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!!! IMPORTANT !!! Dear artists, please do not contact us via MySpace. Write to the following email address instead: info[at]schoolyard.ch
about 1.STOCK (english)
1.STOCK [Bar/Klub] | Walzwerk zu Basel - Manifesto
The 1.STOCK is a venue that exists since summer 2006. It is run by a collective of seven people: craftsmen, part-time globetrotters, and students. We are all doing an unsubsidized job in a very complicated field of work. However, this is not part of the concept, and so we would, of course, welcome benefactors and sponsors.
"1.STOCK" means "1st floor", and the club is actually located on the first floor of an old industrial building. The 1.STOCK is only four meters wide but all in all seventy meters long, if you add up concert space, lounge, terrace, grill, and the Petanque area. When we converted this building into our club we accepted the rules and limitations of what was already there, and that is what yielded this extraordinary linear expansion. And this in turn makes for a pretty special dramaturgy: an impression like being in a tube, with a current that sucks everything in and spits it out again right in front of the stage.
The 1.STOCK offers events and performances rooted in the Basle area and Switzerland. Quite regularly, we round off our venue schedule with international artists. We are not tied down to one specific style of music - whoever is able to convince us shall perform.
Ecological and ethical considerations are important to us. We rebuilt and extended this place with respect for the structures available. We use second-hand materials wherever we can; this does not only save resources but also creates a special style. And for this style the 1.STOCK is well-known. Regarding our beverages and food assortment we try to be as regional and organic as possible. If something cannot be found nearby, we attend to ethical production. Of course we recycle things and do not use disposable plates or cutlery.
We highly appreciate the artists' efforts and we can imagine how much time, patience, and passion they put into what they are doing. Similarly we know that good and fair production practices are somewhat more expensive. We know the cost of things, and although our funds are limited it is part of our philosophy to pay adequate prices.
The 1.STOCK is situated on the "Walzwerk". This is an old industrial area ten minutes from the Basle main station by tramway and only twelve minutes by bicycle. Until 1999 it was the home of an aluminum foundry. As manufacturing in the west turned out to be no longer profitable, the area has been lying idle for two years. But now life is returning, in the forms of small trade, sports, and alternative culture.
We also have interesting neighbors: the "Presswerk", for example, an Electro- and Techno club of nationwide renown, and the "Fahrbar" - a family business located in an old railway car.
And finally, one fact must not go unmentioned: for the average Basle citizen, the 1.STOCK is a little bit out of the way. No question about that. But then, what are twelve minutes of riding your bicycle? Or a ten-minute tram ride? Actually, this slightly remote location seems to select a very attentive audience for us – a 1.STOCK characteristic that was appreciated by every single artist who entered our stage so far.