MUSIC IS OUR HERO!
The MUSIC IS OUR HERO! Podcast is a creative hub where stories, artistry, and community collide. Each episode dives into conversations that inspire, empower, and spark new ideas—because art isn’t just what we make, it’s the community we build together.
Created and hosted by producer, engineer, DJ, and lifelong music advocate Drea Young, the podcast is dedicated to the indie community, as well as the people who bring it to life. With decades of industry experience—from graphic design to engineering in NYC to the live-event world—Drea brings an open-format approach, deep technical insight, and a genuine passion for supporting the people who keep indie arts and music alive. Her mission is to uplift, explore, and amplify community—one episode at a time.
MUSIC IS OUR HERO!
Inside Nostalgia Fishtown: Building Space for Philly’s Creative Community
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In this episode we sit down with Joe, owner of Nostalgia Fishtown, to talk about its beginnings, the process of bringing his and his partner’s vision to life, and what’s ahead.
We also explore why spaces like Nostalgia matter to Philadelphia’s arts community — bringing artists and creatives together to connect, create, and grow.
If you care about local music, art, community, and the people creating spaces for it all to thrive, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.
Watch the MUSIC IS OUR HERO! full podcast interview with Joe on YouTube.
Connect with Nostalgia!
Official Website
Produced, edited, mixed, and artwork designed by Drea Young
Theme song composed by Keith Moffett
Don't miss out! Follow MUSIC IS OUR HERO! on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and listen to our podcast on your go-to streaming service.
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#MUSICISOURHERO
Hey everyone and welcome to the Busic Out Hero Podcast, hosted by Grammy Award winners Radio. Share stories, list each other off in the art. Each episode will dive into conversations inspire and power and spark new ideas. Because art isn't just about what we make. It's about the community we build together. So grab a steep, get coffee, and let's grow in creativity side by side. The music is our Europe podcast for creativity, community, and inspiration comes to light.
SPEAKER_00Alright, here I am today in Fishtown in Philadelphia at Nostalgia. Yeah with Joe. Nostalgia is like this uh, let's see, what have you guys done here? It's you're basically a couple musicians. It's you and Morgan, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and my partner Morgan. Uh she we've been together for like 10 years now. So um, but yeah, yeah, we uh we're both musicians. That's where we kind of started here in Philadelphia. We went to University of the Arts, and um kind of during our time there, that's when kind of this idea started festering in our brain of uh starting one day starting a business that was about like performance and uh you know events and the arts, all that good stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and what exactly is this venue? How would you describe it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so Nostalgia Fishtown is essentially a um professional yet DIY uh music and event space, um, which is uh on the first floor of our um mixed commercial slash residential uh house in Fishtown.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um this place used to be a garage, and then prior to that, it was like a furniture repair um zoning, and then prior to that it was just like a big hollowed-out um carriage house. And so um, so yeah, so when we um way down the road in our timeline of starting this thing, when we saw this place, we were just like, this is it, we gotta make this our uh kind of our dream business. And yeah, so that's what nostalgia is. It's it's at its root, uh, it's our home. Yeah. But like um, but the I think that's what's special about it is you're like kind of watching a really intimate show or you know, event uh in our uh kind of garage space.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um super cool. So let's just learn a little bit more about you and your background in music. Um how is it has it been an important part of your life or where where does it come from? How long have you been in the music stuff?
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, I like to start with this. My parents are both not musicians, so I'm not one of those like um super early on uh gifted musicians. Actually, music was really kind of a steep um you know learning curve for me. Uh I really started getting into it in band. Uh shout out to my Montgomery school district that uh uh school band? Yeah, just school band. Uh I I grew up kind of near the uh like Central Jersey area, like Princeton area. Okay. And um, yeah, once I kind of started playing trumpet, that's my main instrument. Um I started joining the band and um met all my like really close friends, and then like uh since since that you know kind of middle school phase, I this band really took over my life, and it's what I thought about like every second of every day. And um by high school, I was just like, this is a hundred percent what I want to go into after I graduate. Like I can't imagine myself being with any other type of people besides uh musicians in my like professional career. So that was my big kind of um uh inspiration was you know the Montgomery high school band. And um in high school I started like um also really enjoying uh hosting um little house shows and always having my band friends over jamming. And I think that's kind of where the the idea of this kind of really started. Maybe I didn't know it at the time, but I really I loved playing trumpet, I loved performing, but deep down it was more of the um the events and the performances that bringing everyone together. Yeah, bringing everyone together, yeah. And so I guess providing the space, I guess, too. Definitely, yeah. My parents were just like like have everybody over, let's go. I mean my parents. Oh yeah, I had the coolest parents um in high school, like um they were older than my other friends uh parents. Um but yeah, they were just like, yeah, like let's let's throw um um let's throw a house show in the basement, you know, let's do it. Um and I I credit this one event to really kick starting this love of DIY, and it was um my second year in uh college and um I just joined a band uh in the Philly area called Whack Cheddar, and I was the youngest person in the band, and I really wanted to show these guys like hey, like I could throw a really cool house show for us. Um and my parents were like, Yeah, let's do it like um when during winter break. So, like in the in the high school Facebook group chat uh for class of 2016, I was just like, yo, I'm I'm in this band, I'm gonna throw a show in my parents' basement. There's the fly. We might have to do a fly count on the podcast with how many we swat. Um, but yeah, anyway, um, yeah, there's so many, so many different friend groups came from high school, and it was just like over a hundred people there, and it was just so much fun. There was so much love in the room, and a lot of people like reconnecting. And I don't know, that night in particular was just like, oh my gosh, like I need to do something like this.
SPEAKER_00And this was when you were still in high school.
SPEAKER_02Uh this was uh I was uh freshly out of high school. This was when I um my second year at UARTS. Okay. And we can talk about UARTs too, but that's kind of like um in terms of trumpet and in terms of wanting to do a performance space as my career, that's where it really started.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So when when did you start going to UARTs?
SPEAKER_02So I went started UARTs in 2016, the fall of 2016. Um, and uh with what goal in mind?
SPEAKER_00Like what did you go for?
