I had a particularly nice time in Northampton, of all places, checking Judy Mooch, Twelve Titans and Esteban this weekend. They played at Roadmenders. Good turnout. Good vibes.
Turns out the promoter at Roadmenders is still the same guy who promoted there last century when yours truly swung through. We were on tour with Less Than Jake at the time.
Our bands received good support from the crew at BBC Northampton who plugged the show and played the music. Many thanks.
The night ended in a small pub in one of the villages dotted around the city. The locals gather there every so often to sing songs together. Someone will bring a guitar. There’s a piano in the pub. People take turns playing songs and everyone gets into it. Sure enough, after a few we were all singing along to Phil Collins songs and whatnot. It was great fun.
Of course, eyes eventually turned to the professional musos… someone handed Steve, the singer in Esteban, a guitar and he did a rousing rendition of Have A Little Respect by Erasure. Then Steve, showing no mercy, handed the axe over to me with a sly grin. I had no choice. I concede that the opening gambit was Wonderwall by Oasis. Shortly thereafter I progressed to the piano. I do believe I played Jump by Van Halen at some point. I was better received than a decade earlier when I was in town with a touring band…. well, you get better with age!
The next morning I heard I’d been made an honorary member of the village. I’m touched.
The only time I’ve had a louder reception was at Anfield when I sang the Finnish national anthem at England v Finland footie game. The roar of the Finnish lion outperformed the whimper of the English pussycat. Unfortunately, my team did less well.
The power of music to unite people is amazing. I’m all for a good night out in a cool bar where they play awesome tracks by awesome artists, but nothing compares to making music with your fellow humans. Live, in the same room, with everyone pitching in.
The business of music with all that it entails for new bands… you know… people have to pay £5 to see a band play 30 minutes of music they’ve never heard and aren’t that bothered about…. and most of the time for a good reason, too… where is the fun in that? It seems there is a big disconnect going on.
What happened at the little village pub got me thinking about what music is all about. If it’s about sharing and having a good time, I can vouch that it feels much better than being cool.
What feels even better is that Violet Bones are at No. 1 on the Play.com pre order chart. Not bad at all…
Out of the smorgasbord that is The Animal Farm’s musical palette, a rainbow of colours and hues, of smells and sounds, of accents and body shapes, shoes and haircuts, come these artists worth your immediate attention. Check out Roxy’s Wardrobe bringing that grunge thing back…
And then for something completely different by Woman E…
And how about Violet Bones…
In addition to producing these fine artists, we also purchased a pool table. It’s a fine piece of furniture, as you can see.
Just so I’m not accused of only talking about what WE have produced, I want to plug a cool band who sent us their demo: The Spires. Nuff said.
January was a mighty busy month at the ‘Farm. We wrapped it up by entertaining Esteban for a few days. They were in town to record the rest of their forthcoming debut album. It’s a cracking piece of work. Check out their new website www.estebanmusic.co.uk. It was designed by Jealous Designs and a fine job they did too. We like hard working, talented and focussed musicians doing it on their terms. Esteban are on course to doing about 250 gigs this year. A few of them are here…
