Annoyingly my current reclusive week of all over the placeness meant I missed the recent LookiMakeMusic gig. Luckily some really kind person taped them and they're on the LookiMakeMusic YouTube channel (they both start with weird crackles but quickly kick into ace).
There Is No 'Us'...
Why I Started the Indie Club Fires
Really looking forward to seeing a whole set. Also, it's weird that there seems to be a decent cohort of bands at Birmingham Uni at the moment, back in my day it was just lads from Chamberlain Hall with bongos.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
"Why Don't People Come To My Gigs": Some thoughts on audience categorisation
See also turning blog post titles into academic affairs. I keep thinking that's what's needed though, a good Riot Nrrd research strategy.
Anyway, Capsule have raised the old chestnut of getting people to gigs (although it's off the back of an event discussing the 'music industry' which always makes me feel like I shouldn't be part of the conversation). The recent Scene Not Heard post reminded be that I'd written something down in my drafts.
I could quite happily roar about lack of poster space (since that blog post most of those spaces have dissapeared), lack of cross promotion on each others websites and at events, and the fact that handing out flyers is illegal all over Birmingham centre, to solve a Broad Street problem.
I did want to get down a few thoughts on audience categorisation though - as I was basically wondering if you could categorise attendees and non attendees - and start developing a theoretical frame work about why people do and dont go. Then I can use that framework to happily roar about lack of poster space, lack of cross promotion on each others websites and at events, and the fact that handing out flyers is illegal. Plus it might help promoters.
Anyway, I think there are 5 distinct categories, who I've grouped and given names.
The don't knowers
1) People who don't know about the gig and wouldn't come if they did
2) People who don't know about the gig and would go if they knew
The don't goers
3) People who do know about the gig and don't want to go
4) People who do know about the gig and would like to go but can't
The down the fronters
5) People who do know about the gig and do go
There's also 6) people who don't know about the gig but wander in on spec, but as that's down to serendipity, posters everywhere in the venue on the night, and door price I'll leave discussion of this subset.
1) People who don't know about the gig and wouldn't come if they did
Let's face it, even for big events by professional promoters like Capsule, most people fall into this category. It's hard to cast the promotion net wide, and we're doing niche things. Thats not to say this is a write off group, but in my head it's something like a large cultural shift like the increasing DIYification of music in order to make inroads.
2) People who don't know about the gig and would go if they knew
This is an interesting category, it's always nice to think as a promoter that there are hundreds of people who would want to come to your nights, they're just in their room listening to Girlfriendo rather than browsing the net for "Girlfriendo indiepop night Birmingham". I still think occasionally people do pop out of the woodwork, even for nights that have been running for several years. The important thing here for me is community, if you've got a large group of local bands who have played your night, or people writing about it, or other nights with smilar ethos talking about what's going on - that all counts for community.
Of course there are other ways to get people down to gigs, and things like flyers and posters help. It's tricky to get posters up these days, let alone get posters up in places with high footfall though, like The Bullring. I'm literally terrified about what would have happened if the internet hadn't of kicked off when it did because that's the bulk of my promotion now - which makes a very closed loop.
3) People who do know about the gig and don't want to go
This is good promotion but to the wrong people. It might be an indicator that you're using the wrong communication channels (or flyering the wrong events in old school English) if you find this a lot. Likewise if you've got a good mailing list but just aren't putting on bands that people want to see - or you do something too different too often. A promoter can get round the latter by building a good reputation I guess, going back to Capsule, they have a wide-ish variety of bands and people go because it's Capsule.
4) People who do know about the gig and would like to go but can't
Here's where factors like public transport come into play. It is a big issue and it's one of the reasons why I'd never do an event in Kings Heath, you've just cut out such a large number of potential attendees.
And let's face it, real life gets in the way. There's tonnes of stuff I've wanted to go to recently but have had my hands full.
