Shane Davis (Public Records) Interview - WKCR 89.9 FM NY - Hunter Wolff
Summary
TLDRShane Davisは、デザイン、文化、ホスピタリティを融合したBrooklynのPublic Recordsについて語ります。彼はグラフィックデザイナーとしてスタートし、DJプロデューサーのFrancis Harrisと出会い、共に独特の空間を創造しました。Public Recordsは、植物ベースの料理、選曲された音楽、詳細な音響システムを提供し、会社員や地域の人々が楽しめる居場所を目指しています。
Takeaways
- 🎶 Public Recordsは、ブロンクスのギャラリー、バー、ラウンジ、ナイトクラブの統合体で、デザイン、文化、ホスピタリティの異なる面をつなぐ場所です。
- 🌿 プラントベースのフード、選りすぐりの音楽、詳細に設計された音響システムが1つの建築空間で融合しています。
- 🎧 Shane DavisとFrancis Harrisは、音楽シーンで出会い、共通の価値観と興味を共有しながら、Public Recordsを創設しました。
- 🏢 元ASPCA本部という歴史ある建築を再利用し、独特の空間として新たに生まれ変わりました。
- 💡 Public Recordsのビジョンは、音響とコミュニティの力を通じて人々をつなぐバー・コミュニティ空間を提供することです。
- 🌟 初期段階では、Shane Davisが空間のデザインと建築を手がけ、Francis Harrisが音楽とバーの運営を担当しました。
- 🔊 音響設計にはDevon Turnbull氏が参加し、ARP（Arup）という国際的なエンジニアリング会社も協力しました。
- 🎵 Public Recordsは、様々な音楽シーンを融合し、高エネルギーのナイトライフ環境とインSTITUTIONAL空間を併存させることを目指しています。
- 🌱 将来のビジョンでは、ブロンクス以外の場所にもPublic Recordsの影響を与え、新しいプロジェクトを展開していくことを計画しています。
- 🏗️ Shane Davisは、自信と自己信念を重要視し、新しいプロジェクトに取り組む際にはチームと協力しながら挑戦的なアプローチを続けています。
Q & A
公共記録のビジョンとは何ですか？
-公共記録のビジョンは、音声、コミュニティ、そしてホスピタリティを通じて人々をつなぐバーコミュニティ空間を作り出すことです。
Shane DavisとFrancis Harrisはどのように出会い、協力を始めるようになったのですか？
-Shane DavisとFrancis Harrisは、共通の友人によって紹介され、音楽シーンで出会い、共通の興味と価値観を共有していることに気づき、協力を始めるようになりました。
公共記録の空間はどのようにして生まれたのですか？
-公共記録の空間は、ASPCA本部が建てた建物を購入し、Shane Davisがグラフィックデザインとホスピタリティの視点からデザイン・リノベーションを行ったものです。
公共記録の空間はどのようにしてbrooklynの文化の一部となりましたか？
-公共記録の空間は、独特の建築空間と高品質なカリキュレーションによって、brooklynの文化の一部となりました。また、様々な分野の人々がその空間を利用することで、自然なコミュニティが形成されました。
Shane Davisはどのようにして建築とデザインのプロジェクトに関与し始めたのですか？
-Shane Davisはグラフィックデザイナーとしてスタートし、徐々にホスピタリティ関連の不動産開発プロジェクトにデザインと創造的な視点から関与していきました。
公共記録の空間で提供される植物ベースの食はどのようにして決まりましたか？
-公共記録の空間の創設者が音楽シーンや哲学など、多岐にわたる興味と価値観を共有していたため、植物ベースの食はその一環として自然となって決まりました。
公共記録の空間が成功した要因は何だと考えますか？
-公共記録の空間が成功した要因は、創造性とコミュニティのつながり、そして多岐にわたる興味と価値観を共有する創設者のビジョンにあります。
Shane Davisはどのようにして自分のキャリアを進めるつもりですか？
-Shane Davisは公共記録の空間を通じて得た経験と知識を基に、今後もデザインとホスピタリティの分野で新しいプロジェクトに挑戦し、自分自身のキャリアを進めたいと考えています。
公共記録の空間は今後どのような方向性を持ちますか？
-公共記録の空間は、音楽やデザイン、建築などの分野で新しいプロジェクトに挑戦し、さらに多くのコミュニティとのつながりを目指していきたいと考えています。
Outlines
🎶 出会いとビジョンの誕生
Shane DavisとHunter wolfの対談が始まり、Shaneがデザインと音楽の融合を楽しむPublic Recordsの創設を振り返る。Shaneはグラフィックデザイナーであり、Francis HarrisというDJプロデューサーと出会い、共通の価値観と興味を持つ仲間となり、プロジェクトを始める。彼らは大規模な組織を作り出すのではなく、地域社会に貢献するコミュニティ空間を目指した。
🏢 歴史ある建物との出会い
ShaneがBrooklynにある歴史ある建物を見た際、その独特の建築様式とその精神に魅了された。その建物はASPCAの本部だったが、後に教会の管轄と弦楽器の修理店が入居。ShaneとFrancisはその建物をチェックした結果、コミュニティをつなげる音と交流の場所を作り出すことを決意し、Public Recordsのコンセプトが生まれた。
🍽 空間の多様性と共存
Public Recordsが提供する多様な空間と経験について、Shaneはディスカッションを続ける。彼は自分が関与したホスピタリティプロジェクトの経験から、新しい価値観を持ち込むことを目指した。彼らのビジョンは、一軒のバーやレストランの枠組みを超えた、より広いコミュニティのニーズに応えるものだった。
🎤 音楽と空間の調和
ShaneはPublic Recordsの音楽と空間の調和について語る。Francisの音楽シーンのバックグラウンドとDIY空間の影響を受けた彼らのプロジェクトは、多目的空間として機能し、日中のキッチンから夜のライブイベントへと変貌する。彼らの空間は、デザインと実用性のバランスを保ちながら、個性的な経験を提供する。
🛠️ チームの構築と協力
