Interview with Shirley Braha of NY Noise
MVP: It’s November 3, 2005 and we are in New York City, the Lower East Side, and we are with Shirley Braha, who produces New York Noise, a music video program that has come a long way in a relatively short time. But before we talk about New York Noise Shirley, let’s talk about how you ended up being the programmer of a show that reaches 10 million people?
Shirley Braha: Well Andy, It’s a great tale of falls and triumphs. Actually, no, it’s just a ramble about internships and initiatives …. and ponies. I created the show as an intern at NYC TV during the summer of 2003. It was an interesting time to be there because they were in the early stages of rebranding the channel and creating new programming, so there were a lot of opportunities to be had if you followed through yourself. I was still in college at that time though, up in Massachusetts at Smith College, so after the summer I could only work on the show when I’d come back to the city every few weekends. The show started out fairly modestly, but lots of changes have happened in the past year—NYC TV’s potential audience reach expanded from 1.8 million to 10 million. Plus, now that I’ve graduated and am working on the show full time, I’ve had more time and resources available to develop the show the way it has.
MVP: Talk about the actual full programming because New York Noise is not just music videos. You seem to really capture the New York aesthetic by doing all kinds of different, cool interesting things.
SB: Aw shucks. Yeah, since February 2005, every episode has had a different feature or theme. All the bands in the features are NYC based. The first feature I did was an interview with Le Tigre. Since then the features have developed to sometimes be unpredictable or conceptual, and pretty funny, at least according to my sense of humor, if you can call it that. I’ve done episodes with the Animal Collective eating cupcakes, Tommy Ramone giving etiquette advice, the international whistling champion whistling indie songs I gave him, Langhorne Slim & Eugene Mirman giving out fried fish on the street, Fischerspooner fighting with each other, 33hz cooking a turducken, children trashing the videos on the show, Ben Goldberg doing a parody of “Supersize Me” called “Top 40 Me,” lots of other stuff too. It’s generally more interesting to watch than just a plain interview, and it’s also more fun for me to produce. Sometimes I have to turn away from whatever we’re shooting because otherwise id burst out laughing.
MVP: It has got to be a little disconcerting, probably, for the higher ups at NYC TV25 that you feature artists that are so far out of the mainstream. Have you felt any sort of apprehension from them with your selections, bands that are really underground?
SB: I think when the show first debuted on NYC TV channel 74 back in September 2003 there was a little apprehension because we didn’t know how people would react, but NYC TV has been very supportive of the show. One of the goals of the channel is to have culturally relevant programming for the NYC public, so it’s a really good fit. It also doesn’t hurt that NY Noise has a sizeable viewership on the channel. I think that a lot of mainstream media outlets underestimate the depth of their audiences. There are significantly sized demographics, especially but not exclusively in New York and other major cities, who want to be exposed to music that is typically inaccessible via commercial radio or MTV.
MVP: From the e-mails you are receiving, the great response, and the great ratings, it seems like you are doing it right. Talk about some of the responses that you have received from your viewers. It must be very rewarding to know that there are people out there who tune in. It is kind of like appointment TV, like staying up late on Sunday night when I was a kid to watch 120 Minutes.
SB: When I started doing this show, I sort of expected the core audience to be like, imaginary Williamsburg hipsters, but i am happy it reaches a much wider audience. That’s the magic of TV! It’s been satisfying to see that it has been reaching lots of people who generally don’t listen to indie or experimental music, or don’t have access to it, or just haven’t had that entry point yet. I recently emailed with a mother in suburban New Jersey who said that New York Noise is the only opportunity she has to engage with new cool music as she is tied up at home with her baby. Also, my former intern heard about New York Noise from her father, who is this 50 year old lawyer so enthusiastic that he sends me e-mails after almost every show.
MVP: That is a great answer. On a personal note from the interviewer, to be in South River, New Jersey, a quiet suburban neighborhood, and be able to turn on my TV and see an Antony and the Johnsons’ video right in my living room is great. That is special to me because you are not going to see that video many other places. You can see all these mainstream, pop, high sound scanning artists on MTV or FUSE or BET. I guess New York Noise’s mission is to expose the poor, huddled, indie rock masses yearning to be heard!
SB: Yeah, definitely. Needless to say, there is so much great music around that isn’t getting exposure, which sucks for both musicians and the public. It’s really great to be able to share music that many people can connect with in a way that they don’t with what’s currently on other outlets. Indierock and indiepop and some other types of music pretty much helped me grow up and survive high school, so in keeping with Haley Joel Osmond, we can say i am trying to pay it forward.
MVP: Comment on the incredible upswing in indie rock music. It is now permeating through on TV shows such as The O.C. What is intriguing is that it is only a matter of time until the word indie, just like the word alternative, is relatively meaningless. I am curious about your thoughts?
