Just in case someone randomly stumbles upon this and doesn’t already know, I need to start this by saying I do PR for a record label, management company, and booking agent. And by “I do PR” I mean that I’m running PR here. I have no assistant and no boss (other than the owner of the company), it’s just me. I’m in charge of setting up interviews (and making sure the band follows through), sending out promotional mailings for new releases, fixing and updating the websites, and sending promotional materials (including CDs, posters, pictures, etc) out to show promoters.
Now, this was basically what I was doing when I interned at Hopeless this summer (though I was more stuffing, and less planning who things were getting sent to. Oh, and I did less show promo as they had their own booking agents who did their own PR). It’s a very different experience now, however. And the reason is not because I’m in charge of it now, instead of just following orders. Or because I’m the one making first contact with radio stations and press, or talking to the band about what opportunities they have for press. The reason is the bands.
At Hopeless, they were mainly promoting All Time Low, The Human Abstract, There For Tomorrow, and Anarbor. Here, I’m promoting Kid Creole and the Coconuts, the Marshall Tucker Band, Blue Cheer, and a few others. The difference? Here, I work with legends. These bands put out their first albums before my parents even met. At Hopeless, I was working with new bands, who just got signed, or were putting out or touring on their first full-length release on the label. The newer bands were working their asses off to get any notice, even if it was just a local zine that 10 people read (or a 22 year old’s blog that 8 people read). The older bands don’t so much care. They’ve been around long enough to see the ebb and flow of the music industry, to see the good and the bad and everything in between. The newer bands are hoping to get enough notice so they can stick around for one more tour. The older bands don’t give a shit who’s at the shows, as long as they get to keep doing what they love, what they have loved for the past 30+ years.
So what does that mean for me? It means my life is a little bit more difficult now in some ways, but much easier in others. For one, I have to track down band members five minutes before the interview is supposed to start, then get an angry phone call five minutes *after* it was supposed to start from the interviewer, asking why his phone isn’t ringing. I also have to spend a little time convincing bands that they need the press, that this is good for them, and that they need to suck it up, as press is part of their job description.
On the other hand, it means that I have to spend much less time convincing radio stations and newspapers to take my call. These are bands that mean something, they’ve already proven their value, and proven they have staying power. It means that shows and albums sell themselves, the fanbase is wide enough and diverse enough that the kind of person that would go to a Marshall Tucker Band show or buy a Chris Hicks album is going to do it, whether I try to sell it or not. No one has to be introduced to some new band.
However, I still prefer the younger bands. Though they may take more work, they’re willing to do it. They’re gonna bust their asses, because they know if they can’t get the press now, they’re gonna have a difficult time trying to get an album – let alone a review – later. And that attitude is motivating. Much more than talking to a tour manager trying to track down a lead singer.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Digital Movies
I just bought the Chronicles of Narnia on DVD. Actually, it wasn’t on DVD, it was on DVDs. Three DVDs: one with the movie (plus commentaries), one with special features, and one that was a digital copy of the movie, that I now have on my iTunes. And amazingly enough, I think this is one of my best purchases all year!
I’m not a huge Narnia fan. I’ve read the books a few times and quite enjoyed them, but they’re no Potter. The first movie was pretty good, but the kids were all so young that they were somewhat annoying, and they still hadn’t quite decided how they were going to translate the fantasy book to film. The second wasn’t all that much better (though it did add Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian, one of my top three British hotties with co-star William Moseley - Peter Pevensie – and Rob Pattinson – Twilight’s Edward Cullen), though they did work on some of the CGI, which is getting much better with time.
The reason this was my favorite purchase: the digital copy. Such a simple concept, something that iTunes has been doing forever. Put the DVD into your computer, and it automatically uploads onto iTunes (or windows media for non-apple people), then onto your iPod. I don’t particularly like watching something on my iPod, the screen is so small that it starts to hurt my eyes, and I never before felt any great need to have movies on my iPod if I have them downloaded illegally on my laptop.
But I realized this week…digital copies are the smartest thing ever! The movie company can charge a few extra bucks with the DVD if you’re getting two copies of the movie, and consumers aren’t going to complain if they’re paying $20 for the DVD instead of $15 (well, not yet at least). Digital copies exist anyway, why not charge a little extra, and give someone a good quality copy, instead of the crap you get off limewire.
