THE COZY CREW: Hosker, O’Keefe, and James. |
One of the city’s prominent electronic musicians, Tim O’Keefe, is quietly expanding a corner of Providence’s indie rock world. O’Keefe, the creative force behind <tfo>, and co-owners Mike Hoska and Ted James have proudly accumulated a quality roster of innovative sound sculptors on the Cozy Music imprint. The triumvirate function as producers as well as artists so they all get to indulge in all aspects of their musical personalities.
Over the summer, Cozy issued four discs, including a Roedelius compilation and an EP by Joe Beats & Blak. Current releases include one from DJ Flack from Boston, one from Zen Paradox (Australia’s Steve Law), and Ted James’s noise-oriented side project, Risque Bouquet.
Here’s O’Keefe’s take on the material Cozy is pumping out: “We want to keep an open attitude about. If we hear something we think is quality, we want to put it out. Our tendency is to release music that’s either electronic, dance rock, indie, or indie hip-hop.
“At this point the label’s produced a nice little catalog of releases and moving forward, that catalog will include further work from <tfo>, Mahi Mahi, James, Everett & O’Keefe (EP), Hoska, and Bloodless Coup (full length). “From here,” says O’Keefe, “we plan to spend time developing our PR side, releasing less music, but promoting it more heavily.” In a nice bit of marketing, the label has entered into a deal with Memorex, which released a 4GB mp3 player called iDJ. The device comes pre-loaded with 500 tunes, 10 of which come from Cozy, including songs by Hoska and DJ C and Slouch.
O’Keefe, Hoska, and James also do live work. “We host a night on the first and third Thursday of every month at the Cuban Revolution in Olneyville,” he says, of the new Valley Street venue. And O’Keefe’s acclaimed Listening Party has returned. Every Wednesday at Local 121 (121 Washington Street, Providence), O’Keefe hosts and features guest DJs/non-DJs sorting through a multiplicity of styles, genres, and time frames of music. Admission is free and the music spins from 10 pm to 1 am.
If you want to get a handful of free samples of Cozy’s roster of artists, hit cozymusic.org. It will also be a forum where the labeloffers Cozy artist/DJ/producer remix work that wouldn’t be “legally” sellable in digital stores. They’re calling it, tentatively, Cozy Radio.
Forever changes
Thirty years ago — 1977! — 2nd Avenue played its first ever gig. Glenn Kuzirian, the band’s founder, remembers: “It was November 21, 1977 at Over the Rainbow in Cumberland,” he writes. “The first night we played together we started with a medley of old rock and roll songs arranged by a band called Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys. They used to open for Hendrix and Jimi produced their first record. We played ‘For What It’s Worth,’ ‘Hello, It’s Me,’ ‘Teach Your Children,’ ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling.’ I think ‘Piano Man’ and ‘Taxi’ were our two biggest hits.”
2nd Avenue started with Kuzirian and Chuck Doris as simply Chuck and Glenn. Then they morphed into Two for One, named after, you guessed it, a drink special. Glenn recalls the confusion. “When we started playing at the Ground Round they had a reader board out front and when we played it read ‘Two for One.’ Everyone used to come in asking for the ‘2 for 1’ drink special and were pissed off when they found out it was the name of the band.” The venue’s manager, tired of dealing with disgruntled drinkers, made the band change its name — 2nd Avenue was born.
Three decades later, the band still abides by that moniker. “I think the secret to the band’s longevity is that both Chuck and I believe that music is a legitimate craft and that one should be able to make one’s living at it. We are both dedicated to the fact that we want to make our living playing music and doing what was necessary to do that. It saw us through a lot of tough times. We both had previously been in bands that were always breaking up and when we both got together we were committed to keep on playing no matter the hardship. Plus, with most other jobs you usually know what to expect when you head off to work. But with 2nd Avenue, as we like to say, ‘Anything can happen and often does.’ ”
Chuck and Glenn have had a couple of other musicians in the band over the years. In the late ’80s they played with Dorothy “Hurricane” Hodge and through the ’90s and early ’00s they featured Steve Tancredi on drums. “They were both wonderful to work with and both had strong voices,” writes Kuzirian. “It was great to be able to do some intricate harmonies. I think that our singing is one thing that has helped the band survive. Most people don’t really know if you’re a good musician, but most people sing a little themselves and can tell when you’re really getting it right.”
2nd Avenue’s been getting it right for a long time now, proving that while the music industry has been in a constant state of upheaval, some things never change.