CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO AMBER MUNDINGER’S PLAYLIST


How did you come up with the idea for Bring Music Home?

It started with a conversation between Kevin and me in early March.  In many ways I think it’s a manifestation of the passion and experience of Kevin, Tamara and me. We’ve dedicated our lives to the music industry and when we saw it completely shut down with so many of our family, friends and colleagues affected we felt a need to do something. As photographers and producers, we leaned on our natural talent to document live music as well as our relationships in the industry to drive collaboration and momentum. We wanted to save something we saw early on as so vital to our society and culture and yet so very vulnerable. A few phone calls between the three of us and we took off running without looking back.  200 venues,  375+ individuals interviewed and more than 60+ collaborators across the country - this project quickly became the most comprehensive documentation of what has happened to live music venues during the pandemic.  

What inspired the name ‘Bring Music Home’?

“Bring Music Home” was originally a placeholder. We thought that as the project evolved, we’d discover the name in something someone said in an interview or a turn of phrase that popped up. But what ended up happening is that we realized that “Bring Music Home” was really the core of the entire project—for fans of live music, venue owners, musicians and the employees, live music venues are “home”, something we all feel we’ve lost for a bit and can’t wait to return to.

Is there one music venue in particular that you consider “home”?

There was a little jazz club on the Upper West Side, just a block from our apartment called Cleopatra’s Needle. It actually closed down suddenly in January of 2020 after several decades due to a landlord dispute unrelated to the pandemic. That place really felt like home. It was the kind of place we may have taken for granted because it had been there for so long, and we just assumed it would be there forever. It was the kind of place we never made plans to go to, we just always ended up there with friends and family. Being a block from our house, it really felt like an extension of our home. When it closed, I felt really saddened. It’s amazing that this happened just a couple of months before the pandemic really hit us and music venues across the country would have to close.

Last show you saw before the pandemic?

Glass Animals in February at Music Hall of Williamsburg! And the last two shows I was supposed to go to were Ingrid Andress’ Album Release at Fleur Room and Murder Capital at Knitting Factory in early to mid March. Sad to miss both of those. Last arena show I went to was The Lumineers - also in February 2020.

What were the most challenging and rewarding parts of creating BMH?

The most challenging were the logistics and organization. Just working across so many cities with so many collaborators we had to be hyper organized. Thank goodness for google drive and hangouts. Also just for me in NYC getting places safely - figuring out the best mode of transportation - bicycle vs. motorcycle vs. Uber vs. subway, etc. You also care for people and their safety across the board - especially in a pandemic - and with guidelines fluctuating and things different city by city it’s a lot to understand and contemplate. So really understanding every precaution we could take and best practices and protocols to apply across the board was important and talking to everyone on the project about their city and the need there was vital.

The most rewarding - getting to work with and alongside the most amazing group of people on this. Such talent, creativity and passion for our industry. And having the honor to tell the stories of individuals and the venues that they care about. To be given that trust and experience was such a huge thing. One that I take very seriously and am grateful for. Many times the interviews we were having with people were the first times they had been back in a venue for months or seen a colleague. A space that they would normally live in 12-18 hours a day and had not been in for weeks and weeks. It was emotional but also cathartic.

What’s a fun fact about you that most people wouldn’t know?

My secret passion and desire is to write children’s books. I’m working on a few projects in whatever spare time I can find and hope to be able to publish one soon. I don’t think it’s something anyone other than my husband knows (until now). I love escaping into the stories I create in my head and trying to craft these imaginary worlds. It’s so different from what I do on a daily basis, but also feels really natural.