Public Recordsを成功させるために、ShaneとFrancisは素晴らしいチームを構築した。初めはDIY精神で全てを手作りし、後になってデザイナーのDevon TurnbullやARP（Arup）といった専門家と協力した。彼らのエナジズムと才能が空間に集約され、成功を収めることができた。
🌿 発展と新たな挑戦
ShaneはPublic Recordsの成長と新たなプロジェクトについて語る。彼らの成功は記録バーの流行にのっとり、しかし彼らは単なる記録バーを超えた。Shaneは、Brooklynの住宅プロジェクトやAustin Texasの新しい空間、さらにMiamiでのプロジェクトについても触れる。彼らのビジョンは、創造的なコミュニティを支える基盤となる空間の創造である。
🎨 創造性の多様性と自己表現
Shaneは創造性の多様性と自己表現の重要性を強調する。彼は、様々なメディアを通じて物語を伝えることの重要性を述べ、特にオンライン放送の経験が彼に大きな影響を与えた。しかし、彼はデジタルメディアが独自の価値を持っていると同時に、物理的な空間での体験の重要性をも語る。
🏗️ 建築と世界構築の夢
Shaneは、自分自身の建築と世界構築の夢について語る。彼は衣服デザインから始まり、映画、音楽、家具、ジュエリー、そして空間の創造に至るまで、多岐にわたる創造の道を模索している。彼は将来、自分の会社を持ち、これらの要素を一つのものとして統合することを目指している。
🎓 学びと成長の過程
Shaneは、学びと成長の過程について語る。彼は自分自身が学んだことを通じて、自信と定義を持ったアプローチの重要性を強調する。彼は、過剰な情報と比較を避け、自分のプロセスと哲学を信頼することの重要性を述べる。彼は、苦悩や不安を減らし、自分自身の創造の道を模索し続けることが重要であると語る。
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Public Records
💡Shane Davis
💡Design
💡Curation
💡Community
💡Hospitality
💡Adaptive Reuse
💡Collaboration
💡Music Scene
💡Plant-Based Food
💡Sound System
Highlights
Shane Davis, co-founder and creative director of Public Records, discusses the concept and evolution of the unique space.
Public Records is a restaurant, cafe, bar, lounge, and nightclub in Brooklyn, offering a diverse and inclusive environment.
The establishment is a combination of plant-based food, curated music, detailed sound systems, and architectural beauty.
Shane's background in graphic design and his partner Francis Harris's music career played a role in the creation of Public Records.
The vision for Public Records was to create a community space centered around sound and hospitality.
The building that houses Public Records has a rich history, previously serving as the ASPCA headquarters and a music restoration shop.
The unique architectural layout of the building influenced the programming and design of Public Records.
Public Records was designed to be a versatile space with a focus on all-day community engagement.
The venue has attracted a wide audience, transcending the initial expectation of catering to a niche crowd.
The team behind Public Records aimed to create a non-derivative space that evolved organically from its inputs and values.
The collaboration with notable figures like Devon Turnbull for the sound system and Arup for engineering brought expertise to the project.
Public Records has become a cultural institution, inspiring other venues and remaining fresh through its DIY and experimental approach.
The future of Public Records includes expanding to other cities and exploring different types of projects while maintaining the core values.
Shane Davis shares his insights on the importance of conviction and self-belief in pursuing creative endeavors.
Public Records's approach to design and hospitality is driven by a desire to create immersive and meaningful experiences.
The transcript provides a comprehensive look into the philosophy and creative process behind a successful and innovative venue.
