Brooklyn's Underground Music Scene

I'd heard a lot about it from my roommate Nate, but I waited until it was my last weekend in Brooklyn to go and explore it for myself. Brooklyn is where the bleeding edge of the music scene in New York is, and in contrast to the hugely regulated scene on Manhattan, Brooklyn has a flourishing underground scene in old factories and warehouses.

On Saturday, after my last shift at the Park Slope Coop, I went to the ironically named Silent Barn on Wyckoff Avenue, in Bushwick deep in the east of Brooklyn. The Silent Barn is an innocuously bland looking building which enjoys the camouflage of a large latino discoteca next door, which masks much of the sound it makes. Inside, hipsters thronged, taking photographs of each other; the air was thick with tobacco and marijuana smoke. A father with his two year old daughter on his shoulders, a cat, the kitchen complete with pots and fly strips, and old sofas on which people were reading beneath lamps all gave the place a homely feeling. It was under-ventilated and grafittied to the hilt. Beer was available downstairs, at prices which were way too legal for my liking (I always feel ripped off buying a beer in a bar in America). The bands played in the middle of a large open space; the concert was organized the the legendary event promoter Todd P. I saw These Are Powers (wall of electronic sound and guitars, fistycuffs between guitarist and someone moshing) and Marnie Stern (playing alone with her IPod).

Sunday I joined my now-ex roommate Nate (who photographs and blogs prolifically on this scene) at Death by Audio in Williamsburg. Here he is caught behind his own camera lens.