Chad P
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Chad P (aka Chadwick Patterson) is an organizer and promoter of underground DIY and indie rock shows and parties in New York City. Patterson was born in 1975 in Sicily to Peace Corps parents, who allegedly left him to be raised by “Uncle Vinnie” [citation needed], a family friend with alleged ties to the Sicillian Mafia, when they were re-stationed in Uganda in 1977.
“Uncle Vinnie was a real hardnosed businessman, totally all about doing it himself,” said Chad in an interview where he expresses his ethos. “He taught me everything I know about DIY promotion, but also taught me the value and responsibility of leading a close-knit group of collaborators—or, as I like to call them, ‘yourselfers’—toward our collective goal of being a known and respected force in the independent community.”
Before relocating to the New York City area in 2001, Patterson founded and ran a successful all-ages rock club and art space in Portland, Oregon called Seventeen Miles of Excellent Whale Cadavers, or SMEWC.
In 2001 Patterson began learning the ropes from famed late promoter Bradford “Z” Torelli, who let him curate concerts in the harder-to-access Red Hook area of Brooklyn, New York under the name “Chad P”, first on a rotting stretch of pier, and later at the Red Hook ballfields, whenever soccer teams forfeited their games. Patterson garnered particular attention for throwing events on the diminutive loading dock of the local Key Foods [citation needed], but always hoped to move up to curating loft shows with Brad Z in the then up-and-coming Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick areas of Brooklyn, New York.
When Brad Z expired of an apparent suicide—Patterson reportedly found him smashed on his back at the foot of the McKibbin lofts with a Chad P Currates! flyer pinned to his chest; “You’re the next in line” scrawled upon it—Patterson immediately rose to the invitation and took charge of the Brad Z indie empire, quickly transferring his name and curration know-how to all Brad’s venue holdings.
Chad P shows now provide a respected forum [citation needed] for indie rock acts to perform in the Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick areas of Brooklyn, New York, and in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Patterson is widely acknowledged within the New York indie rock community[citation needed] for consistently selecting and attracting edgy[citation needed] musical performers and wide-eyed angular interns to work his concerts, as well as for organizing events for apparently little financial gain. Patterson has clearly expressed his fierce loyalty to the ethics of D.I.Y punk rock by not charging more than $3 for a PBR and not enforcing a NO JEANS, NO SNEAKERS dress code.
Patterson frequently locates his events at all-ages and atypical venues such as a working water treatment plant and the playroom of a 24-hour Laundry Zone, with the stated goal of fighting age discrimination—not withstanding discrimination against the slow and incontinent elderly.
Patterson has also sought to open his own venue, briefly throwing shows at a larger, unlicensed space that he rented and operated independently, named La Cosa Nostra.
La Cosa Nostra was a multi-purpose performance and art space—a veritable VFW hall—that Patterson operated in the mode of several preexisting creative spaces/livingrooms in Brooklyn with no legal status, but with Patterson’s stated goal of eventually taking the space legit if the location proved feasible.[citation needed] La Cosa Nostra operated successfully[citation needed] for several months in 2005, quickly attracting huge crowds[citation needed] and garnering favorable coverage from New York City media outlets until the local 94th Precinct NYPD police entered the building without a warrant in early March 2005 and issued several summonses to Patterson and other ‘yourselfers’ who used the building for hosting events. Patterson successfully fought these citations, but did not risk using the building for shows, cockfights, crab feasts or bingo nights ever again. [4]
Chad P arguably exerts influence in shaping the NYC and national indie rock scenes, given his role as an independent show organizer, officially canonized archangel and “tastemaker” in a region boasting both a huge concentration of “in-the-know” fans and press outlets who cover independent music, punk-rock proms and Festival of the Giglio after-parties, among any number of other things.
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Categories: Talent Manager / Living Legend
