First published Inpress, Melbourne on 4 March 2009
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here
Last week marked the 15th anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks, and while watching a headline band recently I ruefully recalled his ‘Play from your heart’ routine. While not every live show will have his bubble of blood on the nostril, I hate watching someone onstage looking as if it’s a boring day job. One band that always meant it was Seafood, so I was excited to learn of a performance and screening in a small South London pub. Because while a band going quiet doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve just gone, it can do. But when the introductions start that night, I realise I’ve come unknowingly to a wake; this great act have sadly called it a day, without so much as a farewell tour or performance. Before the film, they screen some old videos and I’m struck by just how much better these songs and this band are than most of the current British indie fodder that receives recognition and airplay. The film, Where Have You Been, follows the band around Europe on what was to be their last ever tour. For director Ben Hall it was a labour of love, and while overlong, it is a wonderful insight into the joys, japes, and sheer tedium that is the life of a touring band; punctuated by the thrill of getting those vital minutes on stage, despite all that is against you. It also made you aware of how much of an uphill battle even established bands face; and how not giving up must be the toughest part of it all.
Yet even the ‘biggest band in the world’ can appear to struggle. U2 have been unavoidable this week, with blanket coverage across the nearly all stations of the BBC’s radio and television network; even BBC News 24 who showed their performance from the rooftop of Broadcasting House live. Yet even all this wasn’t enough to place comeback single Get On Your Boots in the Top Ten. The Boxer Rebellion used to share a label with U2, but they were dumped a fortnight after the release of their debut album Exits in 2005. Over the next three years, the unsigned band called in favours, and played shows between day jobs, determined to carry on and record a follow-up. This “was funded partially by the guys and partially by a Japanese promoter who fell in love with the band after seeing them perform live in Tokyo,” their manager Sumit Bothra tells me. Money that may have gone towards a physical release was spent on getting the final mix and mastering just right. The resultant album, Union, was released as a download only in January. Sadly, despite outselling Coldplay and Kings Of Leon, they were ineligible for the album charts, as The Official Charts Company only include download sales if there is an accompanying sanctioned physical release. While an official chart-eligible CD release may yet follow, for the time being there will be a limited edition run of 1000 copies for fans to be sold only at shows.
The full repercussions from the release strategy of Radiohead’s In Rainbows are yet to be felt. Geoff from Portishead, writing on the band’s MySpace described themselves as ”free of a deal and free of commitment” and asked “if you lot have any bright ideas of how we should sell our music in the future let us know”. Perhaps it’s no wonder that many bands, especially those who have been through the corporate mill before, are now taking matters into their own hands, for being Idlewild is selling their next album via their website before the recordings are even finished. But fans who pre-order it will receive a limited edition of it months before the official chart-eligible release. This allows them to part-fund the project, and makes fans feel part of the whole process, as their names will appear in the accompanying CD booklet, and allows the band to remain in control of their music. without a label can give them freedom to change the rules.
Spc Eco has also released their new album 3-D themselves, but at this point it’s only available as a high-quality download from their website. Dean Garcia has been through the business once before, with his previous act Curve. He explained it to me thus: “The upside is you can do exactly as you wish and retain full control and rights of the work. You can if you wish also license to individual territories (where you get the best of both worlds) like we have just done with Quince Records in Japan.” He notes that the downside is lack of funding for a market blitz, so the important “thing is to be able to somehow stick out from the crowd.”
An artist self-releasing music is independent in the truest sense of the word. But then there’s another band I know who are effectively in limbo. Their label has their finished album, but has decided not to release it at this point. So while labels can support an artist, and put them on a guaranteed wage, they can also slowly suffocate their charges. In many articles it’s been claimed that record sales were only a small part of band revenues now, and that the real money was in ticket sales and merchandising. But sometimes you have to wonder, is illegal downloading killing music, or is the industry killing itself?
© James McGalliard 2009
