Quiet Pop

... this is content of an email discussion I had with Matt Reiner regarding some of the potential i see in Quiet Pop (it occured before the Gov $$$ issue came up) ...

I have been very interested in the recording project and also the birth and evolution of Quiet Pop ... I have been thinking and would like to share some ideas ...

some considerations ...

1. I think that Matt did a great job at negotiating a "good deal" for bands from the Gov in terms of the Balustrade gigs ...

2. I think that bands stand to gain much more more from the gigs and an association with Quiet Pop than the $100 or $200 ...

3. If bands were prepred to "take money out of the equation" ... i.e. were prepared to play "at cost" i.e. not "pay to play" but effectively play for free ... this would allow Quiet Pop a lot more flexibility to negotiate terms with venues ...

4. If any money was made out of shows/events either through guarantees or door deals (or chook raffles) then this could be used for Qiuet Pop projects ...

5. One project is obviously the publishing of the zine ... and a posisble online prescence ... another project could be the facilitation of "self recording" and release of recordings for bands ...

6. Self recording requires time/money, expertise and equipment ... we need to find solutions that don't require money and that allow bands to use their own time effectively

7. Equipment ... Quiet Pop could use money from gigs to invest in microphones, a portable mixing desk, software etc to help bands record themselves ... i.e. bands play for free but get to use recording gear for free ... there may also be opportunities for sponsorship, donations and grants ... being Quiet Pop rather than just a band might have a positive effect

8. Expertise ... Sleepless would be happy to support bands/individuals in developing the expertise to record themselves ... "the Semaphore process" ... we would be involved in recording other bands BUT with a primary aim of showing other people how to do it themselves ... I am sure there are members of other bands that would be keen to share their knowledge and skills in this area

9. Quiet Pop could become a forum to share ideas about packaging and distribution as well as a platform for promotion and identity

10. Quiet Pop is a zine ... it seems to have a gig management/promotion arm as well ... it could also become a "community" of bands (selected by Matt Reiner) ... "like" a label but not a label ... it certainly seems like something that people will take notice of ...

Some considerations for a future conversation:

I have assumed that Quiet Pop could be the label for a whole lot of activities (zine, website, gigs, recording, promotion, identity) ... you may not want that name to be used ... it would not be a problem to come up with another name - although the fact that Quiet Pop already has some "presence" means that there is less work in getting things off the ground ...

... Quiet Pop reminds me of Greasy Pop and Sup Pop and it is interesting that both these "labels" are strongly associated with a time and place ... Greasy Pop, Adelaide, 80s ... Sub Pop, Seatle, 90s ... the idea of identifying a "scene" is attractive and may have its benefits ... Quiet Pop, Adelaide, 10s ... it's clever marketing

... already I have come across people who know something of what you are doing ... "oh, that Matt Reiner guy - isn't he doing something in management and promotion now" ... I think it is important to build this around your vision ... the bands involved should represent your tastes ... your networks ... your friendships ...

... is Quiet Pop a record label? I am not sure if there is a future for record labels as we know them ...

... I like the idea of bands recording and releasing their own stuff ... cheap ... rather than throwing money at this ... very limited runs of physical cds (costs recoupable by sales at gigs) ... inexpensive but effective packaging ... releasing stuff for free on the internet ... we already have a process for all this ... are other people interested?

... as I said in the last email ... bands stand to gain more from an association with an entitiy like Quiet Pop than $100 per gig

... if Quiet Pop puts on shows and bands agree to play for free (but with the understanding that there will be support for recording) then we will hopefully be able to facilitate an "avalanche" of adelaide produced pop music ...

... I envisage a "Quiet Pop" portable studio that bands can use to capture good quality recordings ... Cubase and even GarageBand are fairly powerful tools for producing clever/interesting arrangements of songs ... there are lots of free applications that also support the process of "producing" a record ... I would be interested in enabling other bands to utilise these tools ..

... it occurs to me that the "purist" love for analog equipment, while understandable, is exclusively expensive ...

... if recording and releasing music becomes inexpensive then this will enable people to get better at what they do (write, perform, record) and may even bring a sense of healthy competetiveness to our town ... especially if someone is watching i.e. if there is an audience ...

... at the very least the bands involved in Quiet Pop are a significant audience ... I would be happy/excited to release a song knowing that there is a "network" of bands/people who are interested to hear what we have done ... especially if the zine becomes a forum for comment/review/feedback ...

... from little things big things grow

thanks for listening (and getting off your arse and actually doing things) ...