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ARCHIVE
02/13/04
It's not necessarily news, but
did you realize it's a new year? We finally did, and the realization
came when we remembered that conference season has begun.
First stop, Cannes...
Ah, Europe... Ah, the French Riviera... Ooh, industry conferences...
Oh, liver damage... Ouch! Exchange rates! Once again, (some
of) our intrepid staff ventured to Cannes, France, to take
part in MIDEM, "our" industry's biggest party, uh... convention.
As last year, the so-called festival was less about music,
per se, more about Money and deals. Networking was the word
of choice here, and there's was a lot of it going on... mostly
after "office hours" in the bars of the Côte d'Azur
until the early morn'. In order not to repeat myself, I would
kindly direct you to our news
archive, which, except for the more prevalent sunshine
this time around (and the local entrepeneurs' switch from
umbrellas to sunglasses), pretty much describes the scene
to a tee. See, people (I count Industry Types among them,
for what it's worth) are pretty much creatures of habit, and
events like MIDEM foster this basic instinct. You meet and
have drinks with people you befriended last year (in the industry
it's called "cementing the relationship"), and you meet and
drink with new ones. You buy each other drinks and dinners
(the really expensive ones are called "licensing deals") and,
if all goes well, you will have drinks with these folks next
year. We are happy to report that firstly, our staff survived
the ordeal with only minor cases of alcohol poisoning. Secondly,
thanks to their efforts and a lot of Imodium, Times Beach
has again managed to make friends all over the known world.
Amazingly, it seems people (like us) like us!!! Things are
looking up, which means that our artists should become more
visible, available and successful as the year progresses.
We are especially fond of our new friends from the British
Isles, which brings me to my next point.
Roughly consecutive to the events in Southern France, Gold
Cash Gold and Deadstring Brothers flew to the UK for the purposes
of introducing themselves to English music fans. Stay tuned,
as we fully intend to post some live recordings from both
bands' gigs, as soon as we can get our little luddite brains
around the tech aspects of doing this. As we in the staff
are always eager to help out, we met the two groups in the
UK to aid in the making of friends. We like to think we're
fairly adept at doing that, so with livers firmly secured,
we set off to conquer England (with love and hugs).
Ah, London... Thriving, pulsing, invigorating, breathtakingly
beautiful, yes... fucking expensive? Absolutely! And judging
by the fact that my formerly tan-colored raincoat now has
a deep soot hue, the infamous London
Fog is still more than prevalent. But I digress...
On the evening of our arrival in Londinium, after fighting
our way through rush hour Tube-traffic, we met up with those
nutty kids from Gold Cash Gold at their third UK gig at the
Metro— they had already played in Leicester (pronounced
"lay-jetser-sheer-ford," or something) and Southend. After
what can be best described as a round of drinks, GCG took
it to the stage and showed the crowd how to do the Devil's
Dance. If any people in the world have a right to be jaded
towards music, it's Londoners. Strangely, in London, when
peeps like a band, they really LIKE a band— regardless
of whether they know them or not. More importantly, they let
them know it— loudly. At the Metro, Gold Cash Gold were
loved... and did some loving in return. We'd like to send
a sincere "whaddup" to the members of The
Boxer Rebellion, who played a hell of a set and were horribly
nice to boot. Psst... one of 'em's a Yank... but ye dinnae
hear it from us.
The next night, at the Camden Barfly, the scene was repeated.
Gold Cash Gold's set was furious, and the audience again more
than appreciative, as attested by the fact that bassist Dino
Zoyes had his first "boob-signing." After the show, the boys
were indeed "mobbed" for autographs and attention. In what
became a feeding frenzy, the kids that came to see the boys
seemingly forgot that there are only four members in the band.
"Are you famous, too?" to which I could only reply "no, in-famous..."
She of the beautiful eyes immediately became engrossed with
someone else, and so my Rock N' Roll Fantasy® was shattered
once again. But I digress... again.
GCG's Saturday gig at Widemouth Manor in Bude was unforgettable.
The boys played to a more than enthusiastic crowd, including
one poor sap with a ditch shaved into his head and "I Am Fucked"
semi-permanently tattooed on his back. Among other happenings,
a "punter" keenly mooned the band revealing two Gold Cash
Gold stickers on his arse-cheeks. There is also a rumor (as
yet unconfirmed) that someone offered his recently-single
daughter's hand in marriage. That's Rock and Roll, dammit,
and the Gold Cash Gold kids sure know how to live it. The
two shows that followed, at Camden's Dublin Castle (spotted
at the gig: a suitably booty-shaking Dave Wyndorf of Monster
Magnet) and Southampton's Joiner's (big ups to Cast Iron Shores,
Vic and Mark), only served to reinforce my opinion that I
am entirely too old to try and keep up with them. Let's just
say they are now home and well and I am home but well-done.
January 31st, a Saturday (for those of you archivally-inclined),
and Deadstring Brothers play their first gig in London. Tired
and jet-lagged, they nonetheless put forth a show for the
ages (recorded for posterity and soon to be posted). The crowd
at the Camden Barfly fell in love with the Deadstrings' Motown-cum-Nashville
sound, yours truly had a tear in his eye, and love was shared
plentily. We did not witness the band's next show in Sheffield,
but reviews were better than good, and that's more than good
enough for us... it makes us blush with pride.
