Interview with Jamie Gray, pt.1

Jamie Gray of Matter

In New York it is often hard to catch up with people who are even just a couple blocks away. For this week’s interview, we decided to keep it local, and talk with Jamie Gray, the man behind Matter, the high-end furniture and design store right around the corner from Base’s New York office. More than just the proprietor of Matter, Jamie is also involved in the design of the store’s own furniture line, Matter Made. With an eye peeled for a bigger Manhattan space, Jamie took time out of his increasingly busy schedule to answer a few of our questions about how he got where he is today, and how he’s going to get where he wants to be tomorrow.

Base: Where do you come from?
Jamie Gray: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA.

B: How long have you been in NY?
JG: I’ve been here since 1998.

B: What is your background?
JG: I really tried everything I could in my 20s—I played drums in a band, restored vintage motorcycles, sold advertising, traveled the world—I was all over the map, literally and figuratively. I didn’t really become involved in design until I was in my later 20s. It started with a small collection of mid-century modern pieces I picked up at yard and estate sales while living in Seattle. I also worked as an apprentice to a cabinetmaker while I was living there and really fell in love with the idea of making furniture. The first few things I made were terrible—functional, but horrible to look at—so I decided to go back to school.

B: Did you go to art school?
JG: I did. When I moved to New York it was to study industrial design at Pratt Institute. The brief time I was in the ID department I felt really out of my element and pretty quickly found a new home in fine arts. I finished with a degree in sculpture.

B: How did you decide to open a furniture store in SoHo?
JG: I had been open in Brooklyn already for a few years and it just seemed like a natural progression. I wanted to work with architects and interior designers and they weren’t venturing out to Brooklyn all that often. I also wanted to show more substantial pieces, and the layout of the Brooklyn store couldn’t accommodate what I envisioned. At some point I thought about a bigger space in Brooklyn because I feel a certain amount of loyalty to the borough—it’s where I live and where Matter was born—but when it came down to investing in another store, the city just made more practical sense.

B: What is the concept behind the store?
JG: It may take another seven years to give you a proper answer to that question… Really, I just have a great respect for designers who create timeless works. There’s honestly nothing more gratifying than filling a space with some of the pieces I feel are currently the most relevant or noteworthy works of design, especially when people walk through the door and share my view.

Inside the Manhattan Matter store

B: What are the challenges of running such a store?
JG: Profit margins and limited square footage.

B: You have two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn (closing March 30). Is there a difference in your approach for these two places—the product selection, for instance?
JG: A big difference. Manhattan is more sumptuous, more luxurious, and the pieces I select or produce are a bit more sophisticated. They also generally have a higher price tag. Brooklyn is more accessory- or accent-oriented. I’m definitely selecting the merchandise with the same eyes, but catering to the neighborhoods a bit differently and also to what the spaces can accommodate.

B: How do you determine which items to carry? Is it an instant feeling of needing to have a specific item in your store?
JG: I generally know right away if I like something, and that goes for design as well as fashion or music or food or architecture. I get this very specific sensation when something just looks or sounds or tastes right to me. Sometimes I’ll see a piece of furniture and want it in the store right away—there’ll be a sense of urgency—and other times I’ll keep something filed away for later. I guess I make the determination based on current inventory, compatibility and, of course, urgency.

B: What are you inspired by lately?
JG: Red lacquer and bronze. Hopefully that will make more sense come May…

B: Are there any specific periods of style or design that you’ve found to be particularly inspiring or relevant to your work and personal taste?
JG: I think it’s a pretty broad history of culture and design that informs and inspires my taste. If today I’m really into Bauhaus then tomorrow I might be into the Lascaux cave paintings. Last week might have been Navajo rugs and weavings and the week before I might have been listening to Iggy Pop obsessively. I might be non-committal in that sense—I don’t have a favorite band anymore either. Information is so readily accessible today that you can really dive into an era or a specific designer or trend, then come up for air and dive into something else. It’s sort of amazing and sort of sad at the same time. Lately I’ve been really moved by early American craft and I think that will continue to inform my work in some way.

Read part 2 of this interview here.