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Remember, Remember The 5th of November!
Join us for our Guy Fawkes Celebration on November 5th!
Gription is teaming up with fellow bands Lungs The Burn and Statewide Emergency to celebrate one of the finest revolutionaries of our time: Guy Fawkes.
On November 5th, at Herman’s Hideaway, we will be honoring Guy for what he truly was: An Enemy of the State.
Characterized as “V” in the movie “V for Vendetta,” Guy Fawkes plotted to explode 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the English Parliament in 1605. In England, November 5th is still commemorated with bonfires and by burning Guy effigies.
Guy Fawkes was not only against his government, but he was for his people (well, the Catholics, anyway). Since we pride ourselves on being a band for the people, we would like to invite all of you out to our Guy Fawkes Celebration!
William Shakespeare once said “What is a city but the people?” As the economy does it’s backslide and the federal government tries to revolutionize our healthcare and our way of life, people are becoming more and more aware of who really has the power.
Just because we elect them doesn’t mean they are in charge. Come show your support!
We will be working with the fine people at Infowars.com and WeAreChange, as well as the new 101.5 FM The Truth. Our goal is to give tools to the people so they can work towards making positive change. The power isn’t in our government, it is in the people.
Denver’s Best Photographer
While we are barreling across the high plains of Middle America, we would like to give a shout out to our friend Allen, who always manages to take some fantastic photos of us.
Check out these Glamour Shots! (with a lot less glitter and fog-effects, of course)
He is also the photographer who captured us live at the Rock for the Red Cross concert last November. Remember that?
As usual, all of our cool photos are available to view at our Flickr page
Allen lives and works in Denver, Colorado. He does a ton of weddings. His work can be veiwed on his website at K2 Photo Studio
We will be back in Wisconsin in a matter of hours. Be sure to hit us up at Dibbos tomorrow night where we play with Niobium.
Until next time,
Gription
New & Fresh
Here is a question for everyone. What is “New & Fresh” in music?
Really, we want to know, cause we’re stumped.
We have an associate we keep ties with at one of the major record companies. He basically manages the people who go out and find the new talent that they eventually sign.
Every time we talk to him, he asks us what we think is “new and fresh.” Naturally, we tell him that our music is pretty new and fresh, and then we throw a few other bands under his nose that we think fit the criteria.
He shakes his head an says “no, no. . how about (insert band name here)?” He spills out the name of yet another “Fray” offspring, or something that sounds like the reincarnation of Conner Oburst.
In other words, to even the most basic of music connoisseurs – NOT new and fresh.
When we talk with him about this over the phone, we direct him to myspace pages. We hear his computer play the first ten seconds of a few songs, and then he says something to the tune of “No. . . too much like a jam band.”
Before I move on, I would just like to say that this is a really nice guy. Super smart an a pleasure to be around. But I don’t think he actually listens to music (like most major industry guys).
The “too much like a jam band” band? Statewide Emergency, apparently. And if you have ever heard these kids, you would know that they are NOT a jam band in ANY capacity. In fact, they are straight up rock and roll and they kick ass and I have no idea why every major label in the country isn’t kicking down their door (and then replacing it with gold) to sign them.
The question remains – what is “New & Fresh”? Cause I am stumped. I look through the monthly Colorado Music Buzz or the bands mentioned on the Denver Music Board – and I just don’t hear it.
Instant Stardom
This industry can be pretty ridiculous at times. . . ALL times.
It’s all about who you know. And, sadly, in our local scene, there are a lot of idiots. There are plenty of people who are phenomenal and great, but at the same time, there still seem to be dumbasses at the foundation of it all.
We had a guy want to do booking for us. We found out later that the reason he was so eager to work with us was that he needed extra cash to support his coke addiction. There is no professionalism anymore.
Really, there isn’t. Of course, when the circuit of people you work with don’t wear ties or go to a regular office, it’s hard to maintain a professional mindset. However, we’ve noticed that when there is no professionalism, there is even less work ethic.
The music industry is hung over from the wealthy years of 1970 to 1999 when nearly everything was mainstream and people bought it and all was good. There was a process to how bands, and music, were made. Bands were discovered, recorded, put on the road and the radio and they had sex with loads of groupies.
Now, there is no process. There is no money. Few fans want to pay for music any more, and as a result, there is no money to produce quality bands. More than ever, there are horrible bands in the spotlight and the masses don’t know any better than to swallow them up.
There is no money anymore, but there are still legions of “music industry professionals” who insist on getting paid, never mind the fact that they rarely do any work. And these professionals are flocking to Denver because someone, somewhere, said it was the “next big music scene”
Recently we went through a bout with a local “company” who has relentlessly harassed both us and our record label. This company claimed that for a mere 120K they could launch us into stardom. These people claimed to have experience launching other bands, and the “only way to do it” was through enormous payouts.
They approached our label, Syntropic Music, first. They declined. A year later, they approached us with a similar offer. Open to new ideas, we let them work with us on a limited run.
For a small chunk of change, they said they would get demographics for us – to see where we were best accepted throughout the country. The entire deal, they claimed, would take four weeks for them to send out our music, let the listeners have it, and have the results sent back. They claimed, it would be ready for us just after our CD release party.
Four weeks passed, we called them up for the results. They asked for another week. Then another week. Then another three.
TWELVE weeks later they came back to us with numbers. Pitiful numbers. According to the research they did, our music was sent out to fifty people. That’s one person per state in the union – not exactly what I would call a reasonable estimation of anything.
In other words, don’t work with people who claim they can do anything for a price. Even if they could launch you to international stardom, do you think you could sell enough albums and merch to get your 120K back?
The Denver Music Scene is loaded with these kinds of people. After the collapse of the record industry, there are boatloads of people running around with their fistful of salvaged connections trying to make a buck. They don’t care if your music is great or if it sucks, all they care about is the fact that your money is still green.
So, what does it take to get on top of the music industry? Your friends, family and fans. Not people who see you as walking dollar signs, but ones who believe in your message. The people who will help you the most are ones who will never ask you for money.
Check out our new ride!
So we decided to take the dive and invest in the ultimate touring vehicle: a bus! Even better, it’s a short bus (insert jokes about mental deficiencies here).
Take a look!
It is a decommissioned RTD bus, so we got it on the super cheap. It’s in GREAT shape.
Over the next few days we will be cleaning it up, doing a bit of painting, and geting it ready for our trip up to Wisconsin, where we will be playing a few shows.
We have major plans for the inside of it, including bunk beds, tables and a kitchenette!
It’s gonna be a sweet ride when it’s all said and done. We will keep you posted with blogs and pics from the road!
