Post-punk dance musicians The Yellow Dogs bowling in Brooklyn.
Credit: Facebook
Metro’s original story can be read here.
Two of the Yellow Dogs’ music videos can be seen here.
As more details come to light of the tragic shooting spree that killed three musicians in East Williamsburg last night, the Brooklyn music community is remembering “the kindest and warmest band in all of New York.”
The band played a show at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg just a few weeks ago.
Adam Geringer-Dunn, the talent buyer at the venue, said in an email: “As friends and a music venue who had hosted Yellow Dogs many times, we are devastated to hear the news.”
Geringer-Dunn said the Iranian expats “were great guys and an easy band to work with.”
“Their music is fun and accessible and they were always down to play shows even on short notice,” Geringer-Dunn said, noting their “solid following in Brooklyn.”
“We could count on them to consistently put on a great show and bring people out,” he said. He added that their temperament was unique on the New York music scene, saying “that work ethic and consistency” is rare.
Over 100 people attended their Oct. 23 show, Geringer-Dunn said.
On Facebook, a band they played with at Brooklyn Bowl, Papertwin, posted a eulogy of sorts to their friends.
“As performers they were amazingly charismatic, innovative and captivating, and as people they were the kindest and warmest band in all of New York,” the band wrote on their Facebook wall. “We were honored to share the stage with them and have the friendship we had. We’re all so shocked and heartbroken.”
“We send all of our love to their family and friends. It’s way too soon and way too tragic to have to say goodbye like this. You will be missed,” the post continued. “We love you Yellow Dogs.”
Papertwin’s Nick Shopa told Metro they knew the Yellow Dogs for about three years, since they played their first show together.
“They were just one of those bands that we immediately clicked with,” Shopa recalled. “We liked their sound and they liked our sound and we just made it this thing, where a couple times a year we’d get together and play a show.”
Shopa described the young men as “the kindest, most gentle, loving people in any band I’ve ever met in New York.”
“They were incredibly nice guys and it was always great seeing them,” Shopa said. “They will be missed.”
The Yellow Dogs were fairly well-known even outside of the Brooklyn music scene: they were one of the bands in the prize-winning film “No One Knows About Persian Cats,” and one of their songs was included on the film’s soundtrack. They were also featured in a 2009 CNN piece on Iran’s underground rock piece, showcasing the little room where they practiced and the challenges they faced making music that was illegal.
“We don’t want to change the world,” bandmember Siavash Karampour told CNN. “We just want to play music.”
Karampour and another bandmember, Koory Mirzeai, were apparently not involved in last night’s shooting.
The journalist behind that CNN piece, Reza Sayah, took to Twitter on Monday to remember the young men he met four years ago.
“Interviewed #Yellowdogs in 2009 & decided I wanted to have sons just like them,” Sayah wrote. “RIP Sorough & Arash & Ali.”
Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat
