Independent Musicians Rock Brooklyn This Weekend

It’s no surprise that Brooklyn is the hotbed of independent music in New York. In fact, several popular and relatively-known indie musicians — among them Sufjan Stevens, TV on the Radio, Dawn Landes, Sharon Van Etten, Julianna Barwick and Alina Simone — are all from the borough.

And so is Bennett Miller of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a musician and the organizer behind the inaugural Brooklyn Independent Music Festival, which starts on Friday and runs through Sunday at on DeGraw Street in Gowanus.

“Brooklyn represents something to people all over the world,” he says. “What it represents is independent creativity at its height. It’s a trend-setting community for many different markets like style, music [and] art all over the world.”

The Brooklyn Independent Music Festival is slated to feature approximately 60 acts whose styles of music include rock, hip-hop, electronica, singer-songwriter and Americana, says Miller.

“We deliberately assembled a bill of incredible local musicians who are really world class, but at the same time are relatively under the radar. They’re all meeting each other and realizing that this event is giving them all a much greater level of visibility.”

Littlefield was chosen as the site for the three-day festival because the space allow the shows to be mounted on two alternating stages.

“The management of Littlefield are community-active, dedicated individuals,” says Miller. “They were able to see what I was trying to do and they were willing to work with me. Furthermore, it’s one of the only spaces in NYC that’s as big as it is. It’s a cool space; it’s a space that’s good for breeding community. I’m really happy that we’re using it."

A year in the making, the festival was born out of Miller’s idea of creating a more efficient way of artists to promote themselves while on tour – an undertaking that can be costly and unproductive.

“We’re basically branding the Brooklyn Independent Music Festival as a thing that represents great independent music coming out of New York City," he says. "I think it’s going to be easier taking this brand as completely representative of good new independent music and take it around the northeast and being able to take bands – [in] a very cost effective way – put them on a tour where they are being exposed to a massive additional fan base.”

Miller, who hails from Cincinnati and has played in several bands, says he has spoken to the acts who are on the bill about what he wants to accomplish, which is uniting the scene and meeting people. In some ways, the festival is also an opportunity for the bands to help each other out, says Miller.

"I wanted to see what could happen if we really make an emphasis of this festival to strengthen the local scene, to bring people together, to grab very dedicated artists in the city and introduce them to each other, have them witness each other’s music and having them be involved in an event where by default they’re promoting each other’s music," he says.

Ditmas Park-based singer Michaela Anne is one of the acts taking part in the festival. She says she heard about it through colleagues and sees it as an opportunity to meet other musicians.

“I think the mission of the festival, that it is about all Brooklyn, all independent musicians, is a great effort in connecting the community more and introducing local bands to hopefully support each other," she says.

Jon Neufeld and Annika Kaye, of the Prospect Heights electronic pop act Jonka, say it was important to be included in the festival because the best of the best of NYC musicians are involved.

“We're honored to be participating,” say Neufeld and Kaye. “We're really looking forward to meeting some of the other bands. The past decade has really put Brooklyn on the map as home to some of the best music period. It's inspiring and it causes us to work harder to make the best music we can.”

As for what the participating acts will get out of the festival experience, Miller says that he hopes the bands expand their outreach to the audience and gain more followers. As for the fans, he says the festival presents an opportunity for them to better understand the New York City independent music scene.

“A lot of fans that I talk to," he says, "have no idea who to go see…and they’re overwhelmed with the options. They give up before they even start in terms of trying to find what’s happening. So if you just love music, here’s an opportunity to become acquainted with some really great bands in New York City.”

Brooklyn Independent Music Festival begins Friday (doors 3 p.m.; showtimes 3:15 p.m. - 2 a.m.), and continues through Saturday (doors 11:45 a.m.; showtimes 12 p.m. - 2 a.m.) and Sunday (doors 11:45 a.m.; showtimes 12 p.m. - 12 a.m.) at Littlefield, 622 DeGraw St., Gowanus. Prices: $23 for each day; $55 for a 3-day pass. For information visit bkindiefest.org.