Please please please like my band
 

Female singer, mostly, although I sing a verse or two. Lo-fi indie whatever.

I realize my desperation has an unpleasant odor, but I can't pretend to be cool and casual about it. I've been making music since I was 13, but due to very high standards and a very low self-esteem, I haven't released anything. Don't want to bother anyone.

But I genuinely feel I'm not wasting anyone's time. There are a few details I don't like, which were mostly out of my control, but I'm satisfied with most of it. And it's only 17.5 minutes, so I don't feel like I'm asking people to rearrange their day.

This is conceivably the only thing I'll ever release, so I'm eager to have as many people listen to it as possible.

This is a unique situation, and hand on my heart, I'll never spam again.

I will jam on it. BRB

You certainly aren't a spammer. You post a lot of thoughtful stuff and don't make a habit of promoting your own stuff on the board. You don't have to apologize for wanting people to hear your band.

I listened to a couple of the tunes on Bandcamp. Interesting stuff. I'll listen to the rest this weekend when I have more time before commenting further on the music.

The struggle is real. I'm listening now!

I just remembered when you added drums to one of my soundcloud songs ages ago. That was cool!

Oh and I liked your fb page, looking forward to hearing more tunes. I liked "I'll Leave Laughing" alot, it's got that 90's lo-fi indie vibe i like

Thanks

And if you're paying too much for car insurance, let me set you up with one of our fine representatives.

I enjoyed listened through the songs
- they were compelling enough so I wanted to hear the next one
- Attic Is Flooding/Too Much could make a fine 45
- when Porter sings, it reminds me of the Young Marble Giants on some songs - which I liked at any rate
- I like the electric guitar sound on these recordings
- for basement recordings there are some [good]things going on that don't sound like my basement recordings in the 80's...
- honestly, I didn't care for Somethings, maybe it needs more instrumental time and space where it has too much vocals all too quickly - but there is a groove in there!

Thanks. I clicked through to the bandcamp site

Especially enjoyed Come Clean. Made me want to hop on the drums and play along. Gave it a FB 'Like'. Keep it up! Will listen again later on

^ Thanks homie!


I've always liked your taste, so this is awfully nice. I think we were aiming for something better than demos, but not polished too smoothly. Funny, I doubt the singer has heard of YMG, but they were often in the back of my mind, holding me back from getting too indulgent.

I agree about "Somethings." It's a good riff than never gelled into a good song.

whaaaaaaaat?

just caught this! wow

i had no idea

look, i have to start work in 2 minutes and my good internet doesn’t come on till later, but i’ll try to have a listen throughout the workday if i can manage

Hey man, you and your band-mate here have an obvious knack for making keen, immediate, punchy indie rock and you should totally feel good about that and promote the hell out of it — especially if this is the realization of a life-long dream or goal that you thought you might never meet.

First thing I noticed (and I'm hoping and actually assuming that this will be taken as a compliment) is that the girl has a vocal timber that is instantly reminiscent of Kim Deal. There's a nice breathy quality to her voice that just kind of makes the brain say, "More please." But it's not so Kim Dealy that it sounds like a ripoff or even an homage. So that's good. Also wisps of Cat Power and another female vocalist I can't quite identify.

You (you're the guy I'm assuming?) on the other hand sound as much like Nick Cave on some of these songs as she sounds like Kim Deal. So that's pretty cool, and makes for a nice combination of tones in terms of the singing.

The songs are pretty classic basement-indie — pretty standard in terms of structure — but there's an interesting hint of the angular sound of post-punk in the guitar dynamics. A little bit Slint, a little bit Sleater-Kinney... and so on.
I've been in bands and been around musicians enough to know that for some people being compared to another artist is like being pissed on, so I hope that's not your mindset because I have an analytical approach to this stuff, and I process new music from the "top down" (I note the familiar first) which makes comparison and contextualization an absolute necessity for me. That's why you'll hear me say shit like, "(X) is the (Y) of (Z)" — Kanye's the Beatles of hip-hop, or Unwound is the "alternate 1985" Nirvana, etc. It's not meant to dismiss; just to place in context.

