rip it up

it seems that we may be appearing in Rip it Up sometime soon (Jan 22 unless something goes wrong) ... it has been a long time (if ever ... did we get reviewed in the early days?) ... it looks like we'll get some space in State of Sound ... 

a bit of research shows that bands in this section get about 500 words written about them ... that usually they are promoting a "special" gig (mostly launches of cd) ... that band photos are mostly some guys standing in a pose ... that it is up to the band to have something to say ... a lot of bands say the same thing ...

topics ... where they got the money to record ... who they have played with ... awards/grants/competitions they have won ... how and where they recorded ... lineup changes ... how good the gig will be/was ...

... is there anything else that people want to read? ... i remember reading an interview with Andrew p street (he was being interviewed) and he discussed the size of adelaide compared to manchester and why Adelaide shouldn't be held back by remoteness or size ... it was interesting (naive but valid) ....

some things to consider ...

we want people to go to our website and listen to our music and then come to our gigs or email us and tell us they like it ...

 

... we don't need a record company ... we'd like any attention though ... we'd like the money if it was free of obligation ...

... we need people to come to our shows so that we can pay for the rest of the process ...

... we are grateful to the Grace (greg) for his patronage ... he once gave me a "spiel" he had downloaded from the internet about the relationship between bands and pubs ... it's not a charity ... we need to get punters to the pub ...

... chances are we will not be the NBT ... although it would give me great pleasure to be noticed by Uncut ... I like it that people pay us to play and that the people who see us say nice things ...

... why do we do it?

... it is good for our souls ... firstly ... maybe to live some fraction of a fantasy ... two ... therapy ... 3rd .... because i hear stuff and think "i can do that" ... is 4 reasons

... do we want to be famous?

don't know really ... not as an end in itself ... it would be nice to be recognised and respected ... fame seems like a pain in the arse really ... it's not a choice we have to worry about ... are we ambivalent or realistic? I am not sure that what we do would stand up to global scrutiny ... not much of what is out there does really ... it all gets forgotten so quickly ... i'd like to be famous in adelaide

we are writing for a very local market (primarily four rem fans) ... 

... we are desperate for attention ... we pine for radio airplay and press coverage ... when they play us on community radio we ring them up and thank them (before the song has even finished) ... when we don;t get noticed we feel slighted ... 

... we want people to come to our shows and love what they hear ...

we don't sound like the "latest wave" ... I keep hearing bands that sound like the stokes crossed with something else ... very clever but it probably won't go anywhere ... which is fine (we have worked out a way to not go anywhere) ... it's just that these bands seem so determined to go somewhere ... 

We have seen a lot of bands who were going somewhere ... it used to make me very envious ... mandelbrot set ... big things flying ... the violets ... bliss ... reckoning ... the undecided  ... revolvar ... honeyfix ... the superjesus ... the lizard train ... strum? ...

this is a very subjective list ... bands that got the attention when i was looking - noticed on triple j, supports with big bands, the big day out, record company attention ... 

... it sounds jaded but none of it amounted to much ... maybe the audreys and the HTHoods will change all that ... i think the "system"/industry is changing anyway ... it seems lots of bands Explode onto the local scene ... fully formed and polished ... but we're not competing in their race ...

... we can maintain our output ... out-survive most bands ...  keep on keeping on

la la la