air.

Gross (who identifies as “they/them”) has spent the last decade turning ideals into action and building grassroots culture from the ground up. They’ve put on raucous shows and dance parties and facilitated mutual aid and local outreach for unhoused and at-risk individuals. They’re also the driving force behind The Coven, an inclusive, all-ages LGBTQ collective and nomadic venue.

As Gross recently told Phoenix New Times, DIY is empowering and a way to grow culture and foster creativity on your own terms.

“DIY means that you don't have to wait until college or working in an industry,” Gross says. “You just get straight to doing what you want to do with your city or your projects and just go for it.”

Last month, Gross published “How-To-DIY in PHX,” a 28-page Google Doc packed with nuts-and-bolts advice for building grassroots culture in the Valley.

The exhaustive guide arms readers with tools to dive headfirst into DIY, from step-by-step instructions on running spaces and throwing events to tips on marketing, boosting social media reach and dodging the shutdowns plaguing any grassroots venue. It also offers a crash course in the Valley’s DIY history and navigating scene politics.

‘Opening the pit of the Phoenix DIY scene’

As Gross stated in a recent Facebook video, the guide was created to help give locals “the option to spread chaos and community and have creative control.”

“I wrote with the intention of opening the pit of the Phoenix DIY scene so that you know how to book, promote and host your own shows,” Gross stated. “You don't have to wait on venues, you don't have to wait for promoters. You just do what you want to do.”

The 33-year-old says it was also a way to raise awareness of Phoenix’s DIY landscape, empower local creatives and stave off apathy.

“I wanted to set a precedent for younger people. If they don't go seek out the places where they can do things DIY, they won't see how cool it is here,” Gross says. “It's easy to get really apathetic and believe life is just work, Netflix, bed and think nothing else exists.”

DIY culture can be found locally in independent, autonomous or off-the-radar spaces other than traditional bars and venues, if you know where to look. Pop-up shows take place at mom-and-pop businesses like Phoenix’s Olla Olla Crepes and Grand Avenue retailer Overdue. Gigs rage at after-hours warehouses or inside industrial spaces out in the Valley sprawl. Gross mentions a thriving teenage underground hardcore and screamo community deep in the West Valley.

“They have this network of places for shows where they can play and don't get busted probably and have a good time with friends,” Gross says.

Gross adds that there’s always room for more spots, particularly in light of recent venue closures. In 2024, DIY landmark The Trunk Space left its longtime home, Grace Lutheran Church, and is still hunting for a new spot. Earlier this year, music venue There Space Studios shuttered after four years.

Gross says DIY culture is ultimately nomadic, since many spaces operate without permits or on the margins of legality. Closures come without warning, but are just part of the game. “You try and keep your space open as long as you can,” Gross says. “But always remember that one day it might be gone. When that happens, you move on and keep making it happen.”

‘These spaces are a critical resource’

The draw of DIY is multifold. In Phoenix’s cultural ecosystem, it’s often the primordial ooze where talent takes shape. Coven member Roz Carver says DIY venues keep the bar low for burgeoning artists while doubling as inclusive all-ages third spaces, fostering creativity and community.

“These spaces are a critical resource for kids to express themselves creatively, where they don't have to worry about status or spending money in bars to try and do so,” Carver says. “At any age, but especially the younger crowd, you’re trying to find places for acceptance and to flourish creatively. What DIY offers is a low barrier of entry, low cost and very approachable (vibes).”

The Valley has always had DIY haunts dating back decades. In the ‘80s, members of Phoenix’s then-nascent punk scene frequented spots like The Hate House. In the ‘90s, raves were legion at downtown warehouses. And Tempe neighborhoods near Arizona State University are fertile ground for house shows, regardless of the era.

Gross recalls being introduced to DIY as a teen in the early-to-mid 2000s, when grassroots galleries and music spaces lit up Grand Avenue and Roosevelt Row, including Thought Crime and The Firehouse, two arty hangouts run by the late Michael 23 and his wife, Joanna 23.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m making shit up telling people what it was like, because it used to be so crazy. I remember what First Fridays looked like when every house (on Fifth Street) was a party with weed smoke everywhere and like 500 vendors that weren't paying,” Gross says. “Now it's all gentrified-ass shit. Warehouses where I saw shows are now yuppie places selling expensive clothes nobody buys.”

It took another decade for Gross to shift from spectator to promoter. In 2015, they dove into Tempe’s house party scene after stumbling onto the now-defunct “Maple-Ash-Farmer-Wilson Neighborhood” Facebook group and linking up with Valley expat Josh Smusz.

Together, they launched Mutiny Phoenix, a forerunner to The Coven, and began throwing dance nights and shows. Smusz mentored Gross, but eventually handed over the reins.

“After we’d done events for a while, he was like, 'It's time for you to come up with something. You're gonna run it, play it and do everything yourself,’” Gross says. “It was like getting thrown into the frying pan after a year of grunt work.”

'We got a Marvel universe of DIY culture here in Phoenix'

Gross and Mutiny Phoenix flourished, later becoming The Coven, and began operating a house venue in 2019. After the pandemic paused things for several years, Gross revived The Coven in 2025 and began DIY events again, starting with art shows and gigs at Tempe’s Danelle Plaza.

Over the summer, Gross and The Coven’s membership (now more than 20 people) also hosted events at an off-the-radar Phoenix spot, including a string of “30 shows in 30 days.” Large turnout at the gigs caused Gross to want to take things further, so they began putting together the guide.

“I was like, ‘Jesus Christ, some 300-capacity venues can't even get this turnout for some shows, we need to spread this love and it can pop off,’” Gross says. “I wanted to make it so more people could do things more often everywhere all the time."

The Coven is also hosting workshops in September featuring previous venue operators and other scene “godfathers,” from Trunk Space staffers to Joanna 23, who now operates Miami Art Works in eastern Arizona.

“It feels like we got a Marvel universe of DIY culture here in Phoenix. There's so much lore,” Gross says. “That's why the workshops are fun because you hear things straight from the people that did all this shit and did it well.”

For more info on The Coven’s upcoming shows and DIY workshops, visit its Facebook page.