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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Nightlife / News Chop Suey Appoints Devin Floyd as New Talent Buyer

Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 1:52 PM

On Dec. 5, Chop Suey general manager Hisato Kawaminami announced that Devin Floyd will be taking over as talent buyer for the Capitol Hill club. “[H]e will be handling all aspects of the talent buying, national and local. One of the tasks that lies ahead for him will be booking our CHOP SUEY 10 events…a year long celebration of shows for our ten year anniversary.”

This change caught previous talent buyer Matt Moroni by surprise. He found out yesterday, with no warning, he says, that he had lost his job to Floyd, a 21-year-old intern whom he was mentoring over the last year. Moroni had been with Chop Suey since 2008—first as local talent buyer under the tutelage of Pete Greenberg and then, starting in January 2010, as head talent buyer.

“As far as I know, my performance as international talent buyer met expectations, and even exceeded expectations, considering the lack of professional support I was given to carry out the job,” Moroni said in an email interview. “Because inadequate managerial efforts were put into club and event promotion (whether it be due to Chop Suey's inability to comprehend the fundamental value of budgeting promotional aspects or due to the non-availability of sufficient funding for such matters), my unspoken actual position duties reached far beyond those defined within the position description. My hiring terms that were discussed prior to my acceptance of the position in (January of 2010) were never put in writing and never delivered upon in the area of compensation, which has been hourly, not salary.”

During his tenure, Moroni (who DJs and produces music under the name Introcut) boosted Chop Suey’s status as a prime Northwestern destination for high-quality local and international electronic music and hiphop.

“My achievements at Chop were both of professional and personal (and overlapping) note,” Moroni notes. “I got the opportunity to book some highly respected acts, to throw memorable parties and shows, and to make new contacts, friends and connections. I got to work with so many of the true artists and music enthusiasts the city of Seattle has to offer.”

Besides his work as a talent buyer, Moroni keeps busy promoting the long-running Stop Biting and Trashy Trash events while maintaining a hectic DJ schedule, as well.

“Artistically, I'm stoked to have time to work on music,” he says. “Get some more beats done and a bunch of new mixes. Being a talent buyer / booker can be a very thankless job. The goal of booking 31+ shows a month can be very stressful and, at times, senseless. Especially when you're under-paid, over-worked, and unappreciated, etc.”

As for Moroni’s immediate future, he’ll be helping Lo-Fi Performance Gallery with some of its bookings and he’ll be “seeking out other opportunities to continue my efforts in the Seattle music scene as an artist and promoter.” He also will be DJing at Stop Biting, as usual, and opening for Juan Atkins Dec. 16 and playing Zac Hendrix’s Midnight Hotline Rendezvous Dec. 30, both at Lo-Fi.

When asked what his booking strategy will be and if there would be changes in Chop Suey’s content, Floyd responded, “With the way the current music scene is in Seattle, competition-wise, it's hard to give you well-defined answers to those questions. I'm not planning on making any drastic changes here at Chop Suey. Making our space accessible to local groups is going to be important, but so is bringing in more national acts that appeal to Seattle. I'm really excited to be taking on this position, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year here at Chop Suey.”

UPDATE: Hisato Kawaminami on the change of bookers: "Moving into the new year, our 10th anniversary, I feel that Chop Suey needed someone with more local ties and national band knowledge. Devin has his ear to the street and he goes to local shows to meet bands. He has a willingness to learn yet take criticism. With the ever-changing musical landscape, I think we needed a change as well.

"I would like to add, in response to Matt's statement, that Devin started out as an intern but was promoted to be a key member of our office staff. He then assisted Matt booking dates he could not fill."

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Whoa. Matt Moroni is and always was great.

Posted by Trent Moorman on December 6, 2011 at 2:23 PM

"Talent Buyer" makes it sound like a total douchebag kind of job, filled with far too much self importance. And I have been to very few shows at Chop Suey since 2008..... not sure that's the "buyer's" fault, maybe they just don't do the sort of thing I like, I don't know. Pre 2008 I probably went there more than any other venue.

Posted by talentless on December 6, 2011 at 3:22 PM

5 years ago I saw the Album Leaf at chop suey. I think that was the last time a decent 'international' band played there.

Posted by troll toll on December 6, 2011 at 3:57 PM

What Trent said - Matt's a great guy and huge supporter of the electronic/DJ scene in town. I think he did what he could in a very, very competitive live music environment.

Posted by loganlorelai on December 6, 2011 at 4:02 PM

Doesn't make sense. Chop Suey fired the talent buyer who was mentoring the intern who is now taking his job? So what did the new talent buyer learn if the old one got fired abruptly?

Posted by caphill billy on December 6, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Damn, what a loss for Chop Suey!