The Deadstring Brothers had their own Dublin Castle gig to
do, and do they did. After a strong set, the band brought
the house down with their Crazed and Confused encore of Hank
William's Ramblin' Man. Again everyone was showered with affection
and beer (they seem to forget the number of band members very
quickly over there), band and label alike. Ah, the life...
until you wake up the next morning with the headache from
hell... A gig at London's On The Rocks followed, reviews of
the show were downright winged, while the venue was described
as "a bit dodgy." The neighborhood was portrayed as "detroitesque."
The Brothers continued on to Liverpool, home of all things
buggy, to play at the famous Cavern Club (sadly but a facsimile
of the original, as the bona fide Cavern across the street
is apparently now a museum). Mop Tops and Raincoats abounded,
songs were played, and everyone was in good cheer. Word has
it that bassist Philip Skarich was shown "a bum." We don't
exactly know what that means, but we like it.
The band's last show was a lovely and mellow little affair
at London's Clerkenwell House. Usually an acoustic venue,
with the punters lounging about on very comfy couches, it
was a perfect place for Deadstring Brothers to showcase their
adaptability. Quiet yet brooding, easy but melancholic, the
Brothers put on what could be described as a Musical Hug.
The crowd was verily embraced, and was more than willing to
return the favor. All in all, it was a fitting and friendly
end to a very successful introductory jaunt. Kudos to John
Grimsey of the Honey Ants, who put on a great solo acoustic
show, and to Mark at Barking Spiders for all the help. You
could search a long time and not find any nicer people.
People, bear with me, for there is more: Ethan
Daniel Davidson and his EDDFive are due in the studio
any day now to record his next album. Word has it that this
will be a more blues and punk inspired record than was Don
Quixote de Suburbia. Ethan and his crew have been slyly incorporating
some interesting covers into their live shows, f.i. George
Jones' Burn Your Playhouse Down. Judging by the demos we've
heard, the direction this next album is taking is very, very
much to our liking here in the office. They will be appearing
at SXSW, at our own daytime party, on March 17th at Red Eyed
Fly.
There, I let the cat out of the bag: we're having a little
get-together in Austin. We're bringing Deadstring Brothers,
Ethan, Audra Kubat, and Man. We are joined by the friendly
folks at Simple® Shoes, and are
looking forward to any and all of you being there...
There have been some interesting news about Man. First, MAN
broke up, but after much soul searching, decided to get himself
back together. Not soon after that, due to the possibility
of legal hassles with a much older Welsh band of the same
name, MAN decided to change his name to his logo (known affectionately
by us as TAFKAM). After careful consideration, a further name
change was announced, seeing as the symbol-thing was potentially
another source of litigious behaviour on the part of people
with a lot more money than us. MAN will no longer be MAN,
nor will he be TAFKAM. Instead (after some research, mind
you), we have come to a solution: MAN will now be known as
MAN Incorporated.
There... that's it for now, and we can all breathe easier
again.
01/07/04
A short bit of news to bring
this rather eventful year to a close... and an eventful year
it has been. Many bottles of beer and wine ago, we formed
this label, and somehow we've managed to release upon the
world many a good record, we think. Considering that we all
managed to survive the various recording sessions, releases,
release parties, shows, and music conferences, it's hard to
pick a highlight. Hilarity abounded in copious amounts, but—truthfully—does
any of it top the sight of the Butcher of Baghdad meeting
Baghdad's Best Barber? Britney gets married? We have most
certainly been bested... But back to the reality that is Times
Beach...
For starters, MAN has by now completed his first foray into
European territory, and has played several U.K. shows under
the 'pseudonym' MAN Incorporated supporting Five Horse Johnson.
As I write this, he is continuing on his travels with FHJ
through some of the continent, playing pick-up shows wherever
and whenever possible and wherever MAN's music is necessary...
We hope our more Anglo-inclined friends were able to attend
and witness the phenomenon that is Matt McGuire's MAN (Inc.).
MAN has also completed his first video. 'Fired,' under the
direction of Mr. Anthony Garth, is quite an amazing and hilarious
little piece of video mischief, all clocking in at less than
two minutes. Watch for it here soon, as well as on your favorite
video outlet network sometime in the near future.
As for the rest of us, we do not intend to rest on our few
(if precious) laurels in the coming year. As you can tell,
we have added a few features to our website, videos, as well
as Audra Kubat and Ethan Davidson's prior releases—now
new (again) and improved on our own imprint. Speaking of Ethan,
he and band are busy rehearsing songs for his next record
somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Plans are for Mr. Davidson
and cohorts to enter the studio in mid February. We will not
allow them out until the record is done, passing food and
water (and booze) through a specially built slot in the control-room
door.
As we have expanded our 'catalog,' so we hope to expand our
roster in 2004. In other words, the TB family will grow...
