Zach Staggers of So So Glos
So So Glos (Zach Staggers, far left)
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More Ringing Endorsement
For Ringing Endorsement, The A.V. Club asks local characters of note for their recommendation of an event, restaurant, or whatever else strikes their fancy. This week, Zach Staggers—drummer for Brooklyn garage-rockers So So Glos and one of the proprietors (and residents) of storied Bushwick performance space Market Hotel—talks about a beloved bodega just underneath his home.
Mr. Kiwi’s is a Korean-run grocery underneath the Market Hotel, and it’s sort of a staple. It’s open 24 hours, and the guy who works there—Mr. Kiwi—is one of the nicest guys in the world. In the beginning, when we first started the Market Hotel, we invited him and his sons up. They loved it, and they’re really happy that we’re above them. I think we brought them a lot of business. If you go after a show, Mr. Kiwi himself is always hanging out outside, smoking cigarettes and smiling. It’s a magical place.
One time we were filming a music video above Mister Kiwi’s—for “Throw Your Hands Up,” which is going to be dropping soon—and the crowd was going nuts. Mr. Kiwi came upstairs and signaled to us that something was terribly wrong, so we went downstairs and the ceiling was literally shaking from people jumping around, and dust was falling onto Mr. Kiwi’s stuff. We felt really bad, but we resolved it. The ceiling did not fall through.
This neighborhood is developing really rapidly, and it’s hard to be part of that while also wanting to combat it and fit into your community. The Market Hotel kind of straddles those two worlds. Brooklyn is all about the people in the neighborhood, and, you know, being friends. The real problem is when kids move in and they act so apart from the neighborhood that they’re in—drawing cultural lines instead of building community. I think the neighborhood can cater to everybody. Mr. Kiwi’s is timeless.
