Jun 16, 2022

If you’re plugged into the borough’s indie music world, there’s a good chance you’ve come into contact with some aspect of Brandon Stosuy’s work.

There are various concrete labels that fit Stosuy, including: former managing editor of Pitchfork; cofounder and editor-in-chief of The Creative Independent, a site of interviews with well-known artists; cofounder of the Zone 6 musician management company; cofounder of Basilica Soundscape, a festival of avant-garde music and art held annually in a former 19th-century factory in Hudson, New York; music curator for MoMA PS1, the Broad museum in Los Angeles and the indie venue TV Eye in Ridgewood; and author of multiple books on the creative process, such as “Make Time for Creativity: Finding Space for Your Most Meaningful Work.”

Growing up in southern New Jersey, Stosuy first gravitated to hardcore and metal music, and started booking live shows starting at age 13. But over the course of his time at Pitchfork, he became known for his reviews — on everything from pop nymph Grimes to “lighter” metal group Deafheaven to the instrumental post-rock band Explosions in the Sky — which still reverberate across the internet today.

In Stosuy’s post-Pitchfork years, the Basilica festival has become one of the country’s most innovative, known for its ambient music sessions that invite attendees to lie flat on the factory floor to take everything in (think Burning Man-meets-Bushwick) — though the offerings can also swing from punishing punk to book readings. And he has grown The Creative Independent into a substantial online archive that equates to a holy grail for up-and-coming musicians, writers and artists.