SWSW. . . Meanwhile, What Are We Doing?

Most of you probably know that SxSW just wrapped up down in Austin Texas. For those who do not SXSW is basically the city of Austin celebrating music and those who make music. To be specific, it is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas.

It is one extended party and involving several hundred if not thousands of bands and artists. You have the bands, and you have music business people. There is even corporate people considering various sponsorship options in regard to music.

If you go through the listing of bands at sxsw.com you see a good number of bands from NYC and Brooklyn listed. (It is interesting that folks make that distinction. I am not from NYC, I am from Brooklyn. . .) It is cool to see they made the trip down to Texas and participated.

One can debate the benefits of going down. You probably will not come back with either a record deal or a corporate sponsor, you never know, but regardless of that, you were part of something. The music scene there is celebrated. The cool thing is that it is a week which is about making music, about getting out there and making some noise. It is a week of celebrating music and musicians.

Meanwhile over here, and this is not the first time this has been said, we have nothing. Oh we do have stuff going on. This weekend in Yonkers is the Alice Cooper and Kiss Tribute Show. Nothing against Alice or Kiss or the tribute acts doing these shows, but we are talking to different leagues here. It just don't compare to SxSW.

Alright, that is Yonkers. NYC proper has a few things going on. I am talking good shows featuring local talent that should be checked out. One of my favs, Do You See the Dark is playing Baruch College in the next week. The Dirty Pearls are doing a show at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn. Me Talk Pretty is doing a show too in the next few days. All good acts-good shows, and I am afraid they are all on the same night!

So there is stuff going on, but unlike Austin, which is swallowed up by the music, NYC and the metro area, swallow the music. It is just sucked up like a giant black hole-gone and forgotten. Have no doubt, the music scene is here and happening, and there are some gems to be found, but they get little respect, little attention.

Further, the institutions of the city are disappearing. The old clubs are gone, the CBs, the Continentals. When you talk to bands and artists, they want to get out of the city. NY might be the base of operations, but they want to come to Yonkers (yes even Yonkers. . .) and Westchester.

On the other hand, maybe that is New York. We all know someone who came with a dream and who got beat. It is not suppose to be easy. As Phil Lynott said, New York "is high rise, concrete and complex". It is that much bigger, that much more challenging. It can and routinely does overwhelm. Maybe New York subscribes to Nietzsche's Will to Power-it is going to throw everything it can in your way, and you will struggle, and if you succeed, well now you are talking!

Regardless of that challenge, it would just be cool if the music scene in NY had a bit of that spirit, a bit of that recognition found at SXSW. And maybe that is just not New York, maybe NYC is the town that to live and thrive here is a badge of recognition. The problem is I am not sure anyone is thriving. I just think NYC, Yonkers and Westchester are just not tuned in. They are busy in their cublicle listening to the peak and getting the lowdown on who the governor is banging today.

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Two Shows in One Week and a Third on Monday!

It might be the tail end of a grey drab February, but you can still rock out in NYC-regardless. Granted it snowed-finally last week, but still it is back to gray drab stuff now.

Saturday, February 23rd at Arlene's Grocery on Stanton Street down in the village, however, shined. It was the first time in a long long time that I was at ahow that the audience and the band were just wild. It was so good to be part of such a show. I am talking about the Statues of Liberty at their CD Release Party.

The energy for that show was great. the band was digging it and the audience in turn was there too. We had folks jumping up on the stage and people pushing thru the crowd o the front. Yes it was a crowd. It has been a long time since I stood in a crowd waiting for a show. It was nice to see such a scene. It was nice having to fight my way to the bar, knowing these folks came to see the Statues tear up the stage.

When the band did go on we did have a small delay, getting the technology working to premiere their first video, Run Motherfucker. It was worth the wait. And moments later they turned their amps on and got the show on the road. And for the next 40 minutes maybe an hour, they played. They did all their songs. I have seen them multiple times and they are always good. the music is good. the musicianship is there. they know how to have fun up there, and it all comes out and it came out that night.

Now the thing that was differentthat night was the crowd. It was just so nice to see a capacity crowd. we need more of that.

