Death By Audio, the longstanding (at least in all-ages, DIY years) Brooklyn venue/workspace/studio that has hosted the likes of Dan Deacon, Thurston Moore, Tony Conrad, and Magik Markers, announced that it will be closing up shop on November 22.
Why? DBA showrunners Edan Wilber and Matt Conboy said in a statement that the Williamsburg location where the venue was located used to house only a used police car lot and empty buildings, but now the area is populated by “a half dozen expensive restaurants, bars, a daycare center and a new condo building.” VICE recently purchased office space in the same complex as Death By Audio, causing massive speculation about whether the inevitable rent increase caused by VICE’s move into the neighborhood — along with the changing landscape of Brooklyn on the whole — would force artistic spaces out. Earlier this summer, Wilber said DBA didn’t have plans to go anywhere, but “we’ll see how that goes when our lease is up.”
“We knew from the beginning that it couldn’t last forever,” Wilber and Conboy said in their statement about the venue’s closing, “and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has preformed or attended any of our shows.”
The two are apparently weighing their options about what to do next, with promises to “let everyone know more about the future of Death By Audio as soon as [they] can.”
The “closing party” for the venue begins ASAP (September 10) and will continue for the next 75 days with “some really incredible shows to send off what has been one of the greatest undertakings of our lives,” Wilber and Conboy said.
The effect pedal company part of the space will forge on after relocating to a temporary space with the hopes of finding a more permanent home.
• Death By Audio: http://www.entertainment4every1.net
