CHEF NOTES: Episode Three

BY ROB COTTMAN

I have had the fortunate opportunity to meet many people throughout my life and travels, and every single one of them has taught me something about getting where you want to go. In this current chapter of my life as Executive Chef of World Cafe Live, I am grateful to work alongside many people in both the hospitality and music industry who are working hard daily to stay sharp in their respective fields. Here you will find my interviews with some of those people, and an exclusive inside look behind the scenes of who we are and what we do and why we love it.

EPISODE THREE: Meet Jorgan

Every single event large and small that comes through the venue must be coordinated on some level by the production department, and that makes Production Manager Jorgan Krug the busiest person in the building day in and day out. He maintains a hectic calendar, handles ridiculous changeovers, makes tour managers and event clients happy, leads a very strong team, and still finds time to explore his profession on the road. Working in a kitchen is its own grind, and I have so much respect and appreciation for the pace that Jorgan has to keep year-round.

RC: What defines the daily role of a production manager in a music venue? What other elements are required specifically for a Production Manager at World Cafe Live?
JK: Production Managers oversee all of the technical aspects of an event, and act as the intermediary between venue and the touring party (artist/crew/management.)  Aspects include: vehicle parking, day schedule, tech crew labor staffing, coordinating tech elements, sourcing any gear rentals, handling backstage hospitality, and relaying safety concerns to security staff.  There are often a lot of heavy things being moved, tall ladders being climbed, and objects being hung high in the air; a PM must make sure all of this work is being done in a safe manner.

In addition to the execution of all of the above on the show day, the planning of everything must be negotiated and agreed upon ahead of time, in a process called “advancing.”  So expect to be planning all aspects of several weeks worth of events while simultaneously executing whatever event(s) are taking place in real time.

Lastly, a PM must also balance financial budgets with regard to show labor, employee payroll, catering, and equipment maintenance/repair.

WCL is unique in the amount, as well as the vast diversity, of events hosted.  The skills and temperament needed by Production staff to properly put on a rock’n’roll show, verses say a classical orchestra, are quite varied.  Having such a diversity of events helps to ‘round out’ ones skill set, and keeps things fresh and exciting.

RC: Having been on both sides of the stage, what motivated you to dive deeper into sound engineering and production management?
JK: People started paying me more money to execute their performances than to conduct my own.

RC: What are some key things that you look for in people when interviewing someone who wants to be a part of your production team?
JK: Must work well with others (often for long hours at a time.)  Time management and problem solving/troubleshooting skills are a must.  But above all, delivering under pressure.  Live concert production is often full of high-pressure situations, with strict time constraints, where any technical mistake made could have disastrous consequences, that likely will be noticed by everyone in attendance.  It’s not enough to simply keep your cool; you must thrive on that pressure, and naturally perform your very best in these circumstances.

RC: What are some of the craziest things that bands have requested on their riders?
JK: Backrubs, high fives, drugs, a locally supplied human body double, a picture of Dolly Parton, mannequins.  The crazier requests have not been in riders, but in person.

RC: With the long hours and weeks with events back to back to back, what are some of the small moments that remind you that you’re doing what you love?
JK: Touring crews expressing gratitude.  Interfacing with like-minded peers, surviving high stress situations, and pulling off sometimes near-impossible tasks, is extremely rewarding when accomplished.  When the show is done, the work is over, and the trailer is packed… being thanked, hearing that everything went smoother than anticipated, and leaving with a sense of mutual respect is very fulfilling; and ultimately the reason why the hard work is worth doing.

RC: We host over 500 shows a year with bands ranging from local artists to international acts and everyone in between. What are some of the ways your team lets each artist know we understand the grind?
JK: That number seems pretty low to me, hah.  Instead of asking “How are you?”  We’re more interested in how long the tour is, how much of the tour is already over?  “How long was the drive from last night?  Where are you off to tomorrow?  Oh that place, cool, yes that’s a fine room.  What’s this guitar you have here?”  We’re not just asking for the sake of conversation; it’s an overlap of interest shared by like-minded people in a similar space.  The music business is very much a people business.

RC: What sets us apart from other venues in the city and why is being an independent venue in Philadelphia for fifteen years and counting so important?
JK: Being independent in the venue space allows you to have a large diversity of programming, engage involvement in community, cultivate a designated experience for artists and attendees alike, and gives a freedom to forge a unique identity.

RC: What do you learn about the industry when you go out on the road and how do you bring those experiences back with you to the venue?
JK: In my experience, it’s really easy to form blind spots when you are doing one thing, or stay in one place, for an extended period of time.  When touring, being at a new place every day, you naturally investigate/notice aspects of a venue throughout the day that are of importance to you.  “The parking for the tour bus was way easier yesterday, the food at catering is better today, I can’t believe there are steps here and not a proper ramp”…these sorts of things.

Being in an investigative mindset and coming back to your home base can be eye-opening to improvements that can be made, whether in physical logistics or in general practices.  Having up-to-date knowledge of how production is being executed around the country (and the world) is obviously an invaluable asset; but it also builds empathy.  When you’ve personally been that guy that is 3,000 miles from home, for weeks at a time, tired, getting fed cold pasta in a greenroom with no heat, dealing with apathetic local sound crews… it builds a pretty strong desire to make sure others don’t go through those experiences when they enter your venue.

