New Sign Points Jazz Lovers to New Vibrancy at BOP STOP

 

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There’s something to be said about the simple pleasures in life, moments such as relaxing in a dark and intimate club enjoying a drink and listening to some amazing jazz. If only there was a sign somewhere alerting music lovers to such an inviting experience.

Well, after roughly 18 months, the BOP STOP is sign-less no more. The Detroit Road location recently unveiled its brand-new $7,200 sign (the city of Cleveland provided a $3,000 rebate).

The nonprofit music venue that was donated in 2013 to The Music Settlement offers music therapy, early childhood education and music instruction. BOP STOP manager Gabe Pollack is a 2011 Oberlin College grad who earned a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Entrepreneurship with a concentration in jazz trumpet performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, then decided to make his home in the region. CoolCleveland talked to Gabe about the new sign, The Music Settlement and the future of Cleveland’s jazz venue.

Congratulations on the new BOP STOP sign. Be honest, have you ever been excited about any other outdoor sign in your life?

No. I mean it’s great for a few reasons. The BOP STOP is set back from the street so people always drive right past us. The other thing it helps with is obviously it brightens the neighborhood at night. There were a lot of people who still thought we were closed even though we’ve been open for a about a year and a half because we didn’t have a sign. Now we get more walk-ups, people are popping in and seeing what’s actually going on. So yeah, it’s real good but it took about a year to get from designing it to actually having it hung. But I’m very excited it’s complete.

What happened to the previous BOP STOP sign?

There was a sign on the BOP STOP before the donation but the old owners took it down. We hung a banner up front, but it wasn’t really doing the trick. We also have a lot of visibility on the Shoreway, so we’ll be working on getting a sign facing the lake, but it will take some time. We have to fundraise for it.

How does the BOP STOP fit into The Music Settlement mission?

The mission of The Music Settlement is to make the art of music accessible to all. The settlement never had a performance venue before. There was a center for early childhood education, a center for music instruction and a center for music therapy. And then the BOP STOP came along, and so I was hired to try to fit those other centers into this space but also come up with a unique concept and identity for the BOP STOP on its own. So we have a few days a week during the day we have our early childhood classes. One day a week we host a music therapy session and then at night we open up the bar and run it like a venue.

The venue has been opened for 18 months. Does that model work?

The BOP STOP’s been going very well and people are excited about it. Attendance is growing and the Settlement is going to be having a larger presence on the west side. A lot of that is due to the momentum that the BOP STOP has generated over the past year and a half. Last year and this year we won Scene Magazine’s Best Jazz Club, and after being open for about six months, we won Best Nightspot from Fox 8. I think people really like the idea of having a jazz space on the near west side.

 

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Why is it important to have that momentum on the west side?

That’s a good question. There’s a lot of art in University Circle, in Lakewood, and now there’s more downtown. With people moving back to Cleveland or returning home, there are a lot of musicians opting to work in the Rust Belt where there are low overhead costs and there are more venues to play. They can be creative. They don’t have to worry about paying rent. I think there’s just an audience of music appreciators and music fans that are just enjoying the Rust Belt.

There’s no doubt many people go to the BOP STOP to see a certain artist but it also seems to attract music lovers in the mood to hear some jazz and enjoy a drink.

Yeah, that’s definitely part of it, and also we’re a nonprofit venue. I don’t think there’s another nonprofit venue exactly like us. Not just in Cleveland but maybe in the Midwest. We’re the only community music school in Ohio to have a liquor license and the proceeds from the bar go into the operating budget of The Settlement. It’s kind of fun, you’re drinking for music education in Cleveland. People get a kick out of that. And the food that we serve is prepped by Cleveland Culinary Launch and Kitchen. The food proceeds support their programming. It’s not only a unique venue in how it’s built and the programming is unique, but also all the money being generated in this space is all going towards different organizations doing cool things. So you feel good about where your money is going. It’s not just like lining the pockets of a club owner or something like that.

Now that the BOP STOP has a sign, what’s next?

It’s in the beginning stages but we’re working on an outdoor stage. That’s exciting. We just completed a few months ago a sound system renovation. We got almost $50,000 of new equipment installed in the BOP STOP. The next phase of that is a visual component of a new lighting rig and a projection screen. And in addition to that, we’re hoping that in the next year we’ll also be getting our Steinway piano. So those are the big projects for the next year.

TheMusicSettlement.org/BOPSTOP/

Cleveland, OH 44113

 

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