Transcripts
[Music]
Hunter wolf on wkcr 89.9 FM New York and
I'm very happy to be joined in this by
Shane Davis the co-founder and creative
director of public records public
records is a restaurant Cafe Bar Lounge
and Nightclub in ganas Brooklyn it's one
of my favorite places to visit it offers
so much and connects different aspects
of design culture and
hospitality and that is exactly why I
love it so Shane Davis welcome to wkcr
and welcome to the show thank you good
to be here so I'm really excited to have
you here to talk about public records
the space you've created and when I say
it's one of my favorite places to go I
really mean it and I'm always excited to
share it with other people for me it's
this perfect amalgamation of plant-based
food highly curated music highly
detailed sound systems and me much more
than that and it all takes place in one
architectural space a beautiful adaptive
reuse space I really think public
records is so unique and so rare and how
it offers so much and connects all these
elements in one space and I'm not sure
if you could find this kind of place
anywhere else in the world especially
with this level of curation and Fidelity
so I want to know what was the big
picture vision for this entity public
records in
2017 that brings us such special and
diverse experiences in
2023 well thank you for the kind words
um that means a
lot I guess the question is how did how
did we get started
yeah um man how did we get started
so I um as we discussed before I'm a
graphic designer by trade um I got
involved in sort of roundabout way in uh
hospitality and and in sort of building
uh Hospitality related real estate
entertainment um projects from a design
and a creative
standpoint and um I met my now partner
Francis Harris uh who's a DJ producer
engineer um around 20 2016 I guess
Francis had a long career in music um
also had this sort of um career on I
guess on the side in Hospitality has ran
some really incredible beverage programs
from um some iconic restaurants
throughout the years and we were just
both kind of in the music scene we're
introduced by a friend um I was sort of
at the stage in my career where I was
interested to kind of do something um I
don't know a bit more
adventurous or um you know I was working
on a lot of other people's projects and
I was kind of ready to go off and and do
my own thing and you know build
something that was sort of uh you know I
guess spiritually from my own mind more
so than you know reacting to changes and
problems which I think is great and
interesting but whatever it was time my
sort of that time in my career and um he
was at the time of his career where I
think he you know had really
accomplished a lot in music but was
looking to leverage his you know his
abilities and his talents and his vision
in really a new and a different way and
so we kind of met at this very
interesting time for both of us and we
hit it off um and just shared a lot of
interests and values you know with
regards to music and philosophy and
really just sort of all things and
really quickly developed this really uh
kind of beautiful symbiotic relationship
um he's very different very very similar
but also very very different um we sort
of I think Inspire and ground each other
in different ways and so we decided to
do a project like let's do something you
know and and honestly the idea was um we
weren't like let's go build you know
build this like big iconic you know
space or organization it was kind of
like let's do a project you know what I
mean and you know this was pre the like
you know record bars I guys or anything
like the Thematic nature of any of these
things um the idea was like let's build
a great sort of you know bar community
space um you know that had that is sort
of centered around you know sound um not
in a thematic way just in the way of a
place where you know that brings people
together through you know the power of
sort of sound and community and
Hospitality so it was never supposed to
really be that big and um we around that
time a uh someone some we knew um this
real estate guy um basically came to me
and like a lot of a lot lot of sort of
people in that space were doing at the
time um was like I have this crazy
building that I want to buy you know I
have no idea what to do with it um can
you come check it out and um it's like
yeah totally so went and checked it out
I don't know if you guys know the
history of the building but it was built
as the ASPCA headquarters uh in the
early 1900s the first ASPCA headquarters
in Brooklyn um which it had remained
until the 70s or the 80s when it was
acquired by these two music um like guys
one one guy was a church pipe organ uh
restoration
outfit and the other guy owned this
really
incredible um vintage string
instrument uh restoration shop and
Retail shop called
retrofret um which was upstairs in the
building that's the space that's now
upstairs and so they owned and occupied
this building with these two us the
guitar store actually had it was like
public facing you can go up there not
many people knew about it only like the
real guitar heads knew about it but you
would like walk in the front door up the
steps cross the roof open this door and
it was just like a shrine of string
instruments they had like an original
jeno Reinhardt hanging on the wall we
came to learn that like Paul Simon had
mentioned this place in a song it had
like this crazy cult following but like
only really for the heads and because of
that they would just have these like
insane
you know like, vintage guitar sitting on
the floor cuz like people weren't just
like stumbling in so we'd like walk in
there and we just like pick up these
insane guitars and you know mess around
with them anyway I digress a bit but you
know we went and checked out this
building and we were just like whoa you
know this is like really rare um
obviously has an incredible history an
incredible Spirit you know in terms of
what's been you the activity that's been
happening there since deception various
forms and also just from an
architectural standpoint such a unique
building typology in New York you know
you think of most buildings in New York
you know Haden you have like the 25 by
100 boxes for the most part some
variation but like that's that's the
main grid right and that's why most bars
and restaurants are kind of laid out the
same way because the parameters are kind
of set you put the bar here the dining
rooms there's really only limited
variability unless you go to like a
Midtown office building which is a whole
different thing but this building the
way it was laid out and I don't know ex
like exactly how it was laid out for the
