VENUE CHECK-IN: HOW BROOKLYN’S BABY’S ALL RIGHT TRANSFORMED THE VIRTUAL VENUE
HEADS on TV chats with live music venues across the country for their perspective on what both musicians and fans alike can do to support their favorite spots throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Photo courtesy of Richard Grayson.
“The outpour of support from artists is universal and amazing - they need to be supported just as much as venues do. If we are out of work, they are out of work.”
Known for its richly diverse history of incredible talent, the New York City arts community has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic in the U.S. —especially in boroughs like Brooklyn, where regularly scheduled events and concerts drive the rhythm of the neighborhood. That’s exactly how Baby’s All Right, a local Brooklyn venue who has seen the likes of Billie Eilish and Willow Smith in the last few years, felt when everything first shut down. “The move was sudden and left many sold out shows in the dark,” says Night Manager and Marketing Coordinator Greg Rutkin. “The first month or so was just spent refunding or frantically rescheduling shows.”
But as is true for many venues across the country, the necessity for income, especially in support of an out-of-work staff, has driven the creation of innovative projects like BABY TV, a virtual streaming platform that was the brainchild of Baby’s All Right owner Billy Jones, Director Brandon Collins, and Production Manager Tom Moore. “ We wanted [BABY TV] to be low-cost and swift in an effort to get the program off the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible, to start getting much needed cash into our staff's pockets,” says Greg.
Since its launch, artist performances have included Mac Demarco, Deniro Farrar, Stella Donnelly, Zola Jesus and many more.
We caught up with Greg to dive into exactly how the infrastructure of BABY TV was conceived, as well as his advice for other venues across the country hoping to follow suit and explore the virtual landscape.
HEADS on TV: Tell us a little bit about the history of Baby's All Right, for those who haven't yet been introduced.
Greg Rutkin: Baby's All Right is a small independent Brooklyn venue. It is a popular venue with a rich history of breaking artists. On any given night you could see a local and virtually unknown act, or a superstar doing an underplay (in the last two years we've had Willow Smith, The Raconteurs, Billie Joe Armstrong, Billie Eilish, and so many others).
Courtesy of BABY TV
How was the venue initially impacted by the shut downs in early March?
We were one of the very first venues to close up shop. We were hoping that if we were proactive we'd aid in helping things pass more quickly. The move was sudden and left many sold out shows in the dark. The first month or so was just spent refunded or frantically rescheduling shows. No small venue is really prepared for something like this, of course. Our first priority was figuring out relief for the staff, which is ultimately how BABY TV was first conceived.
Tell us about the origins of BABY TV—what is it, and how did it come to be?
As mentioned before, right when things shut down there was no relief in sight. BABY TV was the idea of our owner, Billy Jones, and our Director, Brandon Collins, with a large amount of input from our Production Manager at the time, Tom Moore. I was left to sort of gather all the ideas and assets to carry out the actual build, which we wanted to be low-cost and swift in an effort to get the program off the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible to start getting much needed cash into our staff's pockets.
What sort of infrastructure was needed to put together this project?
A lot of research was done. I'm not a computer-savvy person (or I wasn't at the time) so there was a lot of searching on public forums and mining of information from this old electronics manufacturing warehouse I used to work for. I settled on building a password protected page on a new website that had embedded private or unlisted YouTube live videos with chat (the real hard part to figure out). The link and password are distributed through our ticketing partners over at Eventbrite, who were kind enough to give us a very affordable flat rate on each ticket sale, giving us the opportunity to create a sliding scale ticketing system. Over the months it has grown to look/feel/interact better and we now have donation links, a merch table, and whatever else any individual show might require embedded right into the site. It still evolves weekly!
How have you been curating talent for the virtual showcases and events?
Our talent buyer is a workhorse unlike anyone I've ever met before. Alex Gleeson is currently booking and building the calendar from Australia. He has been the main engine behind our growing artist list. Highlights have been: Mac Demarco, Deniro Farrar, Stella Donnelly, Zola Jesus + Blanck Mass, Shamir, Ohmme, Widowspeak...). We are also blessed to work with some very talented people like; Manny Lemus (founder of Citrus City Records), Jack Kerwin, Juan Medici, John Bohannon, Beth Townsend, Jeff Berrall, the list can literally go on and on, and our staff has been an invaluable resource in helping us fill the calendar.
What have you learned or observed in moving your typical calendar of events into a digital, social-media driven space?
I love the sliding scale ticketing option. I've found regardless of what stream is happening, donation ranges are very equitable. I love being able to offer a stream for whatever someone might be able to afford and see that system work out in such a positive way. The hard part is that once summer hit, people started socializing and spending their time outside, it feels like the livestream is becoming less and less of an appeal. On the flip side, we can have a stream of a local act and see attendees tune in from across the globe. I'm moving towards bigger and better productions in the hopes that there will be a greater draw.
What can music fans do to support venues during this time?
Attend these virtual shows, buy merch, DONATE, contact your representatives and ask them to support and cosponsor S. 4258, the Save Our Stages Act introduced by Senators Cornyn and Klobuchar and S. 3814/H.R. 7481, the RESTART Act, introduced by Senators Young and Bennet in the Senate and Representatives Golden and Kelly in the House, both of which would ensure the survival of independent venues, theatres, and event promoters across the nation.
What can artists do to support venues during this time?
Artists seem to be bearing the brunt of most of the work being done to save venues and communities. The outpour of support from artists is universal and amazing - they need to be supported just as much as venues do. If we are out of work, they are out of work.
What recommendations might you make to other struggling venues across the country, searching for new ways to stay connected to their fans?
We're building different formats now for BABY TV programing, the main focus being in-house productions that will focus more on the artist and the venue ($ wise) rather than the original model. Sound staff will start to come back through in-house BABY TV productions as well, so we're re-focusing our priorities in order to stay afloat!
All venues are cultural centers - it is our responsibility to make space for a community in whatever way we can. I see it happen in the chatroom of shows. Providing platforms for local acts has often done more for our live streams than international acts in many instances!
Lastly, please let me know if there are any upcoming events you'd like to promote, and how fans or artists can participate.
All our virtual shows! I'm currently working on some in-house venue production - the first one was launched in early September! We're also gearing up to opening the food service side of our venue where we'll slowly start building our staff back up.
Keep up with BABY TV here.
For additional ways to support legislation and funding for live music venues during this time, check out the National Independent Venue Association: https://www.nivassoc.org/
