“Like magic”: 4 friends light up local swing music scene

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — If you visit The Loft Music Venue in Old Colorado City on a swing dancing night, you won’t see much from the outside. Couples and singles quietly ascend a wooden staircase to the back door, under a simple string of lights. But the closer you get, the more it begins to feel like something out of a movie, nostalgic and romantic.

Coats by the door, scores of dancing couples, and of course, the live band. Pauli’s Rug Cutters is booked tonight, a foursome of dancers-turned-musicians who know what gets people on the floor.

Archie Carreon is the band’s frontman and resident “suitcase drum” player. Brendan Burke is on the keyboard, and Nick Novotny plays bass. They all provide vocals—except the fourth member, Conrad Joseph (assumedly because it’s difficult to sing and play trombone at the same time).

“I don’t know about you, but I remember thinking like—swing dancing?” Archie says. “I thought this is like, you know, for everybody in their eighties and nineties.” The rest of the guys in the band laugh in agreement. “But then I realized, oh my gosh, everyone my age is doing these dances. And it’s honestly just like the best community.”

“There’s a really good community here,” the other guys chime in. “Yeah, best community going.”

Most of the couples on the floor look to be in their 20s, with relatively few exceptions. Couples are dressed in all kinds of clothes, some are more dressed up and others are very casual. The Loft Music Venue, which is also an event venue, is decorated with a mix of whimsical charm and nostalgic elegance. There are vintage-looking chandeliers, folding tables, and piles of coats. It looks a little like a secret clubhouse—in the best way possible.

“We started just playing right here in our little scene—right here in The Loft,” Archie said.

All four band members are also dancers who would come to swing dance events at The Loft and elsewhere. “We all met because of a friend of ours who’s not here tonight,” said Nick Novotny, the band’s bassist. “He started an event that was like a jam night, like a swing and jam. And we all just met.”

When their mutual friend introduced them, they connected over the desire to have a band that played swing music specifically for the kinds of dances they were doing.

“We primarily play swing music for Lindy Hoppers,” said Archie. “The Lindy Hop is this dance that’s straight out of the 40s and 50s. But we all dance everything from the West Coast, Blues, Swing, and Lindy Hop. We wanted to come together to create a band that was just for dancers and just play with our friends and have fun with it.”

And then when they did finally sit down to play together, their creative chemistry lit an undeniable spark.

“When we played together, it was like magic,” Archie said.

The dance floor is full the entire night, with couples weaving in and out of the fray or standing around with styrofoam cups of water. It’s simple, but beautifully so. The people there are there to dance, and to connect over a shared passion.

To grab a show or a dance, you can visit Pauli’s Rug Cutters everywhere on social media. There’s even more information on their website.

“Since [those first days at The Loft] it’s just kind of blown up,” Archie said. “Now we play across the entire Front Range. Our ultimate goal is to go play at Camp Hollywood, which is this huge international dance event in Los Angeles. And that’s our big goal—to eventually end up right there on the big stage, along with everybody else. Being able to play for dancers around the world.”

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