Name Alec Bemis Education Yale University | ||
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Organizations founded Brassland Records | ||
Alec Hanley Bemis is a writer and manager of cultural projects who lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Contents
History
In 2001, Bemis co-founded Brassland with Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner who are known for their prominent role in American independent music (i.e. performing roles in The National and Clogs, and curatorial roles in the Dark Was the Night compilation and MusicNOW Festival). Brassland was initially created as a vehicle to release the debut recordings by The National and Clogs. Today it documents the work of an international community of musicians surrounding The National.
The Guardian newspaper called it "the record label at the centre of New York's other music scene" and "a focus for some of the city's most intriguing and creative musicians." Current signings include This Is The Kit, Jherek Bischoff, Buke and Gase, Clogs, Doveman and People Get Ready. It has previously released key projects by Nico Muhly and Erik Friedlander.
Bemis has also worked as a manager and consultant with artists including !!!, Dirty Projectors, and Alexi Murdoch, and entities such as All Tomorrow's Parties and Cantaloupe Music. He has served on the board of directors for both WYBC and Manhattan New Music Project, a non-profit that sends musicians to teach in New York City schools.
He frequently emphasizes the importance of collaboration in creating music, stating that Brassland was created to "foster the growth of the bands and the community around them.")
Previous to starting the label Bemis had an active career as a writer. In the early 2000s he worked as a journalist for LA Weekly, the New York Times, The New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times. Previous to that, in the 1990s, he published Jaboni Youth fanzine, focusing on the nascent American independent music scene. Since the mid-2000s his writing has primarily appeared on personal social network sites and occasionally blogs such as Arcade, a humanities site published by Stanford University. Since 2012 he has hosted a radio show webcast by Alanna Heiss's Clocktower Productions.