So the lazertits/d-structure party at Submission on friday night was a blast. i had a lot of fun, met nice people, was with good friends, and the venue was very cool (apparently there’s a lot of all ages punk shows there, smells like beer, cans/bottles/cigarette butts, graffiti and stickers everywhere, and the soundguy’s setup was in a hollowed out van raised up in a loft situation opposite the stage)
Here’s my live set from the night, its a mix of all original tunes getting the usual remix treatment with the exception of some Vanity 6 samples at the end
Back around 1999 till about 2003 I was really concerned with getting songs (dnb at the time) signed to labels. The whole time I was also making tons of music and not releasing it. I sent several albums to planet mu, some smaller electronic labels, and tried warp and ninja tune (weren’t accepting demos). Now I know there are plenty of hardworking small labels out there that would be great to be signed to but with the unavailability of my favorite labels, what seemed like (and still does) the unraveling of the “music industry”, and a fear of death before interfacing with the world led me to self release albums under the goodluck/badluck name.
As you can imagine the results are mixed. I get all profits, see where the sales are coming from, and get to interact directly with my fans. That being said I dont have nearly as much exposure whether it be from lack of clout or lack of advertising money. I wouldn’t exactly suggest the same to anyone nor would I discourage it. Maybe it’s a question of what you want to do with your art. Or if you even view it as such. Music is very very important to me. It happens to be my strength but I see it as falling under the greater field of “art” or “creativity”. It’s pretty much a 50/50 split between its therapeutic effects on me and my desire to provide the world with something abstract to enjoy no matter how small.
So yea, 4 albums and 2 EPs in and I guess Ive never technically made any money from sales but Im proud. It’s what I work really hard on. Sometimes it seems like I release albums too quickly for hype to build, to reach the people, and to make it around to all the internet and college radio venues. Before any of that happens Im planning my next move. That you can blame on my fear of dying early. And it it’s not like this gripping day to day fear. It’s more like dealing with the notion of impermanence. You can get smashed by a bus, shot, stabbed, have an aneurysm, you just never know. Wouldn’t it suck for all that work you did to just disappear without reaching its audience? If you happen to come across this post/page/my music for the first time do have a poke around itunes and all those shops. Ive got several releases and remixes under the badmammal alias as well as The Gimps (a ftp rock project). Ill also be redoing the online shop soon to incorporate it into our wordpress using paypal. This way if you’d like to purchase directly from me you can.
also look out for photo prints and t shirts. gonna start messing about with that stuff once goodluck/badluck finds a bigger apartment.
We’ve been working away at our cover version of Madonna’s “borderline”. We will be releasing it soon for free and hopefully making a video for it in the near future. The Gimps will also be making a video for the song “why worry?” off of their latest release, The Gimps -EP. We’ve also been busy pecking away at a full length release. More news and clips soon
If you haven’t already read about the upcoming badmammal ep “tapestop” then Ill give a quick explanation. Aside from being available in digital format it will be available in limited quantity cd format (10-15) with handmade collage packaging. the first five cd purchase will include a version of “tapestop” on cassette tape.
So, the other day I went out and purchased some fun tapes to record on and began the recording process.
while all that stuff is going on ive been working on assembling the cd packaging and doing some collage work.
just gotta write one more tune and get artwork together. hopefully i can have this ep ready for purchase this summer. Im thinking Ill hand make the cd’s this time around (like the Community Music Center EP.. which there are 7 left BTW!) and sell the rest digitally.
So The Gimps are at it again working on their second full album (which is currently untitled). So far we’ve touched on druggies, street walkers, and decrepit babushkas who beg their moms for gambling money. More americana coming your way soon.
