04.12
Hotel Acceptable, Nagoya.
Rising at 04.00…
06.15
In the Guitar Craft morning sitting, our practice establishes a route within the body, along & within which we bring attention to bear. This is the beginning of cultivating a relaxed & engaged sense of personal presence: Do Nothing – As Much As You Can! Before we ask our body to do something for half an hour (for example, a series of specific calisthenic exercises) better we can rely on our body to do nothing for half an hour. But when established becomes fixed, it’s time to change, and shake up what-is-not-to-become-merely a routine. So, this morning, I began the journey from a different beginning point.
09.27 A gentle breakfast-reading, and now practising is underway. Today is the debut performance of Porcupine Tree + RF in Japan.
13.32 A good morning’s practising, a visit to Starbucks, and back to e-flurry.
A grey morning in Nagoya I…
II…
III…
21.15 This evening’s venue: Nagoya Diamond Hall…
The support artist’s dressing room I…
II…
On the door…
The Japanese characters, rendered into English: Rock God Within.
John with Solar Voyager, the creature of his imagination I…
II…
Gold Fernandes, now dry…
Solar Voyager ignited…
Stage from FOH with John & Ian…
A stomp-box manufacturer visited the soundcheck to deliver pedals for testing. I was unable to try the fuzz box for myself, but was impressed with the quality of sound that was blasting from Steve Wilson & his amp.
Beast of Terror…
Preparation before the performance: t’ai chi followed by a preparatory exercise, one I have been practising over a 30-year period; and this evening, found a tangible shift in the exercise. One view: for 30 years Fripp has been missing the mark with this exercise. Another view: note the value of persistence.
A small & generous audience contributed a very warm presence. Most of my attention, as with first performances, was focused very closely on my own operation. So, no idea how the music might have been.
Back at the hotel, an e-flurry underway. On the Guestbook…
New Bands: Posted by MILESF on November 25, 2006
When DGM started there was much talk about promoting new bands and supporting these acts through the label. The ethics of that day seems to have drifted away, it would be nice to see some new unknown bands making it onto the label or at least DGM informing us of up and coming bands. We have seen some evidence of this through Destroying Silence etc, Anthony Curtis is just brilliant. So lets see some more artists with DGM or at least promoting them. As a side note, Fripp playing with other bands eg Porcupine Tree, Mr Fripp should check out Pineapple Thief (PT), they are worthing of his presence as their music is just absolutely mind blowing and its years since that has happened. This is the sort of band DGM should look towards supporting, come on DGM get back to basics. Steve
This is not an ethical issue, it’s a financial one. DGM lost as much as it could afford (actually, more than that) on its recording artists. This was unsustainable. If Mr. MILESF would like to visit here http://www.dgmlive.com/about.htm he will find the following, and more, under the heading A Longer History Of DGM written in 2002…
i) DGM was a very bad conventional record company, but DGM was not set up to be a conventional record company. A Conventional Record Company:
a) provides artists with a publicity & promotion machine;
b) provides (relatively) large amounts of money (much of which doesn’t actually reach the artist);
c) and in return for the risk and investment owns the artist/s and nearly everything connected to them, in totality. This is one approach, and it continues to have effect.
ii) Artists have tended to expect of DGM that it function as an old-model company - quasi-managerial and providing promotion, distribution & financing - while enjoying the benefits of DGM as a new-model record company: artist profit-sharing, non-exploitation, non-ownership, non-risk.
iii) DGM was useless at establishing the names and careers of artists who were not already well-established.
iv) One artist has expressed disappointment that their records were not better distribution. Distribution was not, and is not, a difficulty for DGM.
I note, on this day in 2006, that DGM has yet to pay RF a salary, although recently DGM paid off a large outstanding loan from me made several years ago. I do receive royalties as an artist from CD sales, but that’s as an artist, not a RHHVL at DGM. But without DGM, there wouldn’t be much at all in the way of royalties from CDs or publishing. There are stories of woe & terror (in some cases ongoing) that could be told about royalty payments & distribution of KC/RF material by EMI & BMG.
This is the sort of band DGM should look towards supporting – why should? Isn’t KC the sort of band that DGM should be supporting? Sanctuary no longer fits that role. Did EMI? Virgin? EG? And if DGM doesn’t support Crimson/RF, what happens? I am grateful for the steer to new listening; I am not grateful that the presumption is held that we have a duty to lose even more money on others than we have already lost, or lose on our own continuing ventures. As a point of financial interest, only one of the DGM Live downloads has so far recouped, and David Singleton estimates that, perhaps, in another 6 years our investment of time, energy & money may show a dividend.
If the ethical (or moral) issue is, we have an obligation to keep the gift of music in motion, I agree. My own choice is (primarily) to support the work of students within Guitar Craft (my proper work in life), many of whom (such as those in South America) are barely able to afford transport to courses.
If we see a need, we are already halfway committed to addressing it ourselves. This is legitimate. What is not legitimate is that we demand of others that they undertake our own sense of personal necessity. So, a question for Steve: what are you doing to inform the public of up & coming bands deserving of our attention? If you see the need, I encourage you to address it.
21.36 Dribbling of the jet lag variety continues.
"Performance is impersonal yet intimate."
