Elias
Stimac Talks to David Gibbs
|
|
PR Agent-Performer
David Gibbs Proves That All Publicity is Good Publicity
David Gibbs is a
“lifer” when it comes to being a New
Yorker. The entertainment mogul (publicist-musician-actor)
was born in Manhattan and raised in Astoria, Queens.
He has lived and worked in NYC ever since. David’s
grandparents moved to the city in the 1950s, and
his mom went to high school in Astoria. One of his
earliest memories is watching the NY Rangers play
in the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals. Now he balances
his performance gigs with his promotional assignments
as head of DARR Publicity.
David describes himself as “pretty
easygoing, but also very determined at being the
best” at what he does. David took time out
of his hectic schedule to offer NewYorkCool.com
a slice of his Big Apple experiences.
Elias Stimac: How have you pursued
your acting and music careers in New York?
David
Gibbs: As an actor, I had a blast performing
in many cool Off-Off-Broadway shows through the
years, including a three-year stint as a member
of The Bat Theater Company at The Flea Theater.
I had the chance to work with the amazing director
Jim Simpson. I performed in the lead role in Michael
Murphy’s “The Uninvited Guest”
at The Mint Theater and had the fortune to play
my rock‘n’roll idol, Paul Westerberg,
in Julia Jordan’s “Paul Westerberg”
at Soho Rep. A short film that I was in called “Gasline”
went on to win the Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize.
Also, I had a recurring stint playing drums in a
band on “One Life to Live.” As a rock
drummer, I worked with members of both Guns N’
Roses and The Matthew Sweet Band and also drummed
for The Rembrandts in their video “I’ll
Be There for You,” the theme song for the
“Friends” TV show. You can check out
the video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQJsPGD1t0g.
My new musical interest is guitar and singing. I’m
getting a kick out of that.
Elias Stimac: What is it like
working on the other side of the industry as a public
relations person?
David
Gibbs: I’ve been doing theatre publicity
since 2002, and I’m beginning to work with
music artists, bands and dance companies as well.
It’s an incredibly cool job and I get to work
with some really great theater companies and artists.
Really, it’s an honor to represent the excellent
work going up by my clients. I initially got my
feet wet in PR when I was drumming in rock bands
in NYC and was the guy who put together press releases
and contacted magazines and radio stations to get
some buzz going for the band. So I had some experience
with PR when I began doing it for theatre. The publicity
career really just fell into my lap. A good friend
wrote an amazing one-woman play about Jackie Kennedy
called “Cirque Jacqueline.” I did the
PR for the show, and it turned out to be really
successful. From there, I started getting all these
calls and it just snowballed into a fulltime business.
Elias Stimac: Is helping New York
artists promote themselves a fun job?
David
Gibbs: I love it! When I tell people what
I do for a living I smile and laugh, because honestly
I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like
a job. What I do is lots of fun and surpasses the
assortment of odd jobs that I’ve had in the
past. You could label my job title in many ways
- press agent, press rep, publicist…but a
‘nice’ one.
Elias Stimac: What are your favorite
places in NY?
David
Gibbs: Independent movie houses, dark jazz
clubs, rock clubs, Off-Off-Broadway theaters, coffee
shops with some personality, NY diners, all the
great little places to eat different food from all
around the world.
Elias Stimac: How do you think
New York has changed over the years?
David
Gibbs: It’s now a bit tougher to get
a seat on the N train coming back to Queens. The
subway trains are way safer, though…especially
at night. Some of New York’s charm is disappearing
in the face of commercialism, but they call that
progress, right? Diversity of people here continues
to grow, which is good. And The NY Rangers curse
has been wiped out!
To find out a little more about
David and DARR Publicity check out http://www.myspace.com/darrpublicity.
You can contact him at darrpublicity@hotmail.com.
David’s current and upcoming
projects include:
U.S. Premiere of Dirt at Under St. Marks. (http://www.dirt-nyc.com)
Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle at The
Theatres at 45 Bleecker. (http://www.HipgnosisTheatre.org)
World Premiere of The Judgment of Paris by Company
XIV at 303 Bond Street in Brooklyn. (http://www.CompanyXIV.com)
World Premiere of Standing Clear by The Coffee Cup
Theater Company at the Access Theater. (http://www.CoffeeCupTheatre.org)
The Potomac Theatre Project’s 2008 summer
season at Atlantic Theater Stage 2. Shows include
Howard Barker’s Scenes From An Execution,
Neal Bell’s Somewhere in the Pacific, and
Sarah Kane’s Crave. (http://www.PotomacTheatreProject.org)
The White Horse Theater Company’s Sept. 2008
production of Tennessee Williams’ Small Craft
Warnings. (http://www.WhiteHorseTheater.com)
The Queen’s Company’s Nov. 2008 production
of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Urban Stages.
(http://www.QueensCompany.org)
And I’m often working shows at the legendary
La MaMa e.t.c. (http://www.LaMaMa.org)
(Elias Stimac is a freelance writer
and producer on the East Coast. Send feedback and
article pitches to backstagewriter@aol.com.)
|
