Local music. It’s a beautiful thing, honestly. Bands don’t just spring out of a hydroponic farm hidden in the basement of the Capitol Records building.
However, there are times when one is out and about, sampling the sounds around them, when they start to wish it did work that way.
Don’t get me wrong; everyone has to earn their way, learn their chops, and experience the world in order to grow. There will be good shows and bad; one hopes that with every performance, the band gets better and better at what they do. Take a look at Kittie, for example. Their first album was stilted and loosely coherent at best. Put them on the road for a year and suddenly they can play a whole lot better and write tighter songs. They might have been signed for the gimmick, but rather than ride that train, they enriched themselves and became real performers.
So it’s difficult at times to be really harsh on unsigned, growing acts. The reason they’re out and about is to earn money and, hopefully, get better at what they do. They should be soliciting advice and press, but also judging the reactions of the crowd and taking them into careful consideration.
The problem comes when a band is playing to a crowd who will eat up anything. For example, bands playing in my old hometown of 55,000 people typically get a rousing response simply because the crowd is actually happy to have someone playing for them. Another example is playing a niche genre in any size market for a niche crowd; if people came to skank, they’re going to eat up whatever ska you throw their way.
If a band’s regular haunts are either of the above, a worrisome thing happens: the band believes they’re a lot better than they really are. Without a skeptical crowd, they have no reason to believe they’re not doing everything right, and don’t think to venture outside of what’s working for them.
There’s advice here to be had for both the band AND the audience.
Audiences: if you paid a cover to see a band and you are not digging what they’re doing, feel free to engage yourself in other conversation or activities. You don’t need to courtesy clap. If they’re not entertaining you, you have no obligation to show appreciation. You already handed them cash at the door and they should be glad to get that much out of you. However, if you are digging the band, show them such. You may be at a club moreso to hang out with friends or hunt for poontang, but that just means it’s time to stand, dance, or otherwise interact with what’s going on stage while you do whatever it is you seek to do. It never hurts to chit-chat with band members after their set, either.
Bands: If you fully believe that people love every show you do, it’s time to reach beyond your typical audience. Send demos out to press; invite them to review your shows. Book some gigs as far as you can feasibly travel. These people’s opinions will end up being more valuable to you than your normal crowd. If you’re brave, open for a band of a different genre or enter contests. Step out of your safety net. If you’re STILL getting nothing but rave reviews and rapt audiences, it’s time to start schmoozing label-land. Although more than likely, if you’re getting that sort of honest response from crowds and media, the A&R reps will find you first.
Yes, there’s something which fueled this little batch of helpful hints. We’ll get to that later.
Alice In Musicland
Today is “quick and dirty” day. Enjoy.
LONDON (Reuters) – Coldplay headed the list of nominations on Monday for the respected Ivor Novello music awards after being selected in three categories.
The who what awards? Could I possibly care less?
ATLANTA (AP) – Phil Walden, the Capricorn Records founder who launched the careers of Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers Band, has died after a long battle with cancer, a family friend said Monday. He was 66.
You know who else was signed to Capricorn? 311. I’ll be respectful of the deceased and not say anything else.
NEWCASTLE (Reuters) – British boyband Take That, minus its most famous member Robbie Williams, kicked off a comeback tour on Sunday, playing before a packed, mainly female audience at Newcastle Arena.
If ANY other boy bands start getting ideas after reading this, I’m going to cry. Please, y’all were finished back in 2000. Let it die already.
E! Online – Dave Grohl and wife Jordyn welcomed daughter Violet Maye in Los Angeles Saturday, according to an announcement on the band’s Website Thursday. It’s the couple’s first child together.
I just wanted to mention that I found it amusing that it wasn’t the kid who was given the name spelled all stupidly.
Blabbermouth – A DOZEN FURIES, who won a highly coveted tour spot on Ozzfest 2005 after beating out North Carolina’s CYNDER (now CYN) in MTV’s “Battle for Ozzfest” finale, have officially called it quits.
I always had to do a double-take when reading their band name, frightened that I was going to be molested by twelve guys dressed like Sonic and Tails. Good riddance.
Blabbermouth – Lauren Harris — daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris — has been confirmed to perform at this year’s Download festival, joining headliners TOOL, METALLICA, and GUNS N’ ROSES, plus dozens more.
What about Hulk Hogan’s daughter? HUH????