And for people like me, who think they don’t need a copy of a movie on their 1.5 inch by 2 inch iPod screen, let me tell you, there is nothing better than sitting in rainy traffic in LA, listening to Caspian and Peter sword fight…seriously.
I’m not a huge Narnia fan. I’ve read the books a few times and quite enjoyed them, but they’re no Potter. The first movie was pretty good, but the kids were all so young that they were somewhat annoying, and they still hadn’t quite decided how they were going to translate the fantasy book to film. The second wasn’t all that much better (though it did add Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian, one of my top three British hotties with co-star William Moseley - Peter Pevensie – and Rob Pattinson – Twilight’s Edward Cullen), though they did work on some of the CGI, which is getting much better with time.
The reason this was my favorite purchase: the digital copy. Such a simple concept, something that iTunes has been doing forever. Put the DVD into your computer, and it automatically uploads onto iTunes (or windows media for non-apple people), then onto your iPod. I don’t particularly like watching something on my iPod, the screen is so small that it starts to hurt my eyes, and I never before felt any great need to have movies on my iPod if I have them downloaded illegally on my laptop.
But I realized this week…digital copies are the smartest thing ever! The movie company can charge a few extra bucks with the DVD if you’re getting two copies of the movie, and consumers aren’t going to complain if they’re paying $20 for the DVD instead of $15 (well, not yet at least). Digital copies exist anyway, why not charge a little extra, and give someone a good quality copy, instead of the crap you get off limewire.
And for people like me, who think they don’t need a copy of a movie on their 1.5 inch by 2 inch iPod screen, let me tell you, there is nothing better than sitting in rainy traffic in LA, listening to Caspian and Peter sword fight…seriously.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WARPED TOUR 2009
I want to get a job on Warped Tour 2009. So if you know a band that's looking for a merch person for cheap, let me know.
When I tell most people this (friends, roommates, coworkers), most people don't get it. Why, when I already have a pretty good job in the city I want to live in, would I give it up to live in a van with a bunch of smelly boys for 2 months, eating crap, having to do manual labor for about 15 hours a day, sitting out in the heat with no ac and no break? Why would I give up a steady salary (plus benefits) for a job where the company I work for may or may not be able to actually pay me, where I might be working for tips from 16 year old girls…who don't tip unless you're a cute boy.
Many reasons. To be surrounded by the music I love, and other people who love it. To meet a whole new group of people who I would never get to meet living in the suburbs of Philly or LA. To see how other companies work, learn as much as I can for the future when I try to start my own company.
But mostly for the adventure. Two months on the open road, with nothing but music and music people to keep you company. I'd be meeting new people, new fans every day, as well as sharing something special with the other people on the tour, something none of us will ever forget. It's the perfect mix of hard work and parties, but it doesn't seem like work when you're doing what you love. It'd be a chance for me to see the country, even if most of the seeing I'd be doing would be from the backseat of a van in the middle of the night.
Even if I can't get a job, I still can't wait for Warped Tour 2009, Friday June 26-Sunday August 23...SO STOKED!
When I tell most people this (friends, roommates, coworkers), most people don't get it. Why, when I already have a pretty good job in the city I want to live in, would I give it up to live in a van with a bunch of smelly boys for 2 months, eating crap, having to do manual labor for about 15 hours a day, sitting out in the heat with no ac and no break? Why would I give up a steady salary (plus benefits) for a job where the company I work for may or may not be able to actually pay me, where I might be working for tips from 16 year old girls…who don't tip unless you're a cute boy.
Many reasons. To be surrounded by the music I love, and other people who love it. To meet a whole new group of people who I would never get to meet living in the suburbs of Philly or LA. To see how other companies work, learn as much as I can for the future when I try to start my own company.
But mostly for the adventure. Two months on the open road, with nothing but music and music people to keep you company. I'd be meeting new people, new fans every day, as well as sharing something special with the other people on the tour, something none of us will ever forget. It's the perfect mix of hard work and parties, but it doesn't seem like work when you're doing what you love. It'd be a chance for me to see the country, even if most of the seeing I'd be doing would be from the backseat of a van in the middle of the night.