#2 & 3: eat a dick.

Posted by cosby

on December 6, 2011 at 5:00 PM

Sorry to see Matt go. He is a really good dude. Also, sucks it's so out of the blue. There's a way to handle things and no notice of there being an issue is not the way to do it. Always two sides to a story, but until we hear the other side...

Good luck to ya Matt.

Posted by Steven Severin on December 6, 2011 at 5:48 PM

I think Chop Suey's promotion is much more organized and consistent since Matt took over and the shows he booked appeal to a variety of audiences. When he started as the talent buyer Chop Suey still had a stigma from the 2009 shooting and Matt did a great job of building a new crowd. It's really their loss. Matt will continue to do great things for this town.

Posted by Erica T on December 6, 2011 at 5:53 PM

I hate to align myself with a person who considers the Album Leaf "decent" or "international", but I do agree with the people here saying Chop Suey hasn't really been too relevant in the last few years. There's maybe been two shows I've attended there in the last year or so. Sure, I snoozed on a few bills, but it's been a bit since I've felt stoked on anything going on there. Hopefully this changes with new...fresh...warm...blood. Mmmmmmm.

Posted by LEE. on December 6, 2011 at 6:28 PM

Interesting. The fact that in the past month, Chop Suey's bar manager as well as the head of security have both quit after 5+ years of employment at the venue may hint toward a deeper issue, say, with management, shady business dealings... or even financial desperation??

Posted by .fungdark. on December 6, 2011 at 7:08 PM

it seems that Chops been struggling to keep up with neumos, croc and tractor, even though the venue is worthy. they seem to have lost their identity. Good stage, great sound, cool barstaff, but somethings missing. they need a rebranding of sorts i guess. theyre off the beaten path in relation to capitol hill so its tough to compete. perhaps they need to do something else in addition to music in that space to make it unique. good shows are important too, seems like neumos is booking all the hot shows.

Posted by JeffreyJones on December 6, 2011 at 8:05 PM

So terrible to hear the way it happened, but Matt is amazing and will land on his feet and will hopefully land with a venue that actually values his hardwork, dedication and contribution to the music industry here in the northwest. Everything happens for a reason :) Good luck Matt!!!

Posted by aarikarenaa

on December 6, 2011 at 8:20 PM

Wow. Chop Suey will be hard pressed to find somebody as dedicated to the job as Matt. His efforts to promote shows always went above & beyond. Unfortunately, Seattle can be a sleepy, fickle crowd that doesn't always show up to see acts that would otherwise sell out in other cities. Good luck w/ that Chop Suey, and better luck to Matt Moroni in his future ventures!

Posted by Waylon D. on December 6, 2011 at 8:45 PM

MORE local ties than Matt? Really? Who is this other guy?

Posted by fill the bill on December 6, 2011 at 8:55 PM

Fuck poster giant! Fuck clubs and promoters that work with poster giant! Fuck em!

Posted by Fuck Poster Giant! on December 7, 2011 at 1:31 AM

Doubtless some will --rightly or wrongly-- interpret "has his ear to the street and has a willingness to learn" as 1%-er code for:

"He was willing to work for less than the person he's replacing."

Posted by Timrrr on December 7, 2011 at 1:45 AM

Chop Suey has shit for sound and a horrible layout, too-small dancefloor, sketchy-ass bathrooms and crappy bar service. Matt's good bookings often really showed how bad the venue was. When you know Amon Tobin should sound amazing and instead sounds like it's playing through broken car speakers, for instance. Add to that a tendency to overcrowd the big acts and I ended up avoiding even going there.

Now I'm thinking of the parties Matt will have time to book...

Posted by NaFun

on December 7, 2011 at 1:33 PM

As a former Chop Suey intern, I can safely say from the inside that Matt was the only one in the office who actually did any work. His exceptional dedication was always inspiring to work under, unlike Hisato who was rarely present and left Matt to pick up his slack on top of his own work load. Good luck with out him Chop, you guys will not go very far. Matt is better off on his own, and will surely bring quite a following wherever he ends up.

Posted by anony on December 7, 2011 at 3:12 PM

I like laff hole. so long as no one fucks with that.

Posted by gayballs

on December 7, 2011 at 5:38 PM

#17 that's funny, amon tobin has played chop suey in a long time. like way before he was working there. and with him being part of broken disco? even he thought the sound was awesome then so...

Posted by antitroll on December 7, 2011 at 5:53 PM

sorry, i meant 'has not played'

Posted by antitroll on December 7, 2011 at 5:55 PM

Another nail in the coffin for Chop Suey

Posted by thethethe on December 7, 2011 at 6:26 PM

Matt always brought good acts and you could count on seeing him out postering and really putting in the leg work to promote his shows. Plus at one point he always had the lead on the Sonics tix. I guess all good things end.