What's really important here, I think, is that you have an approach that is interesting. I like the way the notes plop down around each other just in time. It's clean but also sounds off-the-cuff, and that's a cool balance to strike. I also like the fact that the songs are structured on minor chords and slightly atonal sounds, but are still infectious and catchy. There's obviously charisma and talent here.

I dig the first track, and i dig the last track. The last track is nicely weird, and makes me think of Xiu Xiu a bit.

Now, I do have to say that the chord progression in the chorus of "Come Clean" is just way too major-chord-punky for me. It's a little weird because the rest of what I'm hearing is decidedly more weird and structurally interesting... then this chorus comes on and it sounds so totally normal that I almost forget that I was just quietly marveling at the restrained fuzziness of the guitar few seconds prior.
It's not really a bad thing, it's just not an aural turn-on for me, personally. Three-chord stuff makes my brain turn off pretty quickly unless there's something super weird about it.

Another "note" I have is that you guys need a different name. Kelly/Matthew makes me think of "Matt and Kim," which makes me think of the most generic indie girl and guy tripe this side of whatever that godawful band Zooey Deschanel had with her boyfriend or gay best friend or whatever (She and Him? I think it was actually fucking She and Him. Ugh!), know what I'm saying?
I know you said this might be the only thing you do, but if that's the case, for Christ's sake choose a better name. Go into Bandcamp right now and rename your band the first thing that comes to mind.

Like... Uh... Basement Aches. Ok? That's the name of the EP or whatever, right? Not a tremendous band name, but it's pretty much 200 million times better than Kelly/Matthew.

I'm not trying to be a dick about that or anything. I'm trying to be helpful because you seem super into this, and I promise that even if everything else I'm saying is complete hogwash and horseshit, the band name thing is *objectively* good advice that you should absolutely take.

Honestly though, I think you should keep this up. I like what I'm hearing enough to be interested and take note and check out future releases. Keep playing together and fusing as musicians. Do weird shit. There's an undeniably deft hand at work here, and you guys clearly intuitively understand something about composition that some people (like myself) fail to grasp even after dozens of attempts.

dude. There's a new Weezer album out today, and I listened to your band first. Take that as the highest of high NR compliments. :)

y'know that thing when a friend makes some kind of art and you're kind of nervous to check it out because you know you will have to say *something* and you're like "ugh what if I don't like it? I need to be honest..." ? Well, all that anxiety left me within the first few moments.

You guys should be really proud of this. It's really really good. For realsies. Going back to Weezer - I'm always proud to share my love of a band that people hate. So you know I'm telling you the truth here. I don't pretend to like stuff that I don't.

Kelly's voice is GD lovely. Soft, vulnerable but not cloying. And it fits the tonal quality of the instumentation perfectly. Fittingly, your own voice juxtaposes against her in a really interesting way.

"I'll Leave Laughing" is a great opener. Really understated. And flows well into "Come Clean." "Lucia" is really pretty. Reminds me a bit of maybe a Moe Tucker VU track, or something Georgia would've sang on a YLT record. "Acado" is fucking weird, in a good way. Which brings me to a point that while all the songs here feel like they belong together, there's no samey-ness that can bog down a lot of bands. "Somethings" is like an 80s rock-pop thing. Reminds me a bit of like the Sentridoh version of Bryan Adams' "Run To You" or something. Speaking of influence, because we all try to draw these lines, I can't help but here an 80's indie vibe... like I'm thinking of Joy Division or Echo & The Bunnymen - at least in the guitar tone?

Anyway dude, you say this is maybe the only thing you'll release? Why? This is such a strong intro to this duo. Y'all should really keep at it.

