BANDWIDTH CONFERENCE

RETURNS TO SAN FRANCISCO

Bandwidth 2008, the Music and Technology Conference, took place earlier this summer at the Bandwidth HQ atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. As the trolley cars clunked by and sirens wailed, the four floors of dark wooden conference rooms were abuzz with the latest talk of the industry.

Thursday, August 24 was the first day of sessions. Highlights included the Year Zero panel on the third floor with 42 Entertainment’s president and CEO Susan Bonds and chief creative officer Alex Lieu describing their extensive multi-media marketing plan to create buzz around Nine Inch Nails’ album Year Zero. While they had an extensive budget and an incredible amount of resources to work with, there are some threads that musicians on a tight budget can extract from their successful campaign: believe in the strength of communities, the power of the internet and organic online word of mouth; connect with your audience where they’re at and build relationships with them.

Following the Year Zero discussion was the Crystal Ball Panel, a speculative look into the future of the music industry featuring panelists Richard Gottehrer, founder of digital distribution platform The Orchard, Steve Jang, CMO of the web-based social networking site imeem, and Craig Palmer, president of Gracenote, with Los Angeles Times reporter Michelle Quinn as moderator. When discussing where digital music is headed in the next few years, Palmer made an interesting comment that the place to look for that answer is in the car. With live internet connectivity will come voice-response purchasing, horntones, etc. Jang predicted that digital downloading will become more social. One of the final questions of the panel raised by an audience member was what areas of the industry would see the most growth and stability in the upcoming years. Yang suggested artist management companies because they control the business around an artist (their brand) more so than a label or anyone else today.

Panels resumed again early on Friday, August 15 with conversations on marketing to the older demographic, social media marketing, the realities of turning a profit for independent labels today, how to make free music streaming online commercially viable for both artist and service, and more on digital distribution and new gadgets. Highlight of the day was the afternoon conversation with Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman in the third floor hall. Interviewed by Wired’s Nancy Miller, Poneman discussed how in its 20th year, Sub Pop still remains an old-fashioned label in many ways. A prime example of this is Sub Pop’s recent signing of Kentucky-based singer/songwriter Daniel Martin Moore based on an unsolicited demo — an incredibly rare occurrence but one that speaks leagues about the label’s old-fashioned A&R mentality. Commenting on everyone from Nirvana to Fleet Foxes, Poneman talked about why some albums take off and some brilliant ones don’t: “It happens when the band’s rise collides with the zeitgeist.”

Following this panel was a conversation with Chop Shop Music’s Alexandra Patsavas. Deemed “one of the most powerful gatekeepers in the entertainment business,” the film and television music supervisor has chosen influential placements for Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., Gossip Girl, and many others. One thing Patsavas is known for is her placement of lesser-known indie artists, and she said the main thing she looks for is a song that enhances the drama of a scene.

Closing out the day was the Master of Their Domain panel, where Philip Antoniades, president and founder of Nimbit, Lucy Kozak of CAA (Creative Artists Agency), Sharky Laguana of Bandago and MixPal, and Ian Rogers of Topspin discussed the possibilities and potential for artists to bypass a label and create their own central hub for their music, touring and fans. While the focus was on more established artists, a key point stressed again was that the next five to six years belong to smart managers. A huge part of the future is going to be savvy analytics as well, stressed Kozak, which means that artists will need to start understanding marketing and analyzing web stats to help fine-tune their approach. Antoniades closed by asking an important question: “Fans don’t have one $15 opportunity to interact with a band each year anymore. With that, what is the artist’s responsibility?”

www.bandwidthconference.com

924 GILMAN STREET

REVERED ON FILM

Late this August, Alternative Tentacles released a full-length film documentary on the venerable Berkeley all-ages punk institution, 924 Gilman Street. The debut from director Jack Curran, 924 Gilman St: Let’s Talk about Tact and Timing features interviews with notable East Bay mainstays like Matt Freeman of Rancid and Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy, those who played the Gilman, like Ted Leo, The Offspring, Against Me!, Jello Biafra and Ian MacKaye, as well as Gilman’s volunteer staff. Portions of the proceeds from the film go to benefit 924 Gilman Street.

Through these interviews and clips of live footage from Fleshies, Pansy Division, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Pinhead Gunpowder (Billy Joe Armstrong’s pre-Green Day gig) and Operation Ivy, Curran explores the music scene that Gilman sustained and that in turn sustained Gilman, and the sense of community that remains today at the 21-year old venue.

It begins in a car, with the stereo tuned into Maximum Rocknroll Radio and the following conversation coming through the speakers:

“… And of course there are shows at the warehouse Friday and Saturday but you know we have this strange policy, actually we don’t have it, Tim [Yohannon, MRR founder] has this strange policy, where he thinks it’s better not to announce who’s playing so I won’t announce it.”

“Well actually there is word-of-mouth advertising on these shows so we’re going to see how that goes.”

“But you have to be in with the in-crowd to find out about them.”

“Well no, you have to be a member of the warehouse, which is very easy, anyone can come down to a show on Friday or Saturday night and join up. The only stipulation is that there’s no violence or vandalism permitted within those confines and we can’t have any booze or drugs on the premises. Then you’re involved and you can be as involved as you want, the more the better actually ...”

And that’s how it all began. From there, an interview with Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy dives into the main topics of the film: how Gilman changed the punk scene and the reasons for its longevity. The film then walks the viewer through the acquisition of the space, the importance of finding a landlord that supported the venture, the brief but crucial involvement of Maximum Rocknroll under Tim Yohannon, the $40,000 worth of work that went into making a blank warehouse the Gilman that everybody knows and loves, equipped with sound and stage and those infamous graffiti-covered walls.