SB: Indie is increasingly permeating popular American culture. It seems like there are lot more people listening to indie music than before, which isn’t too surprising considering the condensation of media and what it’s condensed with…. Mainstream media isn’t offering what a lot of people are looking for. It’s not just, you know, hipsters, for lack of a better word, who listen to indie rock; it’s the guy in the cubicle over. But a lot of people are just casual-plus listeners who watch the OC and reach pitchfork once a month for music suggestions and have their iPods filled with arcade fire and Sufjan Stevens and Devendra and whatever else is getting lots of buzz, but its still cool. As far as the word indie being commodified, I’ve already seen spreads in Teen Vogue advising on how to “dress indie” and whatever, but for the most part the word still has a good rap, and it has a technicality to it that gives it a better chance than the word alternative.
MVP: On to a whole new subject. With all the new technology, some are saying that video on television is in jeopardy. What are your thoughts on that?
SB: You know what people love? TV. People love TV. I read it on the internet. Everyone watched it for hours every day and those numbers do not seem to be decreasing—although I don’t study TV statistics so I could be completely lying, but I bet I am not. TV is 4-eva, and so are music videos on it.
MVP: It seems as though some people think that with MTV not programming many music videos anymore, that people will not make them anymore. Is it your opinion that now there are more music videos out there than ever before, and do you think that one of the reasons there are more videos is because of the low cost of digital film making?
SB: I am pretty certain there are more music videos being produced than ever before. Videos are easier and cheaper to make, and you don’t need to rely on other people’s media outlets to share them anymore. In recent years most video makers have switched over from film or analog tape to Mini-Digital Video tape which is high quality and really cheap, and digital editing software like final cut pro, or even just iMovie for the amateur, have really made video production a lot more accessible for indie bands. Indie bands generally never have made videos with a realistic goal of getting them played on MTV anyway so I don’t think that’s changed much. Bands can post their video on this thing called the World Wide Web and anyone who wants to see it can do so.
MVP: Any comments on the new Video iPod? Do you think it is something that is going to go the same way as other technologies that were tried and didn’t work? I mean it is such a small screen. Shirley, are people really going to watch?
SB: I think it’s a really cool technology that will create some interesting opportunities in the future, but I personally would not want to pay for music videos. I am super cheapo like that. Maybe other people aren’t.
MVP: Any comments on what seems to be a major label trend, to want to charge for videos. Whether it be on your iPod or for programmers. I know you got the same letter that everyone else got from Universal. Curious if you have any comments?
SB: Send them my regards. That will probably be the extent of my interaction withuniversal music in the future because there’s no way we could afford to pay the amount of money they want— and even if I could id rather buy some clothes than spend it on paying for other people’s promotional videos, videos that I would subsequently promote by playing on my show. That seems kind of wack. Maybe I would buy a dog instead too. I think if I wasa musician on universal id be a little pissed, but as the producer of New York Noise, I really don’t care. That just means more airtime for other bands that aren’t on universal. I don’t think it will have a huge impact on my show.
MVP: Excellent! I am curious to know what is currently in your CD player or on your iPod?
SB: I am in love with the new Animal Collective. I just downloaded the Feist album and that was surprisingly beautiful. I also have a soft spot in my heart for old school indie pop, like The Go-Betweens, who I’ve been listening to a lot lately. Oh, also, I’m on a total disco, synthpop, hi-nrg and cheese-pop trip right now.
MVP: Any comments on the whole British thing. With bands like Bloc Party, do you think this could be that resurgence like what I experienced in the late 70’s with The Clash and The Buzzcocks? Any comments on the whole British thing. With bands like Bloc Party, do you think this could be that resurgence like what I experienced in the late 70’s with The Clash and The Buzzcocks?
SB: No, I think that whole British invasion thing is on its way down. We had all these awesome bands coming out of the UK like Franz Ferdinand, who rocks, but then you had all these little seemingly copy cat bands that came out, like the Kaiser Chiefs, who you can't help but feel are imitating the hot new trend. I feel we reached the peak of that trend.
MVP: Tonight you came from an interview with Oneida, are there any other hot New York bands that we should be on the look out for?
SB: Let’s see…. I like this band cause co-motion a lot, kind of shambolic pop like the television personalities. Nicole Atkins is nice—I just shot a blind date episode of New York Noise and she was the lady in question. Love the animal collective, like I said, also white magic, the young people. There are a lot of great bands in the city, which makes my job a lot easier.
MVP: Any more New York Noise compilations in the works?
SB: I think so. We might do a DVD compilation..
MVP: And finally, what is your website so people can come and find out more?
SB: Our website is www.NYC.gov/tv/noise. Thanks Andy!
MVP: Thank you!