In the beginning….
written by: Fresh Daily
Where it all started.
March 23, 2013.
In Chuk Le Garçon’s house to tours, SXSW showcases and bi-coastal showcases.
We’d be remiss to not mention the spark of the idea began with going to Paxico Records “Coalition of the illin’” event series and their living room showcases. It was like something I thought we could only go to California to experience. California was leading the way with Low End Theory and other event series. Knxwledge, Flying Lotus, Ras G, etc. were all killing it and Soundcloud was the home to a post-Dilla swing that the East Coast’s quantized ears were perking up to slowly.
As I recall it, NYC’s history with beat-based events was predominantly underground beat battles that fostered more of a competitive spirit than any actual community.
Thanks to these events, Bushwick and Williamsburg is where all of this went down initially until that fateful Bed-Stuy houseparty/beat showcase.
photo courtesy of Paxico Records Flickr
photo courtesy of Paxico Records Flickr
The Friday before the very first Beat Haus, I (Fresh Daily) hosted a beat showcase inside of a deli called Living Bread Deli in Bushwick where Knxwledge, Tuamie & Ohbliv were the headliners. That was my first time meeting Tuamie and Ohbliv.
I shouted out the event from the stage while hosting with no real other promotion but Paxico posting it to their IG account. I think to me, it was crucial they be included in this endeavor because I considered them forefathers of this burgeoning community & scene. But in my mind after a decade of successfully throwing events locally, I knew this would be potentially something special, I just didn’t know WHAT exactly. But that night at the deli really set the pace for the next evening. Big shouts to Andre Prozorov aka ZONA (RIP), for having me host that event. ZONA was a Ukranian producer and event thrower and just a guy who really loved music and a very early Beat Haus supporter we’d met through the Paxico shows.
The event was dope and hosting it was a blast, but my real goal was to promote Beat Haus’s inaugural event to this packed out deli in the middle of Bushwick full of people here to see acts who were a part of something I felt was a musical subculture. It was surreal to be in a deli with deli workers were behind the counter cooking Pastrami sandwiches but to me, the absolute best shows I’ve ever been to or thrown were almost always in a non-traditional venue.
Of note, Tuamie was NINETEEN YEARS OLD then and had absolute slappers & heatrocks. Check out the video below:
Fast forward to the next night which was Beat Haus’s inaguaral debut. Aside from the acts and Paxico crew on the promo assist, I couldn’t have thrown this event at all without 3 key people who made it possible:
Dj Jester, an amazing dj based in Brooklyn from Michigan who was my EU tour DJ and I threw a party called “Spread Love” with (IYKYK!). Jester’s soundsystem and technical knowledge was the only reason I could do this thing but his mind for logistics and promo really helped Beat Haus take shape over the years.
Chuk Le Garcon was a producer who lived in a 3-story townhouse in the heart of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Him and his 2 roommates graciously let us utilize their home as a pop-up for what we thought would be a modestly attended event.
P.U.D.G.E, a contemporary of West Coast producers like Dibia$e & Flying Lotus who’d migrated back home to Queens, NY was one of the first artists that helped build Beat Haus from the ground up. From beat sets, to setting up, P.U.D.G.E was there from the very beginning as an integral part of what we were doing.`
Notable mention was a 2-man videographer crew called “Collabo NYC” that had expressed interest in shooting a music video for me. While I didn’t have music for them to shoot, I knew we had something with Beat Haus and I asked them to come roll with us to the Living Bread Deli show, & they documented it (the video above, actually). They also documented the next day’s Beat Haus and that turned into having them document us for the subsequent year and a half, giving us so much content & helping Beat Haus grow visibly.
This was Malik Abdul Rahmaan’s first live beat set ever also! Quelle, Tuamie, KVZE, Josh Hey & SWRVY (as AW NAW), Vesa and Chuk Le Garcon gave a packed house of about 100 people who showed up a hell of a show!
It’s been a dope journey ever since. Here’s the video recap below & some photos from the very first Beat Haus ever. Enjoy. Please subscribe to our Youtube channel also if you can!
