Gaia Open Mic

This open mic is a unique opportunity to play with an audience, not just for them. Come experience the joys of getting the audience singing your original music, creating a collaborative soundscape for your poem, or inviting them to drum along to your story!

GROUND RULES: This mic is a space for self-expression of all sorts! Mistakes, forgotten lyrics, voice cracks, and re-starts are all welcome and encouraged in this space. Our goal is simply to support one another, make new connections, and have fun under the stars! ✨

We'll start by making a little music together - singing some pretty chords around together, some fun call & response, that sort of thing - and then kick off our night of sharing. In this opening ceremony, we'll share some fun tricks for getting the audience participating in your art, and we encourage you to try them out!

?

Sign ups will be available AT THE EVENT. We ask that you limit your sharing to roughly 5 minutes - if there are free slots remaining after the first half of the evening, you're welcome to sign up for a second slot!

D oors at 6pm

Sharing starts at 6:30pm

?

The mic is open for:

• songs, finished or still half-formed
• stories, in whatever form they flow forth
• poems, spoken or sung or shouted
• improvisations, messy and raw
• silly party tricks & talents
• all forms of art, period
• whatever you'd like to share, the mic is yours!!

Audience participation is always exciting in this space, if you want to invite us to create with you!

In terms of supporting your art-sharing, we'll have:

• a keyboard
• an acoustic-electric guitar (whose bass note tends to lovingly lean sharp)
• a mic
• a n amp
• a laptop that can play backing tracks through the amp
• please bring along anything else you might desire for yourself!

This event will be facilitated by Matt Goldstein

Matt Goldstein is an award-winning vocal arranger, music educator, singer/songwriter, and facilitator who cultivates community through collaborative creation. He has enjoyed a vibrant career as a professional in the a cappella world, performing with and music directing for @The Vassar Devils and @Hyannis Sound, and composing award-winning vocal arrangements for over 80 ensembles around the world. He has taught workshops & courses in circle singing, vocal improvisation, ensembleship, and arranging at programs and schools across the country, including @acappellaacademy, @natacacon, and @nevoicesfest. He now teaches private coachings and lessons for creative flow, improvisation, and vocal arranging, directs a community pop/rock choir called Rock Voices, and pours so much love & creative energy into… you guessed it…. Gaia Music Collective!

Gaia Music Collective began as a seed in Matt's mind in the spring of 2021. Finding himself missing the community, collaborative play, and collective musical expression that had been such a rich part of his life up until graduating, he planted that seed with his amazing community of musical friends in Brooklyn, NY. What began as a vocal improv jam with 6 friends in a living room grew - day by day, human by human, song by song - and with tender care and nourishment has flourished into the bountiful, thriving community that it is today. Matt currently serves as Gaia’s creative director and lead facilitator, and has been immensely inspired by the incredible kindness, creativity, and connectivity that flows forward from this community.

For more info, or for any & all questions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

?

COVID VACCINATION & BOOSTER RECOMMENDED (but masks not required)

CANCELLATION POLICY

We want as many people to be able to experience these gatherings as possible, and since capacity is limited, each spot is precious! If you RSVP but are no longer able to come, please let us know at least 24 hours before the event so that we may offer your spot to someone else. Tickets are non-transferable, as we need to be able to gather enough funds to rent the spaces and pay our lovely facilitator.

For more info, contact us at [email protected].

MEDIA CONSENT

Because we want to share what we’re up to with people who can’t join us in person, there will be photographers and videographers present — by attending, you consent to being a part of that media, some of which may be posted online! Please email us with any questions or concerns at [email protected]

? ? ?

GAIA MUSIC COLLECTIVE MISSION

Gaia Music Collective is a creative community based in Brooklyn, NYC. This project was born out of a desire to create more spaces for people to find expression, connection, growth, & release through collaborative music-making - a place where folks feel safe to make music free of judgment or expectation, and to make new friends as our weird, vulnerable, beautiful, authentic selves.

All are welcome in this community, regardless of age, race, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, ability, national origin, language, or musical ability. All that we ask is that you bring an open mind, a desire to connect, and a willingness to leave judgment of self & others at the door.

Here at Gaia, we believe that music-making - and making that music in community & collaboration with other people - is a fundamental human need, and this project seeks to build space for that in a day and age when it is so often hard to find.

Gaia Music Collective seeks to break down the divisions between performer & audience and craft experiences where we are ALL part of the music-making, while also offering a network & platform for local artists & creatives to connect with other artists, activate their creativity through collaboration, and engage their work with other musical minds.

In short - we're here to sing, to play, to connect, to grow, and to have a good time!

?

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Makers' Space, 117 Grattan Street, Brooklyn, United States