ASPCA but you know we had this Garden to
the side with these three giant trees
and it was just incredibly unique and
you know I toured a lot of buildings in
my career and this was like felt like
something that was really worthy of you
know of
intervention and um so yeah it was you
know we really had no idea what we're
getting ourselves into but like you know
we got to do something here this and so
you know the the history the building
inspired the brand in terms of you know
public service service and music
inspired the name of the concept public
records so it was born out of the you
know born out of the building and um and
so the first phase you know we've we
we've been growing with the first phase
with the cafe the bar and The Sound Room
and um you know we sort of like carved
these uses or sort of like articulated
these uses out of this really
interesting sort of envelope and Bones
of this building and so the building
very much informed the program and and
and all that and anyway that that was
kind of the origin story yeah I mean
it's super great to hear that much
detail and it sounds like you saw that
building and you that's maybe where the
vision started and you kind of fell in
love with it totally you know but where
did the where did food come into it
because you know you mentioned your
background and francis' background but
yeah where did food come in and you
worked in Hospitality but you know going
out and creating your own what kind of
sparked the sort of convergence between
you know music design architecture and
then food as well yeah I guess first and
foremost the idea was it was you know
aim to be a community space in the sense
that sort of on all day you could start
there in the morning Random Encounters
coming into people throughout the day
and find yourself there you know later
in the evening and then maybe there like
late night in the sound or was this sort
of like all day life cycle totally um I
like the idea of like whether it's a or
a city of it feeling like it's always on
in some way which creates its own
operational challenges but just like as
an intention that was the ideas it's
like it's always there it's living it's
breathing it's evolving it's like this
this sort of Perpetual like you know
organism um Francis grew up in the
hardcore scene in the midwest so he
spent like his college days in bands
touring and like spending a lot of time
at these sort of like hardcore DIY
spaces there was like a super kitchen
during the day and then it turns into
like you know a venue at shows at night
so that was sort of like you know a big
inspiration to us was those sort of like
multi-use spaces MH um which I think you
don't see a lot of especially in the
hospitality space everything is so
thematized and like programmed based
upon some sort of like oh it's a you
know it's a taco restaurant or it's like
you know it's a tasting menu as opposed
to this thing of like you know let's
throw some ideas and intentions and like
values into a pot and then see what
emerges and hopefully what emerges is
something that's non-derivative and
something new and this is like design
right like if it's too if you have the
answer from the start it's not
interesting right you have to kind of
like create certain inputs and see what
output comes out of it and I think that
was that sort of like no way of approach
was kind of our approach to like you
know investing in ttention and seeing
what manifests in the space yeah for
sure sure I feel like which sounds very
foolish in retrospect honestly when it's
coming it's you know a business Endeavor
but that was you know we were very
idealistic at that time yeah I mean I
think one of the things that makes it so
special and one of the ways that I sort
of advertise it to my friends it's like
you know you can go there whatever mood
you're in whatever you like to do when
you go out you can do at public records
it feels welcome to you know all kinds
of people no matter what your interest
is I'm kind of curious though like what
you've learned about your audience like
over years like who is coming to public
records and how are people using the
space yeah it's it's interesting I you
know at this sort of early stages when
we
were um you know aspiring towards some
sort of future
like we
definitely we definitely thought it was
going to be appeal to a bit more of a
like solely of vard crowd and you know
you know maybe it wasn't as weird as we
tried to make it or whatever well we did
something right or we did something
wrong but very quickly it was adopted by
you know um more than just the
experimental crowd or whatever you know
however you want to categorize that
crowd and thankfully cuz I don't think
we would have made it if it was limited
to that certain audience and that was
great it wasn't like we didn't intend it
to be exclusive we just kind of thought
that that's what who we going to be
connected to it but I think we learned
very quickly that you know
people people are smarter than a lot of
people give them credit for you know and
I think public records is Testament to
that that either people connected to you
know the environment and and the spirit
of it or you know it Inspire them to
feel different ways or think different
ways or or they didn't know really what
but they felt good there and I think
that was Testament to New York and um so
yeah that I mean the consumer the
customers are really all over the place
and know we love that and someone um
someone I forgot who it was someone was
it DJ was here from uh from Europe a
couple weeks ago um actually ran to her
in Detroit and she was saying that she
was she was at public records in
Brooklyn she's like yeah like um they
like you know it wasn't as like you know
super hip of a scene as I you know I
kind of thought I was like that's great
like that's not really what and it is
you know the scene's great and it feels
good and it's sort of self- selecting in
the sense that most people but for us it
was less about like how people look and
more sort of the type of energy that
they're bringing to the space yeah
definitely and you know there's so many
different aspects of the space um you
know food and design and
music um I'm curious to know what it was
like putting the team together to make
such a special space you know you have
incredible speakers designed by Devon
Turnbull you have architecture from
Lindsay Wickstrom and Mata Forma music
provided by the whole host of DJs that
come through that space and performers
as well I've been lucky enough to see
John car Kirby and Eddie Chone as well
as Benji b a few weeks ago um so yeah
what went into kind of like finding the