Even if I can't get a job, I still can't wait for Warped Tour 2009, Friday June 26-Sunday August 23...SO STOKED!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Jack's Mannequin vs. Something Corporate
2005 was obviously a huge year for Andrew McMahon. He was diagnosed with leukemia and released his first album (Everything in Transit) with his side project Jack's Mannequin. But first and foremost, he took a break from his first band, Something Corporate. That's the part I remember most, as I had just seen them live for the first time and was immediately impressed; it was only when I looked at their website to find new tour dates a few months later that I heard about McMahon's medical troubles. At the time, no one knew who Jack's Mannequin was, for good reason: they didn't exist yet. And now they're showing up everywhere. So why didn't this happen for SoCo?
God only knows. I must admit, when I first heard the first JM album, I was upset. More than upset, I was freakin *pissed*. Why did they ruin such an amazing band like Something Corporate for a crappy pop band? SoCo was one of the bands that I used to define the best of the best of emo (up there with Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World): melody rich pop-rock with a powerful, emotional vocal and "deep" (for a teenager) lyrics about, well, being a teenager. Jack's Mannequin, was, well, not. "Mix Tape," the first single, was a very poppy love song. Not like the pained love of "Konstantine":
this is because i can spell confusion with a 'K'
and i can like it
its to dying in anothers arms
and why i had to try it
its to jimmy eat world
and those nights in my car
when the first star you see
may not be a star
im not your star
isnt that what you said
what you thought this song meant
…
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all the pretty things she did
hey ya know you keep me up in bed
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all these fucked up things i did
Compare that to the hopeful love of "Mix Tape":
Where are you now?
As I'm swimming through the stereo
I'm writing you a symphony of sound
Where are you now?
As I rearrange the songs again
This mix could burn a hole in anyone
But it was you I was thinking of
How could anyone honestly prefer that mushy shallow love to such honest pain? And how could such an honest and talented lead singer go from Something Corporate to Jack's Mannequin?
Having grown up a little myself since I first started to listen to SoCo (my first SoCo show was January of my freshman year of college; I have since graduated and moved cross country and am living pretty much as a grown up), I'm finally starting to get it. Don't get me wrong, I still love SoCo much more than JM, and the second SoCo goes on tour again, I'm singing up for whatever I need to to get the first presale tickets before they all sell out. But I understand the control of emotion that comes through in JM. He still feels mostly the same as he did before (though I'm sure his idea of "struggle" has changed immensely since fighting leukemia), you just get more of a handle on expressing it with age.
I have found – when going back through my itunes – that my own tastes have changed greatly since 2005. I would have laughed at myself if I knew then what I'd like now. Brittany and N'Sync still annoy the crap outta me (and yes, I still think Justin Timberlake looks like a cross between a monkey and a dog, and I'm even *less* convinced now he has any talent than I was then). But I would have been much more willing (and eager) to sit through a screamo band than I am now. In general, the music I listened to then was much harder than what it is now (then, it was more pop-PUNK, now it's more POP-punk). This trend is even clear in the bands themselves: compare Yellowcard's Midget Tossing (one of their earliest hardest albums), or even The Underdog EP to Paper Walls; how about All Time Low's Three Words to Remember against So Wrong It's Right.
This recent revelation has led me to this question: who's doing the growing? Do bands naturally begin to create more gentle pop-y music as they age? Or is it the fans' fault? Do bands tone it down to appeal to a more grown-up fan base (including their aging original fans)? Or am I being too naïve? Is it really the fault of the industry? The first (few) albums are made entirely by the bands, doing whatever they want with little supervision from the industry people who need to worry about the bottom line; after a while though, they need to broaden their fan base to pay for that next album, which leads them in a more pop direction.
I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did. That way I'd be able to predict more easily who was going to make it big next (and I could befriend them now – yay free concert tickets!). The only thing I know is that I'm still going to love Something Corporate no matter what. Oh, and I'll always hate Brittany.
God only knows. I must admit, when I first heard the first JM album, I was upset. More than upset, I was freakin *pissed*. Why did they ruin such an amazing band like Something Corporate for a crappy pop band? SoCo was one of the bands that I used to define the best of the best of emo (up there with Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World): melody rich pop-rock with a powerful, emotional vocal and "deep" (for a teenager) lyrics about, well, being a teenager. Jack's Mannequin, was, well, not. "Mix Tape," the first single, was a very poppy love song. Not like the pained love of "Konstantine":
this is because i can spell confusion with a 'K'
and i can like it
its to dying in anothers arms
and why i had to try it
its to jimmy eat world
and those nights in my car
when the first star you see
may not be a star
im not your star
isnt that what you said
what you thought this song meant
…
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all the pretty things she did
hey ya know you keep me up in bed
this is to a girl who got into my head
with all these fucked up things i did
Compare that to the hopeful love of "Mix Tape":
Where are you now?