SPEAKER_02So I went for trumpet performance, and uh UARTs had this really cool program where in your fifth year you can get a master's in teaching. Um so my goal was like, you know what, I'm just gonna like try the performance thing, but UARTs was always like, hey, get this uh fifth year so you can have something to fall back on if you know performance isn't working out. So um that's what I did, and like you know, I graduated 2020 COVID time, um, got my master's also during the COVID time, and um UARTs was great. I just gotta say, like UARTs was honestly the last of a dying breed in terms of like small uh conservatory style music school. Like when did they close? Uh they closed, I think, in like 2023. That was like abrupt, right? Oh my gosh, yeah. It was uh because you know, something about UARTs is very familial. Like the uh your teachers are more so your your family, and you know, you don't just you don't just see them at school, you see them at their gigs, you you invite them to your you know your birthday party, you know, like they really become part of your family at UARTs. And um, and when you gr when you graduate, just you you everyone stays very close. Yeah. So it wasn't like um it it was very it was a very deep deep mourning and loss when UARTs closed. And it yeah, it was it was a big uh real estate grab by the um Board of Trustees. And you know, uh all art schools were really uh struggling after like the COVID um deficit and like you know student um interest in the arts and things like that. So um but in my timeline of starting this space, it was very, very crucial in our um in our progress with how in how motivated we were in in chasing this dream because right around when we s when we got this property and it was just an abandoned uh you know garage on the first floor, um, that's when UART's closed, and we were like, We gotta we gotta do this, we can't sit on this any longer. Um so it really lit a fire under us. Um because you know that community was mourning and we were just like, you know, let's just get all together. And um, so yeah, that's when we started doing uh you know little underground secret events here.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, and so that was what like 2023, 2024. Yeah, 2023 is when and was it like you hadn't made it like like this is nice, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It was it the the the floors were all caved in, the brick was like some of the bricks you can just like poke your finger through. Um, and um there were still flies back then. Flies never went away, but um yeah, there was there was no like ceiling, it was just kind of just like the joists, um, and there was especially no uh storefront entrance that we have now. Yeah, but it was just a garage door. But um we quickly did renovations um and uh just just the cosmetically get it looking presentable. Um it was still pretty a bare bones garage then, but um we fixed up the brick, we fixed up the the floor and the ceiling, and yeah, we started doing small little secret shows with our which started as our you know UARTs kind of community, and then it just like for six months after that, it just absolutely exploded with interest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And people just really um like through word of mouth, and we then we started with an Instagram, and uh by the end of that that six month period in 2023, um, we were doing like like 20 to 25 events a month. And we were doing like a you know, we did like the house show kind of business model, which is like, hey, pay what you want. This is this.
SPEAKER_00And then like do you give and then you split that to the bands or how do you have a lot of people? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we I think we took like 20% or 30% uh of the donations, and we gave the other the rest of it to the artist. And um, but like most DIY residential venues, um, to avoid that kind of commercial gray zone, yeah, you just kinda you have a donation. There's no tickets, there's no um uh you know, pay entry.
SPEAKER_00And how do you find it? What how how are people with that?
SPEAKER_02Do they like Oh yeah, it was cool, you know. Like obviously when there was a like a like a temple jazz show here, it would be, you know, a few donations here and there. But also sometimes we would have a show where everybody would donate because you know they they really liked our space and they wanted to contribute to because everyone knew like this was the start of like our like startup journey.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um people knew that we uh we were in it for the long haul. Um so yeah, for those six months it was an an an incredibly huge proof of concept. Um we were like, oh my gosh, like uh not only is this spreading through water mouth, things are going viral on Instagram, yeah. We're starting to host like really notable artists. Um so that's when like me and Morgan um uh figuratively speaking, we took like the blood oath. We were just like, we have to see this thing through. Um and uh when you know the city showed up and they were like, what are you guys doing here?
SPEAKER_00All of a sudden business.
SPEAKER_02They were just like, like, you know, your place is like commercially zoned and it allows this, which we were like, oh, okay, cool. And they were just like, no, like we actually have to like give you cease operations until you like get this legit. Um and I tell people all the time, like um, that was the best thing that ever happened to us. Like, um, the city was super supportive. They were they were so on like on our in our corner with getting like all the approvals and all the inspections and uh licenses, and we could talk more about that, but um, but yeah, the um kind of that shutdown um or cease operations or whatever was really crucial in getting us to this very official, yeah, yeah, an official place where we can you know just open it up to the public. And um it took a very long time. It took us like uh pretty much two years after that shutdown to um get everything to where it needed to be.
SPEAKER_00Were you hosting anything in those two years?
SPEAKER_02No, uh you know, the only thing that we were hosting was like um neighborhood uh like um like what is this place kind of events, so people can sign a letter of support. Okay, because the only stipulation that we needed to do to get our zoning approved is this thing called a special exception. Um it's much less severe than a variance, um but uh yeah, special exception, you just need a neighborhood vote that approves the use of um assembly and entertainment, which is what we have it approved for now. And uh yeah, we have we got unanimous votes, yes. We got hundreds and hundreds of neighbor signatures.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, that's so cool. Yeah, and um uh I can't even imagine how like amazing that felt, like all the support.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the support was definitely what kept us going because I I don't think what a lot of people didn't I don't think a lot of people didn't really know is like the amount of like money and investment that me and my family was putting into this dream, you know, everyone was so on board, but like just that one Um Meeting that goes wrong could jeopardize all that investment that was already put into it. So um if it wasn't for those people like stopping in and like turning their head twice, being like, what the heck is this place? And then like you know, signing and following our story, um it who knows that we would have gotten over those next few hurdles that we ran into when trying to uh you know get this place open.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You know, I say nostalgia, you say nostalgia. Is it matter how it's pronounced that word?
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh, my dad says it the funniest way ever. It's like he I can't even I can't even do it. He says like nostalgia nostalgia. Like he's got like a little bit of like a um I don't know, like a boomer.
SPEAKER_00Is it a word that yeah, is it a word?
SPEAKER_02I call it nostalgia. I say juh, nostalgia.
SPEAKER_00Nostalgia.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, some people say nostalgia.
SPEAKER_00What was I saying? I said I don't know what I opened up with, but I mean it's the word, it's the same word that we always use.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I can I it's a great name.
SPEAKER_00What how did you guys come up with that?
SPEAKER_02That's a um great question. I don't think anyone has really asked me that yet. So uh the name was the hardest part in the in the in the creative process, um, because like we we put so much weight on this project in terms of like I said, the investment and the time and the and I I I rejected all these teaching jobs after school. I'm just like, I'm seeing this through. Um and um the name was just like, man, name has to be like spot on. Yeah, and it wasn't until we started putting my records from my childhood on the wall. Okay, and I was with my mom, and I was just thinking to myself, it was like, hey, like, like I'm gonna look at I'm gonna look at these records and I'm gonna look at this special time with my mom kind of getting this dream project together, and I'm gonna look back at this and kind of feel um you know nostalgic about it. And nostalgia has always kind of been a really huge emotion in my life. Like when I write music, it usually has to do with something nostalgic.
SPEAKER_00That's why it's a perfect name. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I feel like in this digital age where everyone's just like brainwashed with their phones, and I feel like um the younger generation is starting to take a curve in like kind of connecting with something from their childhood rather than connecting with something that's on a screen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And if you pair that with music and art, I feel like that's just something that um is super not only marketable, it but something super important. And yeah, so when we were just like uh decorating the space, you know, obviously I love older mid-century modern furniture and the records on the wall, and we were just like, Yeah, let's put nostalgic in like a thesaurus or whatever, and of you know, we were just like, you know what, nostalgia, let's just call it what it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, like uh let's the concept is when you walk in, we want you to feel really um transported back to like you know a simpler time. You're gonna be like in the moment watching music, um or like a film screening or a comedy act or whatever. And um we just ran with it. We were just we saw the the marketing and we saw the the the attention grab of it and we went with it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's a great it's a it's it's genius, you know, as as you know, it takes a minute to think of a name, but when you know you have it, because music that's what music does to people. Like we all grow up in America, anyways. My experience has been like, you know, it it's yours teenage years. So teenage years with music is what no matter what age you get, as you get older, that music you're always it's always gonna be what you're nostalgic for. So it's like such a great name because it's something that happens to everybody in the music and the arts. Like the music that makes you feel a certain type of way isn't gonna make me feel any type of way because I didn't grow up on it. Yeah, you know, I didn't go through all the teenage, like I was like 90s, you know, so lots of grunge rock. Yeah, um, there's like the earlier EVM.