6 Feb 2010 20:00
ROADMENDERS NORTHAMPTON
19 Feb 2010 21:00
NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNI NOTTINGHAM
24 Feb 2010 21:00
THE HAYMAKER CAMBRIDGE
5 Mar 2010 21:00
THE CARRIERS INN BUDE, Southwest
6 Mar 2010 21:00
THE DRIFTWOOD SPARS ST AGNES, Southwest
25 Mar 2010 21:00
THE TAP HOUSE ST AGNES, Southwest
26 Mar 2010 21:00
THE RASHLEIGH ARMS CHARLESTOWN, Southwest
27 Mar 2010 21:00
THE COPPERHOUSE HAYLE, CORNWALL
2 Apr 2010 21:00
SWAN HOTEL WADEBRIDGE, CORNWALL
3 Apr 2010 20:00
THE ROPEMAKERS BRIDPORT
7 Apr 2010 21:00
FINN MCCOULS FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
9 Apr 2010 21:00
THE POACHER PORTISHEAD, AVON
10 Apr 2010 21:00
THE NEW INN WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE, South
12 Apr 2010 21:00
TWO PIGS CORSHAM, WILTSHIRE, South
14 Apr 2010 22:00
ON THE ROCKS NEWQUAY, Southwest
15 Apr 2010 21:00
BUNTERS TRURO, Southwest
16 Apr 2010 21:00
THE THATCH CROYDE, Southwest
17 Apr 2010 21:00
BLUE BAR PORTHTOWAN, CORNWALL
15 May 2010 21:30
BELUSHI’S BRIGHTON
16 May 2010 22:00
MOLES BATH
22 May 2010 21:00
RING O’BELLS CHAGFORD, DARTMOOR
23 May 2010 21:00
THE QUEENS HOTEL ST IVES, Southwest
28 May 2010 21:00
THE THATCH CROYDE, Southwest
29 May 2010 22:00
BELUSHI’S NEWQUAY, Southwest
30 May 2010 21:00
GYLLY BEACH CAFE FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
31 May 2010 20:00
SANDPIPER ILFRACOMBE, Southwest
2 Jun 2010 21:00
FINN MCCOULS FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
4 Jun 2010 21:00
GALLEON INN FOWEY, Southwest
5 Jun 2010 21:00
BLUE BAR PORTHTOWAN, CORNWALL
25 Jun 2010 21:00
THE TAVISTOCK INN TAVISTOCK, DARTMOOR
14 Jul 2010 22:00
ON THE ROCKS NEWQUAY, Southwest
15 Jul 2010 21:00
BUNTERS BATH
16 Jul 2010 21:00
THE POACHER PORTISHEAD, AVON
17 Jul 2010 20:00
CHAGSTOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL CHAGFORD, DARTMOOR
28 Jul 2010 21:00
TINTAGEL ARMS TINTAGEL, Southwest
30 Jul 2010 21:00
THE CARRIERS INN BUDE, Southwest
31 Jul 2010 21:00
GLASTONBURY BACKPACKERS GLASTONBURY
1 Aug 2010 21:00
THE QUEENS HOTEL ST IVES, Southwest
2 Aug 2010 21:00
TWO PIGS CORSHAM, WILTSHIRE
5 Aug 2010 21:00
THE PERFECT 5TH TAUNTON
6 Aug 2010 20:00
MR WOLF’S BRISTOL
7 Aug 2010 21:00
THE NEW INN WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE
13 Aug 2010 21:00
RYANS BAR TORQUAY
18 Aug 2010 22:00
ON THE ROCKS NEWQUAY, Southwest
19 Aug 2010 21:00
THE TAP HOUSE ST AGNES, Southwest
20 Aug 2010 20:00
THE ROPEMAKERS BRIDPORT
21 Aug 2010 21:00
5 DEGREE’S WEST FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
22 Aug 2010 21:00
THE QUEENS HOTEL ST IVES
26 Aug 2010 21:00
THE THATCH CROYDE, Southwest
27 Aug 2010 21:00
FINN MCCOULS FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
28 Aug 2010 22:00
BELUSHI’S NEWQUAY, Southwest
29 Aug 2010 21:00
GYLLY BEACH CAFE FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
3 Sep 2010 21:00
THE GALLEON INN FOWEY, Southwest
4 Sep 2010 21:00
BLUE BAR PORTHTOWAN, CORNWALL
11 Sep 2010 21:00
THE DRIFTWOOD SPARS ST AGNES, Southwest
17 Dec 2010 20:00
THE ROPEMAKERS BRIDPORT
18 Dec 2010 21:00
THE NEW INN WITNEY, OXFORDSHIRE
AIM, the Association of Independent Music, is the umbrella organisation for indie labels. They organise networking events, among other things, of course, for us indie labels on a regular basis. One such event took place this week at the Beeb, where we got to meet the Radio 1 crew. Lots of flashy presentations and chat about how the station works and how and why it wants to support independent music and how we can service it to them.
