Posing

The first article I ever wrote about “the music industry” (the quotation marks have become increasingly necessary) was about the phenomenon of BAD BAND PHOTOGRAPHY. The piece is here if you’re interested.

In it I try to identify the most common mistakes that bands make when getting press photos taken. I also list my favourite clichés (the most common being sulky youths inexplicably surrounded by urban decay). One of the things I find most interesting is that, regardless of props or visual context, you can always immediately identify a band photo – something about the unnatural proximity of disinterested persons.

It’s an article close to my heart mostly because it was directly responsible for my close friendship with Joe Sparrow (A New Band A Day, Hype Machine), a man who gets sent so many press packs he knows more about band self-sabotage than anyone I know. He read the piece and told me he liked it, then we met soon after to discuss a plan to co-author a book about naff band publicity (we never wrote it, that’s what happens when all your meetings happen in the pub).

Anyway, The Bedlam Six and I had a few photos taken recently. We’ve got plans for a big photoshoot after Christmas (involving all sorts of fancy tableaus and clever lighting) but were in need of something vaguely current to send out to 2013 event programmers that have been on my case recently (our last shoot was in 2010 and a lot has changed since then).

So we spent half an hour with Ian O’Brien backstage at a gig and took some generic band shots during which we succeeded in breaking most of the rules I’d laid out in that article (standing in a line, looking in different directions with different expressions… all that’s missing is a derelict mill in the background). The picture above is one that I almost scrapped upon first glance. Drummer and lead guitarist are pulling the same silly face; bassist has just been startled by the fooling of trombonist and the pianist appears to be either mid-yawn or mid-complaint. And yet, it’s my favourite of the batch, perhaps my favourite photo of us EVER. I don’t know why but I really like it. There’s something really honest about it, there’s character there but minimal pretentiousness. A strange balance.

Being in a band can be a bizarre life choice. Most of what we do is utterly needless and often completely ridiculous. I think this photo sums that all up rather well.

If you’d like to see a few more from the shoot there’s a handful on the Bedlam Six Tumblr

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New Article: “The Pay’s The Thing”

Tags

bedlam six, money, music industry, pay, sustainability

A musician friend of mine once said: “We don’t do it for the money. But we won’t do it without the money”

I’m paraphrasing. The original piece is here. But this is as good a start as any. I’m finally plucking up the courage to talk about money. I have to, everyone else does.

It is a subject I loathe. My bandmates know not to discuss the fees and splits when we’re at a gig, they know it makes me very snappy. I just hate putting a price on what we do, that’s for the booking stage, not the magic bit. Money is what I think about when the Council Tax second reminder comes along, or the red-bordered United Utilities threat, or when I’m in a shop trying to work out which milk bottle has slightly more in it. Money is what I think about when things are going badly. Money is an obstacle as much as it is an enabler. Playing with a band is a joyful thing that takes my mind off money. If money invades that special cathartic moment then something very precious gets a little bit spoiled.

I try to keep art and money in different compartments of my brain. If the two subjects get too close one will inevitably start bullying the other – like bored children in the back of a hot car on a long trip with no scenery.

CONTINUE READING…

I Could’ve Been A Contender…

I’ve just finished shooting a music video with Felix Hagan & The Family. It was my first time duetting with a man; the usual coy cross-talk I’m used to was, in this instance, more of a competition in who could gurn with the most elasticity and variety. I’m not sure who won. We’ll have to wait for the finished edit.

It was a lot of fun. The vibe was a bit like Bowie and Jagger singing “Dancing In The Street” but with a boxing ring instead of a street and punching instead of dancing. Actually, it was nothing like Bowie and Jagger.

I love making music videos. You probably all know that by now (either from the sheer number I’ve made with my own band The Bedlam Six or from articles I’ve written on the subject. Each time I am involved in a video project I feel like Mr Benn as he dons a new outfit and steps through the fancy dress shop’s magic door.

