Nadeem SalaamRuben Sindo Acosta Launches Floordoor Records | Salvatore Principato Video Interview Premiere
Ruben Sindo Acosta of FloorDoor Records, is here to talk about a brand new Brooklyn based label collective between Jason Anthony Harris of Public Speaking, Allan Pichardo of My Love MHZ, and himself. Recently Ruben walked around and eventually sat down with NY music icon Sal P to speak about music and life. Sal p is one of the fewer active artists in the NYC scene that cast his emergence into a very thriving 70’s-80’s New York music scene, performing under such acts as Liquid Liquid. Their own brand of “body music” found solidarity with bands like Suicide and ESG, but also in the pioneering DJ sets of Afrika Bambaataa and Larry Levan, most famously being sampled by Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious 5 on “White Lines,” infamously putting their name into NYC hip hop legacy. Now Salvatore Principato is performing with 178 Product, Sal p and band will be playing as special guests for Sunday’s A Bunch Of Dead People release show at C’mon Everybody. We’ll be filming that night and I just had to get some q & a’s with the creative force behind all of these wonderful things in motion, enter Ruben Sindo Acosta, Brooklyn artist, raconteur.
Nadeem Salaam – Ruben, you’re the frontman, singer and song writer of A Bunch Of Dead People, and you’ve been pretty active with its ecosystem–otherwise known as Floordoor Records, can you give us a brief tale on how this relationship came to be?
Ruben Sindo Acosta – “A Bunch of Dead People is the vehicle for my compositions since the unfortunate dissolution of my previous band, Afuche. It began as merely a way to keep my ideas in one place and has since developed into the cult it is now. Thankfully, there are enough sympathizers and believers that the works can be performed live.”
N – You have some great label mates, Supplier, Public Speaking, amongst others, are these relationships close knit or bands you’ve admired from afar?
R – “The current roster of artists on FloorDoor are the core creative group of friends that we’ve cultivated within the last decade. We all happened to be ready to release new ideas around the same time and them being put out under the same umbrella was almost obvious. In the future we hope to include other artists who’s ideals line up with our own. Which ideals are those? “If you have to ask, you’ll never know” -Louis Armstrong.
N – A bunch of dead people are set to release a Your Eternal Reward this Sunday at C’mon Everybody (which we’re thrilled to be filming), how long have you been working on this material? What was the head space you were in surrounding its culmination?
R – “Your Eternal Reward has been in the works for almost 4 years. The reason it took this long was partially my own obsessive nature and the fact that the entire record already existed in my head. It was just a matter of uncovering it, not creating. In essence, it’s a purging and glorifying of my personal demons the best way I could portray them, lyrically and sonically. Much like many songwriters I admire, the narrator of the songs is not exactly meant to be a protagonist per se. Ideally, the relatable moments come from ugly places in time. Townes Van Zandt once said, “Blues is happy music.” I didn’t want to make blues, but I wanted that same dichotomy. Whether I’ve achieved that or not is completely subjective, I know that this particular grouping of compositions is finished.”
N – I understand through the use of Floordoor’s ap people will be able to download the album at the venue, how in God’s name did you pull that off? When will it be available after the show?
R – “If I told you how we did it, I’d have to kill you. The album is only available for free download between 7pm and 11pm at the coordinates of C’Mon Everybody on May 29th. It will be available again once our Vinyl is ready October 4th.”
N – Anything to add to the conversation for indie bands in NYC? Any advice as an active musician?
R – “I’m in no position to give advice. I feel like the correct way of going about your project is very individual.”
N – Has your art captured something special at this particular moment in time for you in terms of current growth as a person?
R – “I feel like regardless of having met me social many times, someone who has not seen me perform has never met me.”
Floordoor Records is a new Brooklyn-based record label and this is their first showcase. Join A Bunch of Dead People as they release their new album Your Eternal Reward, and don’t think you’ll be able to just listen from your couch, it will be available as a free download *only at the venue* via GPS coordinates during the duration of the show using FloorDoor Records App! $8 Adv // $10 Day of // Floordoor Records // A Bunch Of Dead People
FEATURING:
My Love MHz
178 Product
Public Speaking
A Bunch Of Dead People