The perception in the indie community, of course, is that they only play major label records. But that’s not the whole picture. There are a whole bunch of ways for everyone to get a slice a da pie. Admittedly, the biggest slice goes to, and I paraphrase George Ertagoudis, the head of music at R1, from memory: ”the really popular records that our listeners like hearing”. Those records are mainly made by the very popular major label artists.
Shocking news. To think that radio actually would want to play records that people really like listening to! As opposed to my record that I like listening to!
The favourite gripe amongst those trying to get their music heard is that they believe there is a massive conspiracy to help shit songs gain lots of airplay so that the population gets brainwashed into loving them. Now, I like a good consipiracy theory, but according to the peeps at the Beeb, one doesn’t exist. My own experience of trying to get records played on the radio is that it’s hard work no matter who your co-conspirators are.
With so much music being made by so many artists signed to so many different kinds of labels - ALL of them believing that their music is the legit shit - it’s very very difficult for the radio guys to choose what to play. Indeed, it’s clear to me that radio itself is confused about what radio is, how it’s experienced by its listeners, what keeps them tuning back in. Indeed, what keeps them from tuning back in.
Looking at the process from the point of view of the radio station is educational. The Beeb has much more of a public duty than we always give it credit for. It would appear that they take it seriously. They serve a lot of communities in music. As much as I’d like to hear my favourite bossa nova jazz records on the radio, I can’t really argue against the fact that more people want to hear Lady Gaga. The Beeb plays a balancing act to accommodate us all. Long may they be able to continue to serve the country.
Brian Eno was in the papers talking about how recorded music is whale blubber. As in, back the day you could get rich selling whale blubber to be used as fuel, but when gas came along, the guy selling the whale blubber was fucked, obviously. He goes on to say that eventually something will replace recorded music. The party (as in the party of getting rich from selling recorded music) is over.
On the face of it, with declining sales and all that malarkey, so it would appear. But it’s equally true that recorded music has never enjoyed more prominence in our lives. Way more so than when I was a kid. The age of recorded music is about as over as war and famine.
I can use whatever source of energy to heat my house, just as long as it heats it, I don’t care - apart from environmental concerns. That’s another topic on another blog. But only certain types of music stoke the fire in my soul. Music is not a commodity. If I really really want to hear a certain track by a certain artist and there exists the technology to make me pay for the pleasure… it looks like the beginning of another, possibly bigger, party. Innit?
Of course, he is the music industry’s official genius. I’m just the best squash player in Greenwich…
In the article, he spoke about producing Coldplay and U2 at the same time. He had to be careful about labeling the backing tracks on his laptop, because the all sounded so similar that he couldn’t tell which band was which. Ahem… no wonder he feels (hopes, perhaps?) that the age of recorded music is over.
Two interesting articles in the Guardian today. That Mecca of Music. The first one is about how the BBC gave the entire corporation over to U2 so they could publicize the record that came out last year. Remember? The not very good one.
Now it appears that even the Beeb admit that they probably went too far in fawning over the band. Reminds me of a conversation at Musexpo last summer where Zane Lowe was laughed out of the room when he defended his choice of a U2 single as the Hottest Track In The World. No one believed his assertion that corporate pressure had nothing to do with it. Everyone in the room was on the side of Nick Detnon, Dizzie Rascal’s manager, who said that the record was crap and that’s why it wasn’t successful, no matter who plugged it.
The second interesting article is about the, apparently, eternal argument about Pink Floyd. Received wisdom states that Floyd with Syd Barrett was cool. Anything after his departure is shit. I think that the exact opposite is true. Go figure. Maybe because I wasn’t there at the time I can listen to the music with a degree of objectivity and decide to like what sounds good.