As I'm swimming through the stereo
I'm writing you a symphony of sound
Where are you now?
As I rearrange the songs again
This mix could burn a hole in anyone
But it was you I was thinking of
How could anyone honestly prefer that mushy shallow love to such honest pain? And how could such an honest and talented lead singer go from Something Corporate to Jack's Mannequin?
Having grown up a little myself since I first started to listen to SoCo (my first SoCo show was January of my freshman year of college; I have since graduated and moved cross country and am living pretty much as a grown up), I'm finally starting to get it. Don't get me wrong, I still love SoCo much more than JM, and the second SoCo goes on tour again, I'm singing up for whatever I need to to get the first presale tickets before they all sell out. But I understand the control of emotion that comes through in JM. He still feels mostly the same as he did before (though I'm sure his idea of "struggle" has changed immensely since fighting leukemia), you just get more of a handle on expressing it with age.
I have found – when going back through my itunes – that my own tastes have changed greatly since 2005. I would have laughed at myself if I knew then what I'd like now. Brittany and N'Sync still annoy the crap outta me (and yes, I still think Justin Timberlake looks like a cross between a monkey and a dog, and I'm even *less* convinced now he has any talent than I was then). But I would have been much more willing (and eager) to sit through a screamo band than I am now. In general, the music I listened to then was much harder than what it is now (then, it was more pop-PUNK, now it's more POP-punk). This trend is even clear in the bands themselves: compare Yellowcard's Midget Tossing (one of their earliest hardest albums), or even The Underdog EP to Paper Walls; how about All Time Low's Three Words to Remember against So Wrong It's Right.
This recent revelation has led me to this question: who's doing the growing? Do bands naturally begin to create more gentle pop-y music as they age? Or is it the fans' fault? Do bands tone it down to appeal to a more grown-up fan base (including their aging original fans)? Or am I being too naïve? Is it really the fault of the industry? The first (few) albums are made entirely by the bands, doing whatever they want with little supervision from the industry people who need to worry about the bottom line; after a while though, they need to broaden their fan base to pay for that next album, which leads them in a more pop direction.
I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did. That way I'd be able to predict more easily who was going to make it big next (and I could befriend them now – yay free concert tickets!). The only thing I know is that I'm still going to love Something Corporate no matter what. Oh, and I'll always hate Brittany.
Friday, December 5, 2008
PHILLY PRIDE
I’m proud with very little reason to be. And I do this a lot. Watching All Time Low grow from being an unknown opener at the HFStival, having won a local band competition, to selling out headlining tours and having some of the biggest crowds at Warped Tour, it makes me proud. Sure, I may have told a few people about them, spread their popularity a little, and I did do some promotional work for them at Hopeless, but their success is due to their efforts, not mine. And yet, I’m still proud of them every time I remember them played Warped Tour in Scranton, PA in August of 2006.
A few weeks ago, I went to see Anarbor with some of the people I worked with at Hopeless. The headlining band I had never heard of, and at the time I figured I was just going to head home after Anarbor, as I had work the next morning. But while I was waiting for my tickets, I started talking to some of the guys in Anarbor, when one of the other band members came out. His name was Dan, and he let me know he was in the headlining band, The Scenic. After a few minutes of conversation, I found out he was from Doylestown, right near where my sister is getting married in May. Before he went back inside to watch the show, he asked me to stick around for their set, as their audiences had been somewhat lackluster the past few days.
The set was pretty good. They were obviously a very polished, practiced band, and they had some fun, catchy songs. Though the crowd wasn’t huge, they did have a decent amount of energy, and they were obviously having fun. So when I went up to talk to the guitarist I had talked to before the show, he was surprised and excited to see that I had stayed. He made sure to talk to me for a few minutes before I had to leave, and asked me to come out to see them when they came back to Hollywood for a Battle of the Bands in December.
