Mens vi venter på Ozzy: Sabbath i parken

I USA feirer de Black Sabbath med fest i parken. Og gjett hvem som står bak?

I dag spiller selveste Ozzy Osbourne på Koengen i Bergen. Selv om han opprinnelig skulle komme med sine gamle venner i legendariske Black Sabbath, blir det nok en stor konsert når Ozzy kjører på Paranoid, War Pigs, Fairies Wear Boots, Iron Man og andre metalklassikere fra tiden i Black Sabbath.

Så mens bergenspublikummet venter på Ozzy, tok jeg en prat med de to rareste Black Sabbath-fansene jeg kjenner. Ikke rare fordi de er rare, men fordi de er to av mest uventede, men likevel dedikerte Black Sabbath-fansene på kloden.

Cosmo Baker er en av USAs råeste DJs, og reiser kloden rundt for å dra opp stemningen. Han er egentlig en r&b/hiphop/soul-DJ, og spiller i New York såvel som Dubai, men hans altoppslukende interesse for musikk har også gjort ham til en nesegrus Black Sabbath-fan. Sjekk wiki-saken om ham her

Det samme kan man si om Matt Sonzala, som er en av de fremste ambassadørene for hiphop i Texas. Han har skrevet for en rekke magasiner – inkludert det notoriske Bay Area-magasinet Murder Dog – og kjørt seg opp med en rekke radioshows, men mest innflytelse har han nok som Hip Hop Director for South By South West. Sjekk intervju med Matt her.

Sammen har de to startet en underlig bevegelse som heter Sabbath In The Park, hvor tusenvis av folk samles i parker i USA for å drikke øl, henge ut, og prate om Black Sabbath mens man hører på, nettopp, Black Sabbath. Altså: Sabbath In The Park.

Jeg slang over noen spørsmål til Cosmo og Matt om Sabbath In The Park, under får du hele den fascinerende historien om dette aldeles nydelige arrangementet.

PS: Mens du leser saken, lytt gjerne til denne superfete Sabbath-miksen Cosmo Baker har mekket:
WickedMix666.mp3

Tell me about this Sabbath In The Park thing, it sounds totally awesome. How did it start, what happened, how did it grow?

Matt: Sabbath in the Park started with myself and Cosmo Baker five years ago. There is a message board out there in the nether regions of the internet called The Hollerboard and we would post on there from time to time. And at one point, many of the other posters were really stuck on posting a lot of fruity shit, so Cosmo took it upon himself to do a post telling the people about some real music, the music of Black Sabbath. Around that same time, I made a post announcing that I was coming to CMJ and wanted to know what the people had planned. The post clearly was about me coming to CMJ and Cosmo replied “What you coming to NY for bro?” And so I answered him, “For Sabbath in the Park of course.” So simple as that, Cosmo made a flyer with some Budweiser beers on it, and basically laid the template for what was about to go down, and we got on the phone, began the real planning there. And from there we just spread the word virally. First we put out the eflyer, with no location. Just that it was going to be in the park. Then a few days before the event we revealed the location via the Sabbath in the Park Official Myspace Page and let the people know it was going down in Fort Green Park in Brooklyn, because really where else could it have happened?And basically we get a boombox, some beers and we get some good people together to enjoy some Sabbath in the Park. We had like 6 countries represented at the first one and it grew from there.

Cosmo: Yeah, basically it was an inside joke – although it wasn’t a joke for us – that just resonated with people and took off from there. At the time the days were getting darker earlier and a bit colder. So imagine that coupled with the sound of the first song Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath.” It’s perfect. Matt was instrumental in making it happen, as was my other partner DJ Ayres. It was such a surreal moment though. I remember sitting there and just waiting, wondering who would show up, if anyone. Little by little people started coming by and before you knew it there was this crazy group of people who had congregated just off the strength of the call of Sabbath. We had done all this work and got the word out yet were completely anonymous about who was behind it. So in essence it was completely this mysterious, subversive act. Lounging in a park drinking Bud Ponies and Jack Daniels, smoking pot out of a cored-out apple (“Apple Bowl”) and being miscreants as performance art almost.

That night the park was raided by NYPD and most of us were given summons to appear in court for open container – drinking outside is illegal in NYC. So the second installment was Sabbath In The Courts, where we all showed up in New York City Court to be seen about our cases. We all walked on the charges so another victory for the SITP family! We had our SITP afterparty that evening and of course, rocked out to Sabbath!
After that we would do other installments, in New York and in Texas, and when we would do them people all around the globe would simultaneously hold SITP events in solidarity. That was when I created the Wicked Mix 666 so that people, no matter what country they were in we would all be listening to the same soundtrack. All in all it’s been a rather chaotic approach but it seems to have been working.

What has been the highlight of doing Sabbath In The Park?

Matt: Just the love and unity shown every time it happens. Just seeing the people come together under the banner of Black Sabbath. Also when these kids were setting fire in some garbage cans about 20 yards from us at the first one was pretty good. Ozone Magazine came out to cover one of the events. And one time we had a little red wagon to ride down the hill with, in the park.

Cosmo: Just partying and celebrating with friends under the spell of Sabbath, and reconnecting with music that we love so much. We had a Sabbath In The Park at The Yard in Brooklyn a few years ago and got a cover band SabbraCadabra come and play. It was pretty sick and they were tight. It was kinda hilarious cause these dudes were just average guys that hold day jobs who play Sabbath songs at their local bar on weekends. They showed to our SITP event and had no idea what to expect and had their minds blown! Totally into hanging out with all the kids after the fact. It was great.

What is it about Black Sabbath that makes it so magic?

Matt: Its just some of the rawest realest music ever made. I mean seriously, you listen to Black Sabbath, you listen deeply to that music and its something that you can really feel and Ozzy had a lot to say about the world. A lot of relevant revelations that I think more kids today need to hear. So this is also a reason why we do SITP, to save the youth from becoming total hipster fruitcakes.

Cosmo: Yeah Matt kind of hit it on the head. Sabbath was the first band I ever saw perform live without being chaperoned by an adult. After the concert me and my man Julio spent hours practicing Iron Man on our guitars. So I think there’s something that drew us to the sound that spoke to our working-class roots and the strange desolation one feels from growing up in the city,

And we’re talking strictly Ozzy era here?

Matt: I mean, yeah. Of course. We ain’t hating but you know.

Cosmo: Strictly. No slight against Dio, but only the original lineup.

…so maybe you can take Sabbath In The Park to Norway?

Matt: Yo we are ready to take it to every corner of the globe. Just sound the call and we are there dude.

Cosmo: The home of DEATH METAL? Of course. Just so the heads can see where this all originated from.

Tags: Black Sabbath, Cosmo Baker, Matt Sonzala, Sabbath In The Park