The author of the Guardian article is Alan McGee. He belongs to that demographic of men who think that punk rock was the zenith of western popular culture. Guys like that think that because John Lydon had a Pink Floyd t-shirt with “I HATE” scrawled over the logo, Floyd is degenerate balls while punk is the best thing ever.
Again, I was not there - of course, I was there in body, but not in spirit, yet, if you know what I mean - so I can, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and perfect objectivity unobstructed by notions of what was cool 30 years ago, declare with confidence that the near exact opposite is true.
Go figure.
Now then, I was writing this song the other day, a pop ditty for someone, and came up with the phrase “covered in bliss”. It felt really familiar, so I Googled to see if it was in the song Must Be Talking To An Angel by the Eurythmics. It wasn’t. They’re “overblown with bliss” or something like that. Then I found the source. It was Pearl Jam and their song Satan’s Bed.
It fucking rules!
We did a bit of a revamp of our mix room. Got some new toys to play with and a new set of speakers that cost us an arm and a leg. And boy do they sound good. Good news to those whose tracks end up at the ‘farm.
Mat, Jamie and I would like to wish you happy new year. We hope you find success in 2010. Hoping is one thing, but if we all work very hard as well, who knows what will happen!
We took a break from the ‘Farm, each of us going our merry ways to spend xmas with family and whatnot. Speaking for myself, the break did me good. I managed to avoid hangovers and played squash almost every day. It was very difficult to find a court or a partner to play with on xmas day, but other than that I did remarkably well. I attended a squash clinic at Charing Cross Squash Club, where I got the chance to jam with world number 6 Peter Barker. He showed us how it’s really done. Very inspiring stuff. It was a priviledge to be on court with someone that good.
I feel that I should comment on the big xmas number one battle, as if it matters anymore. I was surprised at just how lame the RATM track sounded. It didn’t kick my ass. Well done, though, for kicking the ass of the X-Factor guy. Of course, the song his handlers chose for him represents, along with the artist who originally sang it, the kind of Christian goody-good wholesomeness that makes me want to puke. A well placed “fuck” in a lyric goes a long way. I like it!
Some of you may be aware of Bob Leftsetz, the music industry blogger whose newsletters are near legendary. This is what he wrote a few days ago (I’m cut and pasting from his site, sorry if it offends anyone):
“I’m sick and fucking tired of people telling me to be more positive. To focus on solutions rather than problems. Don’t you get it, it all comes down to the MUSIC!
That’s what I love about this business. You’re either a player or a supporter. There’s a clear divide. That’s the difference from the movie business. Even a five year old can tell you what’s wrong with filmed entertainment. The acting was bad, or the story wasn’t believable, or the sets were phony. But ask a fifty year old about a record and he’ll shrug his shoulders and say he liked it or he didn’t. That’s about as far as it goes.
So, you’re sitting there trying to be a manager, or a booking agent, even starting a label. And you’re frustrated, and dipping your toe in social media, reading marketing books. I’m gonna tell you, that’s all bullshit. Find one great act and the doors will open to you.
The major labels triumphed because they had the best acts. But then they got greedy, the execs started thinking they were the talent, they broke the cardinal music business rule, that we all bow down to the creator. If you’re really that talented, make your own damn music. This happens in the movie sphere, producers become directors. But when was the last time a record company president became a best-selling artist? When did he even make a record?
And for you frustrated artists, I’ll say it one more time… Your lack of success probably comes down to the fact that you’re just not that good. Sorry, the truth hurts. And if you’re the king of klezmer or the new Philip Glass and want to complain that you’re not on “American Idol”? Wow, how do you cope every day, are you really that far from reality? Just because you’re good at something, anything, that doesn’t mean the whole world needs to pay attention.
What does the public like? Melody. A good voice. A beat. These aren’t immutable rules, and it’s the cutting edge that we tend to become enamored of, but if we can’t sing your song and think you can barely sing it either, GIVE UP!
Or practice a ton more.