SPEAKER_02Woodstock, we talked about Woodstock when you showed up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, Woodstock 99 was insane. Yeah, don't know what I was doing there, don't know where my parents were. But yeah, it's a great name. And then, like, when I walked in today, there's all these like old TVs. Where are they? They're up there. Where did you get them at like a thrift store? Why do you have all these old TVs?
SPEAKER_02So are they real? Those, yes, they're yeah, they're all real. Um, we're talking about some old CRT TVs that are on display. Um, so we have one big, we call them Big Chungus, the the big CRT that's connected to our little live stream camera.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, which I love. It's not a flat screen.
SPEAKER_02No, yeah, and it's it's from my high school. So when I went online to try to find one, you really can't find a wall mount anymore that supports that heavy of a box TV.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and I'm like, wait a minute. My high school has I think hundreds of these. So I went to my high school, um, which I still work at once a week in the in the wintertime. Okay. Um, I teach one of the after school bands there. But so, you know, I I get to see my uh my old teachers all the time, and I was like, hey, do you guys still use this TV? They were like, no, like we we don't like even the morning announcements are on our like smart boards now.
SPEAKER_00Um smartboards, I didn't even think of that.
SPEAKER_02Or whatever, some project.
SPEAKER_00Not well, yeah, but I'm just saying, I haven't schooled in a long time.
SPEAKER_02Before, yeah, and I was just like, Man, can I can I have this for uh for my my little project I'm doing? They looked at me like, Why do you want this? I'm like, we'll see, you'll see. Um, and sure enough, yeah, we got it installed, and then like uh full such a full circle moment, like one of the biggest artists we had in here recently was Tierra Whack. Okay, and uh she did a video in here and um promoting her new album, and the her whole team was like, We gotta incorporate this TV. This is so cool. And so it's so funny. Yeah, so now when you watch her like most recent video, like it's prominently featured, and I was like, Man, that was in Mr. Woodworth's choir room when I was like you know, 16. Yeah, but um, but yeah, so there's a whole bunch. Uh it's a matter of it essentially it's it's part of a larger project that I have procrastinated on.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02I have really bad ADHD and Who doesn't? Oh yeah. I mean it especially starting this whole thing and I had no structure. Oh my gosh. It was starting one project and leaving another one, and um so in terms of my mental health, man, it it was a really big wake-up call um when this thing really started picking up. But yeah, I want to I want to do something I want to do a really cool display with the TVs displaying different little things that are um uh whether it's our logo or old TV shows and all that good stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's so cool. All right, so let's talk about like taking the leap into this business. So you were just uh a little garage having some shows, and then the city shows up and is like, All right, let's make this legit. Yeah. Um what are some of the things that you never thought of like as business wise, like opening a venue that you didn't that you learned along the way?
SPEAKER_02Um expensive but worth it. Yeah. Don't I my first word of advice is don't get intimidated. Um if you really like believe and have some proof of concept, like like get that expensive lawyer that says they will get it done for you. Because if it wasn't for this little team of lawyer, uh more uh zoning attorney to be specific, um, architect, contractor, like if we didn't get this team together, we would be so screwed. Um and um they were just incredible. They're and they also every single person that we got like on this little team of ours when we did take on this project was somehow either connected to UARts or the arts in general. And it was just like um like our architect was like, Oh my god, I went to UARts when it was called Philadelphia Arts Academy or whatever back in the day. Or um, yeah, like our attorney was uh uh one of the supporters of UARTs back in the day, and um yeah, it was just so they were all about it. They have the idea above the bathroom. We have the uh the charter from the dean's office. Okay. Um from UARts, and you know, when they walked in, they were like, Oh my gosh, like I went there or I did something there or whatever. Um, and our our contractor's a musician and um has a lot of ties in actually building a lot of the little art spaces in this uh neighborhood. So um, so yeah, first and foremost, get yourself a team that has not only a lot of confidence in themselves, but like, you know, uh understands uh you know what you're really going for. And so yeah, professionals. Yeah, professionals that, you know, also um, because there were so many um so so so mainly contractors, but there is there was a lot of attorneys that I kind of told them over the phone like what I'm trying to do, and they were just like, This is some kid that just has these crazy unrealistic ambitions, and it was a little bit of like quick judgment because me and Morgan were were you know we're we're under 30, right? Um, and so we did get a lot of like you guys don't know, you know, but um but but those people didn't get hired, right? No, it was the people that were just like we can make this happen, hell yeah, let's go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the good vibes.
SPEAKER_02Um and so yeah, so stage one was getting the neighborhood approval, and that was more of a campaign, like a political campaign than anything. You you you had to get signatures and you had to um I just got I got so good during that time of like like just cohesively telling people about the space. Um because I every single person that walked by and checked out our stuff, you know, I was I was just getting it was just like a little bit of practice, like you know, telling you selling it to them. And so that really bolstered my confidence up when it came to these really big zoning hearings, um, because you know, you had to answer a lot of tough questions, and um and or some you know, some people are crazy. That I think one of the questions we got during our first zoning hearing was what happens to your zoning if you die? And our attorney was like, Let's hope they don't die. Like, what type of questions are we asking here?
SPEAKER_00Um but like I don't know, I'll be dead.
SPEAKER_02Like yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Whatever I mean, I guess with business you have to figure out what you're doing with the business.
SPEAKER_02Whatever, yeah, whatever whatever business that comes in here next, or whatever, I don't know. But um uh so yeah, so it was a it was a big campaign to get um all of the votes. We and then and then you get moved up to the city level, which is much more intimidating because they have their attorneys kind of cross-interjecting um you know, with yours, and you know, you're just like, man, is it you get to these points where it's like, man, is this worth it? Like I had a lot of fun, and we had a lot of people here during our startup, but man, this is like getting really scary because you know it gets expensive and you know you get asked these really difficult questions like like do you have an ADA bathroom? Like, and I'm just like no, but Philly's hard too.
SPEAKER_00How can we yeah, yeah, because you made this into a legit business, right?
SPEAKER_02100%. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I've heard Philly is tough.
SPEAKER_02It's tough, but you know, it's that they, you know, I like it that way because they made sure that you know, we're a safe and inclusive spot. Like they they're not just like turning a blind eye to anybody, they they they really make sure that they check off every box and um kind of like getting your car inspected.
SPEAKER_00I lived I lived in Florida uh way back when I went to school with full sale, and um you don't get your car inspected there ever.
SPEAKER_02Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00And I, you know, as much as we don't like to get our cars inspected, like what you're saying, like how the city, um, you know, just making it a safe space, right? Like a physically safe space, so no one nothing can go wrong while people are in here, and then that's gonna be a bigger problem. Because I'm like, these people in Florida, I'm like, you're never getting your car, like no one's gonna a lot of people are never gonna get the car.
SPEAKER_02The brakes might give out and crash into people.
SPEAKER_00They're never gonna fix their car if they don't have to get it inspected. They're just gonna drive it around until like the wheels fall off. So you know, it kind of reminds me that I'm like, you know, an inspection is good. Like maybe we don't need it once a year, but like at the end of the day, it's keeping your car tuned up to like be safe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it was a learning curve for us. Like, we didn't know that we had to get like crowd management certification. Like, what the heck?
