You do not need a complete scene before you can start. You need one calendar, one full record, and a way to throw names away. This is the short version of that month. The longer map is on the page about discovering indie-folk artists.
Pick one room
Choose a city you can reach on a weeknight. Open two calendars from the venues guide, not ten. Save every bill that includes a name you do not know. Ignore the poster size. The opening artist is the point of the exercise.
Hear one record all the way through
Pick one of those names and play a full album without skipping. Write down three things: the instrument that carries the song when the guitar rests, a line you remember without trying, and a player in the credits you would follow next. If you cannot name those three, the record has not stuck, and that is a useful result. The album notes show what that kind of listening looks like on two recent Belgian records.
Keep two names
At the end of the month, keep two artists. Unfollow the rest, or at least stop adding them. Then book one show, or one festival day if a club date is too far. Discovery fails when the list gets longer than the number of nights you will actually leave the house.
If the month produces a name we have not written about, send it. Include the city and the record you played. One specific tip is worth more to us than a long list.