Praveen Sharma of Cassette NYC. — Photo by Jessica Lee Star

The late night crowd gathered outside 319 Scholes last Saturday amidst otherwise desolate streets was evidence that the space’s new inhabitants don’t work along the same schedule as the area’s more traditional manufacturing tenants. Instead of workers toiling away inside, revelers danced away to beats and bass provided by the night’s hosts, Cassette NYC. And instead of factory belts and shipping palettes, the white walls of the formerly decaying garage glowed with video projections while Praveen, Machinedrum, and their guest, Alex Incyde, blended a diverse array of dance music.

Bringing unity to disparate styles of music is one of the goals of Cassette, and they see a home for musical diversity under the banner of bass music situated in New York City. 

"New York City has always been a ‘melting pot’ of all kinds," explains Machinedrum, known to his family as Travis Stewart. "I feel like all bass music really is, is world music. It works everywhere, and borrows from so many places. I mean think about it, how more general can you get with a genre called ‘bass music’?" 

Still, New York isn’t necessarily known for its electronic music. But Praveen Sharma is optimistic about changing that: "Years back, New York, and more specifically Brooklyn, turned into such a big spot for the indie rock scene that I think the public’s eye shifted away from underground electronic music for a while. When Travis and I met here about six or seven years back, the city seemed ripe for the sort of energy we wanted to bring to the table with Cassette and Percussion Lab. There didn’t seem to be many people bringing the artists we wanted to see here, so we brought them ourselves."

The two are also partners in Percussion Lab, a mixtape Web site and radio show, where you can hear a lot of the music discussed here and played at their parties. Over the past four or five years, they’ve thrown dozens of rooftop and loft parties in Bushwick. They also have a new bass music project together called Sepalcure, which will release its first EP, called Love Pressure, this May. This "UK inspired sound with a decidedly NY take on things," is very deep, with warm sub bass rolling all about, and quick paced, with shuffled percussion set to a housey tempo. 

"I had a few friends in SF and London who were constantly sending me this new, seemingly genre agnostic dance music," says Praveen about Sepalcure’s origins. "It was really inspiring stuff, so I got my hands on some acapellas and started throwing down."

Igal Nassima, who is the event curator at 319, organized Saturday’s show. He co-founded the space, along with Taylan Sinan Yilmaz, as a venue for artists, designers and engineers to showcase the increasing use of multiple disciplines to create a more unified art world. Nassima is also studying for his masters at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU and was one of the original DJs at the LESS techno parties. His private design studio, Quantize, initially funded the space. Quantize, which seeks to balance commercial work and non-profit work, is collaborating with an organization called MyblockNYC and 35 public schools on a film curriculum project that culminates with students uploading their documentaries to an interactive map. You can expect Nassima’s background to be a big influence on 319′s future. Down the road, the space also plans on upgrading their sound system to 5.1 surround sound.

Scholes Street is the perfect location for all of this, Nassim says: "I think of Bushwick as an utopian zone for artists, musicians, etc. Great events like SITE Fest, or Open Studios help suddenly reveal everything in this no-more protected industrial zone. Just come and explore."

Read the full interview with Praveen and Machinedrum>>

Praveen – “Lovestep Mix Vol 2“