Pff.. mine’s better

I didn't read either. Just tell me how many stars for fucks sake.

btw ive managed to download the album to my garbage android phone

now if i could just figure out how to play it— ha! spotify won’t see the files

this weekend for sure i’ll sort it out.

btw it’s been such a swamped week — and i don’t work with music— instead i have this endless tic-toc that tells me when to work and when to stop. no, im not a masochist— just very easily distracted.

Spotify app doesn't easily play local files. Just use Play Music the stock Android app to play em.

S’cuz Spotify eats a shit. Android eats a shit. But ya’ll know this is my take.
Funnily enough, I was able to download immediately and import into iTunes, which plays my on my god-damned Apple Music. :D So.. haha.

Buuut, playing in the Bandcamp app is easy. Playing in the browser is easy.

Anyway, back to the thing by those people, Matt & Kim. Er, She & Him. Yeah, that thing evollove is doing.

(Serious business bro: I know she’s a girl and is therefore better than you in every way, and you wish to please her, but change than name dawg. Change that non-band kinda-name right now, so you don’t have to tell your kids stories about how you once had a band, and see them vomit in their mouths when they hear what said band was called. /REALTALK)

thanks! it’s the weekend at last— will have time to look for it :D :D

see oddly enough I streamed it from bandcamp on my Android phone w/ zero problems. But you go ahead and upgrade to a $1,000 phone so you can get some animated emojis, ye Apple Loyal.

lol phone warz. let’s not drive ebola’s thread off a cliff

anyway, amazon music was able to open it and play it in the correct order better than the files thing.

so i listened this morning before getting out of bed— and liked it! and i’m listening to it again while i write this.

i like the songs, they’re good. im talking about them as “tunes” not as “sung words”. i rarely “get” lyrics, so you could be singing in japanese and it would be the same to me. so my comments are not about words, except to say— the words don’t bother me (more often than not lyrics bother me when i understand them).

having said that, i think you’re generally hiding the vocals in the mix. they’re too low for me. maybe that’s the effect you want but comes across as... shy? no— you’re in front of a microphone— belt it out or turn up the faders. in parts of attic is flooding she’s barely audible. gotta pay attention to the dynamics of the mix. also sounds like your loudest sound is generally coming from the bassier part of the spectrum which might muddle things a bit.

the impression overall i get is that these songs could have been in one of those KRS compilations from the early 90s— you know the ones i’m talking about? except updated, this is not a late 80s/early 90s sound— it’s less rockist, mellower, clearly post-noise. i hear a little bit of yo la tengo / wye oak in it (ylt when you sing, wye oak when she does or maybe war paint). but what i mean by all this is that i hear a budding indie band that needs to maybe work on polishing up some details but sounds fundamentally good and can go far.

i’m sorry to disappoint your horrible fears and leave your fretting hanging out to dry, but you don’t suck. good tunes, good guitar, her voice is nice (just mixed too low) and i generally hate men singing but you actually do a decent job so i don’t hate your singing.

now get to work on your mix and you’re good to go. and please get on spotify so i can lissen to you on the regular and pay you a fraction of a penny for each replay. come on!

Oh I’m not doing that. Fuck that. I’m actually super pissed at Apple about its new phone releases. My 7 is still working great, and most people I know don’t have anything above a 6. Fuck that 8 AND the “X.” I don’t pay $1,000 for something that’s going to be irrelevant in a year. Nope. No way.


Anyway, let’s not talk phones in this dude’s thread. If Apple keeps going down this path, I’ll switch to a google pixel or some shit.

I think the low mix is intentional. It’s a “bedroom pop” thing. Check out some Ariel Pink (“Another Weekend” from his new album is a nice example)... this is kind of a deliberate sound. I’m not saying you’re not right; just that it may be the style they’re going for.

I was holding off on coughing up money for a real mix but I wasn't sure it was worth it. I guess I'm sort of convinced it is now. I mostly mixed it myself and I really don't know what I'm doing.

