Ok, so I recently got a weird text message from Pete Wells of the band Apathy, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. The text read, “Apathy signs a distribution deal! Album goes worldwide in spring of 2009. A promising label is considering as well!” Kind of vague, don’t you think, Pete? Well, I guess that means that Apathy got a distribution deal? Ok, then! Congrats to Pete and the boys from Apathy! We look forward to hearing the new CD soon, and hopefully they’ll post some of the new songs on their MySpace page, myspace.com/apathymetalgods.
Evan Toth And The Excuses, a band that I haven’t written about in a minute, are playing a weird show this Friday night at Dexter’s in Riverdale, NJ. Evan Toth And The Excuses are more of an all-original coffee shop type of band, and they’ll be opening for one of the most popular cover bands in the world, The Nerds. Is this a weird mix? Yes! Check it out anyway if you’re in the Riverdale, NJ, area. Also, you can download Evan Toth And The Excuses’ CD, Welcome Back To Hell, on iTunes or at evantoth.com.
My old Smoke Star singer, Ivo, is in a new band called Mercury Morning. The band is more or less Ivo’s old band, Tober, reincarnated. Anyway, I recently got a text message from Ivo stating that his bass player, Daichi Kono, decided to join a cover band, which leaves him no time for Mercury Morning. So, Ivo reached out to me to see if I know any bass players to fill Daichi’s shoes. If you’re interested in trying out for Mercury Morning, then contact Ivo by logging onto the band’s MySpace page, myspace.com/mercurymorning.
On the “WTF” list this week—what the fuck happened to Dead Letter Box? Word on the street is that the band split up! I recently ran into singer Dave Alexander at a Charetta show down at the Ace Of Clubs in NYC a couple of weeks ago, and he dropped the bomb on me. I couldn’t believe it because the band was going pretty strong, but I guess that’s what happens when band member decide to mix business with pleasure. Needless to say, drummer Tony Wallstreet and Dave will continue jamming with other musicians and hopefully will have a new project soon because these are two talents that should not go to waste!
And finally, I need to take a second to bitch about something since I haven’t really bitched in a while in this column. What the hell is going on with this music scene? I’m not going to bash any of the clubs because all of the clubs in this area are great, but the problem that I am having is this sudden ticket selling policy! I remember having to do it back in the day when my old band used to play at Studio One in Newark, NJ. Ok, fine, I might’ve just aged myself, but I hated selling tickets even back then. It’s too much pressure for us, the bands, to have to sell these tickets. I mean, isn’t there enough pressure on us already to try to make it in this industry?
I understand that the clubs do this just so that they can pay the national acts their guarantee and all, but if the national acts are so strong or worth that money, shouldn’t their names alone sell the tickets? Why are the local acts depended on to sell these tickets? The local acts should be able to sell what they can with no added pressure of feeling like, “Oh, no! If we don’t sell 50 tickets, we’ll never play here again!” I think the whole ticket selling policy is a crock of shit and is unfair to the local bands trying to make it. You can only reach out to your “friends” so much before they stop buying these tickets.
Again, this is not directed at any club in particular. It’s the policy of making bands sell tickets that I find ridiculous. If you want to sell tickets, sell them online or at your club, and give the bands the option to sell tickets to their friends! Don’t make them! If you agree, feel free to write me at my email address below!
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please!
Just remember… We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