people to make this place happen and to
make it such a special
place early on there weren't a lot of
people um now we've you know it's grown
quite a bit but it was I mean very DIY
at first we were doing everything
um that wasn't really the plan but I
designed and and and pretty much built
the spa oversaw the build of the space
myself yeah um for various reasons and
um you know as well as doing all like
every piece of art in the beginning
stages which was which was a lot and
Francis was doing you know all the Music
Creation booking bar perent we had to
you know just had to be super DIY I it
wanted to be you know and um um you know
we w we I think you
know that was important for us as well
um to really have you know to be able to
define or help Define at least the the
um you know the early stages before it
kind of became its own thing um
Devin um was he kind of had a cold
following back then but he wasn't you
know blown up like he is now right and
um
he we met him through some friends he
was in Clinton Hill I was living in Fort
green at the time and um I remember we
were like we were debating between him
using his speakers and like he I I don't
really I guess he was in Supreme maybe
like he had there weren many commercial
applications of his speakers at the time
um just like his house like sick setup
he had at his house and we're we're
deciding between him and this like his
company team PPI which we also really
highly respect um more commercial you
know they had done some things and you
know we were like by the time we were
thinking about that we already pretty
deep in and we're like over our heads
and we were debating and we just kind of
like you know if if we're really doing
you know what we're saying we're setting
out to do which is like taking an
experimental approach to everything like
the we got to go you know the decision's
obvious like we got to go with Devon now
it seems obvious like because he's you
know he's created so much value s a lot
of places but the time it felt like a
real risk um and obviously you know our
our collaboration and our partnership
with him um has been uh you know it's
been a great aspect of of the
brand um and then aside from that I mean
so we worked with ARP which was cool
also y um you know back when I was
studying architecture it was always like
you know un studio and Arab and like all
these was always like Arab was like all
these crazy project so I just known like
the mythical nature of Arab for me yeah
and then it was interesting like we were
doing this project and you know I had a
reputation in the industry and obviously
Francis had a reputation as an artist
but like it was a pretty Scrappy outfit
and it was like [ __ ] ganas and this
it was like it was kind of crazy you
know what I mean yeah but very quickly
we started to
see how many people once we kind of
walked into through our vision and the
space like really wanted to be a part of
it which was really cool
so even before we opened there was like
a lot of momentum you know what I mean
like we walked so many people through
the space so many artists so many just
people I knew from the design Community
it was like this real energy built up
over those two years which I think was
like really crucial yeah um but anyway
yeah so so my friend of mine um was
working with Arup on some project up
State and he's like yeah like they're
actually like huge heads these guys like
you know one of the guys is like used to
live in AA
and you know he's kind of out of the
game now but these guys are huge heads
you should meet them and I was like yeah
I'd love to meet them you know and so
they came by and and these guys are like
the heads just came out of the woodware
so many of these guys like in corporate
you know environments were just just
heads which is which is cool and they
were like you know they were like yeah
we'd love to work on this project you
know and and so we worked very closely
with them on the sound room and you know
again we built it with a bunch of dudes
so like their calculations we did as we
we did it as close as we could but it
was it was a very like
institutional analysis and a very like
DIY application of it you know me which
I think equated to kind of interesting
results yeah
um but yeah and then and then you know
when when we opened like I still I
thought like they were going to like
keep it off of their portfolio and and
and then we found out that it was like
front and center in this book they
released about like sound design so they
were really proud of it so that was cool
and I think those were kind of the
started to give us more confidence
that you know we were going to be able
to do what we we set out to do which is
like you know hit this interesting
tangent which I think is is challenging
or or not often sort of achieved where
you can create like this sort of high
energy nightlife environment you can
explore scenes that might be considered
like you know dark or whatever you may
call it but also sort of play in sort of
an Institutional space you know what I
mean which to was always kind of a goal
you know how do you have you know John
Kirby Caroll and then you know have like
a crazy you know techno party a couple
nights later and those scenes we always
really wanted to merge those scenes um
anyway so I think a lot of these this
this whole sort of like all these things
led to those communities merging and
that that identity being able to be to
be achieved yeah I mean it's super cool
that it started very DIY yet you were
working with Arab which is like one of
the largest multinational engineering
firms in the world that you know also
it's amazing that they also took on the
project as well considering the
clientele that they're working with and
the scale of the projects that they're
working on but you know how do you
grapple with the idea of public records
kind of like becoming the institution in
a way or becoming the Benchmark like how
do you keep it fresh and DIY and like on
the
ground yeah I guess um you know the last
couple years there's it's like I said
mentioned before there's a lot
of these sort of record bars that have
been popping up that we get compared to
we got you know people ask if we could
put be featured in books like alongside
these audio file bars and it's all good
and I we have no like um we never really
set out to be that you know we just
people tend to pigeon hole and put
things in boxes but that was never
really I mean the bar isn't even it's
not even an audio file bar it's like the
space is pretty raw we built some like
sound panels and stuff stuck them on the
you know what I mean it's not like meant
to even be perfectly tuned I guess