Now, I talked to this kid for maybe 15 minutes before the show, and 10 minutes after. On top of that, a few weeks had passed in between our first meeting and the Battle of the Bands show last night. When I saw him walking away from the vans and towards the line, just checking out how many people were there, I figured I would go over and re-introduce myself, and after a few minutes of talking, he might remember me. However, when he saw me walking over to him, his face lit up. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming tonight!” he screamed over to me. Not only did he recognize my face, but he remembered where he met me, and the conversation we had about Philly bands a few weeks back.
Some bands, when faced with a new level of fame (and therefore a new loss of privacy) shy away. They unfriend people on myspace and facebook; they stop signing autographs; they go straight from backstage to the tour vehicle. Now, these guys are still pretty small-time, and who knows what they’re going to do in the future, if they will become more reclusive. For now, however, having just been signed and done a pretty decent sized national tour, no one can complain that they were hard to reach. Not only were they all walking around the venue before the show, they stopped and talked to anyone who would talk to them, and thanked everyone who joined in for their mid-set conga line (because no one is too cool for a conga line). After the show, they were all at the merch booth, talking to fans (both old and new), shaking with joy: they had just been invited by Kevin Lyman (founder/owner of Warped Tour, Taste of Chaos tour, etc) to play the “Kevin Says” stage at warped tour this summer, as they didn’t win the battle of the bands competition (though they were his favorite).
This is the new music era. Before, it was all about the mystique of a band: they were gods, not real people. Though specific personal details might have been shared, bands weren’t there to interact personally with fans. Look at KISS, the very definition of mystique: how long was it before anyone knew what they looked like underneath the makeup? Now that has changed. Modern bands – and especially those bands aimed at the younger audiences, those under 25 – are all about personalization. The most popular bands are the ones that make an effort to get to know the audience, and let the audience get to know them. Every band has at least one video camera running at all times, and myspace pages are filled with band pranks and long tour ride videos. Fans today know exactly what the inside of the tour van looks like, without ever having been inside it. They also know all the girlfriends, tour crew, pets, favorite foods, most popular tour games, everything.
Many major acts are still trying to avoid this, but the truth is that secrecy just angers and annoys fans. The Scenic is not the best band I’ve ever heard, and I’m honestly not sure if they’re really gonna do anything more than what they’re doing now: small shows with mediocre crowds. But they found a supporter in me, just by being human.
www.myspace.com/thescenic
A few weeks ago, I went to see Anarbor with some of the people I worked with at Hopeless. The headlining band I had never heard of, and at the time I figured I was just going to head home after Anarbor, as I had work the next morning. But while I was waiting for my tickets, I started talking to some of the guys in Anarbor, when one of the other band members came out. His name was Dan, and he let me know he was in the headlining band, The Scenic. After a few minutes of conversation, I found out he was from Doylestown, right near where my sister is getting married in May. Before he went back inside to watch the show, he asked me to stick around for their set, as their audiences had been somewhat lackluster the past few days.
The set was pretty good. They were obviously a very polished, practiced band, and they had some fun, catchy songs. Though the crowd wasn’t huge, they did have a decent amount of energy, and they were obviously having fun. So when I went up to talk to the guitarist I had talked to before the show, he was surprised and excited to see that I had stayed. He made sure to talk to me for a few minutes before I had to leave, and asked me to come out to see them when they came back to Hollywood for a Battle of the Bands in December.
Now, I talked to this kid for maybe 15 minutes before the show, and 10 minutes after. On top of that, a few weeks had passed in between our first meeting and the Battle of the Bands show last night. When I saw him walking away from the vans and towards the line, just checking out how many people were there, I figured I would go over and re-introduce myself, and after a few minutes of talking, he might remember me. However, when he saw me walking over to him, his face lit up. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming tonight!” he screamed over to me. Not only did he recognize my face, but he remembered where he met me, and the conversation we had about Philly bands a few weeks back.
Some bands, when faced with a new level of fame (and therefore a new loss of privacy) shy away. They unfriend people on myspace and facebook; they stop signing autographs; they go straight from backstage to the tour vehicle. Now, these guys are still pretty small-time, and who knows what they’re going to do in the future, if they will become more reclusive. For now, however, having just been signed and done a pretty decent sized national tour, no one can complain that they were hard to reach. Not only were they all walking around the venue before the show, they stopped and talked to anyone who would talk to them, and thanked everyone who joined in for their mid-set conga line (because no one is too cool for a conga line). After the show, they were all at the merch booth, talking to fans (both old and new), shaking with joy: they had just been invited by Kevin Lyman (founder/owner of Warped Tour, Taste of Chaos tour, etc) to play the “Kevin Says” stage at warped tour this summer, as they didn’t win the battle of the bands competition (though they were his favorite).
