Better Late Than Never

Currently listening to: R.E.M - Monster

From 6:00 AM until 8:00 AM, Teresa and I hung flyers for the rock show bonanza this weekend. This is the glorious life of an aspiring professional musician. Booyah.

We were, fortunately assisted with coffee from Vivace at 6:15 AM and later from Caffe Vita at 7:45 AM. I was effectively cracked out for a good portion of my work day. You may not know this, but typing code is difficult when your fingers are having their own epilepsy-style party.

I'm really, really excited about the shows this weekend. Even though I previously ranted about trying not to have the band tied to a gender identity, I'm looking forward to a night with the girls at the Skylark (with Gina Young and Tiger Teenagers). I'm also really stoked about the Friday show at the Blue Moon. I feel like it's totally going to throw me back to the Jay's Upstairs days with the dive bar and friend bands and Halloween weekend agenda of chaos and intoxication.

In other news: Arrrg!! Both Chop Suey and the Crocodile offered us a show right smack in between two shows we already have booked. For those of you unfamiliar with the Unspoken Rules of Booking Local Bands, it's really bad to book shows too closely together unless you have scores of screaming teenagers coming to every show. If you're like most bands we've played with, your friends and their friends usually come to the shows, even though you throw down time and money into multiple forms of promotion. I am told: this is how it goes. It's part of the "hard work." So, if you play too many shows, it will, in theory, thin out your crowd. Bars tend to like crowds because crowds tend to buy many drinks in exchange for money.

Anyway, totally side-tracked. I had to turn down the shows at both venues which, one in H is for Hellgate's position, might equate to a "resume building" venue. Oh snap. Fingers crossed that they'll remember us the next time they need a band whose music spans beyond fad, genre, and gender ;)

I'm a bad promoter

Currently listening to: The Carpenters
Currently reading: The Illustrated History of Canada

Being a person who is attempting to balance work, girlfriend, social life and my undying commitment to this band, I gotta say it's hard to get it all done. For example, I forgot/didn't have time/decided a vacation was more valuable than hanging the fliers I paid good money for Kinko's to duplicate more than a day before the show. The first few times it's a novelty to staple paper to telephone poles. After that, I really have to remind myself over and over that it makes a difference if people see the band name, even if they don't come to the show.

It's hard to keep motivated when you get little or nothing in return. And the little I get in return might be a product of my delusions.

In other, more upbeat news, Anacortes was a blast. The Ovulators were fun and friendly - two important features in a band. Hopefully we'll someday get down to Eugene, OR and rock their hometown. Mostly I like them because 1) the guitarist wanted to "channel my energy" and 2) I remind the drummer a lot of Carrie Brownstein. Talk about two enormous compliments.

I'm very excited to play the Skylark and Blue Moon shows. I love to play so much.

Kvetching Music for the Complacent

Currently listening to: Kelly Clarkson
Currently reading: again with the to-do list

I get in a panic sometimes when I realize I'm not keeping up with the proverbial Joneses. There's always some other awesome band working their way into the hearts of our potential fans. They just need to know about us. This keeps me up at night. How can I get our music out to more people while keeping a few ounces, if not a whole pound, of artistic integrity?

So, I compile these ridiculous to-do lists. Then I have a night like I'm having tonight: I hunker down, have a glass of red wine for inspiration, preferably a reasonably priced shiraz, and do some digital networking and promoting.

However, tonight was a special night. I had to be inventive due to the fact that I tore through my budget going to Cherry last Friday and subsequently had to cancel dinner with my friend/The East End founder/107.7 Promotions Director Jordin Silver and play a delightful game of "Make a Drink with the Liquor Stashed in the Freezer" since I had no money left in my budget do purchase a respectable bottle of wine. Pictured is what I came up with. My camera phone didn't quite capture the enchanting shade of teal of the liquid I'm currently imbibing, but let me be the first to tell you, a Vodka, Blue Caracao and Simply Nutritious Mega Antioxidant mix is surprisingly not totally repulsive!