SPEAKER_00Like, how many people can fit in here?
SPEAKER_0270.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um, which was a blessing and a curse because we didn't realize that after you go over 50, you need more licenses and more permits. Um, but uh, I guess just to wrap up the whole uh permit and licensing thing, um, the the the scariest and hardest thing we had to go to through was getting a variance for our bathroom. We had to go to the city and be like, hey, like our bathroom's not ADA, we need a variance for it. Um, but it wasn't if it wasn't for the community on Jefferson Street here, uh, I mean, they we got signatures from our our neighbors uh Pearls, the business Pearl, shout-out Pearls. Uh the owner Sean signed a letter saying, like, hey, any uh nostalgia fishtown uh patron has access to our ADA bathroom. And that's the city was super like pumped that we went so out of our way to like be inclusive. Um and yeah, we got all of our variances and but like uh talk about stress. Like that meeting, we already did all the renovations, we already did like the a ginormous investment has already been put into it, and then like all of a sudden the whole thing's jeopardized, and it's all like reliant on this one vote at this one meeting, yeah, and it was just so stressful. It was like the most stressed I think I've ever, ever, ever been. Um because so many people are like rooting for you, and um and so yeah, we we we went in. I went in wearing a nice, nice suit to this plumbing meeting.
SPEAKER_00You fell you're like, look at me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they the the board and you walk in and it's crazy. It's like it's like you feel like you're at just like this grand trial, the big marble and oak uh pattern.
SPEAKER_00Did you feel like important though?
SPEAKER_02Well you're nice to be like they said they said they were like state and spell your name. I'm like, oh man, I haven't spelled Joseph in a while.
SPEAKER_00Jeez, like but no, it was very intimidating and um so and you and during this time you were like, man, like like you said, you were like like we were just having fun, like it was all fun. Now, like what did we get ourselves into? Was there any point then you were like screw this or no?
SPEAKER_02Because everything had been really so many times and then what kept you going? It well it was it was Morgan um not dumping my ass when I would have like a full-on like mental breakdown. Oh man. Um, but no, dude, it was a hundred percent my parents, like just they had the same energy as that first show that I that I threw when I was a sophomore in college. Yeah, that's amazing. They were just like, let's freaking do this thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like and were they so they're a huge part of being able to see the stream through?
SPEAKER_02Oh massive, massive. There were so many times where um you know that my URS degree uh like gave me the opportunity to be, I think I got like two or three um opportunities after that degree to just become a a full-fledged full-time band director at a school. Um and I I I kind of um I had a lot of like insecurities. Like I didn't want to be selfish and be like, I'm gonna go for this dream, like screw that security, screw that that money. Um and uh I kind of I kind of like pitched it to them, like what should I do? And they're just like, you know what, you've been you you got screwed over by COVID. There's a lot of really like a lot of hardships that I went through like my senior year of college, and they were like, You're gonna we're gonna get redemption on all this crap that happened to you. Like we're we're you're not gonna settle. You can do that later in life if the other thing doesn't work out. And so yeah, it was yeah, it was it was uh it was primarily them really um paving the way.
SPEAKER_00Now let me ask you, like a venue like this, you don't sell alcohol, right?
SPEAKER_02No alcohol in that.
SPEAKER_00Is it a BYOB? Can you bring it? Um and then like so you don't have any food or alcohol.
SPEAKER_02No food or alcohol.
SPEAKER_00So that because that would be a lot more to deal with.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um it'd also be a lot more revenue, but like exactly what you're saying. It's a lot more to deal with, so much more to deal with. More insurance gets involved, more so much more expensive. Yeah, and that honestly, like the there's so many incredible places like 30 seconds from us that offer uh you know food and yeah, so you can support others in the community, which is cool by doing that.
SPEAKER_00Like, and also I kind of love that about this space. Like, yeah, you can bring your own, but that's not what what really sucks about those venues when I've had to do like I've done gigs out of whatever, it's like the bar sales, and as a DJ, it's like yeah, I drank and whatever. I've been drinking since 1994. I'm not like an extreme alcoholic or anything like that, but I drank, but like it's like pushing people to drink because it makes you look good because there's bar sales is like a motto that I just don't want. Yeah, you know, so I like the fact that it's a place where alcohol isn't necess it's not pushed because it doesn't need to be pushed because you found other ways to do your business. And drinking's going down, anyways, which I'm so happy honestly for the younger generation like getting woke to like the badness of alcohol. I mean, I I mean, you know, I don't not like it, but it's a control. I feel like it's a control thing with the government. Like, because the more you drink, the more you're just depressed, the more like you have no control over your life, the more you know what I mean? Like, it's just it's so I I love that you actually don't and like you said, supporting other businesses right around you, it's like what I'm all about.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, definitely. Um, and what I've noticed is I think like um when I when someone goes, Oh, is there a cover tonight with a little bit of like a tone to it? I'm like, Yeah, it's but we're BYOB. They immediately go Immediately, they're like, wait, I can go like I can bring a six-pack to the show and like not spend a gazillion dollars on booze. I can like just enjoy the show. And like the amount of built-in just foot traffic and people walking in has exponentially grown so much. I think the last I don't like I think almost every Friday and Saturday night show we've had in the in the last like three, four weeks has been sold out. And it's it's it's people being like, what the heck is this place? Me being like, check out our check out our website, and we're BYOB. And then next thing you know, they come with their friends. Oh, my friends are from out of out of town. I had to show them this cool garage venue. And I don't know, I think that's just kind of the marketing we're going for. And you know, we make our we make some revenue from the door split. We also make a good amount of revenue from uh rental for rehearsal, and um, I mean, we we have some wedding ceremonies in the books, we have a lot of uh video and music recording, but we also sell you know vintage t-shirts in the front, and we make a lot of revenue from that too, just because it just goes with our brand. Like um, you're in this space, you're watching a show, you're feeling nostalgic, and then next thing you know, you're seeing a shirt that's your like like um this happens all the time too. Um, like, oh my god, you have my 2007 semi-final track, um you know, Boyer Town Middle School Field Day shirt.
SPEAKER_01I need that.
SPEAKER_02I need that. It's $15, you know, like um so and that that just warms my heart so much, like when someone connects with something like that. Um so yeah, so um we offset um that missed revenue with kind of like that triple pronged approach with the shows, the rentals, and the apparel.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. No, I love that. Um and like you said, I just feel like yeah, as soon as you say BYOB, I mean you can make your ticket prices ten dollars more. And if because if it's a BYOB, yeah, that's all you're spending. People were telling me, like uh, they were somewhere and like I forget where it was, but a Coors Light, and it was a place that a Coors Light should not cost $8.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But a Coors Light was $8.
SPEAKER_02Right. We're getting close to stadium prices.
SPEAKER_00Only the stadium prices. My fiance's sister went to a hockey game or something, got a surf side, like a big surf side, yeah. Yeah, big side. Two of them, and it was like 70 some dollars.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, crazy.
SPEAKER_00That is absurd.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I I tell I tell people all the time that are browsing, I'm like, I'm like, or like sometimes on the mic when you know a show is about to let out, I go, hey, like check out our our our t-shirt racks, like for the for the price of an of a nice mixed drink that you know lasts you and like you know 30 minutes or an hour or whatever, um you can bring something home that is nostalgic and lasts way longer than that. So yeah, um, that's kind of like that's kind of like our spin on it, but um, but uh but yeah, I think BYOB is something that we're gonna um keep a part of our business um for as long as we can.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Um so on your website it says founded by local musicians, built for the community, right? Yeah. So what does built for the community mean to you?