upstairs is a little bit more of a
Listening Room type of typology
but
um I think you know the nursery have you
guys did you guys go this summer The
haven't been yet yeah it's the nurser we
worked on with with man for to us
like cany you
know we didn't need to build it you know
and it was it was a process because I'm
not going to get into it but do
planning all these things all this C I
had you know we had to figure out this
very strategic design approach which
knowing people that aren't in you know
architecture whatever would really
appreciate or planning or whatever to
actually make this actionable like that
to me I mean obviously Lind work is
great the other uh people who work is
great but I'm I'm really proud of like
the strategy around the whole sort of
zoning puzzle that we did anyway to us
that was an
opportunity to to show people that we
can you know that we're not just
interested in building record bars or
music spaces at St like how do you take
this sort of I guess architectural
approach to like okay we have a vacant
parking lot and Goan with all these
challenges we have this organization
that now has sort of resources and
interests and assets and interests right
and like how do we reconceptualize and
re-envision this vacant lot in in a way
that's you know really meaningful and
interesting and new you know and
singular
um and create a sort of Music space with
a completely new context you know what I
mean are people going to copy that I
don't know that'd be interesting to see
if people start building like plant
nursery Events maybe you know what I
mean but for us it's less about and you
know we have a couple of new projects in
the world right now we're actually
working on a residential project in
Brooklyn um and so we're just not going
to do another public records yeah the
other projects we're working on have
similar interests and a similar spirit
because those are the things that we
care about in the world um but they're
going to you know react to their own set
of circumstances and parameters and
conditions based on market and building
and all the other things yeah okay so
you mentioned a residential project that
sounds really exciting you know one of
my questions for you was you know what
kind of new spaces will public records
be making but also like what kind of new
forms of media or expression will public
records take on within those spaces so
yeah can you speak a little bit more to
like the the future of public records
and you know we talked about 2017 Vision
that brings us to 2023 what's like the
2023 Vision that takes us to like
2028 yeah so media we you know we
haven't
our
first first attempt at media was during
Co when space shut down and um we had to
fur most of our employees and we
launched this thing called
prtv which was you at the time at the
time like a lot of people were doing the
sort of like online
broadcasting and I kind in retrospect I
wish we had just taken a break and like
chilled but you know as soon as could
hit the fan we're like What do we do and
we're like let's build a DIY Channel you
know what I mean like that seemed like
the right thing to do and we were
designing a website at the time so we
just kind of like huddled in our friends
that were designing the website and you
know like turn their attention to
building this radio station and it was
kind of awesome cuz you know as it was
incredible dark and sad time in the
world but we're on this like Mission you
know we're going to build this like
Broadcasting channel all the artists and
all the you know creatives and the
community that we've established
relationships over the last year cuz it
only been a year can kind of tap into it
and utilizes during this like un you
know indefinite period of time and um it
was really cool honestly um but it also
showed like how how sort of like not
that world is for Francis and I sure um
you know that's just not we're like
physical space type type of guys and the
the station was was really cool and the
shows were awesome we did we did this uh
you know we did collaborations with like
bam and the new school and
um and uh we launched this series called
44 which I think has gone on to be this
big thing so it's a pretty incredible
like Endeavor but like no knowledge of
how to monetize it or like no strategy
in terms of like how to make it
sustainable like just just like creating
a web of craziness you know what I mean
yeah um I feel like those digital sort
of versions of entertainment Hospitality
physical spaces like first one that
comes to mind is Boiler Room you know
it's like the digital Boiler Room
doesn't like I don't I don't think it's
really making them probably much money
but what it is doing is it's creating
this like cult following about Boiler
Room like okay who has the most
legendary DJ sets on Boiler Room who are
the most iconic people dancing in the
crowd on Boiler Room you know it's like
internet legendary lore you know totally
yeah so it does something else for the
physical space rather than necessarily
be its own thing that makes it own money
and has it serves its own purpose you
yeah totally and I think during that
time you know when a lot of
organizations were kind of dormant our
community was growing even faster cuz
everyone was just like tuned in and it
felt really good cuz everyone was
connected through this thing so in a
really dark time it definitely created a
lot of you know energy and and and some
positivity despite what was going on so
anyway that was my longwind way of
saying that was our only like media
Endeavor um
um when I say media like I don't
necessarily mean like you know content
because I consider like food to be like
a form of media as well you know or like
Fine Art film fashion clothing got it
you know in any event um I guess the
question is like what other aspects of
culture could we potentially find in a
public record space in the future yeah I
think and and um you know I guess this
just makes interesting cuz Franc and
I um are kind of like diverging in a way
and end up coming together cuz I'm
always thinking about like building
place and design and these things and
Francis is always thinking about music
and Hospitality sometimes I'm like you
know Hospitality like whatever you know
not like whatever but it's something
that's meaningful to me but I'm just
thinking in a different framework and
and often times I kind of come back I
have these experiences where I'm like oh
yeah he was like to like he's right like
that's like so it's like these you know
I have I'm wired for whatever reason to
think about he's building these things
of scale whether it's physical scale or
like you know just impact and and he's
