The first time I met Greg Ferreira, lead singer of The Bushwick Hotel I was making out with a model, wearing leather tights and covered in ketchup. I had been convinced by our friend Cathrine Westergaard to act in The Bushwick Hotel’s music video for the band’s song “Graffiti of the Young Man’s Mind.”
Almost two years later, Ferreira and I are both more sophisticated (sort of). Ferreira recently teamed up with bandmate and buddy Rudy Temiz along with the help of other members to open Bushwick’s first pop-up “alternative mall” Rock N’ Shop at The Paper Box which will feature live music alongside craft stalls, tattoo artists, barbers and food sellers.I caught up with Greg about grunge, the Rockettes, Brooklyn, janitorial work and how Rock N’ Shop will help keep local creativity alive.
Royal Young: What attracts you to Brooklyn?
Greg Ferreira: The availability. You can get everything that you want delivered to your face from sex, drugs, all the way to elite culture. In short, I don't want to grow up.
Tell me about your latest endeavor, where it is, what it is and how you got mixed up in it?
It is called Rock n' Shop @ The Paper Box on 17 Meadow St. in Bushwick. It's a weekly, unitarian art festival, designed to stimulate the senses and fuck with commerce in Bushwick, that kinda looks like Thunderdome. It is the manifestation of many hats worn. We've been janitors for so long that we decided to find a headquarters to sweep in.
What keeps you going?
I want to impress my father, period.
Talk to me about your youth and what drove you to New York City, also what kept you here?
When I was in 6th grade I took a field trip to New York City to see the Rockettes. Tell me you don't want to live in New York after you see the Rockettes!
Do you miss young, raw ambition? I kind of believe in struggle and hustle. I think it makes art stronger. Is it better to hone your craft and work hard? What do you think G?
Yes, I'm all in for raw ambition, so that's why we have five to seven "all ages" matinee shows lined up every Sunday in October and every Saturday and Sunday starting in November. Got to support the youth. When it comes to honing your craft and working hard, this cake took 37 years to bake. A veritable strudel of struggle and hustle.
How is your newest project keeping creativity alive?
We are merging the inevitable. If we don't have patrons, we won't have art. These days, we've got to be the artist, the patron, the producer, the benefactor, the whatever, the whoever, and the whenever. So, we are creating an energetic venue for the creator, the curator, the artistic innovator, the small business operator, and the consumer.
For more about Rock n' Shop http://paperboxnyc.com/
