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DAY 3 THE FINAL CHAPTER: "Far, far away from CMJ to Babylon Brooklyn where Rockstars come out to play, there was..." (featuring: psychedelia, noise, transcript love notes, Hollywood, a dude from Vietnam, Lefty from Stalkers, Lions and Tigers folk, and incest of the liberal arts variety)
Posted in Media on Nov 02, 2007 at 12:49 AM by Abby Deering

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Rockstar Bar. Whoah. What can I say? It’s a real one-off? That doesn’t even begin to get at the absolute wackiness I witnessed that night. Boy oh boy.

First. Here’s Ross. He played at Rockstar Bar that night. I asked Ross if he’d kindly write down his email in my notebook. The transcript of what he wrote is below:

THIS IS ROSS

AND THIS IS WHAT ROSS WROTE:

"My name is Ross and I've
come a long way since I was
programming synths and sequences
in London. You can email me at
majiq-rupert@hotmail.com. I will destroy your morals at 240
bpm and reduce you to nothing
but a dripping adrenal gland at 60
bpm. My cover of Lady in Red is
better than the original. You should
sleep with me. It'll be better than
that game gear you got on
your 8th birthday. Or the time
you licked a fork in a light socket.
Minimalist. Keepin it real.
In your fuckin face globalpolitics
and abortion. 500.1000. ten. ZERO. A life in the day
a day in the night.
Nothing from everything.
Your life in a bottle.
Your mind in a jar.
Ping Pong Ping Pong."

Bring on the music maelstrom! On offer att Rockstar Bar that night: four rocks bands plus all things psychedelic/ noise/ experimental/ electronic from Electroputas (The Social Registry), Rainbowz, and our friend Ross. (All very nice people!)

It was a rowdy night, a night where kids could be kidz, and do outlandish things like… oh I don’t know…scurry off en masse to the water’s edge, only to be herded back to terre firme by the five-oh. It was a “whatever everyone here is on, I want some” kind of night. (Or did I actually hear someone say this?) One of the chaps from Vietnam was there, and while he couldn’t stand more than 15mins of his own band’s CMJ showcase (or at least this was the gist of his tale) he was absolutely gleeful at this waaaaay off-the-radar event, raving that it was one of the best things he’s been to for some time. I heard he stayed for hours.

Tim, from Baltimore-based rock band Hollywood, happens to be a recent graduate from Bard College and the place was like a who’s who of Bard alum glitterati plus extended family; they really came out of the woodwork for this one. Being ‘cool’ is definitely a part of these kids’ schtick, but not without merit. Bard and Bard-like folk are about being engaged individuals. So, if being ‘cool’ is what you’re after, you better be actively cool to join this crowd. (Nah, just kidding. Some kids just are plain-old-posers. You know who you are, aloof-master gendarmes.) But beware: as ever, the current Bard diaspora and its related peoples are drumming up a fiercely powerful, influential, and far-reaching network of creative kids. You know, the next generation of the new revolution? Whatever.

Lefty from Stalkers with stylist L. Peluso

Some dudes

The bar

Let’s talk about the real rockstar that night at Rockstar Bar — Kathleen Cholewka. She’s cool. She booked Rainbowz and Electroputas, as well as played the role of “awesome bartender.” She she also sings in the faux French band, Les Sans Cullotes, has her own band, Discovery, and is co-president of indie record label, InterContinental Ballistic Music (ICBM).

This gal’s a real mover and shaker. When assuming the part of band-booker, Cholewka explained that her aim is to keep it “interesting and fun.” And while some nights are dedicated to one genre of music (hard rock, psych rock, etc), she told me that “often enough we mix it up on purpose or have bands who are all friends with each other so we can get a good showing and have a community of music lovers in one place.” She said that, above all “you have to make your own scene no matter where you are.” Her band and friends’ bands do just that: they get together, organize a night and get great responses from both club-owner and attendees.

I asked her a bit more about Rockstar Bar, itself. She told me the place has been in business for 20 years under various names such as, ‘The Ship’s Mast’, ‘The Mermaid Inn’,’The Local’, and ‘Rocky’s’. The bar is also open during the day and this accounts for “the colourful bunch of regulars” that range from “film crew workers to iron workers to artsy types who don’t work much…” (gotta love that last one, eh?) Back in the 90’s, it was more of a hip hop place, but in the last couple of years, it’s become more of a rock venue at night. However, these days, anything goes for the most part.
“People can kind of do whatever they want at Rockstar Bar,” Cholewka says. From rock shows to movie screenings to birthdays to queer/lesbian dance parties -- you name it -- if you can throw it, you can pretty much do it.

It sort of makes me wonder, like much of my CMJ experience has made me wonder, who needs CMJ when there’s this?

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