Photos by Jeff Klapperich
On my walk to Bushwick warehouse/venue, Shea Stadium, I hear bands resonating from rehearsal rooms all around me. There are vans with trailers lining the streets and artists of all kinds mingle out front of a local eatery.
The best thing about living in Brooklyn is the multiple pockets of hip culture, sprinkled throughout the borough each one with their ringleaders and popular bands/emerging artists.
For example, Greg Fox, the drummer and multi-instrumentalist for Guardian Alien who plays tonight along with Sleep in Sundays, a solo act from St. Louis. To his credit, Greg Fox plays in several Brooklyn bands, runs the Infinite Limbs record label, tours and also does his share of booking shows around the scene -- a ringleader.
I enter Shea Stadium and Eric Williger from Sleep in Sundays lightly strums an electric guitar with a continuous background loop rolling through his entire set. At times the loop distracts from his quiet vocals, but at other times the two brilliantly align, sounding like pretty folk songs over a metallic soft breeze with electric waves crashing late at night. The real wind outside happens to be blowing in from the balcony windows, whipping Williger’s long hair about his face.
Between sets, I venture to the outside balcony and stand next to a puddle. I peer out upon rows and rows of graffiti warehouses, as far as the eye can see. Staring into the puddle, I sense a small group of artists meditating next to me. As a result, the water at my feet begins to ripple and I become transfixed on my flickering reflection. I step into the water and disappear into another dimension.
My clothes are soaking wet as I crawl through the warehouse’s old ventilation ducts. Guardian Alien begins their raucous set below me. Vocalist Alex Drewchin is screaming and her frantic tone is supernatural. A spirit circles above the band as Drewchin wails in the middle of the crowd. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I find a square opening in the ceiling to crawl back down into the space.
Drewchin is bending over backwards shrilling and she breaks to the floor. Greg Fox hammers away on his half of the dueling drum sets. The brooding keyboardist and the electric lap guitarist flail over their instruments, providing background chaos as the spirit dances around the crowd and whispers in my ear -- a sound I’ve never heard before.
The musicians in the experimental noise project, Guardian Alien, perform as if they are on fire. Fox plays what looks like a homemade outer space guitar, an instrument used to summon. From the balcony window, the audience and I witness a single blue triangle flying over the NYC skyline.
We stand in awe.
Guardian Alien plays an art show entitled “CONSPIRASTOCK” at Shea Stadium 8/6 and also at Zebulon 8/11.
Sleep in Sundays has a split 12” with Falsetto Boy available here.
Instrumental from sleep in sundays on Vimeo.
