The 9th Annual Waterloo Arts Festival is this Saturday from noon until 7:00 p.m. Where else can you enjoy not just the work of some stellar artists and street performers, but the crates of fun at the Rock and Roll Flea market in the Beachland Ballroom, records galore at Music Saves and Blue Arrow, excellent food and, of course, music- 5 stages of original bands and DJs.
Family-friendly to boot- show your kids how to Rock!
Charles Abou-Chebl is not just a curator of great records, he is an avid supporter and constant presence in the Cleveland music scene. Besides his store crammed with great bins for the picking, he also runs a record label under the My Mind’s Eye moniker. A worthy entrant into the Vinyl District Favorite Record Store poll, here are a few words from the man himself:
How did you come up with the name for the store?
I didn’t. Jim Donadio suggested My Mind’s Eye because I am an admirer of the Small Faces. Great name. Way to go Jim.
What was your inspiration for starting the store?
I wanted a place where I could find the records I was looking for that was free of the record store douche behind the counter, willing to answer questions honestly without pushing records on you, friendly and open minded. Failed on all counts.
You have a nice varied selection, and a great section of 45’s. Is there any one genre, however, that you think you have an especially strong selection?
Rock ‘n’ Roll. old & current.
You have been at this for much longer than this recent vinyl resurgence. Have you seen your customer base changing at all over the last few years?
Yes. I can’t describe it other than the formats change and the way people consume their art seems to have changed. record stores will always have high turnover in their younger patrons and dwindling amounts of older patrons but now we get more of the vinyl curious. I don’t know if I’d call these customers since it seems to be a passing fancy for so many of them but there are those who seem to have connected with records. I’m just glad that we have any customers at all. thank you all. Read More
As is their wont, the wonderful folks at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern are throwing themselves another weekend long birthday party, and the customers get the gifts- an eclectic choice of some fine music over three days in their two venues. And what, you may ask, can we give them in return? Show up dammit!
Friday Ballroom Paul Thorn and Band, Rayland Baxter opening
Tavern Wayne The Train Hancock, California Speedbag opening
Saturday Ballroom This Moment In Black History, Wussy, Cloud Nothings and The Modern Electric
Tavern The Spampinato Brothers, Carpenter Ants opening
Sunday Ballroom Jonathan Richman
Tavern The Parting Gifts, opening The Jay Vons, Little Bighorn
As Joey and Johnny say, they are gonna be some good days and nights.
The Spampinato Brothers
The Beachland Ballroom is the anchor of the Waterloo Arts District in Cleveland’s Collinwood area, but music lovers can also hit three great record stores in two blocks; Music Saves, This Way Out and, for this feature post, Blue Arrow Records.
Pete and Debbie Gulyas have created a welcoming space (check out the floor below) with well-organized bins, while also offering some other neat cultural artifacts and Debbie’s clothing store, which include some of her own design.
We caught up with Pete and Debbie for some Q and A:
Why did you choose the Waterloo District for your location?
We were “drafted” to the Waterloo District by Mark Leddy and Cindy Barber. After we closed our vintage clothing (Renaissance Parlour, on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights), Mark and Cindy asked us to join them in creating THIS WAY OUT VINTAGE SHOPPE in the basement of the Beachland Ballroom (and we still remain partners with them in that venture). The Blue Arrow Building was empty and we first moved into the back portion of the building using the space for storage and Debbie’s studio. The front (which was divided into two separate businesses) was available and we thought that it would be good for the street if something cool and funky was there. Nothing was forthcoming so we decided that we would step forward and create a space which people would want to shop.
We opened the Record Shop in March of 2009. By October, 2010, we expanded to the adjoining space and opened BLUE ARROW BOUTIQUE (a vintage clothing boutique). Consequently, Waterloo District has 3 separate places to purchase music (Blue Arrow Records, This Way Out and Music Saves) and 3 separate places to shop for vintage clothing (Blue Arrow Boutique, This Way Out and Star Pop). We believe that this has helped to created a unique shopping destination not only for Cleveland but for the region.
