Burning Man, but make it Brooklyn

The 2023 Mecha Sonic Sessions returned to Gowanus for its third fire-breathing year, bringing DIY music, science and a little madness

By Daniel Efram

Black Rock can keep its dusty Burning Man. Brooklyn has the heavy metal Mecha Sonic Sessions right here in Gowanus.

A DIY, multi-sensory affair that blends music and science — fire and folly — the two day event is a carnival of home-made instruments, science experiments and outré performances, all housed in a fully-functioning industrial metal shop near the Smith and Ninth Street subway stop.

Fire The Band. From left: Erica Mancini, Dan Brantigan, Chris Schultz, Chris Cortier, Stefan Zeniuk, Tuba Joe Exley Jaclyn Atkinson on horse (Photo by Daniel Efram)

Included in the mix May 19 and 20 was a musical thunderstorm, flaming harp Tesla coils, pyro-sonic installations and even a high-voltage illusionist act. Attendees treated to a gigantic percussive Mahler box — a 7-foot monster bashed with a 20-pound hammer fashioned out of a humongous log and named for the Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer who created it for his sixth symphony.

For the more harmonically minded, there was a human organ act: 100-year-old organ pipes fitted with attachments that allowed revelers utilize the repurposed tools.

Caitlin Cawley plays te Human Organ (Photo by Daniel Efram)

“It’s beautiful to see the flabbergasted look on peoples faces with each new and bizarre contraption or act,” says organizer Dan Glass, who actually built many of the instruments on display.

Launched in 2019 by musician Stefan Zeniuk, along with Glass, a veteran Burner, and Chris Cortier (who literally brought the fire), the Mecha Sonic Sessions had been on a Covid-forced hiatus in 2020 and ‘21, only to return last year. The third-ever incarnation of the event went down late last month. Here are a few scenes from the bacchanal, which also included performances by ensembles with names like Forge Music, Special Head, Y&I, Iron Egg, Mecha Jazz Zilla and many more.