Also, we are going to send more of our acts on the road, starting
this winter—sorry, dear artists... we know how rough
it is to travel through the lands in ice and snow, but time
being ripe and all...
Audra Kubat is preparing to hit the highway (more specifically,
Hwy 1) to promote 'Million Year Old Sand' and general well
being. She doesn't need any convincing to do so, but the success
of her album on college radio has definitely sped up the process.
Stay tuned, stay aware, and you'll be able to catch her in
some nearby campus-area venue soon.
In our continuing effort to enter (-tain) the (old) world,
we are adopting a strategy of 'divide and conquer,' or at
least 'divide and make a bunch of friends.' Both Gold Cash
Gold and Deadstring Brothers are off to the U.K. for separate
tours in late January and early February. Gold Cash Gold will
be making their second run at the British Isles, their first
attempt having been so nice, they've been invited back. Thus,
rumours of their being bad guests can finally be laid to rest.
Deadstring Brothers will be showing the world—or in
any case the U.K.— that not all of Detroit can be stored
in a garage... sometimes you need a barn. Gold Cash Gold has
some tour dates already listed on their website.
Rest assured, dear peoples, that we will post more details
as they come to our attention.
In the meantime, please accept our sincerest and belated well
wishes for the holiday season. We hope you all made out like
bandits, but respectfully suggest that you now think about
going on a diet—it's healthy. Here's to this year being
better than the last...
12/05
 New
video additions:
Gold Cash Gold,
VULTURES
Deadstring Brothers, UNBROKEN
10/23
Noise is a wonderful thing,
really, and we are always extremely happy when our bands make
some—whatever kind of noise that may be... Our bands
and artists are making noise, for sure.
Today (Oct. 28th) is a big day for us here. Gold
Cash Gold have (by now) completed a successful UK tour,
having been invited to play all over the Island before having
the benefit of a release. Word of Mouth is a good thing, but
that particular omission changes now, TODAY, with the release
of Paradise Pawned, Vol. 1 (see our featured artist
bar to the right). As far as the UK tour is concerned, word
has it Gold Cash Gold are making all types of friends along
the way with audiences and press alike. The GCG Kids are not
prone to rest, as we learned during the recording of Paradise
Pawned, Vol. 1 (see bio page), so as soon as they return
from the UK, they will be performing all over the Midwest.
Speaking of the Old World, Ethan Daniel Davidson toured the
UK and did some German dates as a solo act (he can do that,
you know?), to great receptions. Highlights included an impromptu
show at an Anarchist collective near Hamburg to celebrate
an anti-nuke protest, and numerous shows and drinking bouts
for and with friendly Irish audiences. He had such a blast,
he's already plotting his next sojourn to Old
Europe sometime in the spring, with full band in
tow.
There is news to be told about MAN, as well... He made his
NYC debut at this year's CMJ Music Marathon when he played
to a full house at the famous Continental
Club, a club we here particularly fancy due to its close
proximity to St. Mark's Pizza—hands down the best pizza
on Earth (no, we don't care to argue that statement, save
y'all's breath!). MAN® brand Punk Rock seems to go over
well in NYC. We can tell because the industry people present
did not ask for free swag, but rather paid for it. Trust us...
that is a good sign.
MAN has things going his way. Firstly, we are very happy to
announce that he will be touring the UK, himself, as support
for our good friends Five
Horse Johnson. Tour dates will be made available on MAN's
personal site ( www.beerforman.com
), but if you check FHJ's page, you'll notice a slight change
in MAN. In the future, MAN will be changing his name to "MAN
INCORPORATED." Seems there is a band—a rather old
band—in the UK that has the rights to that name, so
MAN decided to avoid future litigation (lawyers cost money!)
and the legally-forced inclusion of "Jr." or "U.K."
by agreeing to change his name. Is the addition of "INCORPORATED"
really the answer? To be honest, we don't know, nor do we
think he's quite done yet. The future may see MAN INCORPORATED
legally changing his name (that's allegedly cheap) to his
logo, á la Prince.
Lastly, we are happy to see that our latest signing, Audra
Kubat, is beginning to make some noise of her own. A month
and a half before the official release date for her CD, Million
Year Old Sand, Audra's already causing a stir. Interest in
the record is growing exponentially, she's getting airplay,
and we have run out of promotional material several times
over due to the press' interest in the music she has to offer.
She has recently played gigs at some unexpected places. The
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, that's nuts! See Audra's
site for more info, but we promise we'll try to keep you
informed on a more regular basis... Yeah, right!
09/03
Oh, Dear. It has been quite
a while since our last update. I sincerely apologize for that.
Life and Nature sometimes intrude on the best-made plans.
Regardless, we have plenty of reasons to update you with new
info now. Quickly...
The summer of 2003, with all of its Blackouts, west Nile Virii,
and European Heat waves did see the Times Beach roster expand
considerably. Detroit’s own folk diva Audra
Kubat was our first new signing, the band Gold
Cash Gold (also Detroiters) our next. The respective
signing-parties for these artists alone account for much of
the time lost since the last website update. Strange how we
can’t seem to recuperate as quickly as we could when
we were in our twenties...
