Hello,
A while back I was investigating Secondlife for what it had on offer in the way of music. Crap was what I found with very little success in the way of live performances. Everytime I attended an arranged performance it was always dogged with technical problems and never a good musical experience.
After attending a couple of lame concerts and witnessing bedroom songwriting at it's worst I gave up for a while.
Now I've come accross Chouchou. This is pretty much exactly what I was hoping to come accross in the SL community. An act which exists only within SL and the entire product, promo etc exists only in this user generated world. Take a look at one of their videos, 'shot' in secondlife (wonder what camera they used? :-)
I find some of the piano work on there a bit reminscent of Stan Tracey's Under Milk Wood in it's very minimalist yet quite progressive nature. Generally a quite emmersive sound, epic in scale but not overpowering with the various layers of reverbarating piano and processed digital hisses. (What?!?!?! I'll settle down in a min, bear with me)
I guess rather than seeing this as involving records/albums/units/whatever you want to call them, I think Chouchou's approach is more focused on how people consume and interact with their music. For me I find their videos and music all part and parcel of the same thing, like an AV art installation. I will get back onto the whole SL thing just to get a look at what they are doing on line.
Be sure to take a look at their blog and have a listen to their stuff. Possibly lacking a place in today's commercial music market but definitely good to listen to at the right moment. I'll be sticking some of this on my MP3 for those quiet moments when I need some musical mescaline.
Too many gigs last night, made it to two in the end. Was a little ambitious in my planning of my evening of gigs n such.
The plan was to see Mumford and Sons at the Wilmington, then Freerun at Dingwalls and the Chap at Hoxton B&G. I've realised that without a car, more than two gigs in an evening is probably a but much and you end up running around a bit. Anyone remember Treasure Hunt?
On leaving the pub I realised I didn't actually know where the venue was, I knew it was nearby but that's not much use in London. Luckily my street-wise gig buddy had a good sense of direction. I reckon she's part Aborigine or something.
The Wilmington is a really nice venue, never been there before, it was packed aswell. I'll be heading down there again soon on a random outing I think. Low ceilings, small stage limited capacity. My favourite kinda venue. :-)
As soon as their set fininshed it was out into the street and running around looking for some form of the highly efficient and not-unpleasant-at-all-or-smelling-of-sick London public transport. A combination of bus and tube got us to Dingwalls in Camden.
I wasn't too crazy about Freerun. Turns out I went to Uni with the bassist and he recognised me after. So it was nice to chat. Live they are increably tight, really clever vocal harmonies and really energetic on stage. The crowd went crazy after each song too and I was left feeling that I was missing something. There wasn't a really strong song there plus I didn't find the overall package appealing, my gut wasn't going for it. Of course I'm sure I could easily be proven wrong and known as "That guy who passed on Freerun, what a nobhead". I will certainly keep an eye on them and see how it develops as I haven't experienced that much of the band.
After some schmoozing outside with some lawyer types I was too late to make it over to Hoxton which I'm gutted about as I really really wanted to see The Chap. According to a recent post I read my interest in The Chap proves how woefully narrow my tastes are. :-)
Anyhow, might update this post later if I have time. Hope all is well with you.
IB
Did the comp on Saturday, I didn't win put put in a reasonable show which was nice.
Anyhow
Music n that.
I've just been asked to be on an A&R panel for City Showcase. I've done it before and it's quite interesting getting picked apart, live, in front of an audience.
However, this time around they're wanting people to bring demos in and have them reviewed live in front of the audience. I think this could possibly only end in tears as no matter what I say would be deemed both wrong and unqualified. Then there'd be the whole "Is this representative of what A&R people are like?!?!" etc. I can usually be reasonably diplomatic in my response to something I don't like, but if it turns into an audio version of X-Factor I'm not sure if I'd be the best person for the job as I may get it wrong and upset someone.
I will have to think carefully about whether to agree to do it or not. Could be an accident waiting to happen methinks.
Filming the Zutons today which will be fun. I do camerawork sometimes for the labels and get to film bits and pieces. Done quite a few now, did the Ting Tings a few weeks back, did Celine Dion ages ago. Always makes a nice change to my day for a couple of hours.
Anyhow, I'm rambling now. Might add to this in a bit.
Hope all is well with you.
IB
Not whinging today.
Maybe a little.
But not too much.
Whenever there is too much of something it puts me off investigating acts of that genre, which is wrong. I am fighting it. I've had a gutfull of bad emo. Both signed and unsigned. Therefore, I'm having trouble listening to new stuff as most of it is a bit crap. I also met my first 'straight-edge' person recenty. Complete with 'X' tattooed on the back of their hand. I've been told that comes from underage gigs in the states where an X is drawn on the back of their hand to stop them buying booze. Sounds....special.