SPEAKER_02Sure. I think uh the first thing is um we really don't care if you have a hundred followers or if you have, you know, like Tierra's case, like almost a million. You know, last night we had a jazz trombone player from New York who had not a million followers, had much less. And um his music was so incredible, um, so creative, and there was a lot of um uh people that came to it. I'd say like maybe like 20 people came. And um I think that's when we say community focused, we're we're um we're looking for creative music by creative individuals in our community or you know, on tour as well. Um, but we're we're not we are not um enticed by you know uh draw or pool of some like big Instagram like uh you guys are just sending a good message all around. Yeah, I think it's I think it's marketable too. I think um um I think when people walk in and they're they just recently moved to Fishtown. That's what we're noticing. We're noticing a lot of new people moving here. Um there's you know, there's all this um construction and new apartments and stuff like that. And they don't um they just I I we notice that people leave just being like, yo, that was that was a really cool like trombone show. You know, they they they probably that was probably their first like live jazz experience, but just that experience alone is something that um you know they tell their friends about like go go see this cool um place that has something that you don't really necessarily see all the time. Yeah um and last night was a good example of that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um now you guys put emphasis on original music. Why do you think it's so important to do that?
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, uh we love covers. Yeah. Um, especially if it's like a really cool arrangement of it. Um we we we typically don't book um tribute bands. Like we don't want something that's like uh like an exact copy, but if you're doing a cool arrangement of a cover, like that's cool. But in terms of originality, um that stems 100% from UARTs. Um UARTS was a jazz school, similar to how like people call us a jazz venue. It's it's more so the the spirit of pushing creative boundaries and um uArts was just such a uh a place of um do what's in your head, you know. Don't um there's you know there's other there's other um conservatories that are very traditional, and you you know, and I and we love traditional stuff, but um the the the the magic that was UARTs was um there was just so much creative ensembles that um UARTs was UARTs would just support and uh create as a as a as a class that you get credit for, you know? Um and I think we just wanted to embody that here um with what we curate in our schedule. Yeah. So we're not just gonna have traditional jazz, even though that's kind of like what we studied, we're gonna have you know, indie rock, we're gonna have singer-songwriter, um, we're going to have jazz fusion that is maybe a little more avant-garde. Um and um yeah, we're just gonna have like uh that curation, that kind of UART's atmosphere to our uh calendar.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And when I was talking to someone else in other podcasts, it's really important because like you're saying, those tribute bands and cover, they have plenty of places to play.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And get paid. And that's it. And they don't even have to have yeah, they don't they don't have to have tickets, like the bar pays X amount of dollars, and so it's very important, like, you know, to give the original artist space because there isn't a lot because of, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and um, like you were saying, like bar minimums and stuff like that, like we're not paid to play. That's something I'm really proud to say. Um, and uh, you know, we just take a percentage of the door, um, and we let artists choose their ticket price, and um, you know, I'm in a band as well, and and I I book for them, and uh I just get so discouraged when I see like a minimum or like a um um you know, like a pay-to-play kind of business model. I get it.
SPEAKER_00Sell so many tickets. Yeah, I get it. Is that what you mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, but the luxury with us is our overhead is very little. It's you know, it's yeah, it's our garage, you know, there's only two employees, it's it's me and Morgan. And um keep it simple. There's no, yeah, there's there's no uh you know uh food or liquor inventory that we need to maintain. It's uh so we have that blessing of of um having very little overhead, so we can do uh a non-pay-to-play model here and still get a lot of foot traffic and a lot of eyes on your project that you're presenting that night.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, which is really important because I just think that pay-to-play is not a good look.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_00And the community would not be supporting you. No, you would fall apart.
SPEAKER_02That would spread around very quickly, especially in Philly.
SPEAKER_00Uh yes, very quickly. Um so what's something you look for when you book um when you book here? You so you do all the booking.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I do all the I do all the books.
SPEAKER_00What do you look for an artist?
SPEAKER_02Like what kind of um, you know what's funny? So I'm really happy you asked that because I've honestly been thinking to myself, I'm like, man, I wish I took a I wish someone taught a class on this at UARTs, like how to present yourself to like a a a booker or a venue, because what I realized is first of all, make sure your links work. Okay. I hate it when I when I click on a link and it's just like a 404 error or something, or yeah. Just make sure your link works. It might not be your fault, but and and trust me, I still go out of my way to find it. Yeah, I don't just move on to the next next submission, but um just make sure make sure everything works. But um the uh the first thing I go to is I always go and I click on a YouTube video because that is usually a crappy phone recording. recording of your most recent show or whatever. Or I go to your um if you have an Instagram, I don't go to your like polished Instagram uh mixed and mastered video. I go to your like maybe your saved stories from your last show. I watch people's um live performances that necessarily haven't been like combed through with by like a sound engineer or something because I want to know like your vibe on stage and I want to know like um you know uh the musicality and and a lot of times like that um that's just like my first stop and then I look at the Instagram I look at the the followers um in terms of like hey like um I think there's a good ratio with followers. I think like if you have a genre of music that um is not as popular like jazz okay but you have a good ratio in terms of like let's say you have like 200 followers for your for your band um and you're following like a 3,000 people then that's a that's a that then I have to be like okay like are those 200 followers like um just people doing like a sympathy follow back or is it something that is like a genuine built-in kind of follower base so um so ratio is what I look at sometimes as well in terms of like follower to following um so if I were if if I were putting in my position of teaching a class I would say make sure you have some really um like raw POV YouTube videos of your band um and something that just like makes me visualize what it would look like here and also like make sure that you're not just getting followers just for the for the um optics of it. Yeah get followers that are people that like um saw you and want to follow you and the a good inkling organic followers organic and the good inkling of that is a good ratio. Yeah like it like you're following maybe like 10 you know venues that you play it at but you have like 300 followers or whatever. That's a good ratio in my opinion. Yeah um so even though we don't care about how many followers you have we we do look at ratio.
SPEAKER_00It still amazes me how many accounts out there have like 2500 because you know yeah there was that time like I guess like 10 years ago and stuff when people started buying their subscribers and buying but like now that's so over I feel like but then every now and then you'll I'll come across some someone and it's like two likes on their post where the couple plays but they have 25 I'm like get out of here. That right there makes me feel like I don't want to work with you. Yeah well yeah I just I don't know if you feel that way because it's like you said you got it's gotta be organic it's got to look yeah like and feel real because that's what you want. You want it to be real.
