An interview with Mike Perlmutter, music curator at Subterranean Arthouse
A veritable mover and shaker on the Berkeley New Music scene, Mike Perlmutter has been one of the volunteers driving the Subterranean Arthouse’s eclectic offering over the last year or so. Over the two years since its inception, it has gained serious respect and a loyal following. The elegant yet fringy venue on Bancroft Way is easy to miss, but hard to confuse with anywhere else in town once you find it. Perlmutter stumbled across it a year ago and hasn’t looked back.
Talking to Perlmutter, it is clear that developing a strong musical community is a passion for him, and his infectious enthusiasm is immediately apparent. An ecologist by day, he has been involved in music-making since his grade school days. From punk rock and indie to traditional and experimental klezmer music (and if you don’t know what that sounds like, you should) he has run the genre gamut and settled on the latter for the most part, resonating as it does with his Jewish heritage. Perlmutter actively champions experimental klezmer, which to him brings a pleasing equilibrium of the cerebral and the emotive, and he performs regularly with groups such as Zoyres – espousers of “Eastern European Wild Ferment”. He also gets together with like-minded folks to jam on such occasions as Christmas Day at Saul’s Deli on Shattuck (their busiest day of the year) and occasionally hosts
house parties with special guest performers.
When challenged about the relevance of New Music in Berkeley, given the plethora of musical options available in Oakland, Perlmutter explains that he doesn’t really see much distinction between the two cities. “maybe certain economic realities skew the kinds of music that you find there – more folk in Berkeley, more experimental in Oakland. But you’ll find all this music in each city, and they shouldn’t be considered as separate entities”. He goes on to detail the rich tradition of experimental music in Berkeley, such as the Beanbenders series, but also acknowledges their demise over the years due to a lack of funding or support.
As Perlmutter observes - “there’s a huge amount of amazing, world-class musical talent right here in Berkeley – the problem for most artists and organizers is how to make it lucrative”. For his part, he advocates a community-based approach, with volunteers, cooperatives and non-profits weaving the fabric of a self-sustaining, vibrant local culture. Of course, it helps to have a venue like the Subterranean Arthouse as a focal point, which is zoned appropriately and is multipurpose enough to suit a range of artistic activities.
So what about the output from institutions like UC Berkeley (home of the famous CNMAT) and their contribution to the local experimental music scene? Here the response is categorical. “UC Berkeley, like many large college campuses, is its own microcosm. With so much available right on campus, students may have less incentive to explore beyond it.” Fair point. Compared to Mills College in Oakland, where the students are off-campus and out amid the general populace, the academic Berkeley environment has a relatively insular quality about it. Whether this is to its detriment is an open question.
The fact that a large number of Berkeley culture vultures have never heard of the Subterranean Arthouse may be in part a function of its relative seclusion, its newness, or perhaps the word-of-mouth, DIY nature of its happenings. But the fact remains that the Sub celebrates its 2nd anniversary party in March, an event Perlmutter is clearly excited about. A large-scale event from the 4th-6th will pay testament to this grass-roots achievement, and anyone who believes New Music has no place in Berkeley will be forced to think again.
For more information and event listings, go to www.subterraneanarthouse.org
Comments