09.06
DGM HQ.
The
last part of Newlyn Soundscapes (December 3rd. 2005) is playing. This
is the statement of a particular theme that developed during the
following week.
12.03 Interesting: the local radio station in Salisbury is not playing the local single – School Aid. It turns out, we are informed, that local radio in the UK is owned by 2 companies, and Salisbury’s
local station by one on them: Clear Channel. The only local item
allowed mention is the weather. Other than that, the staff look at the
computer and see what they will be playing. So, if there is no local
content (other than the weather) what’s local about local radio?
12.15 Terror! Horror! Fear! Yow! An inbox of 264 – this is a record.
14.10 In e-response to a European promoter…
currently, i do not do interviews. for many years, as you know, this was part of my work. the promoters continue to expect this, so i make it clear in other territories that if interviews are a necessary part of any booking, to cancel the booking. this may change, but when i am playing music it is no longer possible for me to do interviews as well.
Interview: being asked questions that don’t interest me by people that don’t listen to what I say and, when they do, are rarely able to understand the answer. Why? This is not a question of intelligence, simply that my experience is not their experience; as such, they are unable to put themselves in my place. And if the interviewer has attitude or intentionally seeks to be provocative, what point in engaging where there is not goodwill? The professional answer, conventionally given to this question, is: because there is something to sell. Then better to be a plumber, I reply.
A much better approach to interviewing, one I have adopted in the past & has suggested for Italy next June, is to be interviewed in front of an audience. This is a good approach (when one is in interviewing mode). Interviewer + interviewee = dyad = opposition. Int + Int + audience = triad. The audience is witness to the event, neutralises the interviewer-with-attitude, and encourages a witless interviewee to move beyond their own self-involvement.
15.48 DGM SoundWorld II.
Soundscapes from Manchester are playing from SaDie. David & Robert are preparing this for download before Christmas.
16.08 An enquiry has come in from a distant part of Europe, to headline a music festival next year. The reply…
firstly, it is very difficult for me to travel europe with my rig & technician: costs & distances are part of this; secondly, soundscapes are a particular form of music that requires a suitable performance context & no expectation from the audience that i will be performing anything that they have ever heard, nor likely to associate with me. for example, every night for 6 weeks in europe during 2004 i was booed off.
venues: churches are ideal. seated venues are a must. open air is fine - i played the big chill festival in england this august - providing that soundscapes are compatible with the musical focus of the festival & is compatible. a commercially-mediated event: failure before a ticket is sold. neither do i do interviews or promotion.
a difficulty with poor countries that pay more than they can afford, and less than meets my expenses, is that i feel obliged to meet expectations, or give people their money’s worth. and i put those feelings of obligation aside when i walk onstage. the result is usually disappointment from FOH.
a further difficulty is that, with KC an historic group in eastern europe, there tends to be an interest in photography & recording. both of these activities make me ill.
this gives three possible areas of interest: churches, ambient / electronica, and "classical" performances, whether the second two are in a festival setting or not.
so, how does that sound?
Sounds like a winner to me.
17.12 Inbox down to 245.
The inlay for KCCC No. 31 is one of the inbox items: Live At The Wiltern (July 1st. 1995). In the recent Telegraph piece…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/12/08/bmfripp08.xml
Robert Sandall mentions that I remember many dud reviews, and particular comments from hecklers at specific events. This is accurate. What is not mentioned is that I also remember many positive reviews & comments, and much else that is ancilliary & associational. On the Wiltern gig there is, however, Group Memory of the comment from a LA freebie that trailered the KC Wiltern show: prog rock pondscum set to bum you out! Recalling this is not a negative memory, and it is difficult to imagine anyone taking offense at a comment as dopey as this. Once again: any comment is a commentary on the commentator, rather than the subject/object of the comment.
As an example of (what I consider to be) good writing & two writers I respect, try this… http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1037260,00.html.
18.28 Manchester Soundscapes (December 7th. 2005) now vibrated & tickled.
David is leaving, and Hugh is in the Art Department. After several hours of heroism, the inbox is down to 244.
23.15 Offline around 22.15, and some guitar practising even.
"With commitment, all the rules change."