But first things first: we are releasing a new album this
month, this week, tomorrow… whatever. Detroit's Deadstring
Brothers' debut album has returned from the pressing
plant and is now ready for release. See our feature to the
right to find out just how wound up we are about that! Deadstring
Brothers have a video in the can for the song 'Unbroken.'
Look for it soon. If we can manage the technology, we might
even put a small version of it on this here website. In the
meantime, Deadstring Brothers'
record release party is taking place on Friday, September
19th at the Magic Bag Theatre in lovely Ferndale Michigan,
and will feature Detroit bands Whiskey Tenor and the Waxwings.
Expect another report of unbridled celebration. We've already
allotted a generous Taxi-budget for staff and band.
Next! If you have at all visited our
store, you may have noticed a 7" single by Gold Cash
Gold available. This may have caused some confusion, but rest
assured, GCG is signed to TBR. The single is great, and the
album 'Paradise Pawned' (due out in mid to late October) is
even better. The band shoots a video for the track 'Vultures'
this week, which promises to be cause for more chaos and yet
another celebration. We don't need much of a reason for that.
GCG has been one of the
most talked-about bands in Detroit because of the strength
of their live show. One listen to the album and no one will
ever shut up again. Gold Cash Gold
is embarking on a tour of the UK in October (before the release
date!), Check their website for info: www.goldcashgold.com
Audra Kubat is what you
could call an anomaly: a folk singer that rock guys love.
Audra has been wowing us
here in Detroit for years, and Times Beach is extremely lucky
to have been able to ink her… Lucky you, for her upcoming
album 'Million Year-Old Sand' is absolutely mind blowing Produced
with the help of Gold Cash Gold's
singer/keyboardist/genius savant Eric
Hoegemeyer, the record practically defines the word
'ethereal.' Some have claimed that the record has healing
properties, and it has thus been requested by various Swiss
hospitals and natural healing centers. Consult your physician.
Anyway, feel free to drop by again soon, as we will be updating
the site to include artist pages and sample downloads on and
by both of these new artists by the end of this week.
06/03
MAN
RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM INTO THE WORLD!
Friends, the time has finally
come. MAN’s debut
CD, ‘MACHINE,’ will
see its release into the unsuspecting world Tuesday, June
17th. It has been a long wait for us here at Times Beach,
but morale is running at an all-time high, as the record itself
has garnered a lot of attention in the media (let’s
face it, folks... they get all this stuff way before you and
me). Oregon State University’s Daily Barometer has said
“... MAN shoves an entire palate of emotion through
a meat grinder and finds a way to churn out a purified spiteful
contempt for the world that is spiced with sarcastic humor.”
Yeah, the rest of the review
is pretty good as well. “Fuck the Team,” the leadoff
track has become somewhat of a theme song in offices and seedy
bars (what’s the difference?) alike, while “Fired”
continues to fuel disdain for office managers worldwide.
If you haven’t heard MAN, and are searching for a description
of his sound, let us pull your coat with this: Charles
Bukowski meets Chuck
Dukowski. If you need more information on the force of
nature that is MAN, feel free to browse through our artist
pages, or go directly to the realm of MAN at www.beerforman.com
06/03
MAN RECORD RELEASE PARTY:
On creepy old Friday the Thirteenth
of June, Times Beach Records will celebrate the release of
MACHINE, the debut record by the artist known to you only
as MAN (we know him as mild-mannered handyman Matt McGuire,
but that’s classified info). To help us in this endeavor,
we’ve enlisted the help of several friends: the ever-popular
drinking establishment Small’s
in the lovely town of Hamtramck, MI is hosting the event.
For further support, we have invited all relevant members
of the Detroit music press, retail, and music scene for drinks
in an effort to brown-nose our way to the top. Nashville,
TN’s drunkest sons, The Alcohol Stuntband and Detroit’s
own punk-brewers This
Frequency Five will get party-goers in the ‘right’
frame of mind. This Frequency Five have been among the top
purveyors of Punk Rock in Detroit for a while now, as their
loyal fan base will attest. The fact that a couple of them
are bartenders probably doesn’t hurt their draw, either.
And speaking of bartenders, The Alcohol Stuntband comes with
some serious recommendations, such as The Aquarian Music Weekly,
who calls them “wildly dysfunctional, always entertaining
and occasionally hilarious,” and Iann Robinson (of MTV2/
News), who says of singer Chris Crofton “(he) has a
way with words very few people can claim… funny, heartbreaking
and always inventive.”
But the main focus will be on MAN, of course. His brand of
anger-and-beer-fueled-one-man-punk-rock has been causing quite
a ruckus here in Detroit and ‘abroad,’ as we refer
to any city South, West or East of Toledo. His fan base grows
exponentially every time he plays live, and this night promises
to be MAN’s finest (half-) hour. We gleefully invite
you to come down and be part of this histrionic event.
MIDEM
Say you've started a label. You've dealt with all the legal
stuff; you've even got artists—if as yet unreleased
(oh, just you wait). What do you do next? Fly to France, of
course!
