Met Lovin' Big Shots 2007

[Guest Edgy DC]

Here's the original thread: http://www.getalifealready.com/cpf/archives/f1_t642.shtml

March 8, 2007

Jonny Kaps and Nat Hays, Music Industry Mavens

http://www.gothamist.com/attachments/arts_jen/2007_03_arts_natshays.jpg

Back in January of 2004, those two gentleman you see at the right - Jonny Kaps and Nat Hays - started +1 (a PR, Management, Digital and Special Events company). On their roster are bands such as Editors, Ambulance LTD, Stellastarr* and Two Gallants. Tonight they'll be celebrating their 3 year anniversary just down the street from their office, at Luna Lounge. The party is private, sure to have some special musical guests...and they want to invite YOU. Check out details after the interview.

Tell us what a typical day in the +1 offices is like?

Every day is different from the rest, that’s what I love about it. I come in every morning knowing the things I want to do...and I never even come close to accomplishing what I set out to do at the beginning of the day cause I spend most of my time reacting to things. It’s pretty crazy and unpredictable but I love it. It beats sitting in a cubicle.

If the bands on your roster were your kids...who would be your favorite kid?

I love them all equally and unconditionally (I train people on this stuff ya know)

What is your first conscious memory of living in New York?

I grew up in Westchester, 40 minutes North of Manhattan. My first memory of working in the city was my first day of work after graduating college. I was coming in on Metro North and was late on my first day. The line to just get a Metro Card was like hundreds of people deep. I decided to duck under the Subway entrance (I think I saw them do that in ‘Kids’) and got caught by an undercover cop and got a ticket. It was pretty embarrassing, all of these people just staring with looks on their faces, like ‘how could you actually get caught doing that?!’

What is your favorite place to drink in NYC, and what's the best night to go out?

I like Clem’s in Williamsburg. Good vibe, tunes, people, it is kind of our local hang-out and people are there at all hours. I hope the bartenders are reading this. Thursday is my favorite night to go out, I don’t do weekends.

Favorite NY venue to see a show at?

Bowery, no question. A class operation.

A few years ago we recall you being a part of New York Post's "meat market" section, in which the paper attempted to find you some love...what was that experience like?!

Ha, I thought everyone forgot about that? Can I just leave it at...a lot of people questioned why I did that...pretty much everyone except for my Uncle Bruce. He totally called me out on it and I was like, finally, someone sees the positive repercussions in doing this. Oh, and I live for the Sunday Post.

Let's have some fun with word association. Give me your immediate feelings on the following (if you've got no discernable feelings, make something up that won't embarrass you in the morning)

Yankees

The Evil Empire. I despise The Yankees and everything they represent. And I hate Yankees fans even more than the team itself. There, I said it.

Mets

The ultimate underdog, the best team to root for. They will never have as much history, money or respect as The Yankees and that is what makes being a Mets fan so fun. We are the second team in a two team town. We understand pain and suffering and there is something to be said about that. I always say, ‘it is not easy being a Mets fan.’

CBGB

I know all about it’s history and all and I respect a venue that has launched some amazing bands...but I never really felt a connection there...For as long as I’ve been living in NYC (the past 6 years or so), they never had any good shows.

Britney

I was debating with Nat the other day...what will happen if she actually delivers a great album? Will she sell as many records? He thinks she can, I think not. She’s lost the majority of her fan-base and I think she can have a dance hit or get some props in an ironic way...but I don’t think she will ever be a commercial monster like she was.

Pitchfork

They are tough but I love them for it. They are not about marketing, money or influence, they are just about the music. It is nice to see a site like this become so influential because it is real.

Blogs

It’s just amazing how they have exploded. A few years ago, there were a handful of music blogs that no one at the big labels even knew about, let alone pitch. Now, they are hiring whole departments just to cater to them. The thing is...in my mind, an honest blog can’t really be marketed to, they like what they like. And that is why they are great.

I do think that buzz on the blogs can be both a blessing and a curse for a band. It is obviously great exposure, especially for a new band that doesn’t have a real push behind them. But it also can a curse when a new band get ‘buzz’ so quick that they don’t really have time to develop or pay their dues. Buzz can turn to cynicism pretty quick if a band does not have the songs, live show, ambition, positive momentum, etc to back it up.

Gentrification

I’ve only been living in Williamsburg for 4 years or so, so it’s not like I’m old-school or anything...but I hate what they are doing to the hood. This construction is just ridiculous and they are obviously catering to rich people. The whole vibe of the neighborhood is already changing and it will never be the same. It’s sad.

A few quickies on the music tip

What was the most played song on your iPod (or an equivalent music playing device) in the past week?