Talk about phones! After a better mix I want to push it further into the world, and I'm really curious how people would access it. I want the process to be as easy as possible. I feel bad you ran into problems Symbols, but i appreciate the effort and I'm glad you dug it.

Yeah, this thread could turn into a "how to acquire and play music" talk and I'd be thrilled.

cough up? cough up $100 for a pair of studio headphones and you’re good to go.

but yeah hm... there are other aspects. mixing is tricky. a good mix could improve your product tons.

now don’t feel sorry or take me for a typical subject on the phone thing. i’m fundamentally lazy and want to spend 0 time tweaking my phone. problem is im stuck with an android which requires “customization.” most android users know how to do shit on it.

but i’ll say that bandcamp makes it difficult to download. i mean— i could stream, but i like offlining better because a) i have bad internet, b) i can get a better quality file that way.

with spotify, i just slide a button and it offlines at my desired bitrate and lets me play it offline for 30 days and doesn’t let me easily pirate (but who needs piracy with such convenience?).

with bandcamp if i want to download i have to enter my email (!), then it emails me a link and i have to go in my email (!!) then i can download. then it’s a zip file (!!!) i have to unzip it somewhere (!!!!). then i have to find a way to load it to a player. that’s 5-6 steps instead of 1. so for my adhd i’ll go with simple.

in my cheapo android phone it opened up right next to the google hangouts alert sound and some other nonsense and it listed it backwards. ayayay. i had to resort the folder but still it was around the crap. so fortunately amazon identified it correctly as an album and let me play it as an album (and btw, i can pirate it from my SD card i suppose). anyway i don’t know how it would work in apple, the unzipping and all— better i imagine. i could try on the ipad, but i just dont play music on the ipad cuz it’s for work.

with soundcloud i always had problems, i’d punch buttons that wouldn’t work, it was always complicated for me, etc. now soundcloud is in financial trouble, had to be bailed out, who knows the future?

meanwhile, spotify continues to be the most popular audio player. now people are starting to sell vinyls on it and you get notices for when your favorite band is going thru town and all that (but i live nowhere— the ads i get are for places 8 hours away). anyway, if you start to tour i’ll see your tour dates and go pester ya.

get a good mix and put it up there and you’re good to go. it’s not hard to do. slavo has an album on spotify an i have it offlined and chill to it often. ask him how to get on it.

go forth! thrash!

The Pixel looks dope btw

yo, i started searching for bandcamp vs spotify and found these 2 interesting ones:

this is from 2014: https://medium.com/@gloom303/a-year-...d-872925797930

don’t know how his predictions have held

this is recent-recent but vague: https://www.slant.co/versus/733/740/...fy_vs_bandcamp

maybe get it in both, then? or all 3 w/ soundcloud?

Looks literally exactly like an iPhone, but runs Android, is several hundred bucks cheaper and has a better camera than most (apparently). But seriously... in terms of design, I’m totally shocked that Google hasn’t been sued. I mean, Apple sued Samsung for “stealing” its, like, beveled edges or whatever. Here we have a phone that has precisely zero distinguishable differences, and no suey-suey?

I’m still not sure how I feel about Google. Not sure if they’re good witches or bad witches, if ya know what I mean.

Just saying “if” Apple continues down this path. Hope they don’t.

Spotify pays bands less than Apple Music, which pays less than Tidal, which pays way less than it should, but is still, somehow, the “gold standard” in that one single thing. All of them pay more than YouTube, which is just awful.

I have friends whose music is on these services, and they all tell me they do it only because it’s practically a requirement for a band that’s trying to gain traction... not because of any financial reward, or even substantive assistance with word of mouth. It’s just... a necessity. Sad.

I’m not sure how I’d do it. I haven’t been in an active band since the bands411 and MySpace days. I imagine it would be frustrating as hell. I mean, I think I’m unfairly compensated NOW, and I have a 401k.

