Starship Mantis

Ep. 11 Collaborations // Behind the Scenes of the Starship Mantis Show

Meet some local Pittsburgh businesses and learn how they collaborated together on a performance with the band Starship Mantis.

by Lindsay Patross | January 15, 2020

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On January 4, 2020, Very Local was part of hosting New Year/ New Galaxy, a performance from the jazz/funk/pop/hip-hop band Starship Mantis at Black Forge Coffee Shop II in McKees Rocks. Prior to the show, the band collaborated with Dancing Gnome Beer to create a special beer for the event; a cream ale that they named Intergalactic Love. The event came together with the help of Buzzy Torek from Epicast. Epicast is a podcast production shop that works on many Pittsburgh podcasts including The Slaw: Staying on Top of Pittsburgh.

In this episode, Aadam & Stephanie talk to the band and the owners of Black Forge, Dancing Gnome and Epicast about how they collaborate and what collaborations mean to local businesses and artists.

Black Forge II, McKees Rocks

The New Year/New Galaxy show was held at Black Forge II in McKees Rocks. The venue itself is a collaboration between the Black Forge Coffee Shop and McKees Rocks. The original Black Forge Coffee House is in Allentown. In addition to serving the neighborhood as a coffee shop, Black Forge in Allentown is also a performance venue. The owners of Black Forge worked with the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation to purchase the building, which used to be a bank. Black Forge II is also a coffee shop and a much larger performance venue.

The High Priestess Market @ Black Forge

Aadam talks with Ashley from Black Forge about The High Priestess Market. The next High Priestess Market will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2020, at the Black Forge Coffee House II in McKees Rocks.

Jan 19 // Sunny-Side Up Brunch @ Brew Gentlemen

Sunny-Side Up is a recurring, pop-up brunch partnership between Very Local and Pittsburgh Sandwich Society. We spent all summer outdoors but are moving the party inside for the winter. Brew Gentlemen in Braddock is hosting us this January!

Tickets are available here.

About that Saved By The Bell Reference…

In the intro to this podcast episode, Stephanie references the TV show Saved By The Bell. Stephanie is referring to the TV show episode from the second season, “Jessie’s Song,” which happens to be ranked as the #1 best episode of the Saved by The Bell by Vulture. Almost 30 years later, this episode continues to be a hot topic in popular culture.

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Lindsay Patross

Lindsay Patross

Pittsburgh born and raised, Lindsay has been writing about the people who love Pittsburgh since 2008.

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