kind of always thinking about like you
know touching tables and experiences
with guests and whatnot and and they're
both equally important and I think one
of the reasons we've been successful is
cuz like it's both of those things and
they Inspire each other you know I
me um
and because for a while I was like you
know canand I was like you know the bar
is so tough like hospitality is so tough
it's so slow moving it's so laborious
like you know I'm really interested in
how people live like let's go let's
let's go do more of these like
residential projects like let's do an
office project let's do it in our way
you know cuz I'm sure you know you guys
walk around the world being in school
and you're like I'd love to rethink
these things I'd love to rethink how
people live how people work how people
do right all that's that's design
thinking right regardless of what it is
and then you know some and then we had
this sort of moment when we were kind of
deliberating what we're doing next where
like we love public records we love the
bar we love the restaurant and like
Sound Room can be you know can be a mess
sometimes with all the you know politics
and culture but you know you come in
there in a good night and you're like
man like this is really special and it's
really meaningful especially in like a
world that is continuously confusing and
you know not much makes sense and like
you can just have these moment moments
these immersive moments you know around
other humans and with sound conditions
that are just they feel really special
and so at some point you know I was like
kind of got out of my head and like yeah
like we're going to build more of these
in different ways and um so I mentioned
we're doing the residential project
Brooklyn won't have a club component
obviously um but it does have a sound a
very heavy acoustic component um we're
um we're in early stages of uh our
second like
I don't know to call it Flagship but our
second sort of space in Austin Texas
where I spend a lot of time okay um
which probably open in uh
2025 um similarly programmed as public
records smaller scale new name new you
know thing MH but you know you'll see
some of the same artists and whatnot but
highly contextual to this the you know
the site and the place
there um and uh and then we have
something also early stages in Miami so
you know in like we're not going to go
and roll out 10 of these things but you
know we'd like to have create these
other sort of like foundational spaces
as we see it in these markets that you
know have a certain um you know creative
Community I guess for lack of better
categorization that can all sort of
Leverage one another in different ways
and um and then do these sort of
offshoots you know like this residential
project that I mentioned and and uh you
know and other things yeah for sure and
sounds like from very early on you were
very comfortable with sort of stepping
into such a large project in such a big
role you know your background is graphic
design but you said you were responsible
for much of the construction and like
the building monitoring that in the you
know founding of public records and now
as you start to expand the Brooklyn
location into these other locations like
how agile and prepared and how much
transitioning has to go into you
yourself you know and Your Role like how
how do you take on those big leaps from
Graphics to building to potentially
urban planning or Urban Development you
know and in you know other cities that
you might be less uh accustomed to or
familiar with I mean for one you
surround yourself with good teams you
know the way that we buildt Brooklyn you
know we'll never we'll never build that
way again of course and that was um it
wasn't planned that way it just kind of
like those were the circumstances and I
think probably happened for a reason
because sort of the learning that went
into that was really highly valuable for
us um I think confidence is like a huge
thing you know something I think about a
lot and um I I've sort of built a little
design studio um with my partner D who
we work on all the public records
projects but we also work on some
outside projects so we have some
infrastru like design infrastructure now
so we're able to you know approach these
project much more pragmatically but
something I've been thinking about just
in the past couple of weeks working on
this residential project cuz it's a
little it's new you know what I mean
like it's you know we think about
buildings and we think about you know
higher IES but it's a kind of a new
palette and so I definitely have been
second guessing myself more than I would
when we're you know at this point when
we're like laying out a restaurant or or
music space like there's you know
obviously we want to innovate but a lot
of the learning has kind of happened at
least the foundation and this is kind of
very new and I just keep reminding
myself working through it that like
there's no right answer you know stop
looking for that right answer and so
many designers they like just go and go
and go and you know like Pinterest is
the devil you know what I mean like the
internet is the devil cuz there's so
much incredible work out there you have
a good idea and then you see an image
you're like oh man like it's not that
that like it's not there it's not good
enough you know yeah totally for me I
try to keep that noise out and and
remind myself there's no right answer
there's just like there's the there's
smart ways to think about things there's
your own like design philosophy that
hopefully you've established that's
going to you know Define your process
and Define the results and just like
keep going you know and I think that you
know if you could do that that
really sort of weeds out a lot of the
mental turmo oil that is really a lot of
the waste of time you know cuz in a lot
of these a lot of projects the doing the
thing is not the issue it's the worrying
about the thing so if you could find
ways to like really trust your
process even if part of that process is
like really painful periods but just
knowing that those painful periods are
part of the process and not adding
stress to why am I go then it just I
think it gets easier yeah you know and
obviously that just comes with time and
you know and experience totally I mean
what you said about Pinterest and the
internet and just like having an
abundance of images totally resonated
with me as a creative and as a designer
I feel like I get to a point where it's
like I just need to shut it all down and
then start looking at myself and start
thinking for myself and that that's when
the projects really get interesting and