So this time I was a boxer. It was definitely the most physical shoot I’ve worked on. For a start I had to learn how to box (just enough to not look like a complete fool). The training montage section was probably the most exhausting bit. Singing whilst doing chin-ups in time with the rhythm of the track has left my body hating me. And lip-syncing whilst skipping a rope is one of the most difficult music related activities I’ve ever done (right up there with playing bar chords for the first time). That’s a new skill to add to my portfolio anyway.

Felix and I worked each other over pretty well. We were supposed to be pulling our punches but as the shoot wore on it became more vigorous. I feel a bit guilty for his two bloodshot eyes. I hope the continuity people can make sense of them in post-production! Who knew that hitting a fellow human being repeatedly in the face could be so therapeutic? Now I understand why so many people do it on a Saturday night in Manchester town centre. Such larks!

The fact that I’m on this track at all is a bit of an accident. A happy one of course. I was in London for a solo show but had arrived about six hours before my sound check because of a lunch meeting that didn’t go on as long as I thought it would. I met up for a drink with Felix and he said he’d just written a song the night before and did I want to sing on it? I said “why not” and we bashed out a rough version in his little room above Konk Studios in Crouch End. A very basic take with him playing piano and me singing a couple of verses. A month went by without me giving it much thought then suddenly he sends me that very same version complete with drums, bass, guitars and sultry backing vocals. From humble beginnings it has become quite a number.

And then I beat him to a pulp. There’s no business like show business…

Notes From The Red Carpet

I attended my first ever awards ceremony this week, organised by the Association of Independent Music (AIM), a body that I have been a member of since Debt Records was founded in 2009. I was shortlisted for the Independent Entrepreneur award for work with Debt and Un-Convention.
It was a hugely enjoyable event. I didn’t win but I never believed I would so it certainly didn’t blight my evening. That particular award went to former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde, a man who has been in the business at least three times as long as I have, both as a musician and as head of the massively successful Bella Union label (home to bands like Fleet Foxes, Dirty Three, M.Ward etc). I think I still have a way to go yet!

I shared a table with Warp Records (Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada, Brian Eno etc) and had an interesting discussion with them about streamlining and monetizing youtube content but not at the expense of people’s experience of an artist’s work (for example, if someone uses a copyrighted work to soundtrack a personal birthday message to a friend it would be bad form to issue a take down notice – which is what, allegedly, the likes of Warner Brothers do). Good to know that long-established labels like Warp still believe in the personal touch. There’s hope!

The food was good and the room had a nice easy vibe from where I was sitting. As the nominations were read out there were cheers from different parts of the audience as alliances and sub-divisions of the independent sector made themselves known. I didn’t expect much of a reaction to my name as I’m something of a new kid on the block but the guys at Warp gave me a big cheer so that was nice!

Over the course of the evening we saw awards go to both upcoming and long established practitioners spread over a huge range of styles and backgrounds, winners ranging from relatively unknown promoters to global superstars like Adele. I had a chat with Tom Robinson, a songwriter who I admire to an almost acolyte degree (not to mention someone who has helped my band The Bedlam Six a lot over the years through his 6Music shows and web presence). I also briefly met Edwyn Collins who won the Extraordinary Contribution To Music award. Without doubt the most deserved win of the evening.

But it wasn’t an evening to be pressing business cards into the hands of strangers, so I didn’t concern myself with “working the room” or “making the most of it” – I just enjoyed the experience of being among my peers at a rare industry event in which no one was lamenting the baffling frontier-land of the internet age, condemning the file-sharers that signal “the death of the music industry” or discussing new ways to put walls around copyrighted material – it was all positive, we were celebrating achievements rather than bemoaning change.

And it was good to have a bit of a dance afterwards too!

Old Cinema Launderette Documentary Appearance

I was asked to say a few words as part of a short documentary film about one of my favourite independent venues The Old Cinema Launderette. Here is the film (also includes a brief excerpt of my performance there)…