It should have been an uneventful flight, what with a very
favorable jet stream, no turbulence, and a sleep-inducing
in-flight movie or two. All these should have made for a well-rested
Times Beach delegation to MIDEM,
"the world's leading international music market,"
were it not for an in-flight crew that made David Spade seem
positively cordial. Thanks to the most stressful and stressed-out
"flying wait-staff," we arrived first in Amsterdam,
and finally in Cannes with a serious case of the crankies.
Thanks, NWA!
But hell, it's France, for the sake of Pete! Moreover, it's
the South of France; the land of women, wine, and beaches;
of film festivals, celebs, Mediterranean flair, and... did
someone say "sun?" Make that "rain," lots
of rain.
Trade shows like MIDEM
usually create revenue for their host cities. In Cannes said
revenue went straight to the friendly Senegalese street merchants,
who seemingly had a more reliable forecast than weather.com
can provide, and thus owned all the "stock" in the
local umbrella industry. If you'd ever wondered how the laws
of supply and demand really work, all you had to do was watch
the street price of umbrellas increase exponentially as the
rain continued and continued and continued...
But I digress, as I am wont to do.
MIDEM
is very likely the biggest music industry trade show on Earth.
We knew that going in, but we could never have imagined its
actual scope. Feeling "empowered" by the celebratory
drinks on the night of our arrival ("we're alive!!!"),
the next morning we ventured straight into the lion's mouth:
the Palais des Festivals, site of the "trade
show floors." Said floors were teeming with 4006 companies
(MIDEM's numbers), all of whom seemed to have booths, as well
as thousands upon thousands of labels, publishers, lawyers,
A&R execs, distributors, journalists, more lawyers...
you get the picture. To say that our little label and its
delegates were initially out of their element is an understatement
of "Mothran" proportions. You may ask, as we did
ourselves often, "what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks are
we doing here?"
What? Peddling our wares, of course. More realistically though,
we went to MIDEM
to find and make friends and allies, and to find out the real
"state of the union" in the music industry. Every
conceivable international distributor was present. Whole nations—yes,
governments—sent representatives and built what can
only be described as "booth-cities" to boost, peddle,
and support their musicians and companies. The air verily
reeked of "business." Strangely missing from this
international gathering (whose focal point, by the way, was
on electronic music this year): a "Detroit" booth.
For shame! Also strangely missing from this convention: hookers—unless
you count the musicians. Then again, we were so taken aback
by the mere size and scope of this thing that maybe we just
overlooked them—the hookers, that is.
If you've ever been anywhere near a trade show, you probably
know that 90% of all deals are struck not in the convention
center, but over food and drinks... mostly over drinks. And
drinks, dear reader, are something our staff is well acquainted
with. If I may be so bold, we're kind of good at it. MIDEM
may be busy and buzzing during the day, but the real connections
are made in the bars at night. Our research staff had told
us that the "place-to-be" was the Bar L'Amiral
in the very posh Martinez Hotel. Fearlessly we dove
in and found ourselves in a strangely las-veguian
lounge bar, complete with fake red-haired (as in spray-painted),
matching-metallic-red-tuxedo-jacket-wearing British lounge
singer/MC. Feeling under-dressed, we proceeded to make up
for our lack of Versace with a suitable dosage of inhibition
medicine. "Crappy French bottled beer for ten Euros a
pop?" exclaimed Dave, notre président,
as he bought the first round, "bring it on!" He
was not only making references to the exorbitant pricing as
well as the bad Bush-driven exchange rate (10 E= $10.70),
but also putting his extensive and expensive "non-sarcastic
optimism" training into practice (see news section).
In our naiveté we had stumbled into the most
expensive watering hole in the city (noted: there's no such
thing as "cheap" in Cannes), "peeing with the
big boys," as my dear old dad would say. Present were
many high-level major label players. "I used to wonder
why CDs are so expensive," said phillippe d',
our more Euro-disposed manager of dis-information in a moment
of quiet resentment. "All these guys buying us drinks
work for majors, the drinks are trés expensive,
and they're all submitting expense reports. Someone has to
pay for this shit, and that's you and me." Nevertheless,
we did manage to meet all types of blood: techno label heads
from Poland, electro-garçons from Belgium,
Eminem's lawyer (very generous with the drinks), Wally from
the Romantics (?!?!?!?), all the while successfully avoiding
David Hasselhoff's drunken German reps. We took photos, but
had our camera mysteriously "stolen" from under
our noses. "Son of a bitch!" exclaimed our fearless
leader. "That roll had pictures of me puking in the Stanley
Cup!" Look for those on someone else's website,
although—seeing as "hockey" means about as
much to the French as condoms do to a crack whore—it
seems like Dave's privacy will be safe from any internet harm.
Day two, and we had "bidness-meetings!" In light
of the debauchery of the previous night, it was a small miracle
that anyone involved in any meetings actually managed to be
healthy enough to attend. The meetings at MIDEM
(get it?) served mostly to solidify the friendly connections
made over drinks the previous night, and to establish some
kind of business relationship. As such, it must be stated
that our encounters were successful, if in a preparatory manner.