You have a great selection of records spanning the spectrum of genres, are your own tastes also this broad?
As a youth, I was exposed to a wide variety of musical genres. Consequently, I have developed an appreciation for many different musical styles. And, yes, my personal collection reflects that appreciation.
Jeremy Bible is a Renaissance Man. Not only is he the founder of the Experimedia label and the associated on-line store, he often photographs and designs the art for the label’s releases , not to mention finding the time to record his own compositions. The title of the label, and its reference to “sound objects” describes its mission in shorthand, but here’s the longer version-“releasing inspiring work by artists with unique voices blurring the lines between the genres of Ambient, Drone, Noise, Electro-Acoustic, Classical, Shoegaze, Folk, Avant-Garde, Microsound, Sound-Art, Phonography, Americana, and Psychadelic”.
The label has just been recognized with its second consecutive Qwartz Award nomination; this one for Flyover Sound by Billy Gomberg + Offthesky. We caught up with Jeremy for a few questions:
How did you become interested in the type of music your label produces?
My earliest strong influences towards the esoteric had to have been industrial bands such as Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Skinny Puppy. Around the age of 14 I started regularly visiting a little independent record shop in Canton named Checkered Records and speaking with the owner who pointed me towards a broad scope of semi related music from the earlier classical avant-garde to more modern left field electronic and noise. I spent a lot of time exploring as many genres as I could during that time too… punk, reggae, classical, folk, psychedelic rock, and all the in betweens. I couldn’t buy a lot from him at first coming from a poor family… but the owner was kind enough to let me explore and listen in the store quite a bit… but at 15 I started my first jobs washing dishes, mowing lawns, delivering papers…. which then all my earnings went towards buying music. I would also dig through music magazines and sign up for all the catalogs I could from when you would find labels and shops sending out snail-mail catalogs and promotions.
How long have you been in business and what inspired you to start your label?
That’s kind of a tricky question which will require some background story. Having been involved with music related activities since I organized my first event in 1994 when I was 14 Ive always pictured what I do as being part of a ‘community’ more than an ‘industry’. I’ve been involved in many different ways over the years such as organizing events, djing, designing fliers and album covers, organizing tours, doing promotions for artists, recording and performing myself, and putting out tiny run DIY cassettes early on of local bands and mixtapes of stuff I liked…. passing them around locally for free essentially. So most of my years being involved have been spent pro-bono… purely for the spirit of it… to support music I found moving and important.
To quote Chuck Prophet, who put the ram in the ram a lam a ding-dong? What was the first rock and roll record? Is there even a record that can legitimately make this claim? Join the discussion in person at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or on the live feed this Wednesday evening at Rock and Roll Night School- What Was the First Rock and Roll Record? One thing for sure- if such a holy grail exists- it came out on vinyl!
One of the contenders, “My Daddy Rocks Me With One Steady Roll” can be found on this compilation, the title of which strikes me as a bit of an oxymoron:
Like all the cities in the TVD Network, Cleveland has a rich musical history. For the full Cleveland story, there are no better two books than Deanna Adam’s Rock and Roll and the Cleveland Connection or Carlo Wolff’s Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories.
Both are exhaustive and occasionally revealing reads about the bands, labels, venues, radio stations and fans that built Cleveland’s solid rock reputation. You can pick these books up here:
http://www.deannaadams.com/books.htm
http://www.grayco.com/cleveland/books/2899X/index.shtml
Want to burrow down even further? The Pagans were one of the first punk bands to come out of the city’s late 70’s punk stew. The lead singer, Mike Hudson, recounts all the gory details in:
Not old school enough for you? You can smell the Brylcreem and Beeman’s gum in the chapter on the Moondog Coronation Ball in Mark Winegardner’s magnificent opus, Crooked River Burning, a fictional account of growing up in Cleveland during the 50’s and early 60’s. Both of these books can be found at Amazon.com, but we encourage everyone to look for them in your local bookstore.
