A few weeks ago, Amy Grimm, Brooklynite and founder of the Whatever blog, was nice enough to sit down with me to discuss her website, NYC shows and broader mission within the music industry. Due to work, travel and the time sucker that is the holiday season, it's taken me until now to create this post. I'd like to thank her for her patience.
"Wow, it's cold, " I said. "Yeah, December has really kicked in," replied Amy Grimm, as we sat down on a cozy vintage couch at the Flying Saucer Café in Brooklyn on a brisk Saturday evening. We were there to discuss topics we've both come to know extremely well--organizing, writing, photographing and just generally operating, within the world that is music.
Born and raised on Long Island, Amy has never been a stranger to the dynamics of local, somewhat grassroots, music scenes. Like me, she spent her teenage years attending shows at now extinct venues such as the PWAC. The experiences encountered at places such as that frenetic, industrial warehouse in Lindenhurst, Long Island helped to lay the foundation for many of the initiatives that Amy Grimm spearheads today.
Always a music fan, Grimm launched the Whatever blog in 2007. A year later, she began using her instinct for spotting great music as a means of organizing and promoting her own shows via Whatever. This endeavor began at Williamsburg's own Cameo Gallery, and featured performances by Ride on Dynamite and the Art of Shooting. Through this engagement, Grimm also established support systems with Kelly Irene (former member of the Art of Shooting; current member of Sleepwalk), as well as Julie Ruzansky and Gavin Dunaway. Ruzansky and Dunaway would later comprise "kinda post-punk" and a "touch glammy" Brooklyn outfit Libel, a band who, as a result of this earlier acquaintance, ended up on the bill at Grimm's December 2011 holiday party at Cake Shop NYC.
Using her abilities as both an event planner and hostess, Amy Grimm straddles the fine line that exists between the roles of businesswoman and nurturer. She graciously hosts events where she can offer people the gifts of camaraderie and stellar sound. This year's Whatever blog holiday party also showcased the talents of Eula, Radical Dads and Hilly Eye. Amy Klein, guitarist and vocalist for Hilly Eye, is also at the helm of feminist collective Permanent Wave, a group whose mission echoes the sentiments of many females within music communities, including women such as Grimm and myself. Through Permanent Wave, Klein aims to convey to this male-driven industry that, as women, we are way more than just "merch girls and groupies." We are assertive, self-confident and loaded with talent. We capture moments and initiate movements. We arrange, perform and inform. We are essential to this entire process. Please excuse me. I climbed atop my soapbox for a moment.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Shows. Particularly, the Whatever blog holiday party. The night's adventure also gave the crowd the fabulous DJ skills of Jesse Elliott and Justin Craig, members of Lexington, KY band These United States. A history of collaboration exists between Amy and these fine young men, with the two having Dj'd a previous party of her's at Brooklyn's Glasslands Gallery. Coincidentally, I got to know These United States through my work with Savannah website NewYorkisBoring, and it is that involvement that provoked an alliance between Amy and myself. The whole music sphere is very much interconnected, and it's an awesome thing to be able to grasp just how much can be accomplished when everyone is open to meeting and working with one another.
The Whatever blog has truly become an ongoing summary of Grimm's long-standing associations with musicians and scenes along the East Coast. In addition to initiating friendships, she has utilized her tenacity to throw her own unofficial CMJ party, and has also received recognition from L Magazine and the Northside Festival. Amy's spunk, fortitude and self-proclaimed "big mouth" have helped her to solidify a wonderful niche for herself in the larger music world. Through her work, she has become a trusted, respected member of the New York music community, and consistently takes the opportunity to gift people with fun nights and great music. When asked about her long term goals, Amy stated that she one day hopes to have the backing of bigger companies, so as to generate an even stronger communication network. Moving at the rate at which she moves, it would not surprise me at all if she finds a way to accomplish this super objective sooner rather than later.
And ladies, if you're ever doubting your ability to walk into a room and execute your job with style and confidence, I will echo the sentiment that Amy Grimm offered to me as we were leaving the Flying Saucer Café that Saturday night: Hold your head up high, straighten your shoulders and think to yourself, "What would Bette Davis do?"
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