This is the new music era. Before, it was all about the mystique of a band: they were gods, not real people. Though specific personal details might have been shared, bands weren’t there to interact personally with fans. Look at KISS, the very definition of mystique: how long was it before anyone knew what they looked like underneath the makeup? Now that has changed. Modern bands – and especially those bands aimed at the younger audiences, those under 25 – are all about personalization. The most popular bands are the ones that make an effort to get to know the audience, and let the audience get to know them. Every band has at least one video camera running at all times, and myspace pages are filled with band pranks and long tour ride videos. Fans today know exactly what the inside of the tour van looks like, without ever having been inside it. They also know all the girlfriends, tour crew, pets, favorite foods, most popular tour games, everything.
Many major acts are still trying to avoid this, but the truth is that secrecy just angers and annoys fans. The Scenic is not the best band I’ve ever heard, and I’m honestly not sure if they’re really gonna do anything more than what they’re doing now: small shows with mediocre crowds. But they found a supporter in me, just by being human.
www.myspace.com/thescenic
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Yay Random!
Happy (belated) Turkey Day!
I know, I took some time off for the holiday, wasn’t planning on it, but then the weekend just got away from me. I wanted to tie up a few odds and ends before writing a new blog on, well, music (cuz I totally said that’s what I’d be writing about in the first place).
So just to get it out of my system, I have a new lesbian crush. Her name is Cleolinda, and all I know about her is that she cracks up my inner 16 year old. She compares Twilight to porn without plot, staring emo-Bella, SPARKLEPIRES (that would be vampires who sparkle…get it….vamPIREs…who SPARKLE…I guess it’s funnier if you read her recaps), and Native American boys (and girl) who FURSPLODE! She writes about 15 different livejournal blogs in which she mostly just parodies things I love so that I love them even more: Harry Potter, Lost, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, all of it. Basically, I really wish (a) I had her awesome sense of humor and (b) I could invent words like Sparklepire and use phrases like “omgsomeen.” She also invented (well, maybe not invented, but brought to my attention) the game “Horrify the Twilight Noob,” in which a Twihard (or slightly less obsessed fan) will talk about the awesomeness of the books to someone who’s never read them, and they will get so confused their head will explode. Her example:
“OH HOLY SHIT ARE WE GONNA PLAY HORRIFY THE TWILIGHT NOOB AGAIN? I LOVE THIS GAME!Yeah, he thinks Bella's killed herself (it's a loooong damn story), so he goes to the capital vampire city in Italy (look, don't ask me) and he's going to fling off his shirt and sparkle in public at high noon, because he knows the ruling vampire whoevers will tackle him first and kill him--you know that expression "suicide by cop"? Kind of like that. So of course Bella finds out, and she has to run across the city in a race against time to stop him. In my head, it happens in slo-mo, and there's a Big No ("NOOOOOOOOO") involved.”
http://cleoland.pbwiki.com/Twilight#HorrifytheTwilightNoob
Feel free to check out all things “in 15 minutes,” because I do occasionally quote them (“I think I saw a porno like this once…”)
http://community.livejournal.com/m15m
Second of all, I *finally* got caught up on my Preston and Steve podcasts, thus I’m on to catching up on AP podcasts. And you know what one of the first things they talked about on the most recent podcast was? LEAD SINGER SYNDROM. Yes, I have my finger on the pulse of America. Well, at least on the pulse of AP. For serious, when interviewing Anberlin, they talked about how RYAN KEY (and I’m gonna say it now because they said it first; for those who didn’t already know, yes, I was talking about Ryan Key, the asshole who began my hatred of all things LSS) was the most infamous example, and how he even admitted burning bridges by his asshole-ness. Boo ya grandma. Just sayin.