I listen to these songs several times a day and no doubt piss off everyone in my office:

‘Love Spreads’ - Stone Roses

‘Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues ‘ -Eels

‘Soup’ - Blind Melon

‘Portions For Foxes’ - Rilo Kiley

‘Soul Meets Body’ - Death Cab

‘Acquiese’ - Oasis

‘Kissing Families’ - Silversun Pickups

‘I am trying to break your heart’ - Wilco

‘So Alive’ - Love & Rockets

‘Marquee Moon’ - Television

‘The Old Fashioned Way’ - Luna

‘The Only One I Know’ - The Charlatans

‘I Walk The Earth’ - King Biscuit Time

What was the first/last album you bought on the day it was released?

‘Back Number’s by Dean & Britta. I’m a huge Luna fan.

And finally...What came first, the music or the misery?

The misery comes first, the music is the solution. ‘Cause when I got the music, I gotta place to go.’

CONTEST:

To enter to win two tickets to tonight's +1 party, email

gothamistcontest (a) gmail dot com

telling us why you want to go.

[Willets Point]

Lou Reed?

[A Boy Named Seo]

That is the coolest thing I've ever read. And he's dead-on about all of it, especially Wagner.

No question mark necessary.

Lou Reed. Met Lovin' Bigshot.

Great find.

[metirish]

Great find Willets,that's pure class form Reed.

] If you were a Met in the late 70s, you couldn’t get into Studio 54 with a note from Steve Rubell’s mom

[Gwreck]

Not sure Lou actually wrote that.

"Yard-Work.org is a work of satire and parody intended for the entertainment of our reading audience. "

[metirish]

Well now don't I feel like a fool..

[A Boy Named Seo]

I think it's still the coolest thing I ever read.

[Gwreck]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I think it's still the coolest thing I ever read.

No disagreement. The Carlos Delgado bit was priceless.

[seawolf17]

I agree that it's not actually Lou, but it's funny nonetheless.

[Theoldmole]

The whole quote is this.

]About Yard Work Yard-Work.org is a work of satire and parody intended for the entertainment of our reading audience. The majority of quotes & events depicted within these writings are purely fictional, except when they’re not.

So I still can't figure it out. I would have thought it was real except for the whole-album-dedicated-to-John-Stearns part. And if Reed had really taken Andy Warhol to a game, wouldn't we know about it?

I thought it was a neat piece of writing, too.

[Willets Point]

Sorry, I did not intend to mislead anyone into believing this was really Lou Reed, but it does seem to capture an spiritual Reedness that it really is Lou even if it wasn't written by him. BTW, I thought Edgy would love this link so I'm surprised he hasn't commented.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A newly minted big shot:

Astoria Mets fan scores with $105M lottery hit

By Nathan Duke

04/19/2007

A 40-year-old man who immigrated to Astoria with his wife 17 years ago from the Dominican Republic realized two dreams last week after winning $105 million through the state lottery and throwing a pitch from the mound at Shea Stadium.

Gilberto Bueno, a huge Mets fan who lives in Astoria, said he and his wife, Nelsy, have played the New York Lottery for fun ever since they moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1990. The couple, who have several foster children, claimed the sole winning ticket from the $105 Million Mega Millions drawing held on April 6, lottery officials said.

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Bueno said he has been making plans on how to spend the money.

"We've been looking forward to this day," Gilberto Bueno said. "We're big family people, hardworking people. I'd like to own a farm in the country and live a good life."

Nelsy Bueno said she also would like to own a house in Santo Domingo.

A spokeswoman for the lottery said the couple accepted the lump sum option and will receive $61.5 million, not including taxes.

Bueno, who worked nights stocking shelves at Key Food Supermarkets on 31st Street in Astoria at the time of his win, bought his winning ticket at The Magazine Store in Astoria, located across the street from his place of work.

Bueno, who said he is a devoted Mets fan, also fulfilled another dream Friday when he threw out the first pitch at Shea Stadium during a game against the Washington Nationals as part of his lottery win. He said he would buy season tickets to the Mets with his winnings.

Under state lottery rules, store owners who sell a winning jackpot ticket are also awarded. Jitendra Doshi, owner of The Magazine Store, was given a $10,000 check for selling the ticket to Bueno, state lottery officials said.

Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

If he's a true fan he'll kick down a little cash to help Wilpon get the Mets the front line starting pitcher they need to put them over the top.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Maybe, but I've got standings here telling me that the Mets are over the top.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I have my sights set on October.

[Gwreck]

Chris Rock.

"Hey everybody, it's time to get out of your seats and yell 'Let's Go Mets! Let's Go Mets!'"

