Posted at <a href="http://www.atmyheels.com/2011/08/what-happened.html">http://www.atmyheels.com/2011/08/what-happened.html</a><br><br>---<br><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
WARNING: no music to be found in this post.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Astute
follows of this blog will have noted I have seemingly not been very
active as of late. This is for a combination of reasons, but I will be
remedying that shortly. One thing I *have* been doing is recording
shows, but as some of you fellow recordists know, it's pretty
time-intensive to go back and edit/blend/master/tracksplit/ID shows, and
I have a somewhat-bad habit of doing this for *every* band I record. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
And
like many people I have a full-time job *and* a family (a wife and
three kids!) to look after...well, often they look after me, but you
catch my drift...whoops, speaking of which...</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
[a few minutes later, after putting the youngest to bed, and running a couple of assorted errands...]</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Where was I? Ah yes...</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Another
reason is I've been mulling whether to explicitly seek consent before
posting a band's shows, rather than the "don't ask, don't tell" approach
I've so far employed. I think what I will do here on in is put up the
shows and link these to a group's Facebook/whatever site, and see where
the chips fall. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
For
those of you unfamiliar with the recordist ethos, it involves first and
foremost to forswear ever directly profiting or leveraging said
material for material gain, including hosting banner ads. Even with
this in mind, I will honor the moral right of the artists I feature to
have any performance which does not suit them removed from public view, whether due to the perceived quality of the performance or for any other reason. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
An
additional concern is airing unreleased songs without first being
granted permission. In fact, that's been majorly factoring into why I
haven't been posting as of late. I'm not sure how to approach this
except by waiting until the tunes in question have been released...or by
seeing if the particular composition has appeared on YouTube or
elsewhere. If anybody has any other ideas or approaches...please
comment. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
I
try to be thoughtful and considerate in everything that I do, but
realize there is no pleasing everyone always. I'm sure I owe some of
you some heartfelt apologies.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
And
finally, here is my guest list spiel/rant...I've thought about this
quite a bit and decided that I prefer paying my own way into shows.
This is more to have a policy ahead of time to save me future grief than
due to any incidents in the past.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Here are my reasons:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(1)
I am quite well-compensated in my day job. Quite a few other people
are not, and are struggling to make ends meet and look forward to a fun
night out to see their friends play. They should get the guest list
slots, not me.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(2)
See "recordist ethos" above. Being invited to attend freely amounts to
material gain, which I am duty-bound to decline. It also hamper's one
objectivity, not that this sort of enterprise isn't anything but
subjective, anyway.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(3)
There is nothing worse than going up to the door and saying that
"so-and-so put me on the guest list" and then discovering to one's
chagrin that there's no record of so-and-so doing so. I'd rather not
have to rely on the generosity of others to get in, especially for a
sold-out performance.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(4) This is not some pathetic reverse-psychology bid to get freebies. I actually *want* to benefit performers and venues by</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
paying
my own way in. As well as buying the merch on offer. Especially
considering that I am capturing sound waves for later use.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
A
corollary to these arguments is being invited by member of a previously
unknown-to-me group to see their band play, whether out a genuine
gratitude for helping to give exposure to artists or to get exposure
themselves. This puts me in an awkward, no-win situation which is best
avoided. Performers should follow their own muse, and so should their
fans.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
I'm inspired by, back in the mid-90s, how
Nick Cave responded to MTV upon being informed that he was nominated
for best male singer for their annual music awards. Read his reply,
here: </span><a href="http://www.nick-cave.com/mtv/mtv.shtml" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">http://www.nick-cave.com/mtv/mtv.shtml</a><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br>
We all should strive to achieve and emulate his level of grace and class.</span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br><br>Over and out.<br></span>