Of great interest was a little seminar concerning distribution
and sales of "urban" music in Europe. The main problem
discussed was the seeming inability of some independent R&B
and Hip Hop groups and companies to break into the European
market, and the Q&A segment featured many self-professed
"CEO/rappers" (in that order), who expressed their
deep distress at not selling millions of records in France
and Europe in general (keep in mind that an album is considered
"platinum" in France when it has sold 100,000 copies).
The panel of experts itself was unwilling to say what was
uttered at the end of his keynote speech by rapper/not-CEO
Wyclef Jean of Fugees fame, who seemed to imply that if your
music stinks, that might be a good reason why it isn't selling.
Makes sense to us.
With the daytime meetings and our afternoon naps taken care
of, nighttime found us mysteriously back at the Martinez Hotel
buying overpriced drinks for ourselves and some of our newly-found
friends. Later on, having passed the "I-love-you"
stage straight to "I-don't-need-anyone-" drunk,
phil went off in search of more independent pastures. "Familiarity
breeds contempt," he said. "Considering the bulimic
state of my wallet right now, I'm better off wet and lost
in a strange city than hanging around here." That said,
he left the room, literally ran into rapper Coolio in the
lobby ("nice guy, he didn't try to kill me..."),
disappeared into the pouring rain, got lost, and in due course
found indie-heaven: Morrison's Irish Pub where the drinks
were cheap (-er), the people friendlier, and the moods loose.
Lesson one: when abroad, do as the Irish. Morrison's became
our hangout for the remainder of the trip, and we were not
alone. Most if not all of the more independently/alternatively
skewed folk present at MIDEM
made a similar choice. The joint was, as the French bartender
put it, " 'ow doo yoo zay ... ‘opping?" Live
band (OK, acoustic duo), which later turned out to include
a very drunk and happy former member of the Charlatans ("UK?"
asked Dave). It probably didn't hurt that the locale's projection
screen showed not only English Premiere League, but American
football as well ("play-offs, dude! What're ya, foreign?"
Uh, yeah). Our new Dutch friends from Bertus were present
and accounted for, and Ramesh Soekhoe engaged us in a "10-desert-island-records"
conversation/ drinking game. This in turn led to the old "that
record sucks! What are you, from abroad?" Well, duh...
yes, aren't we all? There wasn't an Irishman in sight, but
the Guinness was good—if a little too warm for our new,
more British friends. However, judging by the copious amounts
drunk on these occasions, the Americans, Canadians, and Dutch
patrons didn't seem to see temperature as a major obstacle.
"Barbarians!" said Mark Lawton, Pickwick GM, and—as
a Scot, the closest thing to "Irish" in the whole
damn bar. A game of "your company buys the first round,
ours the second, theirs the third, ad nauseam" ensued,
and all I can say is "God bless expense accounts!"
Especially if they're someone else's... A big "santé!"
goes to our friends at Bertus (NL), Shock (AUS), Pickwick
(UK), Blue Cactus (Chicago—I know... it's not a country),
and Divine Intervention (Miami) for the good times, and if
for some reason we didn't (memory is a fragile thing sometimes),
we'll buy the first round next time we meet.
The nighttime "meetings" never seemed to end, for
as Morrison's closed the parties merely moved on to a different
establishment. This behavior persisted until everyone was
too inebriated to do anything more than hail a cab and mumble
some incomprehensible form of French involving the name of
one's Hotel. Cannes, however, is so pricey that we began sharing
cab rides with other small-label-peoples in an industry-inspired
effort to "cut costs." Anything to bring down the
cost of Cds, right? In that spirit we'd like to thank Divine
Intervention's Lou Stadler for the financial co-operation
in getting us all to the airport in time to make our much-needed
trip homeward. Amazingly, in spite of the previous night's
festivities, all of these people (ourselves included) somehow
managed to be present at their respective meetings and booths
the next day, ready to do business; no worse for the wear,
were it not for those terrifying pains of the head. That evening,
the previous night's pattern virtually repeated itself. We
were lucky enough (?) to have had a 6:50AM flight back to
the D, which meant immediate departure from the bar to the
airport. We need to have a talk with our travel agent.
Now it's two weeks later, time spent recuperating and doing
some reflechir-ing about the music business, and
what did we learn? 1. The South of France is very nice, very
posh, and priced appropriately—even in the rain. 2.
The music industry's troubles are largely self-induced. 3.
The majors have no solutions for their problems, other than
litigation. Most importantly, however, we came away from MIDEM
nervous, yes, but also with a sneaky feeling of euphoria.
There has possibly never been a better time to be involved
in the independent music scene. In fact, there is a grand
old chance that the term "independent music" will
soon once again mean "independent," and that, dear
reader is indeed something to look forward to, and worth the
trip. Next year we're taking a boatload of "Chasers."
New
Year's Eve barreled through our lives like a west-bound commuter
train through the city of Detroit and we awoke in 2K3, wondering
where the hell our minds have gone. After the mayhem that
was the so-called holiday season, the Times Beach crew has
settled into full-on work mode. Graphics are being designed,
distributors and publicitors (for lack of a better word) are
being courted and schmoozed, bands are being wooed into the
fold, and most importantly, "product" is being made.
