[NewMusic] Don't reply to Quechup invites

[Travis Johns]

coming from someone currently living off the grid, at least in the
traditional sense (making electronic music with only a small solar
panel, a wind generator and one or two car batteries hooked to an
inverter - very interesting...), i support said fantasy and think  we
can do much better than nostalgia, trademarked boogie bands and aging
bands at odds with each other ala who represents the true ideals of
said band post breakup - i think the beach boys are also guilty of
this - outside of Brian Wilson's traveling studio  occasional
pay-per-view special direct to dvd funtime band, there's like at least
2 other incarnations that i know of... though to take the idea a
little farther, take a look at some of the traveling theatrics out
there, cirque de whatever, blue-man-thing, rent, etc etc - multiple
cities, multiple continents, multiple performers, same set, same
soundtrack, same kitsch - i guess the question is, how can we, as
idealistic, creative musical folks hop on this particular bandwagon
and do something cool with the idea without having it all crumble into
a bureaucratic nightmare of gargantuan proportions... or worse,
programming an army of animatronic damons and weasels to fill the
ranks of some sort of forward-thinking free-improv pizza chain...
sorry guys and no offense intended, the image was just too funny to
keep to myself... :)

though then again, there's already been some examples of this in the
creative community - namely certain collaborations via the Placard
Festivals, Hub/League of Automatic Composer ideals, experiments
conducted via free103 - i think some of the kids out in Richmond, Va
tried a radio collab via myspace profile songs, testy bandwidth and a
mixer directing as many feeds as they could muster out onto the
webcast... i think another proposed idea was some 24 hour performance
ordeal where there was a collective set up to broadcast for an hour
from each time zone... not quite the same as Gino's original fantasy,
but you know apples and oranges and all - both round, both fruit,
though only one can yield one of the core ingredients for cycanide and
one cures scurvy a whole lot better... god, that was a horrible
metaphor.

I guess if we really stretch it, Pauline's multi-thousand voice tuning
comp from a few weeks back also sort of falls into this particular
mold - perhaps it might be interesting if we put out some feelers and
see if any of the other creative scenes out thar might be interested
in a collaboration ala this particular train of thought - Gino's
fantasy, not Pauline's, that is... or perhaps some marriage of the
two... or something else entirely? maybe try to get funding for some
sort of one day/week/month multi-scene jammy-poo? This is probably
just me being young and optimistic again, but who knows, it could be
fun, ja?

so, erm.... thoughts?

t.

On 9/10/07, Robair, Gino <grobair at emusician.com> wrote:
> In that article he says:
> <<The thing to be now is untraceable," he told me. "Wipe every reference to yourself off the internet. >>
>
> In an era where we often overexploit ourselves online, I find this sentiment appealing. Especially in an artistic sense where, perhaps, one would not record his/her music, wouldn't release his/her music in any format, and perhaps wouldn't even play in public. But one would still live with the same artistic intensity that you'd need to be competitive in a music marketplace -- just work completely "off the grid" so to speak.
>
> Another fantasy of mine ise a "band" made up of a huge pool of musicians - say, 200 people. And rather than release music under their own names, they would always use one band name when they recorded and released their music, as well as for live gigs. As an example, let's call this "band" something -- perhaps, "The Beatles" for discussion's sake.
>
> Maybe "The Beatles" would end up playing at 3 or 4 venues on the same night, and in several cities at once. And the band would flood the market with dozens of releases a month, with outrageously different music on each, which was in complete disregard to other "The Beatles" releases by the various mystery members (all of whom are free to join or leave the group at will, and are under no obligation to tell anyone their status). And the same four "band members" are always listed as the creators of the music on a "The Beatles" release.
>
> Perhaps such a mega-member band exists. Just don't say yes to Quechup.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Travis Johns" <electric.tokyo at gmail.com>
> <<it's a pretty decent article regarding this whole social networking
> thing - not to mention one of the few times when I can honestly say
> that my opinion of Momus has wavered to something beyond the usual
> status of "self-absorbed blowhard." Take a gander - there might be a
> pop quiz on this later in the week.
>
> here's the link:
> http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/imomus/2006/04/70717
> >>
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