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I understand you own a few establishments?

I started The Lift in 2001. We’ve been smoke-free the entire time. We’re the first smoke-free bar (in Greater Des Moines). And that was more about good environment. And then we’ve always shown art on the walls and we continue to do that. … In the Mews, we started out doing lots of theater, a little bit of film, a little bit of music, and the space lent itself so much to music that we’ve eventually just done music there. … I ended up a little more steady at running the businesses and kind of picked them up over the years.

How has Des Moines’ cultural scene evolved in the last five years?

Over the last eight to 10 years, you just see a lot more of everything going on. I think that Des Moines has historically been very conservative, very risk averse, very “I’m going to work in an insurance company or a bank.” You see more creative people taking chances around here. Hence, you see smaller art openings, you see more bands, you see more festivals; just a flowering of the whole creative scene, including the music scene.

What role have you played in laying the foundation?

I think that if you look at the businesses that I’ve been involved with, we keep on asking the question: Why not? Why can’t you open a smoke-free bar? Why can’t you have art on the walls? Why can’t the music scene grow here? Why can’t you have a larger-scale music festival? It’s more about, I think, just being blind to what convention tells you about what you can and can’t do and just working hard with people to make things happen. You can’t do anything in a vacuum. … I think it becomes a more beautiful day in Des Moines when somebody says, “I’m a musician,” somebody says, “I’m a writer,” somebody says, “I’m an artist” and you don’t have to say, “What else do you do?” I just think that we have a growth in the creative community. The (Des Moines) Social Club, for example, has kind of pushed those boundaries of what a venue can be. It’s showing how many creative people want to express themselves in so many different ways.

What other questions need to be asked?

What I see, hopefully in the near future, is the potential of there being some real talents, some real sensations, some real phenomenon putting Des Moines on the map and making us even more notable for our culture. Something that we drive home at the DMMC is you need to have quality culture, as in arts and music. … This generation, …they’re going to be looking at Des Moines from a different angle. They aren’t saying “Dead Moines.”

Have you always been an arts and entertainment guy?

I’ve always appreciated art and been around people that are artistic; from plays in college to friends who were into art and creating their own things.

What do you do for fun?

I do a little bit of cycling. In fall and spring, I play on a soccer league, and every Sunday, religiously, at 8 a.m., I get up and watch the afternoon (soccer) matches from Europe, from Italy. … I take part in a dinner club, and we usually pick a country or a different topic for food. … I still love little plays that come out. I like to go to art openings from time to time. I spend a lot of time right here at Mars Café. Owning my own business and working kind of individually, it’s kind of nice to get in a social outlet and do some of your work where there are other people around.

What do Business Record readers need to know about the cultural scene here?

Most of those people get it and so do our civic leaders. … The CEO of Principal (Financial Group Inc.) knows that a quality art scene is what’s going to draw and keep the top talent that he needs for the future of the organization. These are real industries; the music industry is growing. We’re sitting in Mars Café. There are singers and songwriters that go on in here, there’s a recording studio right there and there’s a guitar shop right next to it. You have people working in this industry right now, and we are going to see, I think, more of that and it’s something to pay attention to.