SPEAKER_02Yeah and and that's I feel like um when you have a really good product whether it's like like I said whether it's like I don't know like an avant-garde poetry set or an like a more standard indie rock thing like if you have a good product you're gonna you're gonna have real people following your account and your your account will get um you know more popular yeah that way you don't necessarily need to um chase that you know that blue check you know I'm saying yeah no I do yeah um now you mentioned links you and you mentioned like yeah you know broken links like that's annoying um what are what are some other things that artists or people that book here might do that they can improve for a better experience for everyone yeah um if there is anything else no definitely I'm I'm I'm I mean um pretty like essentially uh when we're done today I'm probably just gonna go through like another 40 submissions when you're done like when you're how much time do you spend a day so much time but I think in term like yeah things they can do better if if or like you know stuff that you're like oh god yeah I think I think variety of variety of different environments in your video like sometimes people have a have uh have videos on their YouTube and it's like they're eight songs from the same place um which is cool but uh I'd be excited if I saw you playing you know if you posted a a song from this set here and then this set there or um you know try to get some try to get some videos from like deeper in the crowd. You know I want to I want to see like um how many people are at that show. And like uh and so yeah so so variety um and oh you know what this is this is a home run right here you ready for this make your account handle like recognizable right because what happens is and I hate this but a lot of my job is on my phone posting posters and tagging artists right and when I have to like go on a separate screen and try to like figure out see if if your face exactly what you talk about you know what I'm saying like I do and then you just are like if you have the person's name at least you're like all right I'll just put their name in right then and then it does they do pop up but that is a very good point.
SPEAKER_00Yeah like make it relatable.
SPEAKER_02Yeah like I think I think some like like this is a good example like I think an artist had like a uh a really cool project but I think their um their handle wasn't their name or their project name it was like uh user 3475 yeah like make a new handle and I'm just like man I really had to take five minutes out of my day to click on link trees and like like you know lily pad hop to finally finding like where I can tag you at just make your handle like um your your project. Yeah and make it consistent throughout all yeah yeah that makes I yeah pizza that's the thing there there is a time where I do hit my limit and it's usually when we're announcing the next lineup of shows and I I'm just not gonna I'm that's not I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna type your name in and if it pops up it you're good and if it doesn't pop up I'm moving on. Yeah so yeah just make make your tag show up when I type your name in.
SPEAKER_00That's a good one and make sure your links work.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah yeah links work you know sometimes sometimes it might just be like a user error or whatever like I'll still find it but people that don't do events it's the little things that they never once you learn you're you're good to go. Yeah um let's see so Philly has a lot of venues clubs and bars um and a lot of them some of them are real big some of them are whatever but what do you think is so special about you know the space like it fits you set up to 70 people right yeah um so what what do you think that why do you think that's important for like a healthy music scene yeah uh so yeah definitely there's a lot of venues big and small some very similar to ours but um and we love our we love our DIY family of venues that you know we still are really close with um I think the one thing that is different with us is we're super modular. We can move everything around in here you can have a show that's standing room you can have a show that the musicians are surrounding the crowd if you wanted um you know you can move pretty much every piece of furniture and sound equipment in here and that's been to our benefit in terms of like someone did an art show here so we had a completely we did like a make a we had to make a runway for people to go walk around and we've we totally redid the whole space it looked completely different. And I think that's that's why um that's really important for um the arts community because we can say yes to a lot of different ideas from people's brains, you know art show uh film screening um or you know uh I think one one one of the more interesting ones we had was um like a it was a rehearsal actually for like a fringe fest uh play and I think there was like 20 different um you know people here that had dialogue and lines and stuff and it was like a big circle. It was like really cool seeing the space used for something other than like a standard show.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think like the intimacy of the like just the human connection. Definitely yeah you know um is super cool in a smaller space.
SPEAKER_02What's something that you've learned from the Philly community um through this space if anything yeah um the Philly community is I think you know I I I this kind of relates to what we were chatting before our our interview started. Just some backstory you were you were telling me about like how you get to interview a lot of people and if only they were all in the same room I think what I'm starting to notice is I'm starting to notice some bleed over from different clicks and I think I'm starting to see what you were talking about kind of happening in slow motion because like um my my like old school traditional jazz friends are starting to show up for like an indie rock show that um you know that they just learned about because of nostalgia and vice versa and then people are starting to um collaborate and I'm starting to just like I'm starting to notice that the clicks and the boundaries between different genres in Philly aren't as uh gatekeepy and aren't as sh like solid as we may think. Yeah. I think people um I think once people step dip their toe in maybe a more traditional jazz show um then they're like oh man I can I totally can get behind this and then you get then you then you start to meet the musicians and you realize they're super cool and you have common interests and likewise with like an indie rock show or like a singer songwriter show I think um uh a particular story was there was um a singer songwriter duo from LA that played a show here it was sold out um it was one of our first sold-out shows and I had help that night by a good friend of mine Sandy uh he runs Philly jazz scene.com and he's a uh you know jazz bassist so the furthest thing from like singer songwriter uh in terms of clicks and pockets of scene and every single person in that room that night I think bought merchandise from these singer songwriters they made a killing at the merch table and it was something that me and Sandy never really witnessed as jazz musicians and Sandy was like man us jazz musicians have to really up our like merchandise uh you know um our merchandise game and our our uh aver you know our uh marketing marketing um because you know these these these artists that night sang a lot about their breakup songs and their their uh and their uh their experiences as women and a lot of their merch reflected that and it just related to everyone in the room and they you know they had a really awesome product and so it got us my friend Sandy was like man no one in the jazz scene like like has marketed their you know stuff like this like yeah this might be a new angle for us to like write jazz is great I just think enough people don't even know it's theirs yeah it's probably because they're not marketing themselves right right like like like he you know we were just kind of witnessing a different human connection to a show than than maybe a traditional jazz show and I think um that was like a really good example of like seeing kind of a melting pot kind of emerge yeah yeah and there's always people like yeah like once you hear something if you're a creative person you're like oh yeah how can we like incorporate this with that like this will be super cool.
SPEAKER_00So you're so yeah a bunch of the city is probably yeah getting to know each other right here in in your space which you probably love like you probably live for that since you've always had a a heart and and a love for putting the shows together and bringing the people together 100% yeah like so that's like a rewarding part.
SPEAKER_02Yeah like like like you said like um um like I like compared to like a year or two ago I'm so much happy like I I spring out of bed every morning like so excited for you know yeah oh I gotta I got this thing at 12 o'clock today I got a rehearsal like seven to nine tonight like I can't wait to set up for like and like meet I love that that person. And whereas a year ago I'm like what the heck am I doing with my life? What the heck is this garage venue uh like dream you know that is seems like it's impossible but um now I feel like it's like too much like there's like so many people now I feel like like when I went to your guys's Instagram it's just like hundreds of likes and like yeah I just feel like wow like because it's a small this is a small space.
SPEAKER_00Yeah it's I feel like there's a whole city knocking on the door it's definitely and it's gonna get like bigger yeah yeah you're gonna have to like knock out your home and and live somewhere else and then have a second floor.
SPEAKER_02No you know that that is that is not the first time I thought about that.
SPEAKER_00But yeah um no I'm not going anywhere for uh this how great too you live this is our forever home for how great you live here too like you have a great life and you're not even 30. You know what I was doing by 30.
SPEAKER_02You were getting two Grammys come on now we got two Grammys of sitting across to me right here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah Esperanza Spaulding who Morgan loves right oh my gosh yeah Esperanza um so let's say somebody has a big dream and um you know and they just are like it's too much work like I can't do it.