Yes, practice. That’s how you get better. Sure playing every night in a bar helps. But you’ve also got to challenge yourself. You’ve got to test your own limits, learn more than three chords, not so you can use them so much as you become aware of the POSSIBILITIES!
If you’re a musician, listen to a lot of records.
If you want to write lyrics, read a lot of books.
Doctors go to school to become M.D.’s. Why should you be able to be a world famous music star without putting in the work?
The hardest thing to do in this business is find a hit act. You can be the best manager, the most tenacious agent, but if you don’t have a hit act, you’re doomed to failure. Speak to a concert promoter. He’ll tell you there’s no way you can get people to come to see a stiff act. Even if you pick them up in limos and give them good seats.
A great act can make a ton of business mistakes, have a less than great manager, a rip-off label and STILL make it. A third-rate act with the best team is still a third-rate act.
I think it’s great that you’re looking for innovative ways to do business, that you want to challenge old models. But some things never change. And what never changes in this business is it all comes down to the music. More than ever. In a world where anybody can make a record and the audience doesn’t concentrate on one outlet, not even one format. Some people listen to NO radio. Others watch NO television.
But that doesn’t mean greatness will go unnoticed. We’re all looking for quality. And, if we find it, we tell everybody we know. So, a great act gets traction. But takes a long time to make it. Shit, the Kings Of Leon would have been gargantuan right away fifteen or twenty years ago. Now it takes that long just to get people to pay attention.
And maybe KOL weren’t that great in the beginning. To think that talent needs to emerge fully-formed is to think that babies can do calculus. It’s a long hard road to becoming a musician. Short cuts might deliver success sooner, having your songs written by the usual suspects and working with an experienced producer might give you a leg up. But there’s no real foundation, you’re going to fall back to earth if you don’t do the work.
Everything I write, all the innovation, it only applies to GOOD ACTS! The question is, what choices do you make if the act has talent. If it doesn’t, GIVE UP!
You’re not entitled to a gig in the music industry. People don’t need records the same way they need food. If you can’t associate yourself with a good act, you’re going to starve, no matter what your desire.
Finding great talent and bonding to it is a skill unto itself. Don’t rail against Irving Azoff or Jimmy Iovine, this is what they do BEST!
And until you do it as well as they do, you’re gonna be broke.
I couldn’t agree more, as I’m sure you already know, if you’ve read any of my ramblings on this topic.
You probably have many resolutions this time of year. By Wednesday you’ll have reneged on most of them, and that’s alright. But by golly you do not want to miss rehearsals, you do not want to dick around on Facebook while you should be doing scales on your guitar and so on. Am I right or am I right?
Two very excellent new releases from two very excellent artists are out this week on the mighty Animal Farm Label.
First up are a wee trio of bonnie Scots called Make Sparks. They’re neither that wee nor that bonnie, but they make a great noise. One is reminded of modern Scottish bands like Biffy and older ones like Big Country. I’m serious. Make Sparks have the same sense of vast spaces in their sound as our 80s favourites did. Did you know that we once shared a stage with them? Not Make Sparks, but Big Country. It was in, I think, 1999, when we had the same management as them.The band had reformed and we supported them at their come back gig.
I digress. Back to new music. Make Sparks topped the Myspace Rock Chart a week or two ago. They’re being buzzed about here there and everywhere. It’s great to be involved. Make Sparks have their own festival up in the Scotland. It started out as a tent pitched in a field. Last summer it was a huge affair with two stages and a pig being barbecued. I made that last bit up. But the festival is cool.
In other news, the neverending tour in search of the last party on the last beach… as Esteban describe their journey on earth… reaches a man made destination in the form of their annual Xmas single. If you remember they did Shanty Mansion last year in support of their favoured NGO Plan UK through whom the band sponsored a boy called Orlin in Honduras. Their continuing financial assistance provides healthcare and education and other community development projects in Orlin’s village. Way cool. Put your money where your mouth is.
