Since coming to Brooklyn in 2001, 34-year-old altruistic promoter Todd Patrick, (professionally known as Todd P) has organised gigs in disused warehouses, loft spaces, apartments and restaurants, challenging expectations of how music can be experienced in a backlash against the corporate sanitisation of rock’n’roll and the “velvet rope elitism” of commercial clubs. He is also hugely concerned by the effect of the stringent over-21s policy enforced by so many venues in the US.  “All my shows are all-ages. It’s a really strict rule for me.” he explains, “Most people are just about to leave college when they’re 21, so by saying you have to be that age to get exposed to rock ‘n roll completely suffocates the scene.”

With Patrick’s fundamental rule of talent over profit – “working with bands that would make money means bands who I don’t think are at their creative prime” – it’s no coincidence that so many exciting new bands of the past few years have come from or through the Brooklyn scene. Dirty Projectors, Telepathe, Black Dice and Animal Collective, to name a meagre few, were all promoted by Patrick early on in their careers.

Patrick’s latest venture, a venue called Market Hotel, is to be a more permanent creative space. It will mean that he has to work even harder to keep the authorities happy – “I take beer out of kids’ hands all the time” – but it will hopefully become a reliable source for young music fans to access new music. Some of Patrick’s tips for budding DIY promoters might not sound quite so punk, but it’s possibly this balance that has made this scene such a success. “Don’t upset your neighbours and show respect for the police,” he warns, but more importantly, “ignore the haters, have a lot of love, make friends and have a good time”.

Name a person or organisation that shares your DIY ethos, and explain why
There are countless kids doing what I do, across the country and across the world, facilitating lovingly created art and entertainment for their community, for no reason except to help will into existence the sort of thing they love. Most get no recognition in their own communities, much less beyond them. It's inspiring to me to know I can help provide a conduit to help the bands they've supported in all the smaller places to get the recognition they deserve from the media behemoth that lives in New York.

Do you think the recession has helped or hindered your creativity? Why?
Not at all, people are staying out later, drinking more, and taking day-job success less seriously, at least that's the experience here in New York (for now...)

Music for a revolution - what song sums up your attitude?
At this particular second in time, 10CC - Rubber Bullets.

What other period inspires you the most, and why?
The mid 1960s. The end of 50s head-in-the-sand conformity, but not yet the narcissistic indulgences of the 70s.

Todd P’s favourite 10 acts and DIY promoters

JAVELIN
Hardly anyone knows who these guys are. They're two electronic dudes from Chicago, relocated to Brooklyn, who buried their laptops and instead make beautiful songs and sometimes soundscapes on old school drum machine gear, often then low-frequency-radio-transmitted live during on stage performances to towers of shitty old thrift store radios barely tuned to the right frequency, for ambient amplification. Pretty special.

WOODS
Four guys who live together in Brooklyn, helmed by Jeremy Earl who also runs Woodsist Records, early champion of the Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, Wavves, and many more, all in the last year. Woods music is like Neil Young & Crazy Horse playing through an AM radio at the bottom of a wet cardboard box, with the Grateful Dead jamming away in a different box.

NO AGE
Even though they'e famous now, and probably getting a little rich and fat, these two stellar dudes stay true to their ideals and to their community, still making solid, interesting music and keeping it real with low ticket prices and minimal commercial "licensing" exploitation, plus still playing with young up and comers in their native Los Angeles, particularly the scene surrounding The Smell all ages space.

CALVIN JOHNSON & K RECORDS
For 25 years now Calvin has been the same sweet guy, still finding and releasing music by great artists, helping to incubate them in the warm womb that is the K Records family. Through it all, Calvin stays true to his ideals, stubbornly insisting on all ages shows well into his own 40s, never abusing his artists' trust, and always playing fair.

EDAN WILBER / ENTERTAINMENT4EVERY1
Edan is a one man machine singlehandedly providing a show in Brooklyn for nearly very good touring band that hasn't yet made it, and a good bunch that have. Edan books 90% of all the shows that happen, often 5 or 6 a week, at Death By Audio in Brooklyn, which is as classic a lovingly filthy all ages rock dive as could possibly be imagined.

JOE AHEARN / SLEEP WHEN DEAD / SILENT BARN / SHOWPAPER
Joe is a tireless organizer of not only great shows, not only a vital all ages showspace, but also a self sacrificing herder of cats who corrals the all-volunteer-run NYC publication Showpaper into full color print existence every two weeks. Joe lives and tends to the day-to-day headaches avant showspace The Silent Barn - Queens, NY home to everything from raucous, 300 capacity shows for the likes of Deerhunter and Dan Deacon and Black Lips... to tiny, for-the-love-of-it noise and anarchofolk and performance art happenings. On top of that Joe also finds time to book eclectic shows around NYC elsewhere, and still nearly singlehandedly manages the operations of all ages show listing / visual arts booster publication Showpaper. A true renaissance man.

REAL ESTATE
Newcomers to the Brooklyn scene, my way of Ridgewood, New Jersey, oddly also childhood burg of the Vivian Girls and Titus Andronicus. Shimmery pop owing equal parts to Bedhead, Pavement, and the Grateful Dead. Members of the band also play in other new Brooklyn bands Ducktails and Predator Vision, plus have a hand in Brooklyn all ages palace the Market Hotel, and either play or help organize countless shows put together all over town every week.

RICARDO Y LEILA / EL GARAGE
Two years ago, Ricardo and Leila quit their day jobs as young creative professionals in Monterrey, Mexico and sunk their money and their futures into a showspace unlike any other in Latin America. Just 2 hours from the US border, Ricardo and Leila modeled their new space, El Garage, after the sorts of do-it-yourself beautiful crapholes that incubated the music they loved from North or the border; mixing art and diy design and great taste in bands. Two years into the endeavor, Garage has become a vital part of its community, attracting capacity crowds regularly for the sorts of bands no one was following in Monterrey before, and helping to encourage new bands and a great scene to form. Garage is like the super cool small town indie diy space that too many towns in the States and Europe lack, except it's in Mexico.

TV GHOST
Super young, super driven, super fucking crazy fucked up kids from Lafayette, Indiana who somehow got themselves exposed to the Stooges and Birthday Party and Suicide. When they started some members were only 14 years old. Only marginally older these days, TV Ghost tour relentlessly across the country regularly and channel their angst ridden dark, serious punk into sweaty live carnage in any shithole that will have them.

MIKE SNIPER / BLANK DOGS
Somehow, all at once, a supremely brilliant one man band recording project (Blank Dogs), leader of a fucking awesome tight live band (Blank Dogs again), record label head (Captured Tracks), manager of an untouchable record store (Academy Records on N 6th St in Brooklyn), and a tastemaker of the highest order (see: Terminal Boredom). Mike Sniper is blowing up everywhere and somehow a shadowy secretive figure at the same time. And despite all the secrecy, Mike Sniper manages to actually be a totally supportive, smart, talented dude in real life.

Read more of the YCE feature here.