SPEAKER_02What like what would you say to someone like that 100% started with the like I don't want to have regrets ever like in my life like um I don't know I I don't want to get too deep but I can if you want um you can do whatever you want. Sure yeah so just like what should these people like you know someone with a big dream and has nothing like like you you a couple years ago sitting in a you know like yeah yeah well I I don't think I've ever I don't think I've ever said this before so I'm ex I'm um I genuinely I don't know how to answer that question because um when I was a senior in college um I I was I was in this incredibly incredibly close friend group um hanging out almost every day together practicing seeing each other every day and um this one night we had uh one of our really close friends pass away from a drug overdose we didn't know he was um taking this particular pill and he um it had fentanyl in it and he overdosed and it was such a traumatic experience for me that like was I was just like very shielded as a child like lived in the burbs and had a great time at college and then I had this like insane wake up call like oh my gosh like my friend Sam his his life is done like you never know like when your time might be up yeah yeah yeah and not to get too deep but I guess what I'm saying is for me with my dream I had something traumatic like that that put like an like a unextinguishable fire under me to never have regrets. Yeah and um I don't want anyone to go through something like that. But I feel like a lot of unfortunately of course yeah yeah yeah it's it's such a shame everyone has everyone has got something but you use that as a unextinguishable fire motivation to be like I will never have regrets. And you know what? And and what I also realized is like um like your dream like can be the same but look different. You know like um I was ready to settle on this just being like a like a every once in a while like I'll just throw a show in my living room or whatever. Like it got to the point where I was ready to settle for that and I'll still be proud that you know I wouldn't have regrets but just like so many incredible things just happened in our favor that got us to this point and I you know I I uh I really think it was it was the universe telling all of us like we gotta make it happen. You know so yeah so in terms of if you have a really big dream like um there's gonna be days where you do not want to get up yeah because the anxiety is just way too much and the stress is way too much and like for me it was my friend Sam passing away that like made me made me kind of flip the switch like you know what I'm just gonna I'm just gonna live in that anxiety. I'm just gonna live in that stress and I'm gonna um I'm just gonna keep working at it and if I fail I fail whatever but um but I I was I was probably gonna I was gonna I was gonna try for the rest of my life to get it done and you know we just we just got super lucky here. You know we got it done um I mean from concept to finish it took seven years. Yeah. Um from purchasing the property to being official it took three you know so that's crazy that's fast.
SPEAKER_00Yeah yeah that shut down really really made things um real for us yeah um in a good and bad way but uh in a good way um I mean just finding the property took four years of waking up and or no three years of waking up and opening Zillow up at like 6 30 in the morning you know being like is there anything new in this area of town that has the ability of what we want to do so um so yeah it was you know and that anxiety that you're talking about I know exactly what you're talking about like the days that you don't the days that like you know your ADD or ADHD gets the best of you like you can't even like pinpoint what you're doing what you're and and you're and then like you said like you don't even you don't know where to get started. That's like an ADHD problem and all of it's happening and you're like I don't even know what I'm actually doing like this is so weird like what is happening but then like you do you have to push through and all that kind of goes away on some days all that anxiety and stuff and you're like full force and then that day hits you and you're like BAM again and you don't want to wake up I don't know if this happens to you.
SPEAKER_02Sure yeah I mean like the other day oh my gosh it was like I think like I'm I'm a like when it comes to shows I'm like a big people pleaser I want everyone to have a good time I can't handle a a bad review. For example like some uh mentally disturbed person uh ran into the venue and locked decided to lock himself in the bathroom it's like five minutes before the show started I think they were homeless um talk about one of the first things I learned was oh my god operating even though we're in Fishtown in Fishtown you know everyone talks about um how different it's changing we're still next to the L. And I realized like man everyone in this space is like my responsibility like to keep safe.
SPEAKER_00Anyway yeah like the person locked himself in the bathroom and I like how to yell at them to get out and I'm just like oh my gosh I hope people don't like leave a bad review but everyone was just so like that happens yeah like I mean yeah everything that you guys are doing is is is all good. Like there's nothing our body and yeah and that's why you have so much support and so if something like that does happen if anything you know what I mean people were gonna like have your back I'm sure before the guy in the bathroom.
SPEAKER_02I felt bad for the guy but um but yeah it's just that was like for me that's the thing emotions and business you gotta oh yeah you have to separate.
SPEAKER_00Yeah or like you know sometimes a touring band comes and you know we squeeze them in on a Tuesday night and you know like 10 people five you know five people show up for the first set and then you know a couple more trickle in for the second set and for us that's a bad night and I'm just like man like this band's on tour I I don't want to I know they're not thinking this but my self judgment like oh man I don't want word to spread around that like nostalgia's like an empty room if you're not from out not from here, you know but um I'm still learning and I mean but if you squeeze them in it's kind of like Yeah oh yeah 'cause normally what would you have like a few bands like you would have like locals with the touring yeah yeah sometimes yeah
SPEAKER_02Locals with a touring, most likely. That one did have a local opener as well, but it was just like a it was like when the smoke you remember you remember when that smoke was like in Philly? Oh from the forest fires. Recently? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It was like during that, and I it was just like a bad combination of like a bunch of things.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, um it's gonna happen, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, but um the only bad comment, and people can see this on Google if you want. Um, we just uh um we laugh at it because the person's completely wrong, but whatever. Yeah, um, it was before we threw any show. We just listed ourselves on Google, and the guy or person, whatever, says, was okay, period. Hate to burst your bubble, you're technically not in Fishtown. And it was a one out of five star review. So every time I would type in nostalgia fishtown on my GPS, I would see one out of five stars. It was so frustrating. And the guy's wrong. Like, we're in Fishtown. We we got our zoning approved by the Fishtown.
SPEAKER_00Did you respond at all?
SPEAKER_02No, no.
SPEAKER_00It is what it is. It's gonna, you're gonna have those people that just want to bring you down, but it's not gonna work. No, no, um, so let's see. We have a new season, we have fall, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hitting the hitting the room. So I know you guys are super busy. We were talking uh before this, and you said you're like booked out till March right now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we f yeah. I think we're filling up the last few like weeknights in February. Um we we typically have five shows a week, which is Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Um and uh yeah, we're filling up uh February right now. So fall is filled. Fall is completely filled. We have a really big artist coming here in the beginning or middle of September. Okay. Um the the duo group is called Thunder Smack, and um, it's really funny because the one of the players in the group is a guy named uh Leo P. Okay. He's a um he's a berry sax player that kind of got his notoriety playing in a few brass bands, but he also would do like Subway videos of him dancing and playing Barry Sacks, and these are videos that like like me in high school would be like you know, sending to all my friends and watching a bunch. So like I've known Leo P was like one of these guys I watched in high school on YouTube all the time, and you know, and now he's coming here. Yeah, him and his team like reached out and were like, hey, we want to add Philly to our tour. And that's awesome. Like, I'm just like, oh my gosh, like this is like um this is cool.
SPEAKER_00What kind of variety you guys got? All kinds of shows going on in fall?
SPEAKER_02All genres. I tell people we lean a little bit away from like the harder, like Screamo stuff, like just like the the environment of the room, it doesn't really suit that too much, but um I never say never, you know? Yeah, like I think there's I think there's enough like super heavy metal rock submissions to where we could do like a designated like week of like a heavy metal themed, like nostalgia takes on heavy metal. Like that's my approach on it. I don't want people to think that we're like snobby here, you know, like no no no crazy punk heavy metal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um but I don't know, uh we just know what like this room like sounds the best with and um so we lean a little bit more towards like like rock slash indie rock uh as like kind of more the top of the heavier side of things, but um but like I said, we we we book almost um every type of original kind of act.