Anyhow, this has led me to listen to more quirky things, dance music, jazz, reggae, and a fair bit of wierdness from the dark corners of Europe.
Something I came accross recenty that falls into that category is The Chap. I really really like the track Oozing Emotion. It's fantastic. Can hear various influences in there, but they've been around for a while, so I'm thinking they may have influenced the acts I'm thinking so I'll keep schtum for the sake of sounding dumb (well, more than usual). There are moments of real genius on the album, swiftly followed by 'what the hell were you thinking?!?!?' moments. I don't know whether this was done deliberately or if it is genuinely hit and miss. What is apparent is the complete lack of market driven production/writing. I think it's completely by artist preference which is something I really like. I could detail a long email to them saying do this with that track and that with the other. But I'm not sure they would be interested. I'm going to go to a gig and say hello anyway as I think it would be a really enjoyable gig anyhow and if this works live it's probably amazing. Please have a listen to the Oozing Emotion track. It's special. :-)
Hope all is well with you
Hmm.
Probably going to get another telling off for this.
But I've had a few calls recently that have really worried or angered me. Yes, I do communicate via other methods outside the t'information superweb sometimes.
It's pushy parents pushing their pushy kids cushy music (try saying that pissed). I think it's great when parents support their kids' musical ambitions n such. Very important in fact. But it's when they completely overbake the whole thing, putting the kid on a pedestal that they can only fall off from that I get irritated.
Most of the acts do have talent which is great. But they're then surrounded by people and an environment that fuels a circular belief. What you end up with is a kid in a bubble, really believing they're the best thing since Michael Jackson before they reach their invitable ceiling too soon. They end up feeling they've achieved their peak pre 16 as a rule and that peak wasn't quite good enough. The reality of it all is usually they're not very good, been paired up with a not very good producer, got some not very good promo done and subsequently done some not very good shows/PR. Whilst the whole time being surround by mum/dad-picked disciples telling them how sucessful and amazing they already are.
What they simply need is support and elbow room to do what they do and experience regular doses or reality and creative rejection. Every artist I meet, including pop hopefuls and signed acts, have a sense of perspective, realism and maturity (irrespective of age). The sort that can only be achieved through exposure to the realities and limitations of both the industry they work in and, more importantly, themselves. When you see kids who are 'naturally gifted' obviously there is an element of that. But they didn't wake up one day as Bob Dylan. On closer inspection you see they are in an environment that encourages development and them to witness first-hand what they can and can't achieve. Then they can improve and develop into good acts.
I probably shouldn't write blogs after phonecalls that p me off. So I may end up deleting this tomorrow.
Hope all is well with you.
Hello,
Another bank holiday snuck up on me which I was totally unprepared for. Which was good as it forced me to relax for once. I even did stuff in the garden (mainly bash the crap oot me heavy bag and scare the neighbours).
Friday was excellent. A mate of mine is driving a motorised rickshaw from the top to the bottom of India for charity n that. To raise the profile (an excuse for a pissup I think) she organised a gig at the world famous Troubadour. Well.... I don't know if it's world famous but it is where Dylan had his first UK gig (I think).
There were some excellent acts there. One of which I've tried booking previously called Goldheart Assembly. If this band were about in the 70's, Eric Clapton would have played in the band at least twice shortly followed by Jimmy Page I think.
If you've ever watched The Last Waltz and enjoyed it then you should see this band. A lot. I was half expecting Neil Young to shuffle out with a 12 string at one point. Now don't get me wrong. This is no 'music was sooo much better 40 years ago' faux tribute act. There's a lot of contemporary influences in there. But overall the music, image and performance gave the warm anologue fuzzy feeling of bearded folk rock. It done in such a way that everyone in that room could be left nothing but a feeling of being impressed, and wondering if they had just witnessed one of 'those' gigs that you incessently irritate your mates years later about how you were there.
A bit like pretty much any Smashing Pumpkins UK gig.
Apart from that it was a quiet weekend as I'm economising and recovering from my first allergic reaction to anything in my life. Ugh. Minging. Wont go into too much detail.
Apologies to those who have been trying to get hold of me for over a week now. I will get there eventually. I have 400 emails to get through and vast amounts of Vox messages too. Plus video editing, gig organising, gig attendance, management meetings, artist meetings, 2 months laundry, online meetings, seminar attending, n stuff. Though I will catch up I promise.
Hope all is non-allergic with you.
Was the response to my chosen gig buddy of last night after I explained why I was an hour late for the Grammatics gig.