Finally, AP just put out their list of albums they’re looking forward to hearing in 2009. On the list? Green Day (which I almost shit myself when I saw, because you know any new Green Day album is gonna be amazing), All Time Low (which I have low expectations for, after hearing Alex’s song dissing…um… “the record industry,” plus I’ve heard the demos SUCK), and a whole crapton of people I don’t really care about. You wanna know why the music industry is failing? Because no one cares about the new album. It’s all about the new tour. Don’t believe me? I went to a concert (a *sold-out* concert) Saturday night, where half the crowd was just chillin outside for a large portion of the show. And almost everyone left with merch. So just put out your album online, and tour a crapton, cuz apparently shows are the new hangout (I’m not gonna lie, I kinda miss the days of just chillin at the mall, but every generation needs its own “Mallrats”).
Later this week I will for real write something music (and not Twilight) related. PSBTW, if you want me to listen to/comment about a band you like, comment with myspace link and I shall listen.
I know, I took some time off for the holiday, wasn’t planning on it, but then the weekend just got away from me. I wanted to tie up a few odds and ends before writing a new blog on, well, music (cuz I totally said that’s what I’d be writing about in the first place).
So just to get it out of my system, I have a new lesbian crush. Her name is Cleolinda, and all I know about her is that she cracks up my inner 16 year old. She compares Twilight to porn without plot, staring emo-Bella, SPARKLEPIRES (that would be vampires who sparkle…get it….vamPIREs…who SPARKLE…I guess it’s funnier if you read her recaps), and Native American boys (and girl) who FURSPLODE! She writes about 15 different livejournal blogs in which she mostly just parodies things I love so that I love them even more: Harry Potter, Lost, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, all of it. Basically, I really wish (a) I had her awesome sense of humor and (b) I could invent words like Sparklepire and use phrases like “omgsomeen.” She also invented (well, maybe not invented, but brought to my attention) the game “Horrify the Twilight Noob,” in which a Twihard (or slightly less obsessed fan) will talk about the awesomeness of the books to someone who’s never read them, and they will get so confused their head will explode. Her example:
“OH HOLY SHIT ARE WE GONNA PLAY HORRIFY THE TWILIGHT NOOB AGAIN? I LOVE THIS GAME!Yeah, he thinks Bella's killed herself (it's a loooong damn story), so he goes to the capital vampire city in Italy (look, don't ask me) and he's going to fling off his shirt and sparkle in public at high noon, because he knows the ruling vampire whoevers will tackle him first and kill him--you know that expression "suicide by cop"? Kind of like that. So of course Bella finds out, and she has to run across the city in a race against time to stop him. In my head, it happens in slo-mo, and there's a Big No ("NOOOOOOOOO") involved.”
http://cleoland.pbwiki.com/Twilight#HorrifytheTwilightNoob
Feel free to check out all things “in 15 minutes,” because I do occasionally quote them (“I think I saw a porno like this once…”)
http://community.livejournal.com/m15m
Second of all, I *finally* got caught up on my Preston and Steve podcasts, thus I’m on to catching up on AP podcasts. And you know what one of the first things they talked about on the most recent podcast was? LEAD SINGER SYNDROM. Yes, I have my finger on the pulse of America. Well, at least on the pulse of AP. For serious, when interviewing Anberlin, they talked about how RYAN KEY (and I’m gonna say it now because they said it first; for those who didn’t already know, yes, I was talking about Ryan Key, the asshole who began my hatred of all things LSS) was the most infamous example, and how he even admitted burning bridges by his asshole-ness. Boo ya grandma. Just sayin.
Finally, AP just put out their list of albums they’re looking forward to hearing in 2009. On the list? Green Day (which I almost shit myself when I saw, because you know any new Green Day album is gonna be amazing), All Time Low (which I have low expectations for, after hearing Alex’s song dissing…um… “the record industry,” plus I’ve heard the demos SUCK), and a whole crapton of people I don’t really care about. You wanna know why the music industry is failing? Because no one cares about the new album. It’s all about the new tour. Don’t believe me? I went to a concert (a *sold-out* concert) Saturday night, where half the crowd was just chillin outside for a large portion of the show. And almost everyone left with merch. So just put out your album online, and tour a crapton, cuz apparently shows are the new hangout (I’m not gonna lie, I kinda miss the days of just chillin at the mall, but every generation needs its own “Mallrats”).
Later this week I will for real write something music (and not Twilight) related. PSBTW, if you want me to listen to/comment about a band you like, comment with myspace link and I shall listen.
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