ep
max here, so we've been busy bees as we gear up for to release the 3rd part in our trilogy of EPs. A lot of people ask why we chose to release this body of work in three sections and here's a few answers to that:
1) the nature of consumerism these days means that a listener can chow through music in a matter of minutes, this to me is a shame because good music takes time to appreciate. Just like fine art it is often not until you scratch beneath the surface that you begin to reap the benefits of a great song. So by releasing it in 3 stages our audience must spend time on each individual ep getting to know each individual song.
Pop music is consumed in this fast paced fashion because there generally aren't many levels to it other than a catchy rhythm...here's an example of what i believe to be one of the greatest songs ever written, so many levels and here in this video it is explained to you
2) 3 is a magic number, we all know when speaking in rhetoric it is most poignant when backed up by 3 hard hitting, carefully chosen, descriptive words (see what i did there). Our brain is also naturally trained to recognise patterns a recurrence of 3 is technically the shortest pattern one can recognise therefore the easiest to comprehend and remember. Therefore by breaking this album up into smaller more digestible chunks we are hoping to make this body of work more comprehensible as a concept.
3) To show progression, we are a fledgling band yet we are committed to the longevity of goodluck jonathan (not the president i know what you nigerians are like). We very much made these recordings with the view of the next will be a step up and the one after even more so, the songs are without doubt the very best we could have done with our ability at the time. Having started work on the next set (our DEBUT ALBUM) im very confident that this is true and its something a lot of bands i feel do not dedicate enough attention to. Bettering ourselves and our music is very important to us otherwise there is no point being in this game. So by releasing three ep's hopefully the listener will be looking for more from each EP and that is what we have delivered.
SO what have i been doing?
Recently become a bit obsessed by minimalism (not the shite music that scenesters were dancing to a couple of years ago). Minimalism is often described as something that shouldn't be artistic by the definition of its genre yet somehow is. It also subscribes to one of my favourite sayings 'LESS IS MORE'.
EXAMPLE:
This is a great photo taken from the chilean earthquake, yet it is blurry and not fantastically composed nor has it had any editing done to it. If anything this makes it more poignant - the blurry nature of our memory at times of crisis, the fact it almost takes away the mans identity just one of many affected by the chaos, the way you have to strain and look intently to understand the situation - these are just a few points in how the blurred photo is more 'artistic' than if the same shot would have been in focus.
In terms of music a lyricist who can paint a picture (a 1000 words) with just a single word is far more talented than one who must spend three minutes reeling off cliches to echo the thousands who have told the same story a hundred times before.
The martial artist who can dispel his opponent with a single movement is far more daunting than a boxer taking 12 rounds to pick apart his opponents weaknesses.
The greatest minimal artists in music in my opinion are those of the punk movement - the music so basic and raw, the words they use just everyday words we would use in the pub but the ideas transcend all of this - the idealism of strummer still inspires millions around the world today...heres a great example of the original tune that M.I.A pillaged - but one things for sure Strummer would be happy that its opened many more eyes to the music of The Clash...
RADIOHEAD:
finally, the greatest band of all time radiohead have just announced the release of their next record. In a fashion that only radiohead can get away with they have once again changed the industry - normally labels invest in months of hype before an album so when it drops the whole world is dying to hear it...not for radiohead - a surprise announcement does away with the need for major labels again not relying on press to judge how to market the album...it is what it is...
this made me do some thinking - surely at the indie level we can make a difference to the corrupt beast...at the moment everything is in the hands of a few key journalists - the industry is scared to say they like something unless it has the approval of key tastemakers...a ridiculous notion as it is essentially telling us what we ought to like...and we fall for it every time...
so heres what im working on for new bands - MICROMARKETS...
When you start out as a band you want nothing more than to get your music out to the world - largely to check whether what you are doing is worthwhile, also largely to do with looking cool as shit in front of bitches and hos...This is made so easy through the internet - A&R at a label these days can just peruse the internet and listen to myspace demos deciding on first listen whether they can cut it or not...
What im looking into is restricting this openness, localising a scene, creating excitement that is only available to a lucky few...Imagine if the pioneers of dubstep had not released their music but only played live to those in london - the reaction would be the same but on a local level - if you wanted to hear this new music you would have to travel to the city...
If there were a scene in brighton that only us brightonians could plug into it would alienate the heads of the industry, give the power back to the people rather than the journos..
in economics the price of a product is often strongly related to its rarity - by restricting the output of your music you instantly make it harder to get hold of therefore increasing its value..
The reality of this is becoming exciting as Jamie XX has just made his album only available to download if you have a 3rd gen phone and are within a mile of a cd shop that is broadcasting it over the internet...imagine if we localised this to our music only being available within a mile of brighton cd shops...
I believe it would also increase competition amongst bands as there would be a micro market that they are selling to - competition inspires people to better themselves and their music hence why often there will be a group of bands that break through once one band in their particular scene goes big...
anyway its a work in progress but i urge anyone thinking of entering music to think about, value your own music and others will too...
Longest blog to date - hope you enjoy it and here's Jamie XX of his upcoming album 'we're new here' an album that takes Gil Scott Heron's latest work to the next level. its a fucking cool album check out the disco vibe