MAN's
record is in the final stages of production, with fistfights
over mixes and cover-art in full steam, and Ethan
Daniel Davidson has embarked
on what some might call a "preemie tour." His album
Don Quixote de Suburbia
may not be out until March, but look for him playing in a
hopelessly undersized venue near you. It shouldn't be hard
to spot him, as he has surrounded himself with a band of malcontents
from all over our U.S.A. to form a band, name yet undecided.
As we all know, band-folk are easy to recognize.
As for the "business"
end of things, we embarked on a voyage that turned out to
be more than scary. In Cannes, France, there was a not-so-little
industry shindig being thrown from Jan. 18th to the 23rd,
which goes by the "ironic" name of MIDEM, which
is exactly what we intended to accomplish there. MIDEM is
like a SXSW on steroids, so we found ourselves with a slight
case of the nerves, as this humongous conference was our first
foray into such matters. Armed with plenty to talk about and
copies of Ethan's
record, a pre-release promo of MAN's
music, and Black Flag's
"Everything Went Black" for inspiration, we sent
a couple of intrepid volunteers to brave the lion’s
den that is the international music industry in an effort
to secure foreign aid. No, not looking for IMF loans; we went
in search of "menial" things such as European distribution,
booking agents, "friends" (as in other labels that
share our humble agenda) and wine... Whoa! Thinking out loud
again... Anyway, we like to think of our peoples as "peddlers."
But let's face
it: it is the South of France, and no matter how you or we
may feel about the French and their love of all things Jerry
Lewis, the Côte d'Azur is pretty kick-ass.
So, after a crash course in conversational French and something
called "non-sarcastic optimism," we headed to the
land of vin, fromage, Telephone,
and Catherine Deneuve to do that which had to be done, glad
to suffer for you, dear reader. Stay tuned for reports, gossip,
and hopefully some good hobnobbing photos from this very,
very large and chic gathering, as our intrepid crew recovers
from their "business-trip."
In other "industry
news," we are brainstorming ideas for our entrance into
the fray at yet another music conference: South
by Southwest in March. Since we came into being at a time
after the deadline for having a label showcase or any of our
artists perform, we need to introduce ourselves to the people
in some other, possibly more creative way. Having eliminated
the concept of logoed-crust-drive-by-pie-throws, we are considering
an all-out Detroit-stylee barbeque as an alternative (sans
the guns, as there are more than enough of those in Texas),
or something else more along those lines. Creative it may
not be, but the mix of music-types and free grub and booze
as a marketing tool has, after all, stood the test of time.
We'll keep you posted, as if you really care.
Well,
it's the "give-more-than-you-receive-" time of year,
and we have been busy as a horde of dung beetles during mating
season here at Times Beach (this being the time when the little
darlings roll their precious Balls O' Crap). In trying to
make the label a self-running, self-sufficient operation come
the time of our first releases, MAN and Ethan Daniel Davidson,
we have been working on boatloads of coffee and little or
no sleep. The eternal boozing that accompanies the music bid-ness
probably doesn't help, but all work and no play, ad hoc ad
nauseam, et al... you know what we mean..
12/02
For all the hard (-ly) work this month,
there is progress to be reported: The first (promo) copies
of Ethan's album Don Quixote de Suburbia have come back from
the pressing plant, and they look amazing! We knew the music
to be good, but Guerrilla Graphics Genius Mark
Dancey--who has done underpaid artwork for Soundgarden,
a myriad of stoner-rock bands, as well as his own critically
acclaimed yet publicly maligned Big Chief and its more critically
beloved and publicly missed propaganda machine that was Motorbooty
Magazine--has really outdone himself this time. After TBR
Art Dominatrix Heather " get over here" Jarosz arranged
for their meeting by saying "OK, you two read Don Quixote
by tomorrow, sit down and hash this out," Ethan and Mark
met over Sangria and Tapas and discussed the parallels between
Ethan's own "quest" and Cervantes' hero/clown. The
graphic results (over and above the musical) are astonishing.
Dancey has perfectly captured Davidson's self-effacing ways
in graphic form and presented it with hilarious grace, resulting
in a record that has the feel of a concept album, even though
it really isn't. We cannot wait for you, the beautiful public,
to hold this gorgeous piece of packaging in your hands as
you listen to the magnificent music inside. And, seeing as
the peoples who invented the DigiPac® want royalties,
we also hope you will be kind enough to acquire more than
just one copy. Please. Hey, thanx.
Ethan disappeared
from view for a few weeks, as he took what he referred to
as a "quick trip home" to Northern Alaska, where
Winter is real, somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. Quick
in this case means one week to get there, one week to see
that his wee castle still stands, and another week to get
back--if all goes well. He does this kind of thing purposely,
it seems, to keep our nerves in a constant state of suspense.
