A local music collective is hosting a few different concerts around the neighborhood, and an upcoming one this Saturday is free.
Aesop’s Sound Fables is the brainchild of local Mike Nowotarski, a former volunteer with the dearly departed Park Church Co-op. The group performs live soundtracks to silent films, theater, and nature events in NYC. They’ve been performing around the city for the past year or so and their unique approach will be on display with events in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. This Saturday evening, you can check them out at Transmitter Park. And if you’re already thinking about spooky season, mark your calendar for October 25, when the group will score the 1925 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari at Cloud City.
We spoke to Mike to find out more about the group and the concerts they perform.
Greenpointers: How long has Aesop’s Sound Fables been around?
Aesop’s Sound Fables has been around for a little less than a year. Our first show was a sold out performance at a bar in Bushwick called Purgatory in December, we did a live score to film Salomé from 1922. Since then, we’ve done four shows and have two more scheduled for October. We also have plans to organize performances highlighting other artists.
How do you decide what you want to score?
We score a mix of silent films, physical theater, and events in nature. Mostly, we’re thinking about what feels authentic to the music we like to write and the experience we want the audience to have. If we are interested in and identify with the source material, it is much easier for us to say something musically that resonates with people.
Tell us about Saturday’s event.
Saturday we’re performing a piece that I wrote titled “There Are No Endings (Are Just a Beginning)” The piece was written to function as a live score to a sunset over the East River. The score is a list of written instructions to the musicians. It has information like the key that musicians should play in, when to enter, and the emotion we want to convey. While we have some rhythmic and melodic themes we return to, a good deal of the piece is semi-improvised.
I grew up near the bay on Long Island, and I’ve always been fascinated by New York’s waterways. I’m hoping the performance is an opportunity to highlight the work that our partners and co-organizers, Friends of Transmitter Park, are engaged in to maintain the park and the waterfront for the community. The event is free to attend and will run from 6:30-7:30.
I know you were involved with the music scene at Park Church Co-op. Wondering if you wanted to share a few words about that space and what it meant to you, now that it’s slated for demolition.
I spent a little over a year organizing the concerts at the Park Church. It was a very special place to me that offered community, space for art, and spiritual renewal. I’m eternally grateful to those who spent years building that space into what it was for me. It is sad to see it close, it was a rare and invaluable public space that was available to artists and community members. Part of what I hope to do with Aesop’s Sound Fables is to bring that same spirit of community that I found at the Park Church into other spaces.
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