Ki and Sei Smith. (Courtesy of Apostrophe)
It was nine months ago that Apostrophe, a Bushwick , was shut down after cops busted its anniversary celebration. Undeterred by a night in jail and a lengthy probation, brothers Ki and Sei Smith are vaulting back into the saddle with a party Friday night and the launch of a Kickstarter campaign designed to revive the Apostrophe universe.
“What caught us up in the last space was that we were running a lot of the events underground,” says 22-year-old Ki. “So in the last couple of months we had the time to step back and think about making a fully legal venue.” The upcoming Kickstarter will, they hope, provide them with finances to do just that. They plan to use any extra cash to power the new Apostrophe with solar energy.
Although they haven’t yet found a venue, they’re currently looking at several spaces in Bushwick-Ridgewood, within ten blocks of the old gallery. “I’m very interested in the L train stops between Myrtle-Wyckoff and Wilson,” Ki says. “A lot of very cool artists are moving out there and there are a lot of raw industrial spaces that still have a lot of possibilities.”
Given that 24-year-old Sei has only recently finished his probationary period, and Ki has a couple months to go, the brothers have been laying low of late, although they’ve stayed in contact with their artists and helped several of them throw shows in Apostrophe’s absence.
In fact, in the past couple days, the Smiths have been supervising half a dozen of their artists while they decorate the venue for Friday’s party. The headquarters of aspiring record label Cypher League, at 619 Hancock St in Bed-Stuy, has received a fresh layer of paint and some new murals “to create an Apostrophe atmosphere,” as Ki puts it. “We’re still very much representing the artists: mixing the murals, or paintings or sculptures or whatever with the music of the event.”
On Friday night, the music will all be provided by artists who previously performed at the old Atmosphere space, including Gabriel Garzon-Montano and THEiLLUZiON, plus Dj sets from Gizmo, Dunes and more. The Smith brothers plan to throw similar small events in other venues after the Kickstarter is posted this weekend.
(Update: the Kickstarter campaign is now up. Check out the Apostrophe cause, and consider contributing, here.)