There are bears up there, several different kinds thereof,
and we don't really care what kind they are, as long as they
leave our good Ethan alone. When he finally reemerged in civilized
country--meaning there where cell phones work--we were told
that he was on his way back to Colorado, where he will spend
New Year's rehearsing with his new band, whom we sent off
from the "D" in a crappy van with a buoyant "go
West, Young Men! Don't call us, we'll call you." In other
words, Ethan
Daniel Davidson will have a Band, and they will begin
a three-month stint of gigs in January. Stay tuned to TBR.com,
as we will post tour dates as soon as we have the list in
front of us.
12/02
In other Times
Beach News, the Artist Only Known to You as MAN began the
recording of his new (OK, his "first") album, BEER
for MAN. In order to get things started in the right spirit
and eager to drink on company time, "Brothers-in-Alms"
Times Beach Records and Rustbelt
Studios thought the first day of recording should be in
the form of a riotous celebration. "There's no better
way to get a session started," said megaproducer Al "nyeeahh!"
Sutton (Don Caballero, Detroit Cobras, Big Chief, and that
unknown Kid Rock), "than to trash the studio on the first
day!" So, the decision was made, invitations distributed,
a party was had, copious drinking ensued, and--with everybody
who's anybody in Detroit, everybody who thinks they're somebody,
and more than a few nobodies and has-beens at hand (present
company included)--MAN proceeded to play two ferocious (fellatious?)
sets of his music. In keeping with the punk-rock spirit of
MAN, the crowd responded to each song with brutal applause
and a gleeful hail of beer containers, to the point where
most of the recording budget had to be used for clean-up,
medical bills, as well as to settle the odd lawsuit or two
(don't worry, after selling our own souls to get a loan, the
recording eventually was able to continue in a more serious
tone). We expect the recording of BEER For MAN to be finished
sometime in early January, barring any major catastrophes,
with the release in early spring.
The Times Beach
Offices/Rustbelt Studios were flooded with booze
and calls the next two days, as almost every Detroit bigwig
called to see if we had per chance found their cell phones
after the party. The noise of all the simultaneous cell phone
ring tones as these "people" tried to ascertain
the location of their umbilical phones was enough to send
TB Director of Propaganda Phil "the deacon o' freakin'"
D on a much-needed day-long visit to the local Japanese Massage
Parlor, but only after a quick visit to the pawn shop. "No,
I haven't seen your phone," he repeated all day, "but
check out my new Hugo Boss suit."
Among the many "luminaries" in attendance was St.
Andrew's Hall Commander Dave "dave" Davies,
dressed in a ravishing "No One Knows I'm New Wave"
T-shirt, who was overheard to say, "yeah, he really got
me" between gulps of Jack and Coke. Small
Stone Records founder and head-honcho Scott "hammy"
Hamilton, clad head-to-toe in fabulous Aerosmith swag, was
said to have slurred, "y'all's gwine hafta stumble o'er
yer own dicks not to sell this sh... BOOM!" as he passed
out in a puddle of he own sick. Also in the hizzouse, the
aforementioned Mark "el asesino de arte" Dancey
was also present and looking magnificent in his gray Stetson
Fedora and matching Prada overcoat, as he too enjoyed the
proceedings; at least enough to hand us a four-figure invoice
for his presence before returning to his home, the infamous
"Casa del Coño." Let's just say that if this
was to be a typical Times Beach recording session, we couldn't
wait for the Christmas Party.
12/02
But of course,
the Christmas party never quite materialized, for no lesser
reason than the sad news of Joe
Strummer's passing. As a sign of respect, we stopped all
work and spent the next few hours drinking bad British beer
and reminiscing about our experiences re: the Clash, Joe,
and those great Mescaleros in honor of our fallen hero. Ethan
was very sad to hear the news when he called from the ferry
back from Alaska, both about his fallen hero, as well as the
fact that the closest thing to British Ale that he could get
on the boat was Miller High Life. We told him to pretend it
was Boddingtons. Joe Strummer had a big influence on everyone
here at Times Beach, and he will be sorely missed. As Dave
"el presidente" Allison put it: "Joe Strummer
dies and what are we stuck with? Axl Rose and his new band
of fuckers?" And he continued, waxing increasingly "poetic:"
"Man, I'll tell ya... this totally proves there is no
fuggin' Justice in this waauugh... BOOM!" as he passed
out and crashed into his brand new Titanium Powerbook, spilling
a mostly-full can of Old Speckled Hen all over the keyboard,
rendering the poor machine useless for all eternity.
The getting-season
almost over, with only a handful of parties left to attend,
the Times Beach Staff is achingly looking forward to a long
period of recuperation. If we do manage to survive the New
Year's festivities, the month of January is shaping up to
be one of serious work setting up our upcoming releases. Among
other tasks, "work" includes a "business-trip"
to Cannes,
on the Côte d'Azur, to hobnob
with a myriad of international industry-types. Yes, we know,
no one should have to put up with that, but we are willing
to sacrifice ourselves this way for you, dear public. If nothing
else, this mid-January trip should make for some interesting
stories for you to read in this section of TBR.com. In the
meantime, take care of yourselves. We hope you have the happiest
of New Years, and that you got all that you deserve. More
News and Gossip soon... |
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