The Music Matters – Waking People Up to Brooklyn’s Indie Music Scene
Sometimes a music scene involves a lot more than the music, and according to Patrick Porter of the band A Very Special Episode, that’s the case with what’s currently happening in Brooklyn.
“There is no better feeling than making no verbal plans with anyone, and just randomly going to a show, and knowing everyone there,” he says, “That’s the core of how this is like a community. It’s like this is our church, and it’s every night of the week … mostly Thursdays through Saturday nights.”
One such place where this happens on a nightly basis is Arlene’s Grocery, the legendary Lower East Side venue that will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year, and is just a quick subway ride away from Brooklyn. Back in May the venue hosted a three night event coordinated by Bands do BK’s Sam Sumpter that featured 15 indie bands from the borough. Those nights have been turned into a concert film titled The Music Matters, which is now available on VHS (there’s also a QR code on the box for people to view the film online).
The film clocks in at just under 70 minutes, and features performances from all 15 bands, with quick interview segments in-between each song.
According to the film’s executive producer, Marc Seligman, the main motivating factor for creating the project was a simple one – “I’m just hoping to wake some people up to the scene.”
It all started with a not-so-chance encounter, and a shared dream
Marc is a veteran of NYC’s indie music scene, having played in bands that once graced the stage at the famed CBGB. He passed that love of music on to his son, who is in the band Moonunitt, and it was through his son that he ended up meeting Sam.
Sam, who in addition to founding and running Bands do BK, as well as having a book of the same name, books shows at Arlene’s Grocery, and she gave Marc’s son a night where he could choose the lineup. The evening would prove to be a success, and Marc wanted to personally thank Sam. He remembers, “I went out of my way to try to meet her, and when I met her she gave me her business card.”
While attending more shows he started to notice something unique about the bands from Brooklyn. “It wasn’t like they were just friends, they loved each other. They were hugging each other. They’re rooting for each other, and they have the nicest things to say about each other.”
He knew this was different, and he loved what he both saw, and heard.
“The thought came to my mind that somehow we need to document this.”
Marc still has Sam’s card – score one for the old school medium – and gave her a shout, pitching his idea of a film that could be a time capsule of the current Brooklyn indie scene.
Sam was all in.
Creating The Music Matters
From the old alt weekly papers like The Village Voice, to Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom, to this very blog, and others like it, people have been documenting the outside the box creativity of NYC’s indie music scene for well over half a century. Sam notes one of the scene’s defining qualities is that’s in perpetual motion.
“You always have venues closing,” she says, “you always have bands getting new members, breaking up, getting back together. It’s a constantly evolving, constantly shifting, scene.”
This is precisely why she loved Marc’s idea of creating a time capsule of the current Brooklyn scene. The first hurdle, Marc and Sam would find, was narrowing down the plethora of bands to the 15 that would be spread out over three nights at Arlene’s.
With an in-depth knowledge of the scene, and a litany of bands she could call on, Sam says, “We could have done two weeks worth of shows like this.”
The 15 bands that ultimately made up the lineup proved to be an eclectic mix of acts that were predominantly under the rock umbrella, and Sam was thrilled with how everything turned out.
“I do feel that what we ended up with is a really great snapshot of some of the many, many talented bands that make up our scene right now, and I feel very passionately about the fact that there is just so much talent in the scene. You go out, and there are some amazing bands in Brooklyn right now that are playing in small rooms that compare to some bands that are playing down the street in the massive venues.”
Marc wholeheartedly agrees, adding, “I was part of the CBGB scene, and I think that these bands today are just as good.”
While the bands being great came as no surprise, the concert film finding its way onto VHS was a late brainstorm nobody could have expected.
New bands on an old form of media
Originally, Marc’s plan for The Music Matters was to create a full documentary, and while that may still happen at some point, he says that with over seven hours of concert footage, and the interviews being on the shorter side, a concert film made a lot more sense.
Knowing that a concert film on Brooklyn’s indie scene may not have quite the pull of recent concert films featuring the likes of Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo, he wanted to find a way to catch people’s attention.
That’s when he came up with the idea of releasing it on VHS.
“In 2009, Cheap Trick released an album on 8-track,” he explains, “and when they asked the band why they did that, they said, ‘Because if we sell one, we’re on top of the 8-track charts.’ So I’m kind of going on that theory – if we sell one VHS, we’re on top of the VHS charts for that week.”
Of course, actually getting the movie transferred onto VHS was no easy task – it required specific equipment, and someone who knows how to use it. Luckily for Marc, when he went to see the band Go Home he happened to meet a video editor who not only had the skills to master the film for VHS, but who would also hunt down a VHS duplicator so they could make as many copies as they wanted.
Tetchy performing at Arlene's Grocery for The Music Matters
Experiencing everything for yourself
While Marc, Sam, and all the bands involved would love for as many people as possible to watch The Music Matters, they also have a much bigger goal for the film – they want it to inspire people to check out their own local scene, whether they’re in Brooklyn, or another place entirely.
Patrick says, “The thing that I appreciate is the music is the catalyst to get people outside, and meet up, and talk to each other.”
Marc seconds this, saying, “When you go to an Arlene’s Grocery you can go and say hello to the bands. They’re either at the merch booth, or they’re in the audience with you.”
Patrick adds, “When you meet people like that, in a tangible way, you can see that doing this yourself is possible. If you want to go and make a band, and do everything we all do, it is very much in the realm of possibility. Seeing other peers do that, that work day jobs, have life struggles, it can be inspiring. That’s why I’m in a band.”
All of this is why Sam says, “The community is a very real thing, and the real humanity of being part of this.”
A transplant who’s now been in NYC for nearly a decade, she adds, “What really made me love living in New York was finding a place in the scene.”
This is why, in Brooklyn’s indie scene, and in so many others, The Music Matters.
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