The film goes through the topics of Volunteers, which is the basis for how the venue runs and why Gilman is what it is (“It’s a space where the ideas are not being dictated by profit,” according to Ian MacKaye); Booking, exploring the venue’s No Major Labels policy; Membership Meetings and their motto: “If you don’t like it, you can get involved and change it;” Security, which is largely based on respect; and All-Ages, which Gilman remains even in its 21st year. Together, these things put both Gilman and Berkeley on the map, and brought in bands from all over the country and the world to play there.

Key points are raised, such as how Gilman taught punk kids that it was OK to be responsible, which led to trust and the building of community, Gilman’s practice of being on good terms with the surrounding neighborhood at all times, and how they had their asses covered from the beginning with their papers in order and a solid bureaucratic foundation. Also the fact that there can never be another 924 Gilman — even if people in other cities start a venue based on the same ideas, that runs the same way, it will still reflect that individual community, just as Gilman reflects the East Bay.

More than the legacy of this particular place and the East Bay music scene it helped spawn, the notion that a successful, long-lasting and productive community can be built on punk principles is perhaps the most poignant part about the film. After live footage of Against Me!, 924 Gilman Street concludes with a nod to Tim [presumably Yohannon] and a thank you to all the thousands of volunteers who have helped keep Gilman Street open for the last 20+ years.

www.924gilman.org

In the News

After touring the world practically non-stop since the March release of Alopecia, WHY? embarked on a second North American tour early last month that’s taken them all over the U.S. It is scheduled to conclude in Portland, Ore. on October 4 at the Wonder Ballroom.

www.myspace.com

/whyanticon

Deerhoof will release their latest effort, Offend Maggie, through Kill Rock Stars on October 7. Also coming on October 7 is the result of the vote the Bay Area band opened to its fans in an attempt to choose which of five charities would receive portions of the proceeds from the album’s digital sales. Deerhoof will hit the road this month for an extensive U.S. tour in support of the new release.

www.myspace.com

/deerhoof

Hot off the heels of his September West Coast tour with new labelmates These Arms Are Snakes and Suicide Squeeze debut, sBACH, AKA Spencer Seim (Hella), will team up with Pinback for a string of North American dates this month.

www.myspace.com

/sbachband

Birdmonster will hit the road with the Rumble Strips, touring in support of its new album and No Midnight follow-up, From the Mountain to the Sea. The tour begins in Philly on October 4 and will hit the West Coast in the middle of the month before heading back east, where it will wrap in early November.

www.birdmonstermus

ic.com

In support of their new EP, mise en scène, Built for the Sea will play a European mini-tour this month, concentrating mainly on Holland, with a few stops in Germany, Denmark and the surrounding areas. The band recorded the EP earlier this summer at the new San Rafael-based Bay Area Sound Studios (B.A.S.S.) and gave away free copies to the first 15 people at their release show last month who had a hand-drawn picture of the band to swap for it.

www.builtforthesea.com

Absolutely Kosher recently released the new album from local quintet Pidgeon. Titled Might As Well Go Eat Worms, the album is the follow-up to the band’s 2004 Absolutely Kosher debut, From Gutter With Love.

www.pidgeonsf.com

San Francisco’s favorite free annual music event, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival will return to Golden Gate Park October 3-5. Robert Plant and Allison Kraus, Emmylou Harris, Gogol Bordello, Iron & Wine, MC Hammer, Bonnie Prince Billy and Justin Townes Earle are among the many diverse bands scheduled to play over the course of the weekend.

www.strictlybluegra

ss.com

San Francisco singer/songwriter Donovan Quinn has released his first solo full-length album, the self-titled Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month. Playing with the Skygreen Leopards since 2001, Quinn now operates solo with the help of various collaborators, like Papercuts’ Jason Quever who helped produce this 14-song album.

www.myspace.com/don

ovanquinnthe13thmonth

Off the heels of their first Northwest tour, Sacramento’s Silver Darling has released its debut full-length album, Your Ghost Fits My Skin, through Davis-based Crossbill Records. Celebrating the release last month with Damien Jurado at Harlow’s in Sacramento, the band will team up with The Cave Singers for a show early this month at the UC Davis Coffee House, then with Hillstomp for an Arcata date on October 25. The follow-up to the band’s Wrap Around My Heart EP, released earlier this year, Your Ghost was recorded at The Hangar in Sacramento, produced by Christian Kiefer and engineered by Bryce Gonzales.

www.myspace.com/

silverdarling

Agent Ribbons will play a string of California dates this month, including Ladyfest in Grass Valley on October 4. Then it’s back over to Castellon Spain for the Tanned Tin Festival next month.

www.myspace.com/a

gentribbons

Yet another band with Sacramento roots, Two Sheds recently released a new digital EP on iTunes. The band, which consists of husband and wife Caitlin and John Gutenberger, are scheduled to play a handful of shows around the area in its support this month.

www.ilovetwosheds.com

The seventh annual Budget Rock Showcase, “the West Coast’s longest running festival for trashy, out of tune (formerly known as ‘garage’), wacked out music otherwise ignored by the Indie Rock Establishment,” is scheduled for October 23-26 at The Stork Club in Oakland. Among those scheduled to play are The Mantles, Apache, Touch-Me-Knots and Thee Makeout Party.

www.myspace.com/

budgetrock

The Action Design recently released their debut full-length album, Never Say, on Popsmear Records and launched a national co-headlining tour with Killola in its support. This San Francisco quartet features vocalist Emily Whitehurst and bassist Matt McKenzie from the now-defunct pop-punk act Tsunami Bomb, and this release marks the follow-up to the band’s Into a Sound EP. The Action Design will wrap up its tour early this month on the West Coast.

www.myspace.com/t

heactiondesign