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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Kerry Chicoine" <KChicoine@whitehat.com> |
| Subject | Re: rant 'n' roll |
| Date | Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:28:57 -0700 |
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Regarding Carl's excellent post about gigging and the disappearing
audience...
A couple of years ago -- using Adam Marsland and Stew as my primary
inspirations -- I decided to try my hand at live performance after a
lifetime of being a home studio rat. I think I played maybe six
solo-acoustic gigs over a six month period; my best draw (other than an
awesomely cool debut at Wendie Colter's Third Thursday show, RIP) was seven
people in Sherman Oaks on a rainy Thursday night. I was disappointed in the
turnout, yet -- apparently -- I had a great night compared to some. By the
way, when I say draw, I mean people who came specifically to see me; the gig
in Sherman Oaks was actually pretty packed with pool playing regulars:
crack, bang!
Anyway, after several gigs of basically playing for my girlfriend, a few
incredible friends (Cathy Gale, Bill Bostick and John Perry, stand up and
take a bow), and the other bands, I decided that the effort:reward ratio was
too skewed on the "effort" side, if you catch my salamanders. I decided that
it just wasn't worth my time and effort to do it anymore, and I came to
accept performing the odd show here and there *if* I felt like it. I haven't
felt like it yet, even though I get asked to play on a fairly consistent
basis.
Did I mention that I never made a *dime* from any of these performances? Not
that it matters, but, had I chosen performing my music as a way to make my
living, I'd probably be a Chris McCandless by now (link to his story below).
I guess my point is, if you're playing live -- consistently -- to
underwhelmingly small numbers of fans, and it bothers you to the point of
resignation and tears (as it did me), then why keep doing it? Why bother
playing for a bartender when you could've stayed home that night and written
another song? Have you read Adam Marsland's tour diaries (link below)? This
guy has been on the road for the better part of THREE YEARS and he STILL
sometimes plays to a shamefully small number of people. It seems like no
matter how hard he works, it's still not enough to overcome the audience
lethargy that seems epidemic in this country (among those 30+ anyway). This,
in spite of the fact that his music stands head and shoulders above the
crowd, and that he's incredibly charismatic on stage; it's not like he
sucks, ya know? The simple fact is, he's an adaptable person with a yen for
the road and a passion to get his music heard, and -- correct me if I'm
wrong here, Adam -- his fanbase *is* growing (probably not fast enough for
Adam). He's making it happen, however slowly, in spite of all the naysaying.
While that's great for Adam, I'll take my house in Van Nuys -- and my free
evenings for songwriting under the starry San Fernando Valley sky -- over
sleeping in my car outside of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, any day.
But that's just me.
Where are the audiences?
Good freaking question. Just last Saturday, my girlfriend and I went to the
CD release party for the re-release of the classic power-pop album "LA
Explosion" by The Last, featuring an intimate acoustic performance by Joe
and Mike Nolte. Guess how many people showed up? Six. FUCKING SIX PEOPLE:
Bomp Records main man Greg Shaw, me, Nipper, Joe's girlfriend, and two other
fans. I felt *bad*, man -- here's a songwriter's songwriter with a list of
credentials longer than Tommy Lee's cock, and I out-drew the man. Go figure.
Do more musicians mean less audiences? It would stand to reason, but I'm not
sure. I think the advent of quality home recording studios, coupled with
internet avenues of exposure, coupled with software such as pre-programmed
rhythm tracks and pitch correction, coupled with a general dumbing-down of
musical standards (thanks largely to bad, boring rap), has brought the
creation of music to the masses -- finally. We're all rockstars now;
songwriters are no longer considered special, not now that you and your
friends can program a "song" in the time it takes to give Pamela Anderson
her hepatitis C shot. The magic and mystery of being a songwriter seems
largely lost among non-songwriters these days. Why shouldn't it, when
there's so much garbage being pushed by both the majors and the indies and
the indie-indie-indies?
I say get used to it, and get used wading through the crap, because the
cream is still most definitely there (and there's MORE of it). There ARE
audiences hungry for cream; find those people. Random gigs e-flyer'd to
friends and associates is not enough. Play only high-profile gigs with
similar artists. Do open mic's to hone chops. Target your market and -- if
it's not artistically onerous to you -- cater your songwriting to that
audience. Find your niche, hopefully one that's not over-saturated with
clone-a-bees (like power-pop or pop-punk).
Or just keep doing whatever it is that makes you happy, which, for me, means
crafting and demoing tunes that attempt to catch the listener off guard, and
sometimes downright confuse them. :)
Carl, is there anywhere online I can download some tunes of yours? I do 99%
of my new music listening online while at work; hit me with a link, and if
you don't have anything available out there, I suggest you make something
available NOW. Greatness, unheard, means nothing. Hell, upload some stuff to
Garageband.com and get almost instantaneous feedback from other musicians
(that's how I get my ego fix these days). You *can* find an audience -- one
listener at a time -- and you DON'T have to spend 232 days on the road to do
it. Just write from the heart and put it out there and be realistic.
Thanks again for the great post, hang in there and do whatever makes you
happy.
kErrY kOMpOsT
Free music: www.mp3.com/kompost
Diaries and Ramblings: www.m-blog.com/kompost
Christopher McCandless story:
http://web.outsideonline.com/magazine/0193/9301fdea.html
Adam's Road Diaries: http://www.cockeyedghost.com/
Garageband: http://www.garageband.com/artist/kompost
NP: Spock's Beard - Snow (still digging the total Neil Finn/Crowded House
vibe of some of these pop tunes disguised as prog)
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