Photo: BusterBrownBB

Welcome, comrades, to Secret Society’s new inter-web locus! We bid you enjoy the hospitality of our reconditioned residence!

This redesign has been a long time coming, as the original Secret Society website (b. September 29, 2005) had gotten rather long in the tooth. In point of fact, it had the distinct whiff of a TypePad blogging template circa 2005, slightly tweaked by someone with no design skills to speak of (i.e., yrstruly) — which is in fact exactly what it was. So this new incarnation of the Secret Society site is actually less “redesign” than just straight-up “design.”

Said design is courtesy of longtime friend of the Society, Travis Williams, who was also responsible for the Infernal Machines album art. I am also greatly indebted to Greenleaf Music’s Jim Tuerk, who oversaw all the finicky details of the design’s implementation and conversion to WordPress — the ubiquitous, open-source “content management system” that provides the tools for the unskilled user (again, yrstruly) to maintain and update the site.

[Did you know that WordPress version numbers are named after jazz musicians? This site is currently running WordPress 3.5, AKA “Elvin.”]

You’ll note that while the content has been re-arranged somewhat, we’ve managed to preserve (at least for now — see below… ) the entire 7-year archives of the original TypePad-based site, including — for good or for ill — the comments. This includes such vintage, back-in-the-day posts as Like I’m blowin’ on a sax, blowin’ my gats (AKA “The Top 4 Most Tolerable Rock Sax Solos of All Time”), I am fused just in case I blow out (listening to Jim McNeely’s East Coast Blow Out with Ethan Iverson), and Don’t listen to them suckas when they say you too irrational (notating and feeling so-called “irrational” rhythms).

These ones are keepers, but not everything is. The archives are in dire need of trimming and I’m eventually going to pare away the old stuff that’s not of lasting interest.

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Vintage synths, wrecked by Sandy

New Amsterdam Records, home to Secret Society, our co-conspirator Sam Sadigursky, and many, many friends and kindred spirits on the New York music scene, has suffered a devastating loss. Their new headquarters, located at 98 Van Dyke Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn — just 300 feet from the waterfront — was innundated by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy. This converted industrial location/biker hangout(!) was what you might call a fixer-upper, and renovating the space was genuine labor of love for the label’s co-founders and staff. It wasn’t just an office, it was to be a venue for rehearsals and performances and fundraisers and much else. To see all their efforts cruelly undone by the storm is especially hearbreaking.

From NewAm’s official announcement:

Despite the many hours we spent on Sunday preparing for the storm–stacking furniture on cinder-blocks and moving everything we could to higher ground–our space was flooded with almost four feet of polluted sea water.  As a result, about 70% of our catalog of CDs has been destroyed–CDs we hold on behalf of our artists (we do not own them). Literally ALL of our financial records were destroyed, including our back-up hard-drive. Sewage, gas, spilled paint thinner, and bleach all blended with seawater, creating a toxic mess. A mess that is sure to corrode our newly installed drywall, kitchen cabinets, and office furniture. Even the basics like doors and plumbing are compromised and will need to be replaced. Musical equipment, amps, and priceless vintage synthesizers were also destroyed, along with countless personal items, clothing, two couches, records, and other furniture. We will need to move swiftly to acquire industrial dehumidifiers and hire professional mold-cleaners to help us combat the high risk of toxic mold.  We have yet to assess the damage to our donated Steinway grand piano which we wrapped with a plastic tarp prior to the storm; the water mark from the flood was drawn inches from the piano’s lid.

Read more.

Their efforts to obtain flood insurance for their space were rebuffed (turns out insurers are reluctant to issue policies to business located on the Red Hook waterfront for some reason… ). The cost and scope of the cleanup is daunting.

New Amsterdam believed in Secret Society and supported us long before anyone outside of a very small circle had the slightest idea who we were or what we were about. Please support them in their time of need.