I try not to do too much these days too, to make each event a bit more one off. I think if you put on a monthly night then it's easy to get into trouble abd you do need a large number of people who'll come down regularly, because people might find it hard to make each one every month. I suppose if you find yourself in a month-rut then trying to make events a bit more unique so that people prioritise it higher would help. Oh, and announcing line ups early helps too.
5) People who do know about the gig and do go
Win! You can probably pay a band a decent amount if you get loads of these.
There's no structured qual research behind this segmentation of gig goers, their characteristics, and how to get round the different barriers that each group faces - this is all ethnographic observation from getting out there and putting gigs on and talking to people about it. The lines between groups are blurred also. I suspect testing this theory and looking at understanding characteristics and subsets would be the next step if I was putting together a Riot Nrrd research proposal. Along with representing it as a flow diagram too. That'd be ace.
(I'm fairly serious about this Riot Nrrd thing. I've seen papers like this about V Festival and Glastonbury attendees but it stikes me as the WRONG place to kick off research like this. If research does take values and bias in the direction of it's study, which it inevitably will, then surely it should be for the good of the underdogs.
Sitting down and thinking about how all of this relates to me has actually helped me plan a bit when thinking about The School on 20th March. Um, also I hope no-one thinks I'm categorising them as a number or something, I didn't do this with that in mind, I just wanted a logical way of looking at things. Debate and thoughts appreciated.
Anyway, Capsule have raised the old chestnut of getting people to gigs (although it's off the back of an event discussing the 'music industry' which always makes me feel like I shouldn't be part of the conversation). The recent Scene Not Heard post reminded be that I'd written something down in my drafts.
I could quite happily roar about lack of poster space (since that blog post most of those spaces have dissapeared), lack of cross promotion on each others websites and at events, and the fact that handing out flyers is illegal all over Birmingham centre, to solve a Broad Street problem.
I did want to get down a few thoughts on audience categorisation though - as I was basically wondering if you could categorise attendees and non attendees - and start developing a theoretical frame work about why people do and dont go. Then I can use that framework to happily roar about lack of poster space, lack of cross promotion on each others websites and at events, and the fact that handing out flyers is illegal. Plus it might help promoters.
Anyway, I think there are 5 distinct categories, who I've grouped and given names.
The don't knowers
1) People who don't know about the gig and wouldn't come if they did
2) People who don't know about the gig and would go if they knew
The don't goers
3) People who do know about the gig and don't want to go
4) People who do know about the gig and would like to go but can't
The down the fronters
5) People who do know about the gig and do go
There's also 6) people who don't know about the gig but wander in on spec, but as that's down to serendipity, posters everywhere in the venue on the night, and door price I'll leave discussion of this subset.
1) People who don't know about the gig and wouldn't come if they did
Let's face it, even for big events by professional promoters like Capsule, most people fall into this category. It's hard to cast the promotion net wide, and we're doing niche things. Thats not to say this is a write off group, but in my head it's something like a large cultural shift like the increasing DIYification of music in order to make inroads.
2) People who don't know about the gig and would go if they knew
This is an interesting category, it's always nice to think as a promoter that there are hundreds of people who would want to come to your nights, they're just in their room listening to Girlfriendo rather than browsing the net for "Girlfriendo indiepop night Birmingham". I still think occasionally people do pop out of the woodwork, even for nights that have been running for several years. The important thing here for me is community, if you've got a large group of local bands who have played your night, or people writing about it, or other nights with smilar ethos talking about what's going on - that all counts for community.
Of course there are other ways to get people down to gigs, and things like flyers and posters help. It's tricky to get posters up these days, let alone get posters up in places with high footfall though, like The Bullring. I'm literally terrified about what would have happened if the internet hadn't of kicked off when it did because that's the bulk of my promotion now - which makes a very closed loop.
3) People who do know about the gig and don't want to go
This is good promotion but to the wrong people. It might be an indicator that you're using the wrong communication channels (or flyering the wrong events in old school English) if you find this a lot. Likewise if you've got a good mailing list but just aren't putting on bands that people want to see - or you do something too different too often. A promoter can get round the latter by building a good reputation I guess, going back to Capsule, they have a wide-ish variety of bands and people go because it's Capsule.
