Photos and story by Stacie Joy
You can't miss the brightly painted, all-green slender storefront at 89 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.
I paused to admire the façade before heading inside to talk to musician and songwriter Rob Taube, owner of community music studio Groove Garden.
He's surrounded by kids, all participating in the Song Camp program. Some are tucked into the sound booth, a couple at the drum kits, and even more crowded around a mic.
It's a hot, swampy summer day, but the energy in the small space is contagious. I took a few photos and waited until the recording session ended before chatting with Rob about what brought him to this location, his passion for music, and why he loves the neighborhood.
On his start as a music teacher:
Somewhere in the 2010s, I decided to take on a few music students and produce some recordings to help make ends meet. I had no idea what the resulting influx would be, and soon, I had more students and musical clients than I could handle in our tiny apartment, which was now constantly overflowing with players and singers.
On finding a home for Groove Garden:
Funds were tight, but the NYCHA rental guy guided me to this small space tucked between two brick buildings on Avenue C. It was naturally soundproofed due to the bricks, and it had an old closet space in the back with some odd pieces of wood and junk in it, which I immediately saw as a potential sound booth. It was kind of an "if you build it, they will come" moment.
And over the last seven years, they have come to take music lessons, write and record songs, rap, and jam — so much so that it's hard to keep up. I'm not here 24/7, but I am more like 12/7, teaching them, recording them, and performing with them live and on their tracks.
On spreading the word about his business:
100% of my business comes from word-of-mouth or from people who walk by and say, "What is this place?" So often, they are creative artists who need a place to create, and the fact that I'm right here in a storefront makes the whole process so accessible they actually can wind up with their stuff out there in the world when otherwise it would have died in the vine as they went about their lives.
On being in this neighborhood:
For me, this could only happen in the East Village, where there is such a crazy quilt of businesses and characters that someone like me, who has lived as an outsider, can thrive.
Even when I lived elsewhere, I loved this neighborhood for its eccentric characters, and now I'm one of them — how amazing is that?