RC: What is the one show during your time at the venue that stands out to you the most?
JK: Snarky Puppy played several times; they are always quite the show.

RC: Who would be your dream act to perform on the World Cafe Live stage?
JK: Tom Waits.  Dillinger Escape Plan.

 

After the August death of David Berman, musicians will pay tribute in a Saturday World Cafe Live concert

by Jesse Bernstein, For The Inquirer

David Berman was 52 when he took his own life last August in a Park Slope apartment.

For those who knew the singer-songwriter — less than a week from embarking on only the third tour of his decades-long career — it was a crushing loss. The work of Berman’s longtime band, Silver Jews, was and remains a touchstone for indie rockers across the country, and his newer project, Purple Mountains, had just recently released its first record.

To Jeff Meyers, chief talent buyer at World Café Live, Berman’s death presented something else: a chance to do some good.

“Really bad situations just make me want to figure out what I can do to make it better,” he said.

On Saturday, the band Speedy Ortiz will be joined by a festival’s worth of Philadelphia musicians for “Philly Remembers David Berman,” a World Café Live tribute that will feature covers of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains songs. Additionally, on the recommendation of Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, selections from Berman’s poetry will be recited. All proceeds will go to MusiCares at the request of Berman’s record label, Drag City.

Berman died five days before he was set to play a sold-out concert at World Café Live, just the third time he would have appeared at a Philadelphia venue, and the first since 2008. As the guest services and box office teams scrambled to alert all ticket-buyers that the show had been canceled, Meyers was inundated with requests for the date itself to be kept, if only for fans of Berman to gather and listen to his music, together.

Though the timing was not to Meyers’ liking, the sentiment certainly was. Quickly, he identified an open date that made sense — Jan. 4 is Berman’s birthday — and began reaching out to Philadelphia musicians to gauge their interest.

What he found was a community that was eager to pay its respects to a beloved figure. “I didn’t really have to convince many people very much about this,” Meyers said.

Early on, Meyers and Dupuis agreed that Speedy Ortiz would serve as a core band for the evening. Throughout the night, dozens of local singers and musicians, including Jake Ewald (Slaughter Beach, Dog) and Cynthia Schemmer (Radiator Hospital) will join them. Local poets like Jenn McCreary and Emma Brown Sanders will read from Berman’s poetry collection, Actual Air.

“People picked a selection of songs that I think represent the full emotional spectrum of what David was capable of writing about, often within the same song,” Dupuis said.

Dupuis has long found herself drawn to Berman’s work, both as a musician and a poet. She was once “obsessed” with Actual Air, and even attended the same poetry MFA program, at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“I always felt a kinship to him, even though I didn’t know him personally,” she said.

Silver Jews started as a project of Berman, Stephen Malkmus, and Bob Nastanovich in 1989. Though the latter two would go on to find fame and critical acclaim with their own band, Pavement, Berman remained as the sole consistent member until he ended the band in 2009, releasing albums every few years and developing a small, dedicated fan base.

One of those albums was American Water, released in 1998, and one of those fans was Frances Quinlan, the singer for the band Hop Along, who will be performing a Silver Jews song Saturday night.

Quinlan spent a summer working as a house painter with a friend of hers, and each morning they’d listen to American Water as they made their way to work. At 7 a.m., Quinlan would hear the opening line of “Random Rules” — “In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection” — and they remain as striking to her now as they did on those mornings. “They’re just undeniable,” she said, comparing him to celebrated lyricists Joanna Newsom and Leonard Cohen.

Andy Molholt of Speedy Ortiz said that spending so much time with the material — not just listening, but rearranging for the musicians who will be playing it Saturday — has brought him closer to Berman’s observations of humanity in a way he had not been before. Understanding Berman’s humor, he added, is similarly vital to understanding his music. An expletive-laden line from a Purple Mountains song has felt to him especially evocative of Berman — somehow obscene, tender, vulnerable, and funny in the space of just a few words.

Berman’s struggles with his mental health were well-documented, often by him. He survived a suicide attempt in 2003, which his lyrics reflected. “Way deep down at some substratum/Feels like something really wrong has happened/And I confess I’m barely hanging on,” he sang on “All My Happiness Is Gone,” released in 2019.

According to Dominic Angellela, who will join Speedy Ortiz for a rendition of Silver Jews’ “Smith & Jones Forever,” the circumstances of Berman’s death can make it difficult to talk about him. To say what you feel about the death of an artist you never knew can feel trivial, or trivializing, he said. And so, Angellela decided that the best way to express his feelings about Berman was to get on stage, “and play some music I really believe in.”

“I’m just happy to be a part of it,” he added.

Angellela and the rest of the musicians won’t be alone in celebrating Berman on Saturday. In Portland and New York City, similar tributes will be taking place. To Dupuis, such celebrations are further reinforcement of what she’s learned since his death: just how many people held Berman’s music and poetry close.

“I think it’s lovely that so many people around the country felt so compelled to share how meaningful he was to them,” said Dupuis, “and how meaningful he will continue to be.”

“Philly Remembers David Berman: A Birthday Tribute”
8 p.m. Jan. 4, $17 in advance, $20 at the door, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com