Update from the Playboy Mansion

It’s funny how in 2010 our goal was to do just one show. Even more hilarious – after auditioning cargo short’d bassists and self-aggrandizing ‘artistes’ who claimed that we’d never go anywhere without their divine mumblecore wisdom and guidance – is that we ended the year recording an EP. I guess a lot can be accomplished by two people on the same proverbial page. Duos are the new quartets.

December found us doing a show at The Record Bar in Kansas City with local legend Blackpool Lights. It went okay. By “okay” I mean we got a bit rushed on our soundcheck which then somehow was pushed into the actual set. (Flashback to booking the gig: “You’ll go on at ten.” Night of the gig: “But it’s only nine-thirty.” “Yeah, you guys have to get started.”) Huh? So after a rushed, shaky start, we found our groove three songs in halfway through the set. Class of 98 and Blackpool Lights were very nice to us and had long, comfortable soundchecks, and we left with a nice chunk of cash which we promptly splurged on gas, ice cream, raspberry Zingers, and breakfast. How rock and roll!

Two weeks later found us in Wellington, Kansas where we wrapped up the mixing and mastering of our four-song EP. We’re not certain about what ‘niche’ it will fall into, but it came out fantastic and we’re very excited about unleashing it on the public. We tweaked and fine tuned the artwork for the cover, and after a few days of marketing research, uploaded it all to TuneCore and Bandcamp where it’s waiting to be put on your iPod. There’s something very satisfying about seeing our name on iTunes and Amazon.com. Next on our to-do list is getting some physical cd’s printed up to send out to media, radio (terrestrial and internet), et cetera. We’re not certain of how our local-level peers handle their product, but we’re continually learning something about branding and marketing. It’s really somewhat mindblowing at times to see how the recording industry has changed over the years and how drastically it’s changed in just the last five years, but it’s really stupefying to see how the recording industry has dropped the ball. Maybe the proliferation of the new generation of DIY is the new punk rock, the rejection of a status quo on a massive scale. How will this affect the artists who want to make a living solely off of their art? Are musicians going to have to continually adapt their sound to evolve with the market demands? How will this affect artistic vision? When will ‘selling out’ become ‘cashing in’? Digital media impresario Sean Parker believes the future of music is not in ownership but in portability so we will be watching him closely for our cues.

It’s customary for year-end, “best of” lists but we really didn’t spend a whole lot of time in exploration mode. However, we did read a lot. The Fountainhead, Gone With The Wind, Dean Wareham’s Black Postcards (again), Nels Anderson’s On Hobos and Homelessness, Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Times, and Nick Rosen’s Off The Grid. However one book did stand out and that was Just Kids by Patti Smith. It’s beautifully written and really gives an insight into the mind and motivation of what makes an artist an Artist. Cannot recommend it enough.

We did a show over the weekend at Kirby’s Beer Store. While we were allotted more time for a soundcheck, we didn’t know that the band after us would be storming the stage before our guitars could even be unplugged. The lack of professional courtesy among fellow musicians is what seems to separate those that will make it from those who won’t. There’s a weird inverse math going on here: bigger name of the band, the nicer they are and the more obscure, the ruder they are. We are certain that in five years that same band will be playing those same howling, clenched fist, garage anthems in those same cargo shorts and legitimacy bestowing CBGB t-shirts.

Despite the fact that we don’t do songs about beer, getting laid, or staying up late on a Saturday night, the audience genuinely liked the set. One guy was overheard between songs marveling at our ability to get such a big sound without a bass guitar. Our fans are the greatest – they donated $12 and a condom. In addition to the love, we got some really constructive advice about getting our name out there, such as investing in a banner to hang on the stage, which would be great if it were 1985. I guess we’re still beginners because we’ve been told the real musicians are the ones in their garage converting high school poetry to music. The world can always use another Taylor Swift or Mumford and Sons, right? Still unsure about the recent Grammy nods. Should we be inspired by the nominations of Arcade Fire and Black Keys or discouraged? What does it really mean for other indie artists? Why does it remind us of the movie “The Man Who Would Be King”?

Finally, it was bemusing to see Jack from All Time Low, the hyper’d, amp-twiddling guy who plied us with drinks at our Soundpony show in Tulsa earlier this year, hooking up with Holly Madison. Duuude!