This year Esteban again team up with Plan UK to lend their voice to “Because I’m A Girl”, a global campaign that empowers girls in the poorest parts of the world to combat the discrimintion they face because of their lack of access to education and legal rights. To reflect this vibe, the single features a choir made up of primary school girls local to our studio.
Two fine records by two fine emerging bands. Click on the images to go to iTunes, should you want to support new emerging music, which I sincerely hope you do.
To celebrate 92 years of Finnish Independence I beat the English 3-0 tonight in a squash match played at the tail end of a hellish hangover, courtesy of The Animal Farm Xmas do… Thanks to all those who came to the Esteban gig. What a fine fine show it was, too! Thanks also to Lost Aura for providing stellar support.
Been reading a business book called Wikinomics, a book about the growing trend in getting a lot of people to pitch in to a project. Crowd sourcing, I believe, it is also called. Works wonder in big scientific projects and small community stuff alike. A lotta cooks don’t spoil the broth, as the updated saying goes.
I thought that it would work well in music, too. Like, wouldn’t it be great if a lot of artists would share their knowledge on promoters and venues? On media contacts? So we set up a google document into which I invited a whole bunch of people to enter their contacts from within their sphere of influence. The idea being that a band from Manchester will know the Manchester area and a band from Bristol will know the Bristol area. If both bands share their info, both bands will know both areas well. Both can go on to great gigging success from there. Of course, an enterprising band will find out all this info anyway, but the point of doing it ensemble is to ease the burden and get information flowing.
The take up, to my surprise, was a bit on the reserved side. Maybe there are deep seated jealousies and rivalries at play here. I think that those are dumb things. Share and share alike. If you want to be cool and prosperous, give me a shout to take part in this.
Selling Out - I Would If Anyone Was Buying
Back in the day, when the band I was with was touring the world, I was often asked by journalists about selling out and whether we would ever do it. I was baffled by the question and on occasion asked the journalists to describe what selling out looked like. To this day I haven’t got a satisfactory answer out of anyone.
It seems to centre around the fact that at some point someone does something so good that people start buying it in numbers. As in, The Chilis brought out BloodSugarSexMagic. That was the point at which they sold out, accoding to a mate of mine who was a hard core fan.
In the independent punk world, in which yours truly cut his teeth, it was all about resisting the charms of big record companies.
In my personal experience, all businesses operate according to the laws of economics, including the coolest indies and the biggest majors. If you don’t make money for them, you won’t be a recording artist for too long.
As an artist, I always wanted lots of people to love my stuff. If I’m honest, I thought that anyone who didn’t unreservedly love my stuff was an idiot. After all, as artists we feel that our music has a divine right to be popular. Consequently, it would have been intellectually dishonest of me to say that I wouldn’t ever want to sign with a major if that major would have afforded me the distribution and marketing to reach the widest possible audience. And if that audience really loved my record, I would have been chuffed to bits.
So, I fail the sell out test miserably. I positively want to sell out, if anyone’s buying.
And Here’s The Caveat
But, you see, sucking Satan’s cock isn’t my idea of a great night out. I don’t consider selling one’s music through an indie any different to selling it thru a schmindie. What matters is artistic endeavour. If you start off with the position that you do this because you bloody have to, because you want to create art that satisfies your thirst to create something that hasn’t been done before, you will always be cool. Doesn’t matter how you sell it and in what quantities.
What gets me is that so many people in the art of making music settle for so much less. They conform to the idea of what a band in their genre should look, sound, smell and feel like. They go through the motions of being in a band. Noise for intro, four bars of punk, screamo bit, followed by mosh pit bit. Or, if you’re in another genre, perhaps you introduce beat, tell everyone who’s in the house, remind people of the respect you no doubt have in your hood, introduce guest vocalist who talks about nice cars.
SOS are a very fine and talented young band from Derby. They have released their debut single titled 3-2-Gone. It’s rather good, I think you will find. You can get it on iTunes by clicking on the photo.
Check out the video for said composition.
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