[microsound] New York in the 80's (was Rhys Chatham)

[Dave Seidel]

Exactly.  The only musicians I knew in the downtown scene who were 
supporting themselves with music were also doing session/touring work 
with mainstream acts (e.g., Lenny Pickett and the other Borneo Horns 
guys, which were gigging with Bowie).  Everyone else, myself definitely 
included, had day jobs.  It was a great time for creativity, and a few 
composers and choreographers did OK on a sporadic basis for a limited 
period of time, but it was no cornucopia of pecuniary delights.

- Dave

Bruce Tovsky wrote:
> well i'm sure that kim will chime in here, but there are definitely more 
> opportunities in the EU and elsewhere in the world than in the US. i 
> have friends in the EU who get stipends from the government to do their 
> work. and in general it seems that art gets better funding over there. 
> now i'd also to be the first person to state that those scenes are 
> NOTHING like what the 80s scene was like - there's a reason so many 
> books are being written about it, etc. it was a moment in time, a 
> convergence that only happens occasionally. and you never know when 
> you're in it that it will turn out to be that way, though you suspect 
> and hope. and while there was more money to be made, clubs paid better 
> than today (do they pay at all?) it still wasn't a great living. most of 
> the people i knew scraped by and lived in cheap little places in the 
> east village (and still do!)
> b
> 
> On Feb 5, 2009, at 10:46 PM, Ken Restivo wrote:
> 
>> My question is this: where in the world-- if anywhere-- is there such 
>> a scene like early-80's New York taking place? i.e. a place where 
>> artists and musicians can make a decent-- maybe even good-- living?
>>
>>
>> -ken
>>
> 
> bruce tovsky
> 
> www.skeletonhome.com
> 
> 
> "Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.."
> 
> Philip K. Dick
> 

-- 
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