Joy of Booking
Stories about events and the people who make them happen.
These were chats I conducted when COVID-19 hit and many of my talented event producer friends were suddenly out of work. We looked to the future by talking about all the amazing projects they've done in the past. A really, really great group here.
Greg Bresnitz has been thrown a lot of curve balls. Dude’s been in a near fatal car crash, was fully paralyzed for several months, and was working in hospitality when COVID-19 totaled the industry. This interview was conducted around the time COVID-19 hit, but is being published a bit later in celebration of his Snacky Tunes book for (Phaidon), which landed in early October.
Taja Cheek is an extraordinary talent, her personal and professional career exhibit high levels of artistic integrity, empathy, and professionalism. She walked-out on her original major in school and into college radio, and from there built on her family’s creative entrepreneurial roots, getting involved with Creative Time, basement shows, The High Line, MoMA, and unnamable lofts. We originally spoke in late April of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, job situations, family needs, etc this whole project got put on hold for a while. While it’s now October, most of what we spoke about still rings true.
Sonali Fernando is a first generation Sri Lankan American curator, producer, and restaurateur currently living in New Orleans where she’s the Cultural Engineer for Ace Hotel. She’s been throwing parties, running restaurants, slinging drinks, and naming venues in the city for the better part of the past twenty years. She speaks about New Orleans with an authority and humbleness that can only come from being there in both good and difficult times. She’s the mayor.
Artist Jannelle Codianni is a producer, theater tech, and sonic saw enthusiast. We met back in college where she was an Art Cheerleader, co-produced spoken word shows, and ran Mass Art's women's group, W.A.I.L. (Women for Action, Integrity and Learning). As a storyteller she's won the 2012 MassMouth slam and was featured on WGBH’s Stories From the Stage. After a divorce at 35, Jannelle moved to a small cabin in the woods where she began a process of self-rediscovery that led to her current role as Executive Director of ātac, a local performing and visual arts organization serving MetroWest communities in Framingham, Massachusetts.
I met Vickie Hayward shortly after joining Ace Hotel in 2013; I was in New York and she held a complimentary role in London. She’s an incredibly focused and thoughtful producer who’s organized logistically challenging, high-concept projects with MOOG, Coal Drops Yard, and London Design Festival. In former lives, Vickie’s been a blacksmith, a set builder, and curated JR’s first exhibition in the UK. We spoke a few times across March and April 2020.
DJ Tara knows buildings. A deejay by night and urban planner by day, she’s spent a lifetime examining entryways, stairwells, bars, and booths. As a bonus to our main interview, Tara listed out a series of personal New York City landmarks and paired each with a song. The resulting playlist is a mini self-portrait that reflects on family, Saturday night radio, and rediscovering Brooklyn.
Tara Duvivier is Senior Planner at the Pratt Center for Community Development. Building on years of experience as an urban planner, Tara spends her days working towards a more just and equitable future for our city. She’s also a staple NYC DJ who cut her teeth in the early 2000s as part of the Rare Form collective. Rare Form started out throwing parties with ?uestlove and Pete Rock, and went on to found the J Dilla-tribute series Donuts Are Forever, now entering its 15th year. Tara’s also been a long-time member of the Makossa Cookout family, which itself just passed the decade mark.
The first time Emily Twombly organized a concert, she didn’t think to rent a sound system. Over time she became a fixture in the L.A. music scene, having worked with Origami Vinyl, FYF Fest, and DJing for over a decade. Today Emily is 1/3 of This is Who We Are Now, a booking group doing shows from Pappy and Harriet’s to banquet halls. She also co-organizes Presence, a market and maker space for the city’s queer community. We spoke in March & April 2020.
Pittsburgh’s Aaron Clark has helped build one of the most well-respected, expertly curated, and generally fun underground dance communities in the country. We spoke on March 30, 2020 about his coming out, life in the City of Bridges, and the importance of listening to your community.
Comedian and producer Emily Winter moved to New York in 2007 and shortly after arriving, walked in on Stephen Colbert in his underwear. Over the next decade or so she worked on a yacht, raised over $50k for the ACLU, was featured on The TODAY Show, and began writing jokes for NPR’s "Ask Me Another”. There’s a lot more too, check her website out. Before COVID-19 shut the world down, she was gearing up to co-produce the 2020 Brooklyn Comedy Festival. We talked about all that and more on April 6, 2020.
Dan Shea has been advocating for mutant sounds, psychedelic riffs, and the support of local, working-class artists for nearly two decades. Based in Boston, Dan’s white whale has been opening a legitimate and sustainable venue, but along the way he’s lost some rooms to police raids and others to partnerships turned sour. We spoke in late March about all that, COVID-19, and what’s next.
Rachel Coddington is the Managing Director of Design Week Portland. Additionally, she's an independent producer who has been involved with XOXO, World Domination Summit, the Oregon Beer Awards, and the One Motorcycle Show. On April 2nd, we spoke about vendor relationships, how XOXO made her a better producer, and the importance of flexibility.
Recently, Sophia linked up with her longtime friend and curatorial partner Anna Schechter to form Summertime Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to address the marginalization and segregation of artists with intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions.
Born into a world of live music and bars, Dana’s now junior talent buyer at Ottobar, has a personal curatorial practice called Unregistered Nurse, and by day works at the nonprofit Strong City Baltimore.