By Guest Contributor

BILLY JONES, Musician/Talent Buyer

The walls were covered in photographs. He looked at almost every one as we made our way to the back. I followed him as he glided through a labyrinth of tables and chairs. He ended up sitting in the far left corner by the window. He placed his bag and coffee down and then looked up at me for some signal of when we would begin. As I listened to the music playing in the background, I momentarily thought about how I’d prefer to be next door at Pianos. He not only works there as a booking agent, but I was his intern for a year. However, the coffee shop we found ourselves sitting in had it’s own history and suited the desired atmosphere as well. I recalled wondering over there one night after I saw him play with his project Apple Deaf. Now, his attentions are on New Moods and his former band, Other Passengers. Attempting to re-focus, I started with the most difficult question. He laughed in disbelief. I clarified and then he said that, to him, music is the most immediately expressive art form and that’s why he is drawn to it. He quickly stopped speaking and scratched his face as he contemplated how to elaborate. Continuing his thought, he said that he enjoyed contributing to a collaborative and ongoing mystical dialogue that occurs between instruments in real time. Through sound, he is able to speak a deeper language. He then looked up at the ceiling as if to indicate where his thoughts were going. Although he never spoke of God, he reflected on how there is a creative force that is greater than himself, which he feels most while in the artistic process. Music allows him to transcend and is therefore his primary connection to spirituality. While he does not consider himself to be religious, he acknowledges evolution when discussing social scenes. Having worked in the Lower East Side for about 7 years, he has experienced the progression of the neighborhoods musical landscape. Though he was present for the varied changes, he does not believe that he was necessarily involved in any of them. There was a moment of silence as the next song queued up to play and as he took a sip of his coffee before continuing his sentence. He finished by saying that he does not think that scenes exist in the physical sense but that they are more Internet based pockets of interest. However, there is an amalgamation of everything that he considers himself to be apart of: the New York music scene, which he is on the outskirts of but never in the middle…

-Jessica Glick

Jessica Glick is a photographer, writer, and music lover. She developed an interest in photography while working at various Lower East Side music venues. Jessica started photographing local musician and has now expanded her work to include fine art and fashion. In addition to photography, Jessica has been writing since she was a child. Attempting to combine her writings with her photo work, she created an ongoing portrait/story series called VAGABOND.