Video of the above played on the Diamondvision twice today.

[Guest Edgy DC]

By the by, we've got to get that Lou thing preserved here.

Lou is a great essayist, and that --- Lou or not --- really captures his tone:

Hey there, New York. And whoever else is out there, you might as well come on in too. Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. It’s a long season.

Not many people know that the Rock n’ Roll Animal was and is a fan of the game from way back. Brooklyn born, baby. Jackie, Hodges, Pee Wee, Campy, the Duke… all my boys. Delmore Schwartz threw me out of class one time for saying Don Newcombe could take Willie Mays one-on-one. Truth is, he was still upset about those whores O’Malley and Stoneham going to California. Well shit, who wasn’t?

I came back to the city from Syracuse just after NL baseball did. I saw the Mets play a couple times at the Polo Grounds… It was nice to have a reason to go to the Polo Grounds before they tore it down; Delmore would go on and on about the Polo Grounds, especially after he’d had a few, which was a lot of the time. I dug the Polo Grounds. Never been wild about Shea, but shit, who is?

I dragged Andy and a bunch of them to Shea for a game in’66. I don’t think they’d seen daylight in something like 72 hours… even with the sunglasses, Andy was blinking like a stunned owl. Andy hated it. “It’s boring…” he’d sigh, “It’s so boring…” Now, I had a feeling he’d think that, but I didn’t expect it’d be a problem, because as far as I could tell, he liked things that were boring. I mean, you’re gonna make a movie that’s one long shot of the Empire State Building for six hours, and you’re gonna tell me the

Mets

are boring? Really, he was a total bitch about it.

The only thing he liked was the parking lots. We got to the stadium and he saw the parking lots and it kicked off one of those flights of euphoria he would have… “This is fantastic… Isn’t this fantastic?” And so everyone—Joe and Candy and Edie and everyone—starts going on and on about how fantastic the parking lots are. Which only raised everybody’s hopes. It all came crashing down when everyone stood for the national anthem. Andy didn’t want to stand—standing in public always made him uncomfortable—and then this big guy in front of us turns around and growls, “It’s the goddamn national anthem. You stand up for the national anthem.” So Andy stands up, holding my arm the whole time, his hand is shaking. Total panic. He whispers to me,

“Is it always like this?”

It’s funny, Andy ultimately came around to baseball, kind of, once he got to know some of the players. Turned out, he was a Yankee fan, which I could’ve predicted, and maybe should’ve. Of course, the only players he knew were Yankees. If you were a Met in the late 70s, you couldn’t get into Studio 54 with a note from Steve Rubell’s mom. But Mickey Rivers and Cliff Johnson were there damn near every night, at least after the home games.

But I’ll take the Mets. It’s the Island’s team. Brooklyn and Queens, baby, two sides of the coin. The original cut of “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” actually had a verse that started, you know,

“Say a word for Cleon Jones…”

Yeah, some record company is gonna dig up that cut one day and stick it with a bunch of other outtakes and B-sides and it’s gonna sit there on the counter at Starbucks next to the soundtrack for

Akeelah and the

fucking

Bee

. Can’t wait for that day.

But the Mets are all over the place in my records, if you know where to look. Felix Millan did some of the horn overdubs on “Temporary Thing,” and the entirety of

The Blue Mask

was actually inspired by and dedicated to John Stearns. Crazy thing was, he got injured just a few months after the record came out… career over, done. Kind of spooky, really. I still can’t play “Waves of Fear” without getting hit by a fucking cinder block of guilt, you know?

So I’m not writing anything for the ’07 Mets. Didn’t write anything last year and that turned out okay, huh? At least until Heilman though he could blow that one by Molina. Can’t get too down on Heilman, though. Shit happens, right? If anyone should take the heat, it’s Wagner for Game 2. That shit’s unforgivable.

But babe, I like this team. Jose Reyes… Jesus Christ, watching him on the basepaths is like listening to Dion’s early solo stuff, like he’s taking two steps for every one you can even follow. If you think it’s a base hit, it turns out to be a double… you think it’s a double and suddenly he’s on third, jumping up and smiling… you didn’t know where he was going, but he sure the fuck did.

Carlos Beltran… the guy is like a goddamn Greek god out there. It’s like he runs onto the field and the sun comes up. I’ll bet you that guitar over there in the corner that if you break in to the basement of the British Museum, you find a statue of Apollo that looks exactly like Carlos Beltran that they had to stow away because some fucking twelve year-old prince got a hard-on looking at it.