On a different front-tomorrow night, Thursday March 28th at Don Hills, Queen V is at it again with her "Take Back New York" shows. Once a month, now with band and amplified, Queen V takes back New York. She is on to something in that the city is missing someithing with all these clubs dissappearing lately. I caught the November show and that was pretty cool, again with a good crowd. We hope to wander down tomorrow and check her out again!

I am missing some good shows. I am not sure what I have been doing but I just have a craving for some kick ass shows. Maybe it is symptom of the winter drab that seems to be plaguing me lately. Spring is coming but in the interim, a few shows like these will get me going. I not perhaps I am simply dead.

Last point. . . one more kick ass show happening March 3, a Monday, is Antiproduct. You have seen these folks on Leno, You have heard them do dunkin donuts commercials, now you need to see them do an amazing version of Good Vibrations-the old beach Boys tune. You think I have lost it? You have not heard them do this song. you say that a band cannot live on one song-well hey have their own, songs such as Bungee Jumping People Die. Even if this song sucked, it would still deserve something for its title.

Come out to the Haunt in Yonkers to check them out. they are coming from the UK and claim to be the end result of a genetic diaster if one ws to take thegenes of Kiss Abba and Slayer, and mash them together. They are also on this tour campaigning for Britny for President. This will be another of those shows that will kick one in the groin and get you going again.

Bob Schaffer

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History Does Repeat Itself

Way back in the nineties, I considered a career in education. Me teaching Social Studies - History in a High School near you. Well that did not work. I did however go thru most of the classes required. I even did my 3 months of student teaching. The best part of it was arriving at the conclusion that education as in schools and classes was not for me.

Actually not, actually there was some pretty interesting stuff that I got exposed to. I got to introduce Amadeus, the movie, to a bunch of juniors and seniors in Spotswood High School and talk about the concept of genius following it. I got to check out a political science class where I got to try to integrate empiricist and marxist approaches on the subject, and had the pleasure of suggesting classical rhetoric as an alternative to educational psychology. And in my last class, I got to read Milan Kundera and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, with the intent of perhaps finding out what is next in education. I had a good time.

Shame that today in a conversation about those years, those studies, what was brought up was not the above but the cost of those classes. Instead of looking at what was gained, what was explored, we hear about the investment and the apparent limited return on it. The capper was that I did not complete the program and that perhaps I should perhaps go back and complete the degree.

No doubt I would love to go back, but not to finish any degree. Fortunately, I bring the same fucked up attitude to music promotion.

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Whores and Money. . . the thoughts of one promoter

Musicians have their music to allow them to vent. . .I mean express themselves. What does a promoter or a promoter want-to-be have? And often there is a lot of anger in their self expression, granted not always. Megadeath and much of metal love to talk of death, and destruction, granted they are not always angry when they do it. Half of Eminem's songs are rants against his wife, other rappers, and his mom.

I do not know what tools a promoter has to endure such crap, and no doubt we have our own frustrations - wives, venue owners, musicians on occasion, and just life in general. Granted booking of shows and perhaps that is the ultimate remedy, but one also does need to look at what one is doing, and one's thoughts and feelings on the subject. So I write it down - Dear diary. . . and with the blog, perhaps for public consumption-all five or six visitors!

This, however, is not what I intended-I digress. The above perhaps is a preface. The actual intent of this little piece is to talk about whores and money or what I would do to see a little success. The title does dramatize and exaggerate, but that is what a title or headline is for. No in the end all I point to here is the idea of hooking up a cover or tribute band with an original band.

That is it? Whores and Money translates to teaming cover bands with original bands?

For this promoter it does. I am working such deals for a one or two bands right now and do ponder such things. The basic idea makes sense. Get a Cover or tribute band that is going to do one good set and (hopefully a good draw), and have the original unknown band start the evening. One has to start somewhere. They warm up for the bigger act, just like anywhere else.

On top of that you have the entertainment value. The audience knows, and enjoys the cover or tribute act, whether it is a Springsteen tribute, a U2 Tribute or a Kiss show. People know what to expect. They know they are going to have a good time. Friday or Saturday night, you go out for a few beers, maybe a few shots, hang out and just take in some good music. Nothing wrong with this picture and most important-the audience came out!

