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The Origins of Iconic Images from NYC's Musical History Explained

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The Origins of Iconic Images from NYC's Musical History Explained COLUMNS COLUMNS LANDMARKS THE BRONX The places, spaces, and monuments of A column on NYC's musical past, the gear and present, and future. processes that inform STUDIO B the music we make. six years before hannah, Marnie, and their PAST FEATURED LANDMARKS 1 MAX NEUHAUS’ “TIMES SQUARE” friends set cameras rolling in Greenpoint and made the 2 THE THING SECONDHAND STORE neighborhood a nationally notorious hipster enclave, 3 THE LOFT this column has focused on the the building at 259 Banker Street —located on a desolate, 4 MARCY HOTEL creative limits of gear and space in mu- warehouse-dotted stretch of asphalt—became, for a few 5 ANDY WARHOL’S FACTORY sic-making, but there are simpler, far more short years, the only place in town for a real sweat-and- 6 QUEENSBRIDGE HOUSES significant limitations: using people instead brew-fueled dance party. 7 RECORD MART 1 7 6 of machines; writing for the radio; juggling It was the mid-aughts—the nadir of New York’s un- 8 DEITCH PROJECTS 5 the signifiers of your genre. Decisions in derground dance-music scene—and Manhattan club life 9 AREA!SHELTER!VINYL 8 5 QUEENS these categories affect the final products had been in retreat after years of embattlement under 7 5 more than any boutique preamp ever Giuliani. The owners of the Delancey in Manhattan and could. For Andrew Raposo and his band Studio A in Miami saw an opportunity for a new dance 2 Midnight Magic, this means dealing with club, which they christened Studio B. The space had 3 the limits and expectations of disco music room for a generous dancefloor, and was located in an 9 8 8 and playing in a live disco band. In addition area zoned for industry (never mind the fact that some MANHATTAN to Midnight Magic, Raposo and his studio local building owners were in the process of moving new partner Morgan Wiley operate the Midnight residents into the area, proper permits notwithstand- 4 Sound Studio in Greenpoint. ing), though it was still close enough to the booming young populace in Williamsburg. RBMA: What are the distinct production The two-story, 17,000-plus square-foot room offi- elements that you hold on to from disco’s cially opened in the fall of 2006. One of its first events heyday? was a Todd P. party featuring experimental noise band LOGOS Black Dice. Soon Studio B was the place to see acts like Andrew Raposo: Percolating synth arpeg- Hercules & Love Affair, Trevor Jackson, Little Boots, WHAT: STUDIO B gios, horn and string arrangements, big vo- Andrew W.K. (who hosted indie-rock karaoke), Opti- cals with lots of harmonies, and, yes, some- mo, Diplo, and Brazilian Girls. And of course there was WHERE: 259 BANKER ST., GREENPOINT times octaves on the bass. LCD Soundsystem, who would go on to sell out Madison The origins of WHEN: 2006-2009 Square Garden a few years later. Relatively isolated from WHY: RBMA: What happened to the disco the police’s watch, Studio B channeled the anything-goes EPICENTER OF iconic images from DANCE-ROCK AND bridge? approach of ’90s Manhattan clubland—the thriving ELECTRO-HOUSE NYC's musical history dance-rock scene finally had a home in Brooklyn. AR: I believe Todd Terje devised a plan to But the owners’ decision to add a rooftop garden explained. edit the disco bridge out of history. Ask peo- and outdoor bar to the space proved to be Studio B’s ple to hum the bridge from a classic disco undoing. Noise complaints started rolling in. Permits STATEN ISLAND song they’ve heard on the dancefloor re- for the extra construction were improperly filed, or not BROOKLYN run-dmc was one of the first rap acts to A&R at Island Records and now the CEO cently and they can’t. filed at all, and to make matters worse, the club now had break into the mainstream. In addition to of Columbia, commissioned the logo from tenants in the adjoining building. After much back-and- RBMA: Is recording live drums still worth forth with the local community board, and after repeat- their clockwork rhymes, earworm hooks, and the label’s in-house team, specifically one it to you? ed closings and tantalizingly brief re-openings, Studio B guitar riffs that fed their cross-genre appeal, Stephanie Nash. shut down for good in July 2009. But not before estab- AR: Very much so! I can’t imagine working lishing