Posted by djh on December 7, 2011 at 7:52 PM

I'm sure anyone who meets Devin realizes that he's not terrible bright (much less connected or savy to any scene).This is a very bad omen for Chop Suey and likely a blessing for Matt in the long run.

Posted by Mellorine on December 7, 2011 at 10:57 PM

I'm sure anyone who meets Devin realizes that he's not terrible bright (much less connected or savy to any scene).This is a very bad omen for Chop Suey and likely a blessing for Matt in the long run.

Posted by Mellorine on December 7, 2011 at 11:04 PM

Matt will have a brighter future without Chop Suey. He will be missed, what a terrible way to run a business.

Posted by Lynn Bates on December 8, 2011 at 6:29 AM

@20 - /me looks online to see when that Amon Tobin show actually was... 2005, really?!

Ok then fine, bad example. Instead choose, I dunno, any show at all that uses the house sound there. Soul Clap vs Wolf and Lamb back in May, for instance.
The mashup party nights like Comeback and Bootie don't really count, since those tracks don't really need to sound pristine to get their point across.

Posted by NaFun

on December 8, 2011 at 9:20 AM

Devin is very driven; he's knows what Chop needs to be a true competitor against the other big venues like Neumos, The Croc, and dare I say The Neptune. He has worked his way up from being an unpaid intern who lived in his car, to a staff member, and finally to this Talent Buying gig. Everyone who knows him knows that he's got what it takes.

Posted by Tswift on December 8, 2011 at 12:24 PM

#27 well it definitely could be the sound guys but how bout choose a rock show? you probably only listen to electronic music...like some others posting here. the barcelona show sounded amazing, along with many other shows in other genres.

Posted by antitroll on December 8, 2011 at 3:10 PM

#28 I have worked at Chop Suey and still go in to visit my friends that still work there. I HAVE met Devin.#25 is right. He's not bright at all and doesn't have the connections ,in any shape, to do this job properly. Being driven is good and all but other peoples livelyhoods rely on that position in clubs. To think that a 21y.o. who was an intern this time last year and VERY little experience can do this job is naive to say the least. He doesn't have it. At least not for a few more years. Local booking...maybe. Not national. I think #16 was also right. He got the job cause he'll do it for less. Another sign he's not ready to REALLY negotiate with NATIONAL AGENTS! Do you want the job?? You can have it if you under bid him. I would bet my last dollar on it. The managment in that place is a JOKE and I feel bad for the employees that have to stay there for lack of other offers. Remember when everyone, including Chop Suey, came to the aid of the employees at the old Crocodile??? Well, i hope they will do the same for my friends at Chop Suey when it closes it's doors due to HORRIBLE managment. I know I will try to help!! Chop Suey 10 shows over the next year??? Unfortunately, I doubt it'll be open for that long!

Posted by noname4you on December 8, 2011 at 3:37 PM

I don't know this Devin dude but I know Matt. His bookings are subpar at best plus he only really books electronic stuff, or his friends. Same local artists play every month or so, none of them have much of a following.

Posted by Rando on December 8, 2011 at 4:04 PM

It's a testament to Matt's hard work that his reputation extends far beyond Chop Suey. I see him constantly around town working and/or supporting other people's events.

I haven't been to a Chop show in a year but I don't think it's Matt's fault. Crap economy lessens buying power in an already competitive market. And in the 8 years that I've lived here, nobody I know has ever said, "Yippie! My favorite party is now held at Chop Suey." TRUST is better at the new & improved Baltic Room. Soul is always better at the Lo Fi. It's a fundamentally awkward and difficult room to fill.

I've watched friends of mine bloom, and burn out in these positions over the years. A lot of it depends on who you work for and how you handle the decisions they make, too.

Posted by randomsumm3r on December 8, 2011 at 6:11 PM

OMG it's late and Im super stoned but MOTHER BITCH, who are you people?! Why do you even fucking care who takes over this job?! What is the Chop Suey?! Why are you so mean?! BLEGH!!!

Posted by Merry Christmas!! on December 10, 2011 at 3:10 AM

Chop Suey can survive a nuclear holocaust. I'm not the least bit worried

Posted by blackheat on December 10, 2011 at 12:24 PM

the GM of chop has dishonest and self-serving financial and record-keeping tactics. bribery without follow-thru and blackmail attempts to recover wages back are common practice there. you would think the remaining staff would at least try to educate him on the RCW wage and labor laws, or at least inform him of what constitutes a misdemeanor in his practices, but looks like their all just out for just themselves as well. so much for a venue staff having each others' backs...

Posted by sugart on January 7, 2012 at 2:15 PM