I really like this band. Their music is quite quirky and I hear a lot of different influences in there. Production-wise the stuff I've heard is quite 80's/cure-esque I think. Have a look at their page. The Vague Archive and Shadow Committee are great to listen to.
Missed the last tube so went to the chill bar thing around the corner for a while and watched some jazz/triphop thing. Then went for a wander and bought some cider (classy). Eventually went cab hunting which was unsuccessful. But managed to get into an Ibis hotel foyer for half an hour whilst we waited for one. Luckly a nice scottish bloke let us borrow his pass to get through the door. I had to spend half an hour looking like I was sort of queueing to get a room/sort of playing with my phone. My mate drank cider and took advantage of the free internet I think.
I'm off to see Goldheart Assembly at the Troubadour tomorrow as I came across them a while back and have been meaning to see them for a while. What gigs have you got coming up at the mo? I've had a shortage of 'We're playing here' emails. I'm out again tonight and on Satuday too I think. I should start cycling to venues maybe? That could be disasterous though I guess.
I've got a Columbia A&R meeting today where I'm going to really push an act I've mentioned before (but can't mention now ;-) in advance of meeting our Chairman. Got some really good stuff to present, most of which has come through here so I'm hoping to get a second blog signing some time soon. But that may take a bit of time I guess.
The reason I was so late for the gig was I got my new bike yesterday. The sales bloke looks exactly like Eric Idle and sounded like him too. Anyhoo, I got changed into my completly non-waterproof cycyling gear (monkey magic t-shirt and canvas shorts).
It's the first time I've had proper gears, the whole shimano thing is at least 10 years old but I'm a bit behind. I was used to gear changes on the cross bar like on my chopper (it was my brother's actually)
I sort of had an idea where to go, so headed over putney bridge for barnes, came through Barnes, got lost and didn't know where I was until I re-appeared pretty much outside my ex's house. Would have been difficult to explain why I was there so I managed to pedal a bit harder and get to the Thames in record time.
Again, I got lost and it was embarrasing as to how many other cyclists zipped past me at high speed. Probably with a snooty expression on their face but I only got to see their lycra-clad arses disappear into the distance. Hmm, I wonder if I should go for the lycra look? :-)
Eventually I had the "Ahh, I'm here" moment, shortly followed by the "Oh f**k, I'm here!!" moment. I'd overshot by a few miles and had a long trek home. 2 hours later I made it. According to tfl's website it should have taken 35 mins. Shite.
Hope all is tranquil and easy to find with you.
Hello,
Saturday night was really rather jolly good. Murray James opened the evening with a strong set. There was some new material in there that sounds really interesting. Ball and Chain was my personal highlight and I'm looking forward to getting a recorded version off his manager soon. TF's crowd is quite tough for singer songwriter types, but he came across really well and got a warm reception. Though I did end up shouting at some hecklers afterward (I shouldn't be allowed a mic between sets).
It was weird starting a gig whilst it was still daylight. I guess it's now officially summer. Evening though it's sodding raining (again) outside.
Daniel Flay & The Irreparable Guilt followed. There was only to of them, so I guess it could have been Daniel Flay and the Nearly-Irreparable guilt, the Slightly Guilty, perhaps it could have been Daniel Flay and the bit Shifty? Anyhow, enough Michael-taking. His set was great.
Millionaire is one of my favourite songs and regularly features in my iTunes, as does The Antagonist which I hum a lot. As I raved on about that night, I find a really charming vulnerability in his music but real strength in its execution. (what am I on about?!?!?) But seriously, as a character, Daniel is quiet, reserved, possibly slightly introvert which is apparent on stage but the music expresses some really strong sentiments. The almost continuous two part harmony between Dan and Ellie Walker makes for engaging melodies and songwriting that works really well. Be sure to listen to both Daniels and Ellie's stuff. They finished the set with a really great Cyndi Lauper cover (bet you can't guess which). I hope they're doing some more London dates soon, if they are check them out.
Ched followed (I approve of the name change). The six string bass implied to me that it was going to be quite jazzy, or really frickin heavy. Jesus H Christ it was loud. There is a really strong reference to Rage Against the Machine in their style which is no bad thing. Lots of manic synchronised head banging interspersed with leaning back screaming vocals. Really taken aback by the performance and I was smiling the whole way through. At one point the bassist had his foot on the window sill to the left of the stage and was performing to his own little crowd gathering outside. Christian has real presence as a front man and knows how to grab a crowd by the goolies. They haven't got any gigs booked, which needs to change I think.
Occupying that uncomfortable space that followed Ched, Capisce? followed. Luckily their tight performance and stark contrast in style didn't highlight them as a lull in the evening's line up. I've never seen a guitar with a piercing before but that's exactly what I saw on Ian's instrument. Possibly early days for the band but Time Crisis 4 really stood out as a potential hit with moments of brilliance in its performance.
