SALEM, MA — Aaron Perrino has an idea for anyone looking to go into business with the lead singer of a band that was once a standout staple of the Boston music scene.
The Sheila Divine frontman is aiming to take the passion in his voice that helped fuel the soaring lyrics of the alternative rock band and put that passion toward The Bohemian Club upscale sandwich shop planned for Salem.
While Perrino allows that The Sheila Divine — which peaked in popularity with the release of “New Parade” in 1999 and “Where Have All My Countrymen Gone?” in 2001 — is now more of a part-time thing performing a handful of shows each year, he said the restaurant is part of his plan to start a business he can pour his efforts into during the day while reserving a few nights when he can still showcase his musical talents.
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“Once I hit, like, 30 I am like: ‘What I am really going to do for a living?” he told Patch on Thursday. “I want to work for myself I have always been a huge foodie. I have been talking about doing a restaurant for as long as I can remember.”
Perrino told Patch that the final push to pursue the restaurant came when he was laid off from his advertising job in January. He has spent the time since doing some bartending, cooking and contemplating The Bohemian Club, which he describes on his Mainvest page as “A quirky upscale takeout sandwich & salad shop inspired by the occult and dark arts in Salem.”
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“I’ve really fallen in love with Salem,” Perrino said. “The weirdness factor and the city it’s become.
“It seems like everyone who used to live in Somerville lives in Salem now.”
While he has already come up with a preliminary menu, logo and design for the restaurant, what he needs — as is the case with all new businesses — is funding. Mainvest is a crowdsourcing site that allows people to become “investors” in new business ventures when those businesses — hopefully — come to fruition.
Those who contribute to the cause will receive a return on the investment after a number of years with other incentives for bigger investors.
For instance, those who invest $100 in The Bohemian Club do so with Perrino’s agreement to share a portion of the revenue until that investor receives $160 by 2031. An “Apprentice” investment of $2,500 also gets you a limited edition T-shirt, a $100 gift card and an invitation to the opening “induction” ceremony, while there is also a “Fellow Craftsman” investor level of $5,000 and a “Master of Secrets” level of $10,000 in which Perrino invites you to co-create and name a sandwich of your choice.
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Perrino said he was turned onto the concept by Carl Lavin, the booker for the former Boston music venue Great Scott, who used the crowdsourcing business to try to reopen the Allston rock club after it closed amid the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis.
“You can’t really go to a bank to do a restaurant,” Perrino said. “You kind of have to figure these things out. They were headquartered in Salem so it felt like it was a good direction to go in.”
As of Thursday, The Bohemian Club had raised $22,800 of Perrino’s $75,000 target. The investment push goes through June 30, at which time contributions will be refunded if the target is not met.
“They say I’m doing OK,” Perrino said. “It’s a slow build. I’m hoping it’s coming together. I have never promoted something so hard.”
Perrino has been displaying his sandwich creations — as well as his passion for Detroit-style pizza — on his Facebook page and other social media as he hopes both foodies and fans of The Sheila Divine’s hits such as “Hum,” “Like A Criminal” and “Automatic Buffalo” will jump in on his latest venture.
“We’ll see what I can do and where it takes me,” he said. “I am approaching it the same way I approach music — I am always trying to create something new and interesting.”
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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