music, gigs & making a living

I've recently spent sometime thinking about the current state of the music industry for independent bands and musicians like myself. I am constantly being told how much people want to see me play live both solo and with my band Phaselock yet gigs are not forth coming. I am not alone as there are some great bands, both big names and small, out there who are having the same problems. These bands I would love to go and see but no promotors/venues want to book them. Instead they are booking what I class as un-original mass appeal commercial acts and are losing money because in a lot of cases people aren't turning out to see those acts. 

My thoughts on the matter are that, as with the major labels 10 years ago, promotors and venues have seen a loss of revenue due to the financial crisis. People have less disposable income to spend on going out to shows. As with the CD, the mass public that isn't too bothered about music began to spend money on other things, Video games consoles, smart phones, laptops etc. The error of the majors as with todays promotors is that they concentrate on mass appeal. Less ticket sales = get more commercial acts. In fact for the general public music isn't that essential to everyday living. It's a background soundtrack. If you have a limited budget then the non music lover will go to a bar with friends and be satisfied with a juke box. 

Ah but for the music lover gigs and albums are essential. The music lover budgets for gigs and buying music either on a physical support or legal download. The music lover will forego a night at the pub/restaurant because there's a "must see" gig coming up. I am one of those people. I will stay in for as many nights as it takes so that I can afford to go to a gig by a band that I love. I can get into a lot of gigs for free but 90% of the time I pay for my ticket to support the band and the brave venue/promotor that put the gig on.  The problem is that neither the record companies, the media or the promotors are catering to that audience. They are many and enough for all of us to play often and make a living. Acid Mothers Temple understand that if you only sell between 500 and 1000 cds then it's better to release 4 or 5 per year knowing that your fans will buy them than record 1 album every 3 or 4 years. It's the same with gigs. Promotors are always trying to fill 2000 seaters upwards with crap musak that everyone who likes that sort of thing downloads as ringtones than get a circuit going of small venues and bands that guarantee a good, if small, crowd.
The biggest problem for bands like mine is communication/publicity. We played loads of gigs last year but getting the information "out there" is a full time job. Posting an event page on FB doesn't work. Yes it's part of the process but in itself totally unreliable. Sadly a lot of venues where we played seem to think that a FB event is sufficient. People will click "join (= I'm going)" then forget all about it.  What works are posters and flyers but that costs money. 

Another worrying trend is the amount of venues who no longer pay the bands. They don't even give more than 2 drinks to the musicians. Free beer for the band when they aren't being paid is a minimum. It's not a new phenomena, I remember back in the day, venues like the Marquee Club (Wardour street) paying, let's say 50 quid to the support band, then presenting a bill for 90quid for the use of the sound & lights plus engineer and 40 quid for drinks consumed.
  

 Still things are different today and it's time to push for change.

My first Blog, an explanation and right to reply.Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

On the 21st of june 1998 I had a remarkable adventure.

A young lady, a singer in a french band, came along to a couple of concerts that I was attending for the Fete De La Musique.

Now I'd spoken to this person once before and found her beautiful in mind, body and spirit. So I was surprised when people in my entourage began saying that there was a young lady asking after me. My female friends began saying that I should ask her out as they could see by her body language that she was attracted to me and that it was obvious to them that I was quite smitten.

So cups of coffees and beers in cafes around Menilmontant/Oberkampf ensued. I sort of courtship took place, me always unsure of her feelings, not quite believing that this wonderful person could have any feelings for me. That would be too good to be true. I was done for. I never thought that I could feel the way I felt.

So one very hot day I arrived home from my daily run and there she was, waiting for me in front of my apartment block. She had sprained her ankle cycling so we went up to my flat and I took care of her ankle. Then words were spoken, declarations made and passionate embraces followed.

In my joy I was smiling from ear to ear. I knew the meaning of ecstasy. Then in my usual way I said something that I shouldn't have. I stated how lucky it felt that we were both single at the moment of our meeting each other.

Her reply crushed me. She said that she was in a relationship for the past 7 years. I stopped dead and said that we could not go any further. So without even sleeping together things came to an end. She said that I shouldn't care about the other man, I didn't really know him and that it was her that had to carry the burden.

I don't operate like that. We saw each other in cafes a few times more. She was going to leave him and we were going to go to her fathers place in the countryside for awhile. I waited by the telephone on the day we were due to go. When I got the call it was to tell me that she couldn't leave.

So there we were back in 1998. I never really spoke about this as it's a small world and I didn't want to cause her or her boyfriend any embarrassment or pain, nothing happened so why cause unnecessary hurt. I wanted her to be happy.

For me on the other hand it was the worst period of my life, I hit the deepest depression that I have ever experienced. Friends were worried and wouldn't leave me alone because they were scared that I might have done something stupid. They took shifts over a few days to keep me company without ever really knowing what had pushed me to such a breaking point.

Fast forward to 2006 in Amsterdam. I get a text message asking me "hey what happened between you and ---- ?"

The band that she played in had just released a bonus track edition of one of their albums on which was a track called "Bob". I had to explain to close friends why I had never confided in them when it was all going on. Of course the song is far from flattering. I've had several attempts at composing a response but to no avail as yet. This year the track has come out on a "best of" CD so I'm having to talk about it again.

Nothing happened, I don't cheat on my partners or sleep with people that do. The couple could continue in the knowledge that she hadn't been unfaithful and only a kiss was exchanged in real terms.

I have done my best to be honorable yet the hostility that I feel from this song is distressing.

Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,

Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

So there you have it, my first Blog.