Brooklyn's All Ears: First Ever Eye and Ear Festival at Vanishing Point

Smoke rings and plumes of fog cascaded across the enormous room, creeping in between cracks in the long row of tables set up against the wall; curling up the skinny pant legs of show-goers standing, arms crossed, at the foot of the stage; bellowing across the vast warehouse floor of one of Bushwick’s newest venues, Vanishing Point, as the second night of the first ever Eye and Ear festival got off to a sweaty, noisy and undeniably auspicious start.

Last weekend’s Eye and Ear Festival was a two-day event highlighting the best of the Brooklyn music scene, during which 39 independent record labels set up shop while 36 local bands of all different musical genres—ranging from electronic to noise to hardcore to free jazz—performed in front of hundreds of attendees, eager to scope out some new records, discover an underground band or two and have a good time doing it.
Eye and Ear Fest was organized by Todd Brooks, also known as Todd Pendu, as a way to bring New York City’s music makers and music purveyors together under one roof to underscore the incredible depth and range of the city’s local independent musicians and record labels. The festival, as the name entails, is also a celebration of aesthetics—sound, sight and the tactile sensation of good-old-fashioned records and tapes, as opposed to MP3s.

“I have just been overwhelmed by how much great music there is in New York right now,” Pendu said. “I envisioned the idea of having a really huge show with lots of bands, and inviting a bunch of great record labels to come out too so people could come, watch the bands and be entertained, but also see what these labels are putting out, first hand. Really, I wanted to create a snapshot of what’s happening in the city.”

While Pendu was familiar with a number of the bands, performers and labels he invited to participate, he emphasized the importance of representing a range of different types of sounds in order to create an eclectic showcase representative of the Brooklyn music scene. In addition, Pendu wanted to evoke a strong sense of the age-old Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethic, celebrating musicians and labels that are independently producing music and records without much financial support from outside sources.

“Punk, harcore, noise, electronic—I really wanted to represent the true diversity of underground DIY,” Pendu said. “We’re all out here, doing this on our own. These bands bring an incredible professionalism with no marketing. I kind of wanted to show that DIY really is whatever people want to do with it: You can be a punk band, a synth band, a stoner-rock band, free jazz, whatever—this ethic can be portrayed in so many different ways. And I wanted people to be inspired by that.”

Among the many labels in attendance was Abandon Ship Records, a small operation that’s been around for just a little over a year. Nate Rulli, the founder, expressed his gratitude for being included and his excitement at the impressive turnout.

“We put out some noise, some psych-rock and some acoustic stuff,” explained Nate Rulli, Abandon Ship’s founder. “I started it half for friends of mine who are in bands to be able to release their music, and half to seek out new musicians. This festival is a great chance for beginner labels like us to get some exposure. It’s also inspiring—At a time when banks are going bankrupt, it’s good to know that there’s still a booming music scene, and that the counter-culture isn’t suffering too much. As long as there are fresh ideas and new sounds, there will always be eager ears.”

On top of increased exposure, another central goal of Eye and Ear was to create a more cohesive sense of community, camaraderie and artistic appreciation among artists, musicians and music enthusiasts practicing their crafts in Brooklyn.

“Sometimes in New York, people forget the importance of community,” said Sto, founder of Cinders Gallery on Havemeyer Street, which also occupied a table at the Fest. “We are all here, and all part of the movement of people making things on their own. I love that everything here is local, New York-based. It’s all about collaboration and working together as a community.”
The Fest also provided a ground for on-site collaboration between bands and labels. On Friday night, Slasher Risk, a psychedelic experimental punk band, gave a performance, which was recorded by Rulli of Abandon Ship. On Saturday, Rulli brought a cassette duplicator to the festival in order to make copies of the recording—created only 24 hours prior—to sell to patrons that night.

“This is what New York Eye and Ear is all about,” Pendu said, after excitedly relating the story. “It represents the immediacy of DIY. If you get caught up in the corporate world, you’ll have to wait a year for a record to come out. Here, we have complete control over our music and our releases, and we are truly working in the spirit of collectivity and community.”

After such a successful kick-off, Pendu is already planning the next Eye and Ear Festival, to be held in the summer of 2009.