The Morning After

Neat.

Coral got me some records for Christmas and my brother got me the new Kings of Leon so it was time to add another row to the wall of records.  I saw those two British Guys that design interiors and the one always wears outrageous flowers on his shoulder…  Colin and Justin?  Those guys were on the Ceeb last night (I was watching the show Toronto about living in Toronto for some reason, I have no desire to live there… but I think its neat watching local TV shows for places where I don’t live) and they were talking about the need to change living spaces every season like you would your hair, or clothes… or at least change every 4 or 5 years like you might your car.  Now I don’t have the cash to redecorate the home but I can add another row of records.  Coral and I are also planning on moving the TV off the fire place mantle to a little stand and then digging the record player out and putting that up on the mantle with the MP3 player.  Nice, tangent.

Coral bought me the Cut//Copy single for “Hearts on Fire” and Fleet Foxes record.  She liked the look of the Cut//Copy single better than the album and I agree.  I asked for Fleet Foxes not because I LOVE them (they are good and growing on me.  Coral actually got me to take a second listen… “White Winter Hymnal” came up on a playlist I made over Christmas and every time she went, “What is that?”), I asked for Fleet Foxes because the record has a Medieval village scene on the cover which I thought looked pretty rad.  Musicians into history are musicians that I am into.

My brother bought Kings of Leon’s new record for me because he hears me yapping about on the Zone all the time.  Then I bought the Mission of Burma record because “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” is one of my all time favourite songs.

I fired up my Mission of Burma DVD last night and got out the level and measuring tape to square it all off.  I commented to Coral that this record represents maybe the 4th time that I have purchased the song “That’s When I reach…”  I discovered the song when I bought a compilation of 80’s alternative music.  Fell.in.love with MOB.  Had to own the actual album (on CD) Signals, Calls and Marches.  Then I was hooked.  They happened to be signed to Matador Records at the time and had put out a new record, The Obliterati.  So I bought that and a Matador compilation that had a MOB song I didn’t have.  This lead to me needing to buy their old full length LP, Vs.  When I bought Vs. I saw that it was an extended bonus thingamajig that is all the rage these days, and Signals had the same treatment… so I bought Signals again!

Now I have Signals on vinyl hanging on my wall.

I am a fan.

Every band hanging on my wall I am generally a fan of.  I own all the LPs I have on CD and/or MP3.  In the case of the National… I have their albums and I go out of my way to see them live.  The first time they came to Vancouver was to open for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  CYHSY was all the rage at the time, a real hipster group and I was temped to go to Vancouver to see them then… I would have had my first encounter with what would go on to become one of my favourite groups.  But I did not… and The National would go undiscovered by me for at least another year.  Then one day Tyson came over ot my place when I lived in Fernwood.  back then, Tyson had a subscription to eMusic, and the beauty of that service is that Razer can log on anywhere and access his music and “share” it with friends.  He added a ton of music that night including “All the Wine” by The National.  That one song, randomly added to my computer by Tyson on an evening of pints hooked me.  I became a fan.  A champion of the National.  Boxer came out soon after (or maybe around the time I was exposed to “All The Wine” and I bought it and it was one of those life changing records.  The National came to Vancouver to play at Richards last summer when Coral was pregnant and Razer, Cherylann, Coral and I all took the boat over for the show.  It was one of the better rock show I have seen live (and I’ve been to far more than the average music lover).  Coral and I put the record up on the wall.  The next Spring, The National got the nod to open for REM.  Luckily I love REM… Grandma Mom and Grandpa Jack watching Madelyn and Coral and I spread out on a blanket at Deer Lake, drank some Strongbows and enjoyed the sounds and park while listening to The National.

I am a fan.

and as long as The National or Mission of Burma or (insert your favourite band HERE!) has fans that will pay whatever price and travel to see them.  Buy their record first and buy the same record in multiple formats, they will never go hungry.

Some bands connect with their audience in that profound and important way and some do not… or do they?

Here is a piece of an article I read in the 2008 Year in Review with Monday Magazine.

Still waiting

In our May 1 issue, we ran an article about local musician Anne Schaefer’s latest project, a concept album called The Waiting Room. She’d secured a Canada Council grant to record the disc and was holding a big concert, to be recorded and broadcast on CBC Radio Two, as a way to raise enough funds to get the album finished.

While the concert went well and made it to broadcast (hear it online at cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080503annes), it didn’t raise as much money as Schaefer would have hoped; the album has been recorded, but it hasn’t been mixed, mastered or manufactured yet. With the release of a follow-up to her critically acclaimed Twelve Easy Pieces temporarily shelved, Schaefer has been forced to take a job—her first in 15 years, as previously she’s been able to make a living as a self-employed musician.

“One of the things I’m trying to do as the director of Larsen’s School of Music is create classes and workshops and interesting projects so that I can offer employment to as many of the talented musicians in this town as possible,” she says of her current job. “Most of them are struggling to make a living as well and have not been accessible to the greater community if they’re not teaching privately, which is a real shame.”
Is this article a celebration of Anne’s career or damnation of the “system” that will not embrace her music?

To me this article is a celebration, so then I don’t understand what they’re saying.  Anne has been able to NOT work in a traditional power structure for 15 years!  For more than half my life, Anne has done what most of you reading this blog and what most of the people reading Monday Mag dream of… freedom.  After her 15 year run as a professional musician Anne was FORCED to take a job, and what job did she take?  DIRECTOR of Larsen’s School of Music.  The boss.  BECAUSE she worked for 15 years as a musician she  is rewarded with a job that allows her to continue to play music, learn and share.  This is a job that I can not do because I have not grinded away for 15 years as a professional musician.

I am some what led to believe that Anne might not be an overly successful musician in the sense that after her 15 year run, she could not find the capital required to mix her record.  She received a grant.  That is nice.  Her budget and vision was more extravagant than the grant so she picked up her socks and put on a concert.  She asked her fans to come to the show and support her art.  They did not meet expectation and she continues to wait to put out the record.

What went wrong?

Hard for me to say, as I don’t know Anne, and I don’t know the whole story… just what I read in Monday Mag and what kind of tone or moral the magazine was trying to instill.

I believe that Anne’s problem is that she was unable to motivate 1,000 true fans in her 15 year odyssey of music.  Anne doesn’t need more government funding, or more grants, or more Monday Mag articles wagging their fingers at society, or 15 more CBC channels.  Anne needs some real fans that will buy whatever she records, every time.  She needs a me.

The best singer songwriter you’ve never heard of.

Go with yourself.