Staying live

This post is long overdue, my apologies. I haven't felt very motivated lately. Today after a Facebook chat with my boyfriend, Chris, he said I should definitely give blogging a real go and even write for a career, so I decided to post something. That was probably the best compliment I have ever had.

A while ago I saw someone post on Facebook how sad it is that so many venues can not afford to run their live music night anymore because there's no audience, and then urging people to support live music and going to their local venue - who knows what they'll find! I then proceeded to bounce ideas off of my fellow university students of the same major. This post is a collection of thoughts and ideas inspired by our chat. I also consulted Chris and as biased as I may be, he is a very wise individual and an enthusiastic musician who has to deal with the problems of gigging regularly with his band. (check 'em out!)

Fair enough, you might stumble upon something great - your future favourite band ever - one night at the rock bar on the corner of your neighbourhood. But the chances that you'll instead be bombarded by an endless supply of mediocre "I've heard this a billion times" delivered to you by a group of bored indie boys who are so above playing that gig to a mere handful of people are far more probable than hearing something actually engaging AND of decent quality. Sounds cynical and pessimistic but that's what the live music scene here does to you; puts you off live music.

I'm playing the devil's advocate here as I have quite honestly been put off by going to live music nights because of the sheer amount of horrible that enters my ears and the awkwardness that goes on on the stage. I do not want to listen to or watch that. And I definitely don't want to spend my money on that. I'll go see a band I already know and like but I will stay well away from live music venues if I don't recognise any of the names on the poster. It's not that I don't want to support live music. It's just that the majority of live music out there doesn't deserve my support.

Is there a reason that people aren't interested anymore? Are there too many mediocre bands putting on mediocre shows that don't excite people and that's why they don't have an audience in the first place? Shouldn't it also be the venue's responsibility to book interesting bands and offer good quality entertainment and not just the audience's duty to support the utterly boring and technically challenged musician wannabes who are trying to "make it"?

Also, I've noticed that as getting gigs has gotten easier to do on your own, lot of bands go out there and play way before they're ready, way before they're "good enough". And if the bands themselves don't care too much about being worth people's money then why should people support that? Chris agrees: "It almost is too easy to form a band and do some gigs, thus lowering the general quality of unsigned music."

Fellow students said: "I can't stand listening to a bad band. I'll rather choose another bar of my liking."

"I think that bands should make sure they are ready to try their wings before they hit the stages, and if the venues held some kind of quality standards the band could maybe realize that they are not ready if they are constantly rejected and go and practice some more."

I think what it ultimately boils down to is that the responsibility of paying to see bands shouldn't solely lie on the shoulders of the audience. It should also be the promoters' responsibility to offer something worth paying for.

The bands that are worth it are still "making it". Local bands, if good enough, have a local following and are known by everyone in their community and draw an audience in that area. But only if they're good enough to draw people's interest. That's where it all starts. No bond or sense of community will be strong enough to pull the weight of a shit band. If a band one day wakes up to the reality that they don't have any fans and no one goes to their gigs, it isn't the audience's fault. They're just not likeable.

"It's then a challenge for the better bands to find a way to stand out and not get lost in the mess of crap bands. There's no excuse for that if they're really that good." - Chris, 2012

It's a jungle out there. There's no arguing that things were easier when musicians could concentrate on playing music and writing songs and the business side was taken care of by business professionals. Now bands need to do their own PR, social media, gig bookings, branding, and quite often also recording and mixing. All in addition to the musician-y stuff that comes with the gig. There was also an unspoken promise that bands that get booked to play a gig are at least of decent quality and have a backing from the industry. Such promises are now far gone and the collection of clueless are taking over the stages. People aren't interested because they're not being offered anything interesting.

Proper music post!

There's this thing called Ja Ja Ja club where Nordic bands and artists play tunes and it's organized (bi?)monthly at The Lexington. I like this idea and think I'll go again and keep track of what's happening! This Thursday was the day. I heard about it at about 4pm on Thursday when my boss asked if I wanted to go and introduce myself to the Musex UK project manager. Yeah, why not. So I went to see Manna (FIN), Freja Loeb (DEN) and Útidúr (ICE). (I apologize for linking to MySpace but they don't seem to have websites!) Had a few words with the guy, he was very tall. After Manna's set I was already really tired and had a headache so I was getting ready to leave when I saw one of the boys from the next band carry a saxophone on stage and decided to stay for a bit. I stayed for two more songs and headed out. Bummed that I didn't get to see the last band but as I was very disoriented (getting lost on straight hallways, almost missing my tube stop - twice, bumping into people, etc.) on my way home it was probably for the best that I left. By the time I was home I just and just managed put on my pajamas before crashing. Slept like a.... thing that sleeps very deeply.

Anyway, I liked Manna. I've never heard any of her songs before even though she's been in the media quite a bit in Finland for the past, I don't know, maybe couple of years? I'm very bad with time. I was very positively surprised as I was expecting just another female singer-songwriter that we're all getting a bit bored of, amirite? But she had just enough rock and just enough groove to be interesting. I have to say, they (she?) were more intriguing on stage than on record and I spent a lot of time trying to find a video that would do them (her?) justice. This one's alright but still lacks something that was there during a live performance. Wine, perhaps...

The next group, Freja Loeb, were essentially the exact same thing as Manna. Same cereal, different packaging. There's a band, there's the girl, the group's name is her name, they play indie, both girls wore leggings as pants and red lipstick, you get the idea. Manna had the advantage of being first so people (me) weren't yet bored with that. And in my mind she was more likable anyway, more real. Her voice was also definitely stronger while I couldn't really even hear Freja for a big chunk of the time. But they had the sax and that alone is cause for mad props in my book. I also realize that had Freja been first on stage, I'd be comparing them in reverse and that might affect how I feel.

As I already mentioned, I didn't stay long enough to catch the last band, Útidúr from Iceland, but I've since checked them out on YouTube. My first thought was that they sound very Icelandic. Not really my cuppa tea normally, but I'm strangely fascinated anyway. I can picture a time and place for this and will make a mental note to listen to this more when that time and place present themselves. Beautiful sounds and I do love me a bit of violin and trumpets. For a fraction of a second they remind me of a chilled out and slowed down version of Katzenjammer (NOR).

I wish I'd seen them live but no can do.

For a bonus, here's Katzenjammer with A Bar In Amsterdam.