Also, I think YouTube is actually the most popular streaming service. Like, by far. Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe it’s the most popular streaming service but not specifically *music player* ... cuz yeah Spotify is a huge beast.

I could never really make Soundcloud work either. Not on my phone at least. Goddamn ri-Damn-diculous. I think it’s a cool idea, but it’s just a shitty UI and system, and probably needs to go away.

I genuinely have come to really like Apple Music though. I wish they would include more videos and concert films and stuff, but they send notifications too when bands come to town. Could be better, but if I’m only paying for one service, I’m fucking definitely paying for the one that syncs remotely with my phone and laptop, pays artists a little more (but still nowhere near enough) and only *sometimes* forces terrible U2 albums on you no matter who you are or what you want. Lol. Like being raped by shit music, that. Ouch.

what the fuck is tidal. oh yeah the madonna/jay z thing? lololol.

so what you’re saying is get spotify even if it pays crap. which is what i’ve been saying and posting links about.

as for youtube— true, true, true. a lot of people use it as a music player.

I’m not saying that. I’m saying I’m not sure what I’d say. If I were in an active band I might try to subvert this shit. I’d probably use bandcamp exclusively actually. But my friends who are in bands are — mostly — on all of the services except for Tidal, which is weird, right?

Yeah Tidal is the Jay-Z thing. I don’t think Madonna had anything to do with it, but could be wrong. Founded by Jay, with Daft Punk, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Kanye, Lil Wayne back when he was still semi-relevant, and a few others. At this point it’s basically just a “4:44” app. I dunno. I had it when the last Kanye album was exclusively available through it, and I got it again when 4:44 was exclusively available through it. Deleted my account in short order both times. It’s expensive. Apple should buy it.

I don’t know about YouTube Red, the music exclusive player thingy. Maybe that’s better. Maybe it pays more than YouTube did. Shrug.

ok anyway this thread is about ebola’s music & how to get it out there right?

since he’s not in it for the profit but rather seeking exposure i’d say (thrice) get the mix done right and then go for everything that’s out there making it easy for people to access and then let him sort it as he goes.

Yeah AND... I’d like to say that professional level mixing can be done on a freaking MacBook — or, y’know, laptop of your choice — for not an unreasonable amount.

Most difficult thing might be finding someone who knows the ins and outs of digital recording, since you claim not to. I mean, I don’t either... BUT, I did take some audio engineering (analog) in college back when such a thing was still offered, and for our final project, we recorded an EP for a band. We chose our own band, but not everyone in the class was a musician, so some folks had to look for local bands that wanted a free demo cut, and it was a no-cost, experience-for-experience kind of thing.

Things can’t be SO different now that such things don’t still go on. If you, evollove, live in or near a college, put up some flyers (listen to me... like it’s 1998), or social media yourself some ... uhh... things, and maybe there’s a student who’d lend you his or her limited expertise?

Personally, I don’t think the mix is that bad if you’re going for a bedroom pop I’m-lo-fi-deal-with-it sound, but if you’re not, then definitely get that shit sorted out.

If you become famous, hire me as your publicist.

There are companies which can upload one's stuff to all the major platforms for a nominal fee. Considering the headache involved, it's probably worth it.

I'd like to know how to target the right audience. How to zero in on the "80s/90s indie fans who don't demand something especially groundbreaking" crowd?




That sucks.

Just so you know, I don't get any email info. There have been a few downloads and I get nothing. I think they just use it for updates, if we release something new?

What pisses me off is there is a "require email address" option on my end which I deliberately turned off to avoid annoyances like this.


Why don't I hire you now and you make me famous?

Do you have any friends who are in bands or in film or any kind of “scene?” In an active way?

That crowd you’re trying to reach is pretty elusive, but probably an SY forum isn’t a bad place to start.

If you don’t have real-world connections, I’d say the best place to start would be by connecting with other artists who play similar music. Get a Facebook and Twitter and Instagram account, promote other bands, and some will likely promote you back.

