Beyond the busy city, a 30-minute B-line T ride away, is the hub for Boston’s music scene: Allston. On every street corner, you’ll stumble upon a music shop, a dimly lit venue, or pass a young group of musicians sporting guitar cases in dirtied sneakers.

 

Behind the white paneling and metal fences of the suburban-style New England neighborhoods are a multitude of underground venues that host anyone and everyone who craves a sense of belonging through music every weekend. One of these people was Natasha Kafi, who was so inspired by Allston’s local scene that she joined Ohio State Fair, an Allston local group.

 

“I personally am someone that would not be doing music in Boston if I hadn't been attending shows, meeting musicians, and seeing Allston-based artists for years,” she emphasizes.

 

Since Kafi played her first show, a multitude of Allston-based bills have welcomed her in. Finding herself overwhelmed by gratitude for the musicianship around her and wanting to spotlight the scene that shaped her, she organized Allston x Allston.

 

Allston x Allston is a 27-song album featuring current and former Allston artists, with each track a cover by another artist on the compilation. For Kafi, putting this together was her way of honoring the musicians who introduced her to the local scene and continue to inspire her at every show.

 

“There's something very specific about Allston and also just the DIY and artistic ethos that's happening there that feels like the center of what this project should be.”

 

Unsure how to begin, Kafi posted a story on Instagram asking whether anyone wanted to be part of the compilation. More than two dozen artists responded, and the project quickly came together through a 27-artist Instagram group chat.

 

“It was very DIY, I'll tell you that,” she said.

 

Using a shared Google Sheet, artists selected the songs they wanted to cover in a “Hunger Games cornucopia” style, all at once. In the end, to Kafi’s delight, every artist left excited about the song they chose.

 

“It kind of speaks front to back how talented all of the artists on this compilation are because everyone was excited to do everyone’s,” she remembers.

 

Every piece of the project represents the interconnectedness and generous group spirit of the Allston scene. Even the artwork for the project was done by two artists on the compilation, Cilantro’s Mars Wagner and Salty Greyhound’s Maria Cuneo.

 

“We thought it would be cool since the essence of the album and everything is collaboration and covering,” Cuneo reflects. “What if we just did the same thing with the art?”

 

They split the project in half, with Cuneo drawing the cover image of a rat playing an electric guitar to represent “rat city” and Wagner creating the background for the piece.

 

“It was perfect because I never do a background on my art, and I'm not very good at backgrounds or text, so I feel like, it really drew from both of our strengths, and I loved how it mirrored that we don't know what the song that is being covered of us is gonna sound like until we hear it,” says Cuneo.

 

Wagner added a picture of the Green Line to the background and also chose to add a picture of a glitching security camera screen they took on the 66 bus from Allston to Boston atop the amplifier that Cuneo drew, feeling it matched the compilation's message.

 

“I just wanted to represent the physical interconnectivity. There are so many people who take the Green Line to these house shows, and so I feel like everyone’s gonna recognize that,” Wagner says.

 

Collaboration and motivation did not stop at the art. The dedication to developing the project to its fullest extent was also shared by the artists who submitted their music. Originally, Kafi asked artists to simply record their songs however they liked, to avoid complicating the process.

 

“I wanted everyone to be able to participate in whatever capacity they were able to,” remembers Kafi.

 

But when she actually received the recordings, she was surprised by the quality of the songs.

 

“I was very pleasantly surprised at how much effort and time people put into recording and the attention that people were putting into mixing the songs. We only really had to end up mastering the songs because everyone did their own job mixing, which was really cool,” she says.

 

The final product was mastered by Nikki Donovan, a close friend of Kafi’s, who did so out of the kindness of his heart, supporting the message of helping our neighbors and community members.

 

To further the message, all album proceeds benefit Warm Up Boston, an organization dedicated to serving Boston's unhoused community through material aid and advocacy. Allston x Allston is available only on Bandcamp, making it easy for supporters to contribute directly to this cause and make a tangible difference in the local community.

 

“It is people on the ground showing up for each other and showing up for neighbors, and I think people really connected with that and were really excited about having the compilation benefit Warm Up Boston for that reason,” Kafi highlights.

 

To listen and support your Allston neighbors, listen to and purchase Allston x Allston here!