4) People who do know about the gig and would like to go but can't
Here's where factors like public transport come into play. It is a big issue and it's one of the reasons why I'd never do an event in Kings Heath, you've just cut out such a large number of potential attendees.
And let's face it, real life gets in the way. There's tonnes of stuff I've wanted to go to recently but have had my hands full.
I try not to do too much these days too, to make each event a bit more one off. I think if you put on a monthly night then it's easy to get into trouble abd you do need a large number of people who'll come down regularly, because people might find it hard to make each one every month. I suppose if you find yourself in a month-rut then trying to make events a bit more unique so that people prioritise it higher would help. Oh, and announcing line ups early helps too.
5) People who do know about the gig and do go
Win! You can probably pay a band a decent amount if you get loads of these.
There's no structured qual research behind this segmentation of gig goers, their characteristics, and how to get round the different barriers that each group faces - this is all ethnographic observation from getting out there and putting gigs on and talking to people about it. The lines between groups are blurred also. I suspect testing this theory and looking at understanding characteristics and subsets would be the next step if I was putting together a Riot Nrrd research proposal. Along with representing it as a flow diagram too. That'd be ace.
(I'm fairly serious about this Riot Nrrd thing. I've seen papers like this about V Festival and Glastonbury attendees but it stikes me as the WRONG place to kick off research like this. If research does take values and bias in the direction of it's study, which it inevitably will, then surely it should be for the good of the underdogs.
Sitting down and thinking about how all of this relates to me has actually helped me plan a bit when thinking about The School on 20th March. Um, also I hope no-one thinks I'm categorising them as a number or something, I didn't do this with that in mind, I just wanted a logical way of looking at things. Debate and thoughts appreciated.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Deserters Deserve Death
Back before I was firmly settled into Birmingham I used to play in an Edinburgh band called She Dreams of Faraway Starsh (check out the 403 Error on our abandoned myspace to see horrific design in action, there's probably tonnes of similar abandoned profiles, I wonder what the worst one is I can find...)
Anyway, the point of this is we played some of our gigs with Saint Jude's Infirmary, who since released two fairly amazing albums - both full of Field Mice bass lines and girl vocal harmonies from two singers whos voices really did work together together so well. I could never realy understand why they were never as widely loved as Manhattan Love Suicides given the similar musical touchstones.
Grant and Ashley from St Judes have started a new band called Deserters Deserve Death covering similar JAMC inspired ground - but the guitars here have more bite with the vocals pushed behind them. I think they remind me a bit of Angelfish too, only going about the whole thing in a more pop manner. The result is really quite haunting and dreamy. I really love these three tracks. More please :)
Anyway, the point of this is we played some of our gigs with Saint Jude's Infirmary, who since released two fairly amazing albums - both full of Field Mice bass lines and girl vocal harmonies from two singers whos voices really did work together together so well. I could never realy understand why they were never as widely loved as Manhattan Love Suicides given the similar musical touchstones.
Grant and Ashley from St Judes have started a new band called Deserters Deserve Death covering similar JAMC inspired ground - but the guitars here have more bite with the vocals pushed behind them. I think they remind me a bit of Angelfish too, only going about the whole thing in a more pop manner. The result is really quite haunting and dreamy. I really love these three tracks. More please :)
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Birmingham Music Blogs Round Up
There's been a few new Birmingham music blogs which have started up over the last few weeks, so I thought a round up of sites where you might find reviews of Brum gigs and releases was in order:
Blue Whale
Scene Not Heard
Jeff Stuka
The Hearing Aid
Birmingham Live
The Music Quarter
Parallax View
Brum Notes is also available digitally and ATTA Girl make zines.
There's probably more - what am I missing?
Blue Whale
Scene Not Heard
Jeff Stuka
The Hearing Aid
Birmingham Live
The Music Quarter
Parallax View
Brum Notes is also available digitally and ATTA Girl make zines.
There's probably more - what am I missing?