So, headlining the evening was Tough Love. I'd been looking forward to this literally all month. The only reason I got them booked is I've known the manager for 10 years and lived with him for a while. Otherwise I think this lot could have been an optimistic booking on my part. Because there's a lot going on stage-wise. I sound-checked them earlier in the evening. Two drummers, FIVE vocals, guitar and bass. Crazy sound. When listening to their stuff I hear Paul Simon (during the whole Ladysmith Black Mambazo thing), Adam and the Ants, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Scissor Scisters, and a whole heap of others. Getting Over It is another iTunes highlight of mine and I recently really started to get into Alpha Male which I think could be a hit for radio depending on the mix. They're currently working with a producer I'm familiar with and I'm really looking forward to hearing their new stuff. As mentioned before, they're really involved in the whole London burlesque scene and have picked up a lot of fans as a result. Their night White Mischief is eagerly anticipated and was described as the 'Event of the year' by Timeout last time. No dancers at my gig unfortunately. Hopefully this is something I can rectify in the future. Purely for artistic purposes. Anyhow, visit their page and say hello. Be sure to check them out at some point soon.
------
Apart from that, all in all a quiet weekend. I didn't get to bed until 7 on Sunday morning. I don't really get to enjoy the gigs as I'm too busy running about making sure everything is ok. Plus I'm filming n that. One day I'll just sit back and project manage, having my own 'people' for such things.
Will all this busyness I've lost track of time, and not been doing the excercise that I've meant to. Checking my diary my competition is 2 weeks away!!! :-s So I thought last night "Right, intense training, now! Nothing but training for the next two weeks" Then I looked at my diary and every night is booked up with something. As is the weekend. Hmm. Maybe I should use Condaleeza Rice as a role model (she gets up at 4am every day for the gym). Saying that, I get my bike tomorrow which Sony BMG has supplied me with. Hopefully I can take it off some sweet jumps.
Anyhow, hope all is sweet with you.
Seems like forever since I last posted but never enough hours in the day, So what have I been doing? well TRAILER are planning their first single release with Fin records which is being mastered in Holland as we speak, this should be June time to tie up with the bands suppoport slot with THE MUSIC @ Covstock www.covstock.co.uk .TRAILER will be supporting Gary Numan on 24th July at The Kasbah in Coventry.They are also haveing top DJ/producer Dustin Skilles in the US remixing a track and word is its amazing.
FIORI have just been in the studio to record 2 tracks for an LA based lable and have just recruited a new drummer as untill now Myke from TRAILER was on sticks. Over the weekend FIORI had 2 gigs, one of which was a heat for G Factor which is a Coventry based competition for bands to play at this years Godiva Festival. Fiori got through to the final on May 25th and will now play at the Godiva Festival on Friday 4th July if they win the final on May 25th they will play on the main stage with headline act The Enemy.
KING HERMIT have had quite a few gigs with a support slot to FOUR DEAD IN OHIO from the Fierce Panda stable, KH are booked in to record up in Liverpool on 28th June.KING HERMIT will also be at this years Covstock supporting THE MUISC.
WAITING FOR WORDS are rehearsing for gigs in Paris and London this year, while also recording new material for an upcoming album.
Ben Arthur continues his US tour and will soon be booking dates in the UK so if you have never seen Ben before then keep a close eyes for dates in September.
So as you can see, very very busy but all good fun and not a mentalist in sight!!!!! yet.
Stew
Emsar Management
Hello,
Ok, you lucky people. There is one of those wonderful gigs happening.
This is what I put in my 'offcial internal message' thing:
Burlesque-tribal-pop scenesters 'Tough Love' will be headlining the usual mixed bag of quality acts @ TEOC.
After recently selling out Scala, press and radio are starting to champion what could be on of the more unique signings of 2008:
"With a genuinely different sound and an entertaining live show, they look and sound like no other act we've seen."
- Record of the Day (awarded Record of the Week)
"Brilliant - packed with pop hits and charisma and fielding two drummers. Somebody sign them post haste"
- Music Week
http://www.toughloveband.com/
Opening
the night will be Warner Chappell's most recent signing, Murray James.
He's just finished his second UK tour and has been courting various
corners of the industry with his pop huskiness.
http://www.myspace.com/murrayjamesmusic
Also joining the bill will be:
Daniel Flay and the Irreparable Guilt
The Cheddington Incident
Capisce
Doors are 7.30, entry £4 and will play through into the morning. Will be excellent if anyone fancies it.
Have a look at the acts if you get chance.
Anyhow, hope all is stress free with you.
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