Your Band Here
Same intro as always: I’m here to critique your band. Or your friend’s band. Or whomever. Email me or add me to your MySpace friends list, and magic will happen. Probably not right away due to backlog, but it will happen!
If you’re skeptical, here’s a note from a band whose ass I did not kiss:
Hey Thanks!!! That was really rad of you! You are very accurate with your assesment I must say….We’ve had a major label tell us almost the exact same thing! To any bands out there….these reviews are very well thought out and fair and as accurate as any I’ve seen!
THERE YOU GO.
Now, on with it.
Nye:
I really don’t want to do these guys the injustice of making yet another Nickelback/Puddle of Mudd/Adema/Alter Bridge/Saliva/Seether comparison. We know what’s popular right now, and Nye does aim for that audience. Based in Cleveland, they likely fit the local scene well. The question is, do they stand out among the hordes in the same genre?
Positives: My first inclination is to say, well, they don’t stand out in a bad way. Their music isn’t really any better than anything on rock radio, but they at least match the same quality. “Alive” has tastes of musicianship that stretch out of tried-and-true formula, and that’s refreshing.
Negatives: I’ve said this countless times in this column: guys, you DO need to branch out more if you expect to last. There’s good stuff here, but it’s going to get buried because the market is flooded with similar stuff. Remember 1996? 800 Gin Blossoms clones. It’s 2006, and we’ve got 800 Creed clones. Make yourselves unique.
hobo exile hotel:
Must resist the urge to mention neutral milk. Anyway, these Brits cite quite the list of influences from Portishead to Blur to System of a Down; even the four songs on their MySpace page show an unholy variety of styles between them. “Radiohead with more angry parts” seems fairly accurate across the board though.
Positives: It’s always a good thing when I say, “I don’t like this kind of music, but I’d listen to this.” It’s interesting. Twists and turns in songs like “Last Stop” make it hard to turn it off; you want to know what comes next. A solo? Some crazy effect vocals? It’s a surprise! And “The Big Time” is made by the same band? Whoa.
Negatives: I like their inconsistencies in sound, but it probably works against them. Hard rock fans are going to puke when they hear “The Way That You Were.” Sleepy indie fans might find them too jarring. It’s a difficult balance, innovation and eclecticism vs. appealing to those with simple tases. With a couple more really fantastic songs, they could easily bridge that gap.
Estrum:
Prog metal with a chick? Someone knows my weak spot. Instant comparisons to The Gathering began dancing in my head from the first minute of listening to them. Vocalist Zena Mckelvy is simply heavenly.
Positives: Did I mention Ms. Mckelvy? So pretty. They’ve also got a rather nice knack for mixing styles within not-too-complex progressive realms and a great bunch of musicians. So much promise here, especially during the last minute or so of “The Game.”
Negatives: They’re still pretty green-sounding, be it production-wise or moments of songs which feel rather stilted and piecemeal. They have some fantastic ideas, but the execution isn’t quite all there yet. What results is meandering, non-catchy chunks which sound forced.
My Opinion Matters
Back to my introduction.
Here’s a rant about what I, as a music connoisseur, did and did not like about shows I have seen recently (aside from crowds that will eat up anything put in front of them, but I already covered that).
I could keep going. However, this column does need to get posted in some sort of completed format before September, so perhaps “to be continued” will be accurate.
The Rad Ones
The music section here at IP has been churning out reviews like there’s no tomorrow. TAKE YOUR PICK:
Queensryche‘s Operation Mindcrime II
Karate High School‘s Arcade Rock
Rhett Miller‘s The Believer
Avenpitch‘s Butterfly Radio
Enlow‘s The Recovery
Hard-Fi‘s The Stars of CCTV
Lacuna Coil‘s Karmacode (and another)
Wolfmother
Edguy‘s Rocket Ride
Prince‘s 3121
Thosquanta‘s Lovelife
and FINALLY
Dog Fashion Disco‘s Adultery
…there’s probably more already up by the time you read this. Yeesh! Enjoy!
Outro
The Seether song, “Remedy.” It’s been on the radio for months now.
Am I the only person who sees how the song structure was blatantly and obviously ripped from Nirvana? Drives me NUTS.
And now it’s totally stuck in my head, even after listening to all this MySpace music.
I HATE YOU, SEETHER.
You’ll be the death of me,
–gloomchen