When I was doing this shit, my bands and friends cultivated a little mini-community. We supported other bands, and they supported us, even when we didn’t get along with them or like their music. Now the communities are mostly online, but I’m willing to bet the same structure is at least somewhat in play now.

I have never used Reddit because my god I’ve heard some stories (alt-right stuff, stalky stuff, the rest), and also the whole system confounds me, but Jesus talk about community-building. I’m sure there’s a sub-Reddit of a sub-Reddit that is entirely devoted to the exact demographic you want to reach.

Seriously, follow the Ariel Pink and John Maus or Crystal Stilts fans and there’s probably an active group — under, /m/ under, like, /fucking-alt-m or whatever/, under /indie/ under /bedroomindie/ that exists solely for discussion and discovery of “bands that sound like late-‘80s/early-‘90s lo-fi but also kinda sound newish but not too new.” :D

Just spitballing here.

Also (and I’m not sure why this wasn’t the first thing I asked) WHERE DO YOU GUYS PLAY? When is your next show? If your answer is “we don’t play live,” maybe because you don’t think you’re “there” yet, well... get there. Like, before you pay to have your shit uploaded to streaming services, get your live shit together. Being available and ready to play a show can be a HUGE boon. Having that information out there for promoters and bands looking for touring partners or opening acts... man. Yes. That is super important.

Just say something if any of this resonates or sounds good to you.

ETA: Crystal Stilts not Crystal Castles. The post-punky ones, not the electro-bang-bang rapey ones

It all sounds good.

But sounds like work.

I just like writing. The rest is kind of a bother.

Actually, I appreciate you naming a few bands whose coattails I can ride a little. I could use more of those.

I think I will delve into Reddit, which I've avoided til this point. But if you think it's worth checking out...

Ok, you just like writing and everything else is work. But you’re only ½ of this thing right? Maybe it’s less work when split between two people. (By “maybe” I of course mean “definitely.”)

I can think of some more artist who have a sound that kinda hits close or adjacent to what I think you’re going for (Shocking Pinks, People Skills, Thought Forms?) but probably so can you. These are more well-known artists though. Lesser known ones are probably best found on bandcamp.

What about playing live though?

don’t worry about my email, i use the spam one for things like that. but yes it’s a bit of a pestilence in that regard. but again don’t worry— instead just adapt.

i’ve only done audio for video— music is harder because it’s more critical to get it right— it’s all audio after all— and techniques abound. it’s not so much a matter of hardware as skill these days. find someone who knows.

i really can’t buy this “bedroom” label for the inaudible parts— i wanna hear music not guess what it may be. it’s that simple. while i understand there are aesthetic reasons to mix a certain sound at a certain level i don’t feel that in the parts that i can’t hear right there’s a specific purpose to it. it’s just something that can be improved.

also i don’t think the crowd you’re trying to reach is that elusive. music apps will often give you suggestions of “you might like” and discover buttons and suprises and shit.

as for demographics, there are millions of gen-xers out there who grew up listening to this kind of stuff and millions of younger people who followed and will continue to like stuff in this style. this is the deal with postmodern culture— there is no great unknown waiting for us to arrive. we’ve seen and heard everything. it’s the eternal return now.

i agree with the trying to play somewhere sometime. even if it’s the corner bar in your neighborhood. BUT if you hate that shit you could just live on the interwebs. music videos would be a fun way to exist that way.

ETA: i’m trying to train my news app to show me business news and this was in right now

http://www.billboard.com/articles/bu...y-users-report

^^ s’what I said


Eh, I think playing live (even just being ready and prepared to) is absolutely essential. Still how a lot of new music is heard and learned about.

Don’t be like, “I don’t like playing live so I’m gonna stream stuff.” It’s not the same. Just play live. Play an open mic night. Play whatever. But if you want to do this, this really has to be part of your thing. Says I, at least.

what if he hates crowds and wants to be the next corwood industries