Joy… it’s a student blog.

Girl rock bands. What can be said about them, other than… at least they’re out there giving it a go. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of female rock groups, for reasons one can only assume has to do with the fact that girls over-think things and it seems to show in their lyrics whereas guys, although  do think things through,  the lyrics seem to just flow and be more carefree about what they say perhaps… (this is all completely opinionated).  There’s also something about seeing an all girl band playing rock instruments, singing or at least expressing themselves on a stage, that just doesn’t quite cut it for me. On Friday night however, I had my first experience with a band called hot liquid sex. These three girls on stage together, fit pretty close into my previous descriptions. I should say here that although they aren’t my thing, I can see why people would like them. They have something about them that draws you in, makes you take notice of them. They have something to say, and don’t seem to be afraid to say it in their own way.

Hot liquid sex were the first band on the line up. Second came Melbourne band the Basics.

The Basics have a unique, seductive uplifting sound about them.  There was no denying that this band was going to be awesome. Live, they were amazing. Standing, bopping, dancing, and singing right up the very front, able to reach out and touch Kris, had I been game enough, was one of the best experiences. These guys are clearly very passionate about their music, and constantly feeding off their audience to get some feedback on how their performance is going. Amazing set of great songs. Their get up is simple but effective. Grey suits, white shirts and ties, classy but not too formal. I guess it also helps to have a drummer as amazing as Wally aka Gotye (drool). The Basics are great, but I’m sure that some of their appeal comes from the fact that Wally is a part of it. It certainly was my draw card. Having said this, my night was made LEGENDARY when after having a chat to the man himself, I actually got a hug from him. Very much made my night!

Third band to play, and the headline act, was the Offcuts. This band were definitely worth hanging around for. Once again, standing front of the stage, This band had a lot to offer the audience who soaked the music right up. Surprisingly, this band doesn’t seem to have a myspace page. perhaps a harder search is needed.  Not really sure how to describe these guys other than having an awesome stage presence. At one stage, the bass player pulled a girl from the audience to the stage and got her to play the tambourine, the lead guitarist walked off stage with his guitar and into the audience for a short period. This all added to the band’s appeal, and presence. Once again, their music is inspired, uplifting to listen to, a definite experience not to be missed.

The troubadour as a venue although is small, seems to make the performances more personal to the audience. Seemingly a good choice for bands such as these at the stages that they are at.

Awesome gig

Scenario: Jim Barry is a 25year old personal assisstant to a relatively large music label executive. Jim has worked for this executive for a great number of years and has actually held his position, longer than any other in the office. One day Jim gets up the courage to ask his boss for some support and backing for the band that he plays in as his other “career”. Straight out he gets told that he doesn’t have a chance with the label and should go somewhere else. Thinking to himself, ‘well that’s a kick in the pants, loyalty hasn’t got me anywhere’, what would be the logical step to take next to generate interest in his band?

Scenario: A Brisbane Indie band want to release a new single, so they get the cd’s pressed and have a single launch tour around australia, beginning in their home town of brisbane. In an attempt at getting more people to have at least heard a song of theirs, they take their song to all the radio stations in brisbane and sydney along with some other states as well, hoping their song will be added to a high rotation playlist, or even on low rotation.  Triple J, a station known for their new music, and alternative edge turn down the song, giving the reason that they sound too commercial to be played in the set they had a chance at fitting into. Turning on their heel, another radio station turns their song down, telling them that their song is not commercial enough for their listeners. Being thrown backwards and forwards, they eventually get put on a radio station in completely random states (2). Thinking that it wasn’t good enough because they primarily want a brisbane fan base along with sydney and melbourne, what is the logical thing for them to do to generate interest in their music?

In both of these scenarios, the best thing that they could possibly do to generate the fan bases that they are after, is to take advantage of the media’s that are available to them. In Brisbane alone, the street press is amazing for local bands. The press i refer to here is Timeoff, Rave and Scene magazines. They’re there for the fans and for the bands and to connect the two together. This is where the bands gig lineups will be shown and advertised, and the reviews for local artists are generally quite respectful of the bands.  There is a section in each for the local artists news, so quite possibly, both of these artists, could have gone down this avenue for PR.

This is not really what i was getting at however. If you’ve looked at any band posters where it shows you how to check them out, it’s generally a website. Not just any website however, it’s a myspace page. Anyone who is anyone these days have got a myspace page. Radio stations I have noticed, have stopped even saying the bands website as port of call; it’s all about www.mypace.com/arcticmokeys or something similar. The popularity of such a site, it could be guessed, is because of the networking capabilities it offers it’s users. Bands are able to upload their music onto their page, and have the ability to let users download certain tracks, rate them, add them to their own myspace page, add comments, read the lyrics to the songs. Not only this, the bands are able to post their upcoming tours and gigs on their myspace site so that users can see where and when to go and see them play live. Fans can leave comments on their pages, send messages for only the bands to see (more likely, the person they have looking over their page ). Not only this, the band can post blogs for their bands, if there’s a new announcement, or just a drawing near gig or cd launce, they can post a bulletin to all their “friends”. Really myspace, although lacking in some design aspects, is really the most useful tool a band can make use of with respect to getting themselves heard and creating a fan base.

Not even just for music. Myspace is there for the people, so if they want something to be heard or seen or watched, they post it on myspace, bobs your uncle. If it’s good, someone will pick it up and then show their “friends” and then it begins. Instant following. Depending on your networking on myspace, it can also land you in situations where jobs or projects can come about. A while back, i was asked by another design student to help create a web animation for his website, other people have been asked to design posters for bands, really the possibilities are seemingly endless.

As a social networking tool, myspace is also highly popular because it allows for IM and also just general commenting on people’s pages. This site is a huge procrastination tool as hours can be lost just reading and looking through peoples pages. Better than this however, is the fact that because almost everyone of our generation has a myspace page, you can find old friends you’ve lost contact with by looking through other friends pages that may connect you with them.

For bands I have had contact with personally, I know of instances where myspace has landed them as support for touring bands. Before you would have to have some kind of connection between the bands whether it was through their managers or the venues, where now, myspace is that linking connection.

Myspace has taken the world on, and until a better version is available, it will continue to be one of the biggest networking tools for bands and their fans and just people in general.

One thing that every music-lover (which, when you think about it, is everybody), should do from time to time, is get out into their local music scene. Support musicians trying to make their way to the top, in similar style to the Beatles, which we all know and love. If the consumers don’t help out the little guys when they are starting out, or when they’re relatively unknown bands apart from to their friends and friends of friends, then they are never going to become “known” by the rest of the music loving population.

Brisbane’s local musical scene is buzzing with new and unique acts, some of which have some real talent. Take for example a band I went to see on the weekend called “The broken arm“.

This three piece has the potential to be quite liked by  a lot of people, however because they are only really starting out in the music industry, with no real manager, and no real pr going on, not a lot of people even know who they are. They have  a unique sound that is great to experience in a live venue. These guys played at the Alley bar, which is really a bowling alley, but they have taken the initiative to support local brisbane acts. This is what we really need. Local venues willing to put on bands that might not necessarily make them much money, but rather by allowing them to play, they are able to create and build a following… a concrete fan base.

Venues such as the Alley bar, and the zoo to use another example, allow these bands a voice. Every band should be entitled to a voice.