A true underdog, local cafe/record store/basement venue Cake Shop turns two years old today. An oasis of underground culture on Ludlow, a cheesy and expensive street in a rapidly transforming Lower East Side, they’ve managed to survive without stocking mainstream records, overpricing their surprisingly toothsome food and drinks, or succumbing to booking the lame musical fare of the neighborhood’s other venues. And with Tonic gone we need ‘em more than ever.

Last night New York Night Train had a little powwow with Andy Bodor, who, running the joint along with Greg Curly and his brother Nick, is the owner in charge of the Cake Shop’s venue, label, etc…

NYNT: So Andy, congrats. Two years… And I wasn’t the only one who thought you weren’t gonna make it doing underground stuff on Ludlow? How’re ya hanging in there?

AB: I think that’s sort of part of the mystique… People want to help it along because it’s not the normal shitty sort of boutique. It was part of the plan to bring a little humanity back into the area. People still can’t believe it exists and that’s how we get em in…

NYNT: Yeah, it blows a lot of folks away when they walk in for the first time - not very New York or 21st century or Ludlow 2007. Who is your decorator?

AB: Pretty much me… I’ve been collecting junk for years and I’m pretty into design but not any particular kind of movement, just nice bold colors and weird shit you may have won in an amusement park in 1975.

NYNT: So tell me about the genesis of the Cake Shop?

AB: It started like most things: a two-way conversation gone haywire, the “yeah why nots” piling on, and then pretty soon a business plan. Next, we found the space, which was two floors, then the ideas started really flying - all pretty natural and willy-nilly. We initially wanted to open up another coffee shop, this time with booze at night, sort of a night and day thing, which it’s sort of become – selling records we love with real quality in-store performances in an intimate setting. I was inspired by this Jonathan Demme/Robyn Hitchcock film called Storefront Hitchcock, where Robyn performs in an empty storefront to pretty much just the camera and maybe some people who really wanted to be in the room with him. I love intimate secret shows.

NYNT: “Cake Shop” is a reference to Swell Maps “Cake Shop Girl” - why’d ya choose it?

AB: We chose it basically because it was one band Greg and I both respected equally, the shambolic art punk they perfected is the sound of my heartbeat. You know that feeling? I agree with their attack completely - make a mess, don’t clean it up, don’t hide the blemishes, etc. So it felt right. After thinking about it, it became a sort of thing like, “There’s nothing bad in a cake shop, there’s no such thing as a bad thing in a cake shop, except maybe something smeared with marmite but even that has a ton of sugar on it so its probably alright, I”ll try it…”

NYNT: I guess I should point out that Nikki Sudden got a chance to play there before he passed away….

AB: A true honor for lack of a less cliché way to say it…

NYNT: …literally the day before he passed away?

AB: Yeah. I was a little nervous for him taking on so much in NYC. But you gotta admire his troubadour spirit, and he was really touched about us calling it “Cake Shop” and knew we meant it. He was pretty awesome.

NYNT: And, as the booking guy, etc., is the music working out the way you initially envisioned?

AB: Luckily, pretty much exactly the way we planned. Being in the neighborhood for 11 years and running a coffeehouse [1] where I met a lot of bands, either on their way to Brownies [2] or Coney Island High or Continental [3] or doing whatever bands do in Tompkins, I knew I’d be able to secure a few of my friends bands to spread the word to their friends and so on. The vibe is still pretty much that it needs to be something I like in order for the band to play there - and I pretty much hate shitty bands and like to think I have decent taste.

NYNT: Yeah. Y’all definitely assemble some of the better bills in town. What’s been your favorite so far?

AB: One of my all time favorite shows was by one of my all time nineties bands, Gogogo Airheart. They played with the Cause Co-motion really late, around 1AM, after they played a miserable show at a neighboring club. We had a sort of email fanboy relationship and I was pretty much relentless about getting them to play, and they wound up having an amazing drunken time. I’ve approached many of the bands we gotten with me a fanboy-type message. Not only is it the only way I know how to do it but I think it assures the band that we’re coming from a respectable place. Other great shows and bands that stick out for me all involve my friends bands - ‘cause anyone knows those are the best vibe shows, and I’ll usually book one band and ask them to get on with a friends band to make it more fun for them… Party time…

NYNT: Gogogo was one of the best bands there was. What’d be your dream bill downstairs?

AB: The Feelies, Big Dipper, Volcano Suns, King Kahn and BBQ, and Oxford Collapse

NYNT: Eclectic…

AB: All that jangles to slinkify the world…

NYNT: Speaking of Cause Co-motion, what about your record label. How did that come about?
AB: Its really slow going, we’re still trying to climb out of debt a little. We’re doing OK since we got the liquor license. But about ten new clubs just opened in NYC and Brooklyn. So it’s constant push and pull, and everything hinges on what’s being booked downstairs. But I desperately want to put out more records and have a lot of ideas for conceptual not-run-of-the-mill 7″ type things. It’s always been part of the plan to proliferate the scene and also have it be on vinyl and attached to our place like a Sub Pop singles club sort of thing. I may just start putting them out with my salary and start living on coffee and beer from work… I pretty much do that now though.

NYNT: How did you wind up with a liquor license after over a year and a half without one? Has it so far made a difference in the demographic of your patrons?

AB: I still have no idea how we got our license after people telling us we’ll never get it. The climate of the Lower East Side is insane but seems to be mellowing down a little since they most unfortunately ‘eradicated’ sine-e and tonic. Lucky I guess our patrons are a respectful sort, so we haven’t had many, uh… I wanna say, Ludlow regulars, down there vomiting on the staff or locking themselves in the bathroom. It’s only been three months - so its still sort of new and there’re some changes being made like adding more dance parties and non-band events.

NYNT: What about the future. Where do you wanna go with all of this?

AB: Did I mention the bass player from Gogogo got naked?

NYNT: Hash? Naked? Next you’re gonna tell me he didn’t play on the stage…

AB: Since we sort of tapped into this sacred sort of late-night conversation that apparently everyone has when they’re wasted, opening up this trifecta of all the staples one needs in life, I’d love to open one up in a small town that might need it more, like in Wales or, if I can stand it, a small American town, Mexico maybe, with nothing else around it, sort of the anti-Ludlow, with sheep in the yard, scones in the oven and a black metal band playing amazing loud, the best set they’ve ever played in their life, but also inaudibly from the people sipping mead upstairs… To open up more Cake Shops but have each one be totally its own destination. Sounds like more daydreaming but that’s pretty much how Cake Shop was born anyway…

Throwing itself a little birthday party this weekend, the Cake Shop celebrates its entry into the terrible two’s by hosting a baker’s dozen of its favorite bands on Friday and Saturday.

Live long and prosper boys…

NOTES:
[1] alt.coffee
[2] East Village venue where AB used to work
[3] These are all old school venues that were downtown institutions in the 1990s.