Steven Severin, co-owner of Neumos in Seattle, says independent clubs contribute $ 35 billion to the music industry and must be recognized with government funds during the crisis.
As a co-owner of the popular independent Seattle venue Neumos on Capitol Hill, Steven Severin It has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for over 20 years. About 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Music and Nightlife Association to bring together area connoisseurs of live events, and for the past 16 years he has helped run Neumos with his sister club Barboza and the Runaway Bar that accompanies.
As part of BillboardEfforts to cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will speak to Severin every two weeks to share his experience during the crisis. (Read the latest installment here and see the complete series here).
What has changed for you in the last two weeks?
[Our bar Life on Mars] It is open five days a week right now for eight hours a day. Food is good. I had a mound on Friday for dinner. You can order drinks. It was good. It was smooth. The first day was hectic. We didn’t receive our vegetable order until 30 minutes before opening. We are a place of plant origin, so vegetables are important. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it started with shit that was hard. For the second day, everything was fine. We wanted to make sure we were all connected so we didn’t put our staff in a difficult situation and run super hard or something. It has been slow, but we will bring out that we are open to go.
Can you be open for dinner services in Seattle right now?
We are allowed to dine 50% indoors. Most people do not do it because it is not safe. It just isn’t. Sorry. The numbers don’t lie. The government just moved us [in phases]. They just banned all live entertainment in Washington. I was already in Seattle, now it’s statewide, and it’s because our numbers keep going up. I think that in the next two weeks, we will be protected instead. I think much of the country will be. It sucks, but we are not doing the right thing. Most of the people I know who run restaurants don’t open because they’re going to close again. It is not easy to open. It is also not cheap. It is expensive. Opening and closing costs a lot of money and that is what is about to happen. I think we are about to go backwards.
The National Independent Venue Association made another effort to #SaveOurStage and gain support for the Restart Act in Congress. How was that?
It was amazing! Music people and club owners, we have a bad reputation with people who say that we are not professionals and that we are not businessmen. It is a stereotype. I have never seen a group of people work together so well and so hard than the owners and promoters of these clubs. It is absolutely historical what we have all been able to do when we never spoke. We do not talk or work together. We now collect 1.16 million messages to Congress. We reached over a million messages in 48 hours. It is absolutely incredible. The response has been incredible. I just hung up the phone with [U.S. Senator from Washington] Maria CantwellThe office talk about the campaign. We are trying to make the federal government understand that independent clubs contribute $ 35 billion to the music industry. NIVA represents $ 35 billion … We are really trying to impress you this time that we are gone if you don’t come help us.
Is there hope for a different stimulus bill to help independent places if it doesn’t pass?
This is the stimulus bill. That’s it. No one talks about another. Every stimulus bill that has come up, they’ve talked about the next. But people talk about this being the last one. Choice can change things, but who knows. I talk to places all day that say, ‘I can’t get through the month.’ I just want to give them money, but I don’t have any because it is expensive to close it.
We all know that we are not doing anything until there is a vaccine. There are some good things that happen with the vaccine, but it’s not like it will come out next month or the next month. It will be a long time yet.
You said you received a lot of positive feedback from elected officials. Do you feel that the Restart Law will be passed?
I make. No one really cares what the act is called. It will be called a CARES Act or something like that. All these legislators present their proposals and then other officials go and take pieces from him. All we care about is taking our pieces away. We are the last to reopen. We are companies of the fourth phase that need support. We have received really strong support. There is talk of a stronger bill that will now come out of the Republicans. Supposedly it’s stronger than what we help make, which is crazy. It’s amazing. Republicans seem to understand it in a way that perhaps many people would not think they would. I think it is because there is a lot for individual rights and they think everyone should have a chance that their business is the American success story. And music crosses all lines and we contribute a lot of money to the industry. We employ many people. Between Neumos and Barboza, I paid 10,000 people last year. Republicans seem to understand that. It seems that the act has great support.
When does Congress need to make the decision on the Restart Act or another stimulus package?
They have two weeks. They can’t keep falling, we all fall. There were many times when I got depressed and was able to get up and say, “This is the new reality. I have to accept this and I have the choice to make an effort or just let it envelop me.” It was situational depression. I have been able to get up, but you can only go up and down as many times. But you can’t give up.