Free-Stuff Round-Up
As January rumbles on with it's mammoth gap between pay days, I thought it'd be a good point to round up a few free netlabel releases that I've been listening to lately.
Netlabels are a vital part of music and if we're ever going to usurp the fact that music is this massively centralised commercial process that we have no say in then having the means to distribute music for free has to play a part, surely. The fact that the music is free says more for the ethos than the quality, as many are organised by people who care about the music they're curating.
IAYD - Supergalactic
Available from 8bitpeoples
Kind of like Sufjan Stevens was in 2006 where you'd have frequent moments which go: "oh, you've been listening to and enjoying Sufjan for the last year too, I also have, and am surprised that we've not really discussed his work before" with seemingly everyone, the same thing is happening with 8bitpeoples. The only difference is the conversation is on twitter rather than down the pub.
Of their recent releases I've been listening to Supergalactic by IAYD the most. It's a great space themed release and instantly gets, say, 50 AABWJLM kudos points for having a song called Tycho Brahe. 10 of those points are because it reminds me of Robin Ince.
They're on the more chunky side of bitpop (you see how my music vocabulary breaks down when not describing indiepop) with the short playful 'Subatomic' setting a tone rarely repeated in the rest of the release before throwing you into the fuzzy stomp of 'Between Multiverses'. Out of all the songs I think 'Physics' is my favourite, possibly because the track drops away nicely in the middle to allow a stunning pitch bent melody line in which sets the scene for the track to rebuild itself in clever ways.
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving/Sleepmakeswaves split LP
Available From Lost Children
I've been having quite a lot of post rock moments recently, trying to catch up on the post rock that I've missed from 2009. Sadly many of them have been ill advised post rock moments as some bands seem to stick to the established the Quiet Quiet Quiet quieter LOUD structure and some decide to put vocals over what was a perfectly good song without. Post rock + vocals = frequent shocking lack of melody. Who knew.
However, this split LP is a really nice stand out moment from last year and makes me look forward to future released by both bands. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving contribute two stunning and contractory tracks, the three minute rainy piano soundscape of 'A Vexing Predicament' acts as the perfect counterbalance to 'The World Is A Death Machine' which softly builds in the way that only a 15 minute post rock track is ever allowed to, new instruments slowly fitting into place to start to build the pace and pushing in different directions, seemingly trying to lead you off on a tangent before dropping you back into the quiet inexorable build. Part of the strength is that the band aren't afraid to take volume out of the mesh of instruments either, creating perfect valleys in the song.
The track doesn't finish of the same loud finale that many post rock bands end up on either, with dominance handed over entirely to the guitars, and it's the busy drums and piano of the finale which eventually pull the track apart. Fantastic stuff, if you've got quarter of an hour. Bands have fitted gigs into the same time frame.
All three Sleepsmakeswaves tracks come in at around 6 minutes. Their contribution to the LP may sound understated, when contrasted against the longer TTOL track, but that's what genuinely gives them strength. They dabble with the same musical reflection that gives bands like Epic45 their magic, although the main conclusion here is louder.
The Melting Ice Caps – Between Eros and Agape
Available from Oddbox Records
I had to mention the Oddbox Netlabel, partially because I've not reviewed anything on Oddbox yet and partially because musically it's seemingly dedicated to finding interesting pop bands.
The Melting Ice Caps are an interesting pop band. I think I'd put them somewhere between Jens Lekman and Momus and Northern Portrait, the title track is a laid back guitar driven affair but it's the electronic elements of the backing which give the track it's melancholy edge. The singer's voice is really beautiful all the way through and effortlessly slides into the chorus, it's a mark of good songwriting when that happens.
Netlabels are a vital part of music and if we're ever going to usurp the fact that music is this massively centralised commercial process that we have no say in then having the means to distribute music for free has to play a part, surely. The fact that the music is free says more for the ethos than the quality, as many are organised by people who care about the music they're curating.
