By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor
A veteran of both the Boston and New York City music scenes since the 1980’s, Garvy J talked to The Groove about the merits of both locations and what the word “scene” even means. Garvy J, which is his stage name, is a producer, guitarist, and solo artist. He has played guitar for Adam Green, produced Tracy Bonham, and was a member of the Rentals, the cult late 90’s band started by Weezer’s Matt Scharp and which included Maya Rudolph among its members. Having taken the Boston scene by storm in the early 90’s as part of glam-new-wave outfit, The Elevator Drops, he now shares his time between Boston and Brooklyn, where he lives with Joan Wasser and Parker Kindred, two thirds of Joan as Police Woman and produces albums for members of the Scissor Sisters.
Garvy describes Boston in the late 1980’s as a thriving mecca for Bohemian artists and musicians. Clubs that have long since shut down like Jumpin Jack Flash and The Channel were havens for underground rock music. Musicians paid cheap rents for sprawling lofts in the area between South End and Chinatown dubbed the “Combat Zone” for its gritty, industrial feel. Loft dwellers installed vast artificial mountain-scapes, roller-coasters, and rivers with turtles in their expansive living spaces. Icons like Jeff Buckley would come up from New York City and hang out. But as gentrification took hold in the mid 1990’s and rents got steeper, musicians moved out to Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. “The scene kept going further and further out til it all but disappeared,” he said.
Now, Garvy says, rock music still thrives in Allston, or “Allston Rock City” with venues like the Great Scott located there, but the total number of music clubs in the Boston area has dwindled. The best venues according to Garvy are the Paradise, TT the Bear’s, and the Middle East, and that is where his list ends. Public transportation stopping at 12:30 hurts the music scene because most people do not want to stay for the last act, and most performers do not want to be the last act of the night. “People will flee in the middle of a show to catch the T.”
Garvy, who resides in the South End, acknowledges the great attributes of Boston, particularly its tradition of intellect and academia. “I just feel smarter walking around Harvard Square. You have an energy there,” he says. More tangibly, Garvy drew upon the city’s academic resources when he made the groundbreaking video for his single, “The War is Over…Again” with new camera technology developed at MIT by director, Peter Sand.
Garvy has far more praise for New York City, specifically Brooklyn. “It defies the reputation, but people are friendlier in Brooklyn than Boston.” Additionally, Garvy says that the sheer enormity of New York City allows a greater diversity of styles and people. “There are more styles and more people doing it.”
Garvy also points out the drawbacks to New York City, warning that the city that never sleeps can be too much. “There’s a danger that you will be over-stimulated in New York,” he says. Additionally, the quantity of “poseur hipsters” is higher in New York City. Garvy describes this phenomenon as “bad music, good look.” He expands, “Well, I don’t know if super tight black jeans, a hoodie, and a beard is a good look, but it’s a look.”
Ultimately, Garvy is skeptical about the importance of a scene, noting that some of his favorite music comes from random cities and parts of the world. He reflects, “a scene is often about people who are followers and not necessarily leaders. It can be an anti-individualist clique.” According to him, the best value a “music scene” can offer is a group of friends with like-minded musical ambitions, and the goal should always be to make the best music possible, no matter where you are located.
Garvy J plays at TT the Bear’s on October 23 at 9 P.M. Check out his myspace at myspace.com/garvyj