On top of this, they do get exposed to the original act. They check out and hear something new, and might just open up to this new band doing new songs that they never heard before. They might just actually listen and dig these tunes and arrangements that they never knew existed before the band started playing their instruments.

And then once the original act is done-the Tribute act takes the stage. What eaxaclty is wrong with them? They had to rehearse and master the music, the voice, the style, the persona of the acts they are doing. Likewise they had to give up a bit too. They cannot show up at rehearsal with an idea for a new song unless that idea came of Bruce's or Kiss' CD or album. They have paid their dues. And nothing wrong with this. There are lots of musicians who just love playing and do not desire the creative or composing element. They enjoy performing live or playing classics or artists they have focused on.

So what is the problem. . . Stay tuned and I will see if I can come back with an answer.

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The Wonder of iPods and Technology that Sucks

This Christmas I acquired my first iPod. I know I am moving a little slow over here. iPods have been out for quite awhile and today there are numerous variations. I guess I am just set in my ways. Perhaps I like running back and forth to my car with CDs in hand for my various trips through the day and night.

I had gotten a Sony devise- another MP3 player last Christmas and I got stuck on their request for me to install yet another media player on my PC. I never progressed past that point. I think there are currently five versions of media players right now on the machine. another was not needed. Besides, it was just not believable to me. I seemed so fragile and I was uncertain how I would select a song or artist. So it sits in my office unused.

the iPod though was quite a different result. The days following Christmas were largely spent loading all my CD, and there was a bunch, into my iTunes. So if nothing else, it got to move most of my collection, (the listenable component) into iTunes. Now the part that i knew, but now witnessed, was that I could take all those tunes and move them into my iPod. It was Amazing!

That tuned out to be 1700 songs. Who knew I had that much music! I had not pondered before that how many songs or music I had. Nor had my wife, when she bought me the thing as a Christmas gift. She got me an iPod Nano, which holds only - only - 2000 songs. Sadly, I will exceed that sometime soon and will either need to truncate my collection or move onto a bigger device.

I was and am amazed that now I can carry in my pocket my entire collection of music. And with that knowledge and capability, I am now inspired to scour the earth for music that I have since lost. Bands like Blackfoot, UFO and even Deep Purple or Zeppelin - stuff that I know but that have been pushed to the periphery.Things I once had on vinyl and now want and need in a digital format. New stuff that I have had samplings of but now want to add. Bands like Radiohead that I hear a snippet of but just are a step or two away from me reaching out and getting. This new little device which fits in my pocket simply inspires!

Now here is where my saga begins. For those of you who know me, I listen to my music in the car. Even though I work from home I still generally hop in my car to go somewhere and when I do I am carrying some CD to pop in for the trip. Whether it is a mid-day trip to Dunkin Donuts or a trip into the city at night to see Do You See the Dark or Statues of Liberty, it is always with music in the CD Player.

Well, my decision to buy an iPod was calculated. I knew where and how I listened to music and knew that if I were to get an iPod I would have to figure out how to get it connected into my car stereo. I did a little research on the web and among friends and the verdict seemed to be that it was no serious issue to connect it by simply using the FM radio. I thought it was a cool solution and told by several that it worked. Looking back, I am afraid I was cherry picking my intel.

The idea behind the FM radio solution is simple. You plug this device into your car cigarette lighter, and your iPod sits on top of it. It locates an unused frequency in the FM band and broadcast a small signal that only my FM radio, which is a foot away an pick up. Yes I have now become an FM Broadcaster! (Stay tuned for more to on this theme!)

So it is a very cool tech-savvy solution. But it does not work. It is not able to find an open frequency. The music fades and it has every pitfall of the FM band-the fading, the static. Sadly the solution is not listenable. I will be in the middle of some piece of music and it fades. So what I am realizing is that this new very cool piece of technology ties into into certain ways of listening. Car listening is not quite there yet. No doubt it will be figured out-I have no choice. I do want my music library in my car.

More on this to come. . .

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