when you know I benefit from that as
well um you know I saw a quote recently
from a well-known clothing
designer and it said conviction is the
best form of qualification do you
believe that
conv like how much one trusts in themsel
essentially it was essentially saying
like whatever you have on your resume
it's like whatever but if you have
conviction that's the best qualification
you can have to do anything you know
obviously that's you know a sound bite
you know and it sounds really good you
know but I think the premise is I think
there's a lot of Truth in that it's
interesting I think that you
know that was very um value valuable for
me early in my career um and throughout
my career
um I've done a lot of things that I
didn't really know how to do you know
what I mean like I studied graphic
design I got involved in you know
Consulting for development projects
which was already didn't know how to do
and I think
like yeah I think it's I think that just
speaks to you know what I mentioned
before about confidence and I think it's
maybe confidence is not the I think it's
like this idea
of you know cuz confidence can almost
have like an egotistical aspect it's
idea of like selfworth or like you know
self-belief self-belief I like that yeah
it's like you know going into every
situation going into a meeting going
into new
relationship you know with humbleness
that I might not have all the answers
but I have and I I used to say this like
in you know in meetings is like
like my ideas aren't always going to be
right but I'm going to have very strong
ideas you know what I mean yeah and I
think that's what people in a lot of
cases if you're a creative professional
kind of look for a need you know what I
mean mhm
um anyway guys you guys can ask you a
question yeah absolutely what I'm just
curious about like you know so you're in
school right now yes what type of
projects you working on like where are
you at and you're sort of thinking about
you know projects and building and
design and whatnot
yeah so I think I have a strong
conviction and I think I have a great
deal of clarity of what I want to do um
I think most of it comes from outside of
school you know I have my own Vision I
love making clothing and that's sort of
like where my creativity started and
when I'm working on a clothing project I
never just see the clothing I see
everything else that sits around it you
know what film am I going to shoot you
know what's is there going to be a story
line to it what's the location going to
be am I going to work with a musician to
do a original score for that film you
know is it going to be a set design on
you know on
location um how am I going to present it
to the world after that through social
media platforms through a website
through a physical lookbook you know
having all these different things to
touch to sort of create a constellation
of media around an idea to tell a story
so for me that's you know it starts with
the clothing but I and I want to have my
own company when I'm older and I want to
be able to touch clothing and film and
music and perhaps furniture and
HomeGoods and I also design and make
jewelry and I want to do fine arts and
I'm an architecture school right now so
I want to build spaces and create spaces
for
people so yeah I have I think some big
ideas and Big Dreams that and I think I
have the self-belief and the confidence
to say that I you know I will do it
because if I can do it now with
extremely small budgets then I'll always
be able to do it um and then yeah in
school you know we're I'm in second year
at Columbia and gap for architecture
we're doing housing you know so it's
kind of like our first Studio where we
really have to make architecture work um
and like the super high conceptual
theoretical stuff is behind us for now
and you know you can have all those
great ideas but now we really have to
make it work we're dealing with building
codes and different unit types and you
know we're really designing for people
to to make a project to show people that
people could use our spaces in a very
particular
way
um so yeah right now I'm sort of perhaps
taking a little bit of uh the same
approach to my other work and to what
you've done at public records and I'm
trying to look at housing as actually
perhaps like the second part of the
project it's kind of to me I see it as
like the housing will be there because
it has to be so what else can we do so
I'm looking into different forms of
Health and Wellness uh different ways to
activate the community Through farming
and
gardening and you know creating more
green space in the city and trying to
bringing a pretty radical idea of uh
sort of taking the ethos of mountains
and being in the mountains and what that
feels like and bringing it to an urban
setting so amazing yeah and it's a huge
challenge right now trying to to make
make that work in New York City but it
will I think that's that's you know
there's a lot of Beauty in that right
cuz you're you spoke to your interest
you feel pulled to you know it's like a
cliche term like World building right
it's not just about the clothing it's
about all these sort of Dynamics and you
know in terms of what the clothing mean
within the context of these other other
things and then you're working on very
practical you know like important not
the other things not important but
important issues like housing but the
layer that you're going to add on to it
is like how do I now inject that sort of
World building aspirations into this
sort of housing project which I think is
the world that we all want to live in
right and they can certainly all coexist
and you know what
benefits do you find and then injecting
that other layer of imagination that
perhaps are more pragmatic and
productive and not just for the sake of
peer experience but perhaps you know
real productive health or economic
benefits as well so that's super cool
yeah definitely and it's important to
you know keep the context in mind and
also think about I think the work in a
you know you mentioned Service as being
part of at the core of public records
and you know how what you're doing is
serving people and I think that's an
important part of this um the work that
we're all doing here in creativity and
design sot yeah so Shane Davis thank you
so much for joining me here at wkcr it's
been a pleasure to talk to you and you
know I'm going to keep enjoying public
records and I'm excited to see what
comes next and explore some new
locations and new projects So yeah thank
you so much for being here cool thanks
for having me
[Music]
awesome
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