the blueprint for how to properly throw down in it didn’t hurt that the Hollis, Queens, trio Nash, now co-principal of Michael Nash on a whole record that does not incorporate the outer boroughs. !ADRIENNE DAY live drum and percussion elements. Find- looked sharp in unscuffed, unlaced shell-toe Associates, a London design studio, did not ing new and better ways of recording live Adidas, fedoras and Kangol hats, and thick expect any individual credit. “I remember drums is probably the most fun one can gold chains. Keeping with their tougher- listening [to the music] and thinking how have as an engineer. than-leather image was a killer logo that visually typographic it was,” she says via RBMA: What are the production tricks you’ve learned in the last year that have be- looked invincible writ large on t-shirts and email. “Rap was very inspirational for me at come integral to your workflow? merch. Stacked between two thick red lines that time: large, meaningful, hard-hitting and set in Franklin Gothic Heavy, the all- words used with such power that I had not AR: Parallel compression. Placing a mic on the beater side of the kick drum. Playlist TOP 5… caps RUN and DMC form one of the most heard before.” Her choice of the typeface view in Pro Tools. RESIDENT DJS imitated logos of all time. came about simply: “At the time we had RBMA: Many clubs aren’t well equipped to IN NYC 1 2 3 4 5 handle live dance bands. How do you deal? DAVE Q REM KOOLHAUS MIKE SERVITO JAMES FRIEDMAN TAIMUR & FAHAD Finding out who designed it… that’s a limited number of fonts available, and Whether or not you’ve Brooklyn monthly Hailing from Detroit, Friedman has toiled Blkmarket Membership tricky. Graffiti artist turned designer Cey Franklin Gothic was ‘tough’ and forthright PRESENTED BY heard him, you’ve TURRBOTAX® has enough Servito holds down for over a decade. presents techno on a AR: If the only reason you’re thinking of certainly felt residents for three the Bunker’s late As the force behind grand scale, so you’d Adams, who did the hand-lettering on without being old-fashioned or faddish. pulling the plug on a show is because the Dave’s influence: parties, but let’s shift with all-vi- Throne of Blood and imagine that resi- his Dub War parties just focus on one. nyl sets ensnaring Let’s Play House, dents Taimur & Fahad Run-DMC’s self-titled debut, is often given [It’s a] good, solid, no-nonsense font. Run- sound system doesn’t meet the require- were among the first Koolhaus, aka party the best of Chicago, he’s got interna- (two-thirds of the ments of your tech rider, you’re most likely stateside to fea- cofounder Tim Saputo, Detroit, and beyond. tional cred. But he party’s management) credit by mistake. When asked, Adams DMC’s name helped in having two sets of an asshole. If we can’t gate the drums or DJs jetting in from abroad might get the biggest ture dubstep. He’s is behind the crew’s His choices make remains a local at have their hands full buss-limit all three horns, I’m not going billing on the flyer, but local jocks can do just remained steps ahead, inimitable visual obvious his lifelong heart, championing the evening of. But responded, “To this day, nobody really three letters.” The fact that it’s lasted so long as much damage. Be they promoters, up-and-comers, championing emerg- aesthetic, and he’s obsession with dance the city’s sounds and listening to their to throw a tantrum about it. Our band can or label owners, New York is rife with immensely ing sounds you didn’t been integral in music, plus have a bringing disco-rinsed meticulously crafted knows for sure exactly who did it. But it she attributes to MF Benton, the typeface’s play and our singer can sing and perform- talented locals who are helping make the scene know you should be forging its sweaty, serious knack for house to its clubs. warm-ups, you’d never ing live is our favorite thing to do. particularly special right now. The message from obsessed with yet. house-centric sound. keeping you out well know it. was done by a designer in England that did designer, and the strength of Run-DMC these five is clear: skip the residents’ sets at past bedtime. your peril. the King of Rock album and the ‘You Talk itself. “If the same graphic had been done !NICK SYLVESTER Too Much’ single [in 1985].” Now the truth for a pop band, it would not have acquired is out: Ashley Newton, then the head of the same kudos.” !SUE APFELBAUM 12 13.
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