Discover: BalconyTV (Brooklyn) – An Online Music Video Show “In Every Continent Except Antarctica” – Session Tonight! (4/30)

I sat down with the two masterminds behind BalconyTV Brooklyn after the Olafur Arnalds session.  Hello, Chris O’Konski and Joe Kelley aka the “Two Lion Cubs of the Savannah.”

GP: Who gave birth to BalconyTV Brooklyn? And how?

Chris: BalconyTV is an online music video show that features established and emerging artists in over 40 cities across the world. The original Balcony was founded in Dublin by Stephen O’Regan and Thomas Millet in 2006, but the show has since spread like wildfire and now has locations in every continent except Antarctica.   I originally started filming for BalconyTV NYC in 2010, and Joe jumped on as host/booking agent shortly after in Spring 2011.   We produced dozens of shows together at that location, but ultimately decided that — in order for the show to reach its full potential — we’d have to take it to Greenpoint and form BalconyTV Brooklyn.

Joe: BalconyTV as a whole was formed back in Dublin in 2006 by Stephen O’Regan. As for the Brooklyn show, Chris and I started out shooting on a very “sketchy”  balcony/rooftop in Manhattan right outside Times Square. It was fun and we loved it but our resources were very limited. No electricity for one, and with so much of great music unable to be performed acoustically we had to check out new locations. Brooklyn is a mecca for culture and art and we wanted to be a part of it. Chris had begun shooting the Times Square show a little before I had moved in to begin booking and take over as host back in Spring 2011.

GP:  How did you end up partnering with The End?

Chris: Upon deciding to take the show to Brooklyn, we were introduced to Brian Crowe & Matt Flynn at The End Studios in Greenpoint by a mutual friend in music.  The End has top notch staff and recording facilities — not to mention a pretty killer view of the Manhattan skyline — so establishing it as the new home for BalconyTV Brooklyn was a no-brainer.  We officially launched January 17th, 2012, and our first performance was championed by The Ugly Club on the 18th in a foot of snow and subfreezing temperatures.  Over a year and a half later, I think I speak for the whole BTVBK crew when I say our summer shoots are easily the best.

Joe: Actually, I had been contacted by a fairly well known Brooklyn bases band’s manager to have them on the show. They of course could not perform as acoustic and stripped down as we needed them to on our Manhattan balcony. She then referred me to The End Studios in Greenpoint and put me in touch with Matt Flynn. I was living in Greenpoint at the time and was excited to check out the space. Once we did it was all over. The crew, the view, and the resources have made our show 10 billions times better. Continue reading →