Anyway, that has nothing to do with being in a band (the VBCSNMA is having an effect!). What is related to the band is my day-long mission to come up with a quick n' fast way to describe the music. It's item #1 on my to-do list (right behind the seemingly less important "finish mixing CD"...yeah, the one that's been pending release for the last six months). Apparently, this is a feat beyond even the uber-hip, professional writers at the Stranger. See "The press doesn't lie" below for their not-so descriptive description of the band. My bandmates can't label it, my girlfriend can't label it, I can't label it, but this crazy world requires that words be used to describe the music that I write.

Here are some totally not awesome things I came up with while I was working very hard at my job today:
- Rock for walking in the rain
- Music for driving at night
- Rock music for cubicle life
- Intllirock
- Rock music for pseudo-intellectuals
- Deviant music for the do-gooder
- Unquite music for the OCD
- Kvetching music for the complacent

At the end of the day (literally) I decided to just go with the horribly vague "Music that spans beyond fad, genre and gender."

While I'm finding the business part of being in a band more and more interesting, really I think I'll just record some music now.

Yes, I'm wearing sweater vest.

Currently listening to: a lot of Elliott Smith
Currently reading: anything I can find on Elliott Smith

Here are a couple of pictures I found on the interweb from our 9/16/6 MarsBar show courtesy of Russ the Librarian and Seattle PowerPop

Chicks With Lyxxx

Currently listening to: nothing
Currently reading: nothing

In my efforts to become more attuned to the business part of being in a band, I've read several times that, when dealing with the press, it's useful to present them with an "angle" if you want something written about your band. They're busy people. They don't have time to dig up the fascinating information about your band. You need to essentially give them the story and, if they feel it, they'll take it from there (sometimes lifting word-for-word they hype that you've fed them).

The hard part of transforming into the business woman, unabashedly making self-important claims like "We're going to be the next Sleater-Kinney!", is that I'm not a bragger or a hyper. I'm a modest, mild-mannered girl from Montana.

Unfortunately, if I don't tell these people how neat we are, it's likely they'll never find out on their own. What's our angle? I don't know. I like to write songs with f-ed up chords and cryptic lyrics. So do a lot of other bands. See? We're not that special.

So, what I've resorted to lately is playing the gender card. (And I say "resorted to" because when someone brings up gender and rock music, people instantly recoil thinking that they're going to get a verbal assault a la Bikini Kill, circa 1995.) I don't believe girls are at a technical or musical disadvantage to guys, but there is a very apparent disparity between the number of people from each gender playing rock music.

Disagree? How many popular all-female rock bands can you name? Okay, how many all-male rock bands can you name? Mmmhmmm (typed with duck lips and neck twist).

That's where I think we're special. I think that I'm a proficient guitarist (when I'm drunk, I boast to be the best chick guitarist in Seattle, but no, I won't take your challenge to a duel) and Marie is a proficient drummer. And not just "for a girl." And YES, people still say that shit....guys and chicks. Yes, I hate that I've been asked if I'm buying guitar strings to refill my cheese slicer or that music store sales people say, "wow, you can actually play," but I don't write songs about it. I write songs about love and life and things to which I hope everyone can relate. My influences span from riot grrl bands to sweaty metal. I think acting as an equal and pointing out similarities is a more powerful gesture than highlighting the differences and marginalizing people who aren't like you. The pickle is pointing out our similarity to "normal bands" (as opposed to "chick bands") while not dissing on the fact the us ladies still have to deal with some stupid submliminal sexism.

Off the rant and back to our angle...

We can equally fit in at an all-chick rock show and a all-male aggro post/punk show. I guess that's musical androgeny...but not in the 80s throw-back way.

I guess the "angle" is that we don't yet have an "angle." We're people. We play songs. That's what I really care about. I only have to concern myself with this PR business because I want to play songs for more people. It's like leasing my soul to the devil.

And yes, you did just hear me bust out some Master of Puppets riffs.