IAYD - Supergalactic
Available from 8bitpeoples
Kind of like Sufjan Stevens was in 2006 where you'd have frequent moments which go: "oh, you've been listening to and enjoying Sufjan for the last year too, I also have, and am surprised that we've not really discussed his work before" with seemingly everyone, the same thing is happening with 8bitpeoples. The only difference is the conversation is on twitter rather than down the pub.
Of their recent releases I've been listening to Supergalactic by IAYD the most. It's a great space themed release and instantly gets, say, 50 AABWJLM kudos points for having a song called Tycho Brahe. 10 of those points are because it reminds me of Robin Ince.
They're on the more chunky side of bitpop (you see how my music vocabulary breaks down when not describing indiepop) with the short playful 'Subatomic' setting a tone rarely repeated in the rest of the release before throwing you into the fuzzy stomp of 'Between Multiverses'. Out of all the songs I think 'Physics' is my favourite, possibly because the track drops away nicely in the middle to allow a stunning pitch bent melody line in which sets the scene for the track to rebuild itself in clever ways.
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving/Sleepmakeswaves split LP
Available From Lost Children
I've been having quite a lot of post rock moments recently, trying to catch up on the post rock that I've missed from 2009. Sadly many of them have been ill advised post rock moments as some bands seem to stick to the established the Quiet Quiet Quiet quieter LOUD structure and some decide to put vocals over what was a perfectly good song without. Post rock + vocals = frequent shocking lack of melody. Who knew.
However, this split LP is a really nice stand out moment from last year and makes me look forward to future released by both bands. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving contribute two stunning and contractory tracks, the three minute rainy piano soundscape of 'A Vexing Predicament' acts as the perfect counterbalance to 'The World Is A Death Machine' which softly builds in the way that only a 15 minute post rock track is ever allowed to, new instruments slowly fitting into place to start to build the pace and pushing in different directions, seemingly trying to lead you off on a tangent before dropping you back into the quiet inexorable build. Part of the strength is that the band aren't afraid to take volume out of the mesh of instruments either, creating perfect valleys in the song.
The track doesn't finish of the same loud finale that many post rock bands end up on either, with dominance handed over entirely to the guitars, and it's the busy drums and piano of the finale which eventually pull the track apart. Fantastic stuff, if you've got quarter of an hour. Bands have fitted gigs into the same time frame.
All three Sleepsmakeswaves tracks come in at around 6 minutes. Their contribution to the LP may sound understated, when contrasted against the longer TTOL track, but that's what genuinely gives them strength. They dabble with the same musical reflection that gives bands like Epic45 their magic, although the main conclusion here is louder.
The Melting Ice Caps – Between Eros and Agape
Available from Oddbox Records
I had to mention the Oddbox Netlabel, partially because I've not reviewed anything on Oddbox yet and partially because musically it's seemingly dedicated to finding interesting pop bands.
The Melting Ice Caps are an interesting pop band. I think I'd put them somewhere between Jens Lekman and Momus and Northern Portrait, the title track is a laid back guitar driven affair but it's the electronic elements of the backing which give the track it's melancholy edge. The singer's voice is really beautiful all the way through and effortlessly slides into the chorus, it's a mark of good songwriting when that happens.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
The Victoria - 6th February: Kidnapper Bell, Black Heart Generator, Falling & Laughing, Cast & Crew
Just a quick cross post, I guess, I've just popped information on Prospecting Distant Systems about a gig Falling & Laughing have organised at the start of February if you fancy a look.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
The Empty Set - My Girl’s On The Other Side Of The World
I love The Empty Set so much. They're from Coventry originally (I think) and released an album last year on Tough Love Records (it's just over £2 on amazon - quick, get it now! BARGIN!)
Anyway, they've just updated their website with this utterly wonderful sailing video on it.
If I didn't know better I'd say the birds that fly overhead at 30 seconds were added in later by CGI...
Anyway, they've just updated their website with this utterly wonderful sailing video on it.
If I didn't know better I'd say the birds that fly overhead at 30 seconds were added in later by CGI...
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