David Wright. Does that kid even realize that he owns this town? He could walk into Trump Tower, kick in Trump’s door, rip the wig off the bastard’s head and say, “This building. This is mine.” And Trump would have to give it up. Because David Wright owns New York in a way that Trump can only dream of, assuming Donald Trump is even still capable of the basic human act of dreaming.

Carlos Delagdo. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I wrote “I Wanna Be Black,” I was thinking of Carlos Delgado. If I could’ve just written “I Wanna Be Carlos Delgado,” I’d have gotten a lot less shit from NAACP.

Lo Duca. Brooklyn born, baby. You could stop right there, and I’m gonna.

You go up and down that lineup, it’s solid rock. Not a weak track there. Moises Alou, Valentin, Shawn Green… I’m looking for a big year out of Shawn. The press whores at the Post, yeah, all you’ll hear them say is how he’s lost a step, he’s too old… and he’s fucking 34. Shit, most Jews are just getting started at 34. When I was his age, I put out both

Coney Island Baby

and

Rock and Roll Heart

. So Murdoch can sell it, but I’m not buying.

Yeah, I worry about the pitching. Glavine’s getting up there, but Shea’s a forgiving place for guys like that. El Duque will find a way to win a dozen games, fifteen if Castro cashes it in by June. John Maine is the real thing, and if Pelfrey can eat up some innings, this team is gonna win him ten games. Oliver Perez has looked good this spring, but I’m not going further than that. If everyone can stay healthy ‘til July-August when Pedro comes back, we do okay.

Wagner worries me. You just can’t live life at 100 mph every day and expect to survive; listen to who’s telling you. One night you’re packing them in at Max’s with a half-dozen boys and girls waiting to take turns on your dick the moment you get offstage, the next day you wake up and Mick Ronson is tying you off in some hotel bathroom in Cologne and it’s 1979.

Now Billy Wagner is the kind of cracker I wouldn’t piss on if he was passed out in the only urinal in New York, but the kid pitches in Queens, so I got this to say: Slow down. Unclench the fist. Breathe. Have you ever considered Tai Chi? Because I know a guy. And I guarantee, if Billy Wagner picks up Tai Chi, we win the pennant.

So this year, I think we take ‘em. I think we get past the Braves and the Phils, and probably the Dodgers to make it to the Series. Beyond that, who knows? You try to live in the moment, or at least not too far outside the regular season. ‘Cause after all, you need a busload of faith to get by, but Moises Alou doesn’t hurt, either.

[Guest SI Metman]

Gwreck wrote: Chris Rock. "Hey everybody, it's time to get out of your seats and yell 'Let's Go Mets! Let's Go Mets!'" Video of the above played on the Diamondvision twice today.

I was at Shea today and rolling my eyes at that one. Matthew Broderick was also in the house for Autism Awareness day.

[Farmer Ted]

Robert Smigel, standing behind Matthew Broderick. Smigel of SNL's TV Funhouse fame as well as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Fame

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/05_14_07/autism/autism16.jpg

[Willets Point]

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is kind of scrapping the bottom of the barrell as far as celebrity big shots go.

[Guest holychicken]

Willets Point wrote: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is kind of scrapping the bottom of the barrell as far as celebrity big shots go.

I can go deeper into the barrel than that!

How about the guy from Mad Money, Jim Cramer?

He was at the game the other night interviewed by that guy who wanders the stands and McCovey Cove. Cramer pretty much came right out and told him that he did not want to be in character, yet he STILL acted like he was in character.

It was pretty entertaining only because the interviewer seemed completely clueless as to this guy's wish to just watch the game.

Sorry, I don't have a pic of him in any Mets gear.

[Gwreck]

Hillary Swank.

Booed at Dodger Stadium after being shown on screen with Mets hat, as per Howie on WFAN broadcast tonight.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Gwreck wrote: Hillary Swank. Booed at Dodger Stadium after being shown on screen with Mets hat, as per Howie on WFAN broadcast tonight.

That guy looks like a chick.

[Farmer Ted]

This guy?

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/hilaryswank2-0407-460x360.jpg

[Willets Point]

I believe Dickshot is alluding to Swank's role in Boys Don't Cry.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I was actually referring to him in Beverly Hills 90210. I was actually trying too hard to be a slumpbuster by reaching for a joke. I suck.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The slump is affecting all of us.

We're scuffling right now.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

We're not posting well as a forum.

[Centerfield]

My leg hurts. I'm going to Port St. Lucie.

[Batty31]

In the new TV Guide there is a picture of Dave Annable from the tv series "Brothers and Sisters". According to the caption he is a huge Mets fan and took batting practice at Shea during the recent Project A.L.S. event. I also just found out he was born in the same town as me..so it makes sense he's a fan.