Brandon Stevens of Exit Stencil Recordings and Parish Hall

Brandon Stevens plays music. Occasionally. He used to play more.

Back when his CD release The Person with the Telescope is Me was released, he was playing out a lot more. But that recording was the champagne bottle-christening across the bow of an indie rock ship called Exit Stencil Recordings, a savant-garde Cleveland label responsible for bringing forth a cornucopia of local rock from the Dreadful Yawns, Blake Miller and New Lou Reeds to Coffinberry, roué and others. He's got more to focus on than his own music these days.

Stevens' pals like to rib him about not playing out anymore and do so often: his bio, which appears on the Exit Stencil website, has been left up presumably to agitate him with good humor. But Stevens has bigger things to look to at the moment. He is actively driving the agenda of Exit Stencil (and the equally indie venue, Parish Hall) with Ryan Weitzel and Paul Murphy. They've kept his bio page on the Exit Stencil site because, ostensibly, they want him to return to his acoustic-indie-pop someday.

He's not so sure.

Cool Cleveland was recently able to sit down with Stevens and talk to him about Parish Hall, Exit Stencil Recordings, Blake Miller's successes, the "Cleveland" sound, the Detroit Shoreway and a bevy of other topics. Here's the lowdown:

Cool Cleveland: You’re interested in developing a scene that interacts locally as well as nationally. Beyond the label and hall, what steps do you see as “needed to be taken” to realize this goal?

Brandon Stevens: For us we need to get one band successful. That would really help propel the label. We’d like to make the Hall and the label even more inviting to groups, fans and artists. To bridge the Cleveland community.

Recent performances include The Evens (Ian Mackaye & Amy Farina), Richard Buckner, Ben Miller’s CD release party with Julie Sokolow & King Egg. Putting together shows like that has to offer some validation to the hard work put into the space. What do you see as the next level for the Parish Hall?

Building off that. Build better relationships with booking agencies. We’re not looking to be exclusively a rock club. There might be some crossover between what we do and what the Grog Shop or Beachland Ballroom does, but really, we see ourselves as more art-centric.

Avant-garde improvisation, dance troupes, Spanish jazz bands, noise artists, some multi-media and mixed media events.. maybe some of these things aren’t the big draws all the time, but it stays true to the space.

The Parish Hall teamed up with MOCA to put on a live score with Citizen Cane. Will we see more tie-ins with the contemporary and abstract music scene to go along with some of the contemporary art on display?

We’ve got two guys who work with MOCA, that’s helped get in contact with them. MOCA’s been real positive, real supportive of what we’re trying to do. I think you’ll see a lot more avant music and interaction with MOCA.

The Detroit Shoreway is starting to really come into its own. How has the reception been with the neighbors and the city?

They’ve been pretty cool with us. We go out of our way to meet with the councilman, attend community meetings and just be involved. The cities been welcoming, but the burden is on us to show we aren’t just a group of kids looking to make a party space. We’re serious, we still want to have fun, but we're serious.

James Levine has helped us look into some of the non-profit options out there. Between the Cleveland Public Theater and the Ingenuity festival, James brings some great insight into what we’re trying to do. He's also on the (soon to be solidified) board for Parish Hall when we officially become a non-profit. We're really excited about all the development happening here. The theatre should tie in well with what Parish Hall does.. we're just glad to be a part of it! I hope we’re able to make a positive contribution.

With the emphasis on community and scene building, has there been any effort to link up with any of the other venues in the greater Cleveland area?

We keep in touch with Mark (Beachland Ballroom) & Katie (Grog Shop). If we get a group that we don't think is right for Parish Hall, we'll always send them their way. We don't think we're in competition with those guys, our niche is a little different. I think we'd welcome a chance to work with both venues in some capacity in the future.

You started Exit Stencil in 2002, was this in concert with Parish Hall, or did the two grow together more organically?

No, Parish Hall has only been up since May. i briefly did a label in '97 through '98 while I was in school called Burning River Records. I just wanted a label to put out my own thing. I kind of set it aside for a while, and then in 2002 decided to start it up again under the name Exit Stencil. I approached Coffinberry about putting out a 7" then This Moment in Black History put something out on the label and things just kind of snowballed.

Exit Stencil is both a studio and its own label, is there a particular aesthetic you look for when adding artists to your roster?

Really what we like. There are three of us. I like more singer songwriter guys, Ryan (Weitzel) likes the more avant-garde projects and Paul (Murphy) acts as the deal breaker a lot of times. We kind of have a garbled aesthetic, it’s a little all over, but that’s intentional.

As long as it’s good.

Is there a Cleveland or Ohio sound, in your opinion?

Regionally, outside of Cleveland? I don’t hear it.. everyone else from outside of Ohio seems to think so, so maybe there is. But the Black Keys to the Green Horns.. these guys are very different if you ask me.

Cleveland is more distinct. It seems like all the groups have a gritty bent to them. Very honest. A sort of jadedness & a sardonic humor built into the lyrics, which is good.

You have a record of your own out for sale, when are we going to get another Brandon Stevens release?

No! (laughs) I’m pretty much horrible. I know better! There isn’t any time anyway, doing the Parish Hall and Exit Stencil thing...

What should we look forward to in the upcoming year for both Parish Hall and Exit Stencil Recordings?

Blake Miller is doing real well. He was invited to play the South by South West festival this upcoming year. We're working with Devandra Banhart's publicist for the upcoming Dreadful Yawns album due out in March. Mystery of Two should have something new out in late summer, Blake Miller is already working on a follow up, Blk Tygr is working on some stuff right now... 2007 should be a big year.

For Parish Hall we have an installation planned for February called Silly Putty. It's an interactive putt-putt course with some local artists designing the props. That will be up for a month.

We're working with Ingenuity to have part of the festival come here this year. We’ll keep booking quality shows. We also have the Parish Hall Film Series with Matthew T. We have that Sun City Girls produced film Sublime Frequencies. The psychedelic Flaming Lips film, a Warhol movie.

It's the end of the year, so I've got to ask: What is the Top 5 of 2006, not including Exit Stencil's recordings?

1. Magnolia Electric Co. - Fading Trails
2. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
3. Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (re-issue)
4. Mogwai - Mr. Beast
5. the Beatles – Love

What’s on your CD player right now?

I think a rough mix of some Blake Miller tracks, or my German language Pinsler coach. I'd have to check.

Exit Stencil artists the Dreadful Yawns play with Beaten Awake at the Grog Shop Friday, January 12. Their act New Lou Reeds perform the following night, Saturday, January 13 at bela dubby on Madison in Lakewood. For more info on the shows, on Exit Stencil, Parish Hall and for Stevens' own bio and music samples, visit http://www.exitstencilrecordings.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor David Fleming david-flemingATcomcast.net

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