A Brief Sabbatical

No, we haven’t vanished.  Guess it would seem as such after a summer of performing in and outside of the Air Capital.  Truth of the matter is we had to cancel a few shows last month due to a health issue.  It’s like this: years ago in a city far far away, Andrea broke her ankle.  The doctors repaired it with a plate and pins.  Well, last month, one of the pins became loose and threatened to break the skin.  To say it was painful is a lesson in understatement.  It interfered with the ability to stand for prolonged periods of time, let alone with the need to press guitar effect pedals.  So surgery was performed and things are returning to normal. And by normal we mean the ability to rock for hours while wearing 4 inch heels without breaking a sweat.

We’ve been writing new material that we’re very excited about and we think you’ll dig it too.  It’s certain to inspire many nyquillian trances and possibly a few fist pumps from drunken frat boys.

The months ahead look promising.  We’re looking forward to heading into the studio this month to record our EP, which, when all is played and done, we’ll be selling on our website as well as the usual online services.  Be sure to periodically check in for details.  At the moment, we have a show booked in Kansas City that we’re looking forward to, and we may be playing a festival in Austin, TX sometime in March.  As 2011 is the Year of The Rabbit, folie adieu will be burrowing in, so to speak, organizing the band and the brand for 2012, which is the very auspicious Year of The Dragon.
 
Lastly, we regret to inform you of a death in the folie adieu family.  Our beloved Fostex 8-track passed away quietly after a long struggle with overuse.  It leaves behind three demo songs and many memories of middle-of-the-night recording sessions in the basement.

Lessons Learned:  Stay away from Craigslist Rants & Raves.

Studio 54 Not

Finally we get a chance to write and tell you about what’s been going on.
 
We’ve done some really great shows as of late.  A couple in Wichita, one in Manhattan.  It’s interesting to see the changes when we play different venues.  For example, we played Kirby’s Beer Store last month.  It went well; there was a decent sized crowd, attentive and conservatively polite, but just kind of… there.  They certainly got jazzed up for the headliner though.  Including some very zaftig women dancing precariously on tables.  Turns out they were the “wags” of the band. 
 
The Vertical Violet gave us a show with a touring band – Deadhorse, from Erie, Pennsylvania – who did this really cinematic, epic, soundtrack music.  Even though we didn’t think it was our best show, we got a very good response from both the band and the people in attendance.  Some very nice fellow took pictures of us and posted them. 
 
Then we drove up to Manhattan and played The Ghost Parlor, probably one of the more unusual places we’ve ever laid down our amps.  How so?  Well, to put it succinctly, it’s a basement.  No, not the spacious Mike and Carol Brady version you see on Nick at Nite.  Think of the basement at the end of The Blair Witch Project.  Small, cramped, sweaty, and haunted.  But a hell of a lot of fun.  We crammed about two dozen spastically writhing bodies into the place, all who grooved and shimmied and talked about film soundtracks.  It was a great time!  It was the first time we actually succeeded in getting the audience into the hypnotic, nyquillian trance we so desired.  I guess you can only get that outside of the Air Capital.

Lessons Learned:  You can pick your friends but you cannot pick your fans.   Oh, and sociopathic wanna-be filmmakers are very entertaining conversationalists.

Getting Started

folie adieu has been performing for less than a month and we already have 3 shows under our heavily studded, Lemmy-styled belts…
 
We started with a show at Frida’s Music Parlour.  Let’s just say it’s a very spacious venue.  A few days later, we played the July First Friday at The Blue Lounge.  It went well despite the micro-skirted Barbie Doll of a certain age on date night shoving her acryliced nails in her ears making that annoying “Ugh, I won’t be able to hear me talking about myself over this” face.  Her date, though apparently getting into our groove, sighed with familiar resignation and shuffled out the door behind her.  Probably ended up at America’s Sports Bar for an evening of Gagaesque boredom.  Every man has his walk of shame and we witnessed his.
 
Last Monday, we trekked down to Tulsa for a show at The Soundpony.  It’s a great little place, evocative of those little dive bars that are so cool that you wished no one knew about.  We had a responsive crowd despite a couple of technical issues we encountered.  We met Jack from Warped Tour favorites All Time Low, who managed to both tweak Andrea’s amp and enthusiastically buy us drinks. We regret we couldn’t hang out all evening (or the next day) as he hoped for.  But we did snag some great free shots and good touring advice from him. 
 
We have another 6 shows from now until October then it’s about recording an EP.  To paraphrase Jerry Lundegaard, we’re busy and that’s how we like it.

LESSONS LEARNED:  You have to be your own soundguy, do not eat 3 lbs of red meat before a show, and if a skinny kid tells you he’s in a famous band maybe he’s not lying.