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Music

Lit Lounge's Legacy to Live on in New Brooklyn Bar, Tilt

Co-owner Erik Foss told us about his plans for the space.
Photos by Ivory Serra

The owners of beloved East Village institution Lit Lounge have opened a new space in Brooklyn called Tilt Bar, joining forces with the owner of former WIlliamsburg dive Trash Bar, Aaron Pierce. Tilt is a bar with three different rooms including an industrial-style club room in the basement with 20-foot ceilings. The venue, located underneath the McKibbin Lofts in East Williamsburg, just had its grand opening this past Friday night.

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While Tilt's longterm events calendar has yet to be filled out, they promise to regularly host DJs playing a range of genres. We know that NYC-via-Miami DJ Ty Sunderland a.k.a. Tyger James will be resident on Fridays, and Brooklyn promoter and DJ David John Sokolowski will take over as resident on Saturdays.

THUMP interviewed co-owner Erik Foss, formerly of Lit Lounge, via email, and we talked about his plans for the space, the transition from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and his plans to be in conversation with the local creative community.

THUMP: What would you characterize the vibe of Tilt, as you're planning it?
Erik Foss: Our vibe is community, we would not have one ounce of success if it weren't for the beautiful humans that have patronized our places. People always make the place in my humble opinion. We as partners are creative people and have open arms to the creative community. As long as people have an open mind and respect one another they are welcome.

How do you hope to distinguish yourself from the existing Brooklyn nightlife landscape?
When we found the space, it was a small street level coffee shop with a larger basement. We took what we had and with our years of experience and creativity turned it into what it is now. We wanted to achieve a comfortable warm environment that offers a place for like minded people to call home. The result has three separate spaces that offer three different vibes: a cozy storefront with coffee and a small menu, a lounge with dim lights and cozy earth tones, and a third room, which is a bit more industrial with 20-foot ceilings.

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Industrial-style club room

Will the legacy of Lit Lounge live on in Tilt, or are you planning for this venture to go in a different direction? It seems like each space will have been dedicated to different generations of creative people in NYC.
We as partners all have at least a decade of NYC nightlife experience, but we have always had an interest in what the youth are up to. We embrace the youth now just as much as we did when we were young—with open minds and hearts we will open our doors to the new young creative people.

Can you tell us about the style(s) of musical programming you want to highlight with the DJs you host?
It will be a mixed bag, as we have always done. Our main focus is to stay away from the mainstream and Top 40 vibe, and I think there is enough of a community to support our intentions. I think this alone will set us apart from the majority in NYC.

DJ Elle Dee and Tilt partner Ryan Piccirillo in DJ booth

On Tilt's Instagram, you say it's also going to act as an art space, featuring "performance and everything that is New." Can you say more about that? Lit Lounge used to have something similar, in Fuse Gallery.
There is enough space for a host of creative activity. The programming will be very different [from Lit and Fuse] as we do not have a separate gallery and there is no back line or full stage for performances, but that could change in both areas. The community will help shape that—we said on our Instagram that we are open to new ideas and working with the creative community that surrounds us. Lit and Fuse were more of an art project in the way that we wanted to create a space for outsiders to feel comfortable and shine, and I think we pulled that off. Seeing as big business pushed most of the working class, creative people out of Manhattan, we feel that this all makes sense and will allow us to continue serving the creative community of New York City.

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