SPEAKER_00Is there anything happening this fall that's new that like people haven't experienced here yet? Or is it Oh, that's a good question. Um that you can remember. I know there's like it's in my brain.
SPEAKER_02I just worked on I like You said five days a week, right? Yeah, yeah. I just worked on the the master lineup calendar post. So it's it's pretty fresh. Like there's a really cool uh listening album listening session. Oh, cool. So it's like instead of like a release show, it's a release listening session, which is more of like a I don't know, maybe more of like a gala vibe where you have some drinks and you get together as you know a community and you listen to the finished product. Um so that's coming up. Um and um I don't know if it's in the fall schedule, but we got like a yoga thing coming up. So that's just like another really cool way of using the space and the sound system and having music incorporated into whatever um event you want to use the space for. Uh wedding ceremony. Yeah, you have one both in the winter. Wow. Um so yeah, we do wedding ceremonies, hit us up. Um that's cool. That's a new one for us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome. Um, you kind of touched on this, but I'm just gonna ask you like the minute that somebody walks in that door and then is in here for the experience, to the minute they walk out, when they walk out, like how do you how do you hope that they feel like from their experience?
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah, I feel well first of all, I want them to pull out their phone from not seeing it for the last two hours. You know what I'm saying? Like, I want I as much as I love the Instagram tags and the stories and stuff, like I kind of want people to be like, oh man, I haven't checked my phone in a minute. Yeah. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and I like that. Um course I want them leaving with a couple shirts. You know, I'm just joking, but um but um we we get a lot of um positive feedback from people. Um and you know what's crazy? Like I um we've been getting a lot of like boomer generation people coming and um they love it, I'm sure. They're really funny because they love it. They are just like jaw-dropped by it, and they're just like, How do you make money? Yeah, like they're just so forward with it, and I'm just like, Oh, you spending money here, you know, like buy you know, buy some stuff. Um, but they're just so forward about it and so just like no filter like like with with how they feel about stuff in general, and when they when they come up to me and they just talk about the venue, like that's like a that's that that warms my heart because um I think they're really speaking from from you know uh from a genuine place. Um and uh and it's like it shows that it's like really cross-generational with everyone can enjoy this space. It's not just like a standing room, uh, you know, crazy, you know, uh you know, jazz fusion show. Like um, yeah, everyone from all different kind of walks of life um uh really enjoy the events here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so yeah, so um yeah. That's cool. Where do you see this in five years? Do you want it to stay the same? Do you have growing ideas?
SPEAKER_02Oh man, five years.
SPEAKER_00Um whatever in the future. No, no, five, it could be whatever, you know.
SPEAKER_02I think um uh and something I'm we're already starting to like branch out into a little bit is we I want to like extend our our limbs of nostalgia into more of like the music production side of things, and we're we're starting to see that a little bit. We offer this thing called Nostalgia Artist Collective, which is like all me, my homies that I've worked with for forever, and and you know, you're an engineer, you know like how expensive it can be to like rent studios and yeah um do post-production and professional music production. And um me and my buddy Noah Avery, um, we were just like, yo, what if we made a model that was net zero that had a theoretical net zero um kind of uh net zero kind of uh money plan for people for a new independent artist's uh you know, either debut project or new project. So we were just like, yeah, what if we did like what if we offered a you know live show package that um you know your live show gets promoted and released and it's on the nostalgia social media and um you know uh you essentially just like net zero uh the money for that with the show, like if you pack the room, and same thing with like a studio package, like um if you uh book Nostalgia Artists Collective Studio Package, you get a night at Nostalgia for your release show and you keep on 100% of the ticket sales. So it's like a way to like um try to get a net zero for independent artists rather than them paying thousands and thousands of dollars on like their debut album or their next album. Um it's just kind of like a way to use the space in a new way. And what I hope is that in five years people have the same kind of um uh view as kind of like an NPR Tiny Desk show, like, oh my gosh, the studio album's great, but did you listen to their NPR Tiny Desk show? Like, that's my new favorite version of that song.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I kind of want to have that same viewpoint with nostalgia, like, oh, that new band, did you hear their nostalgia, Live from Nostalgia album? And I think like uh pairing what I just said, more of the post-production, professional music development, more accessible. I also want to do like something like where you can like I know it's a little bit against the grain in terms of like the um analogness of the space, but I do want to have people able to like chime in online to see a show.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Whether it's some sort of like live stream, yeah, live stream package on I don't know, Discord or so.
SPEAKER_00I talked to this guy, I never even knew about tapers. Do you know?
SPEAKER_02I have no idea.
SPEAKER_00I didn't either. So this is only because of this podcast. Someone referred to me to talk to this guy, Rich Toller, who I don't know, he's probably like in his fifties, but um he he's like a deadhead, like a dead head in the dead bands and city bands. They all have huge followings and everything. But with tapers, it's a whole community of tapers, and what they do is they just go to these shows, they set up their cameras, oh and like a bootleg. And they he has over four, he started really doing this, I think he said like 2016, 2017. He's over four thousand over four thousand videos uploaded on his archive.org and his YouTube, and now he also does it live. Okay. So he could be someone I'd have to tell you, tell him about this um venue, but like if if you had some more tapers involved, they literally just do that. Is there anything else that you want to that you want to so your website is I'll do a little plug, yeah, do some plugging.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I um um if you're interested in anything we chatted about, just go check out our website, uh nostalgiafishtown.com and uh our Instagram, easily findable. Uh it's just nostalgiafishtown on Instagram. And uh yeah, you can just catch all of our schedule. Uh something I'm really proud of is you can uh filter through the calendar by genre. Oh that's cool. Like if you're someone that is just looking for a jazz show, you can just hit jazz and it's all there. Or like ambient.
SPEAKER_00Um all right, so we did the plugging and we did that, and we did everything. So I have one last question, and then if you have nothing else, we're gonna wrap it up. Nice, yeah. And so the last question is how is music your hero?
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um trying to pick which answer. Okay. I have an answer, I'm just trying to pick which one. Um I would say uh I guess full circle bringing it back to the beginning of our interview, it was um when I joined the band at my uh Montgomery School District. Um I was an only child, if you can if you can tell. Um and uh I uh I really found my people just being in concert band. And um it wasn't an album, it wasn't a specific album or artist or anything, it was just playing trumpet in band, meeting that group of friends that I'm still super close with, um, that just put me on this trajectory. And if it wasn't for that, I I just don't think I would be nearly as happy or as fulfilled. And so I think that's the the music band program at my uh school district where I grew up. I think that's how music was my hero.
SPEAKER_00So that's where it all because that's where it all started.
SPEAKER_02That's where it all started, and yeah, that's uh my closest friend group, and um, yeah, I I credit everything to that.
SPEAKER_00So all right. Well, thank you for taking the time. Oh, thanks so much. You're busy.
SPEAKER_02I know you're busy too. You still squeeze you in. I had to. I was. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00So happy to hit me back. Yeah, so thank you. And um, yeah, that's it.
SPEAKER_02I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03Until next time, keep creating, keep connecting, and keep building together. Remember, we're in this together, so let's keep each other down.