Written by Rich Fownes
GOOD MATERIAL FEELS NICE...
from Bad for Lazarus…
Keep an honest network around you. If you want to get better you need to ask for criticism and receive it well. Be excited to drop things that are not working for you and edit yourself, edit yourself loads! Most riffs, beats or lyrics you write will be really bad. Chances are none of us are geniuses, so we’re going to have to put the hours and efforts into making something spectacular. I’m not saying you should edit your vision at all but you need to focus it so that it is clearer. When I’m watching a band that is just OK, the good hooks aren’t impactful when sandwiched between two 20-minute slices of monotony.
You need to play whatever you can whenever you can. There is no studio in the world that can give you a proper rehearsal for a gig. You have to make all of your mistakes and find your weak spots on the job. When you perform, it is another avenue to express yourself and the atmospheres you are trying to create with your music. If staring at the floor is your thing, that is awesome, no one ever accused Jim Morrison of being a boring performer. But if you are immobilised by self consciousness, that will be more uncomfortable to watch than anything else you could be doing. Don’t take the gig or yourself too seriously because nobody will have a good time. Relax, enjoy the show and do whatever it is you feel like doing. Dress up or get naked. Scissor kick in the mosh pit or stand dead still but whatever it is; own it.
every angle. If your backline, your back drop, your lighting and your band look like they sound, there are so many more senses experiencing your ideas.
THINK BIG BUSINESS... Everyone wants to sign for millions. I don’t want to shit on your dreams, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find more than two or three companies left with anything like that amount of money. So look a little further down the ladder and aim for something more reasonable. In the post-apocalyptic wasteland of a music industry, smaller labels are redefining the term ‘skint’. When the say they have nothing they aren’t fucking around. They do have a rich heritage and contact roster, but bands are being signed for NO MONEY for as many as 5 albums. It’s a crazy time. It is more important than ever to do as much as you can with as little as possible.
IMAGE ISN’T A DIRTY WORD...
Enthusiasm is the richest currency in this business. The main In my early travels across the UK with hardcore bands ,it was help expected from a label is PR, plugging and investment. interesting how deep their ethics were when it came to their This is nothing you can’t do yourself or find independently image. They were defiantly against it; image is bullshit right? from people who really understand you. My first release was a It’s all about the riffs maaaaaan. On the other hand, they would split EP with Hawk Eyes (formerly Chickenhawk). It was in the find people wearing stuff outside of their box (local band front of the Kerrang! reviews section and got 5/5. We didn’t T-shirt, blue jeans, trainers); outrageous. It never occurred to have a label working the cogs, they simply researched which them that their clothes WERE their uniform. Whether they journo might understand us and mailed it to him. They took would like to admit it or not, they had a look. Acknowledging the initiative in a big way and this year they’re headlining the or considering your band’s look doesn’t mean you care about introducing stage at Reading / Leeds. your music any less. It is another avenue for self-expression It goes without saying that there are no rules with music; and last time I checked it was pretty important to have great this is just a bunch of observations I’ve made. If anything artwork, so what makes the players less important than your sounds bullshit to you, great! That means you know your CD case? The aim of the game is always presenting people with personality and what you wanna do. Be strong. a strong sense of personality and occasion, so exploit every ALT MU ISSUE 1
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