Alec Hanley Bemis
Encyclopedia
Alec Hanley Bemis is a writer and manager for creative cultural projects who lives in New York City.
, twins known for their prominent role in American independent music (i.e. performing roles in The National
and Clogs, and curatorial roles in the Dark Was the Night
compilation and MusicNOW Festival
). Brassland documents the work of a community of musicians surrounding The National.
It has been called "the record label at the centre of New York's other music scene" and "a focus for some of the city's most intriguing and creative musicians." It is currently home to active groups Buke & Gass, Clogs
, and Doveman
, and has released key projects by Nico Muhly
and Erik Friedlander
. Bemis also works as a manager, having worked with artists including !!!
, Dirty Projectors
, and Alexi Murdoch
; entities such as All Tomorrow's Parties
and Cantaloupe Music
; and serving on the board of directors for Manhattan New Music Project, a non-profit that sends musicians to teach in New York City schools. He frequently emphasizes the importance of community in creating music. (For example, he has stated that Brassland was created to "foster the growth of the bands and the community around them.")
Previous to starting the label Bemis had an active career as a writer. In the early 2000s he worked as a journalist for LA Weekly
, the New York Times, The New Yorker
and the Los Angeles Times
. Previous to that, in the 1990s, he published Jaboni Youth fanzine, focusing on the nascent American independent music scene. Today he maintains his own blog and contributes to Arcade, a humanities site published by Stanford University
.
History
In 2001, Bemis co-founded Brassland with Aaron and Bryce DessnerAaron and Bryce Dessner
Aaron and Bryce Dessner are twin brothers and members of the rock band The National. Aaron Dessnerwrites the majority of the music for The National. The brothers are co-founders, alongside Alec Hanley Bemis, of Brassland, a label that is home to artists including The National, the Clogs, catalog...
, twins known for their prominent role in American independent music (i.e. performing roles in The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
and Clogs, and curatorial roles in the Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
compilation and MusicNOW Festival
MusicNOW Festival
The MusicNOW Festival was founded in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by guitarist and composer, Bryce Dessner. Originally held at the Contemporary Arts Center, then moved to Memorial Hall, a small historic theater located in the city's historic Over-the-Rhine district...
). Brassland documents the work of a community of musicians surrounding The National.
It has been called "the record label at the centre of New York's other music scene" and "a focus for some of the city's most intriguing and creative musicians." It is currently home to active groups Buke & Gass, Clogs
Clogs (band)
Clogs are a mostly instrumental project led by Bryce Dessner and Australia's Padma Newsome. Their existence predates Dessner's other band The National...
, and Doveman
Doveman
Doveman is a band founded by Thomas Bartlett. Originally from Vermont, Bartlett studied piano in London with Maria Curcio before moving to New York City to attend Columbia University. He attended Columbia for one year, when he left to focus on his studies of classical music. After leaving Columbia,...
, and has released key projects by Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly is a contemporary classical music composer, who has worked and recorded with classical and pop/rock musicians. He currently lives in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan in New York City.-Early years:...
and Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City.A veteran of NYC's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with saxophonist/composer John Zorn...
. Bemis also works as a manager, having worked with artists including !!!
!!!
!!! is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers...
, Dirty Projectors
Dirty Projectors
The Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...
, and Alexi Murdoch
Alexi Murdoch
Alexi Murdoch is a singer-songwriter born in London and raised in Scotland, Greece and France, now living in Berlin.- Background :Murdoch was born in London to a Greek father and Scottish-French mother and raised in Greece, just outside of Athens until he was ten, when his family moved to...
; entities such as All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
and Cantaloupe Music
Cantaloupe Music
Cantaloupe Music is a record label founded in March 2001 created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can Festival: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and Bang on a Can Managing Director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the new music...
; and serving on the board of directors for Manhattan New Music Project, a non-profit that sends musicians to teach in New York City schools. He frequently emphasizes the importance of community in creating music. (For example, he has stated that Brassland was created to "foster the growth of the bands and the community around them.")
Previous to starting the label Bemis had an active career as a writer. In the early 2000s he worked as a journalist for LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, the New York Times, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. Previous to that, in the 1990s, he published Jaboni Youth fanzine, focusing on the nascent American independent music scene. Today he maintains his own blog and contributes to Arcade, a humanities site published by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Brassland albums
- Baby Dayliner High Heart & Low Estate
- Baby Dayliner Critics Pass Away
- Buke & Gass "Riposte"
- Clogs Thom's Night Out
- Clogs Lullaby for Sue
- Clogs Stick Music
- Clogs Lantern
- Clogs Veil Waltz" EP
- Clogs The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton
- Clogs "Last Song" EP
- Devastations Devastations
- Devastations Coal
- Doveman With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead
- Doveman Footloose
- Doveman The Conformist
- Erik Friedlander Maldoror
- The National The National aka self-titled
- The National Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
- The National Cherry Tree
- Pela All in Time EP
Cantaloupe Music albums
- Alarm Will Sound Michael Gordon: Van Gogh
- Bang on a Can All-Stars Brian Eno: Music for Airports (Live)
- Burkina Electric Paspanga
- Arnold Dreyblatt Resonant Relations
- Florent Ghys Baroque Tardif: Soli
- Michael Gordon [purgatorio] POPOPERA
- Michael Harrison Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation
- Phil Kline John the Revelator
- David Lang Music From the Film (Untitled)
- Lisa Moore Seven: Music by Don Byron
- Tristan Perich 1-Bit Music
- Sentieri Selvaggi Plays Gavin Bryars & Philip Glass
- Julia Wolfe Dark Full Ride: Music in Multiples
External links
- Brassland
- AlecHanleyBemis.com (writing archive site)
- Alec Hanley Bemis's blog
- A series of video interviews at Artists House Music