A few months ago, I blogged about an annual gathering in a nation forest called Rainbow Gathering. In the aforementioned post, I glorified it. I was recently thinking about it because I have two friends that plan on spending the greater part of their summer at this place. At first, it seemed really cool. You know, hippie's wet dream. But, after a little speculation and thought, I realized the heavy amount of risk involved. First, lets review the pros:
1) Living self-sufficiently (kinda, not quite sure how far exactly how far they take it, but refer to the last post.)
2) Inappropriate bonding (I guess this could be pro, con, or what the hell)
3) Living with hippies, who tend to be some of the kindest people on the planet
4) Living in nature, which is pretty damn cool
5) It's free. No money involved here, just bring what you got and trade it for stuff.
While that covers most of the bases, let's look at the cons:
1) You could get injured, and although they probably have free health care, it probably sucks. In fact, a guy died because the health care was so bad
2) As a result of your injured foot becoming infected due to lack of antibiotics, it will have to amputated. Bummer, man.
3) A friend of mine said one of his friends went to rainbow gathering. When he came back, he was crazy. There are crazy amounts of powerful drugs at rainbow, and if you don't have any kind of mental meter as to what to do and what not to do you could be S.O.L.
I could probably keep going, but you get the point: It's not all happy, and it's not all fun 'n' games. People die, people get beaten.
Be safe.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Dear Hunter
With music marketing transforming and bands looking for new ways to make money, Boston's The Dear Hunter, who released their most recent album Act III: Life and Death in June of 2009, has taken this approach:
After touring throughout most of 2009, the band has now been working on what they call the "Limited edition Lifetime Fan Club Package." Despite the somewhat cheesy name, the package is pretty sweet. They made 250 copies of it, all of which have now sold for $125 each.
Here's a look at the contents, take from their website:
* 'Act I: The Lake South, The River North' and 'Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading' on clear vinyl with brand new, never-before-seen artwork encompassing both ACT I and ACT II.
* A download card that will contain several never-before-heard alternate versions of songs from ACT I and ACT II.
* A new digital-only EP featuring 3 brand new songs (unrelated to ACT I-III), available only to members of the fan club upon purchase.
* A lifetime “The Dear Hunter Passport,” which guarantees entry into any show, anytime, anywhere in the world. Specifically, a laminated pass with their picture on it. *
* A personal thank you in the liner notes of ACT IV, which is currently in the works.
* A hand-written letter from singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo.
* A signed poster of the artwork for the limited edition EP.
To make it even more special, there will be ONE Golden Ticket placed in the vinyl packaging that guarantees the recipient a private performance by The Dear Hunter anywhere in the U.S. of their choosing, whether it’s in a club, living room, back yard, school gym, etc.
And this message from frontman Casey Crescenzo:
"After the past 4 years of operating on the standard record cycle system,” explains Crescenzo, “we had been searching for a way to step out of our box. As soon as this idea was presented, we were offered one creative opportunity after another—re-examining our approach to the visual nature of projects from the beginning of the band at the same time we opened the creative floodgates on new material in our home studio. We have always held our fans and friends in such high regard, so offering something special like this is truly exciting, and it gives fans a chance to become an even bigger part of what this band is about."
Personally, if a band I had invested interest in did this, I would buy it in a heartbeat. What do you think of this, and will more bands start to gravitate toward this style of marketing.
myspace
After touring throughout most of 2009, the band has now been working on what they call the "Limited edition Lifetime Fan Club Package." Despite the somewhat cheesy name, the package is pretty sweet. They made 250 copies of it, all of which have now sold for $125 each.
Here's a look at the contents, take from their website:
* 'Act I: The Lake South, The River North' and 'Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading' on clear vinyl with brand new, never-before-seen artwork encompassing both ACT I and ACT II.
* A download card that will contain several never-before-heard alternate versions of songs from ACT I and ACT II.
* A new digital-only EP featuring 3 brand new songs (unrelated to ACT I-III), available only to members of the fan club upon purchase.
* A lifetime “The Dear Hunter Passport,” which guarantees entry into any show, anytime, anywhere in the world. Specifically, a laminated pass with their picture on it. *
* A personal thank you in the liner notes of ACT IV, which is currently in the works.
* A hand-written letter from singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo.
* A signed poster of the artwork for the limited edition EP.
To make it even more special, there will be ONE Golden Ticket placed in the vinyl packaging that guarantees the recipient a private performance by The Dear Hunter anywhere in the U.S. of their choosing, whether it’s in a club, living room, back yard, school gym, etc.
And this message from frontman Casey Crescenzo:
"After the past 4 years of operating on the standard record cycle system,” explains Crescenzo, “we had been searching for a way to step out of our box. As soon as this idea was presented, we were offered one creative opportunity after another—re-examining our approach to the visual nature of projects from the beginning of the band at the same time we opened the creative floodgates on new material in our home studio. We have always held our fans and friends in such high regard, so offering something special like this is truly exciting, and it gives fans a chance to become an even bigger part of what this band is about."
Personally, if a band I had invested interest in did this, I would buy it in a heartbeat. What do you think of this, and will more bands start to gravitate toward this style of marketing.
myspace
Friday, April 9, 2010
LA Greencorps
Our experience with LA Greencorps was met with its fair share of challenges, but we managed to produce what I thought was a clever and genuine project. Our counterpart, Gregory, had difficulty meeting with us at times, but it tended to be simply because of his busy schedule. From what I could tell, Gregory participated in LA Greencorps in conjunction with DJ-ing, producing, and being a student. The project was a collaborative effort that I am proud of.
Fanatical
We all know them. They obsess about music. Not just any music, however, but a single band. Some love Radiohead, some love Springsteen, some love the Dead. All these musicians/groups have overly devout fan bases, yet they all seem to have (relatively) tame fanbases. I'm not here to talk about their fanbases. I want to talk about Insane Clown Posse. I know absolutely nothing about the band other than it is from Detroit, and it is pseudo hip hop, and while I'm sure the duo isn't a couple of psychotic, ultraviolent individuals, their fans, known as Juggalos have been known to commit violent acts, including murder. Before you tell me how stupid I am for talking about ICP like this, understand, I know nothing about the band, and have never met a Juggalo. However, according to Wikipedia, authorities have classified Juggalos as a gang in Utah, Arizona, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and Modesto, California. Also, there have been numerous counts of fans committing violent acts. I am not trying to show you how evil ICP or Juggalos are. I want to try to figure out why this relationship exists between the band and its fans. ICP's songs feature lyrics that serve as morality tales. The group uses over the top lyrics to grab the attention of the fans, and their songs focus on a variety of issues and subjects including cannibalism, necrophelia, racism, bigotry, child abuse, domestic violence and murder. The group uses these shocking themes to get the listener to actually think about the stuff their talking about, rather than just passively listen. I think this band is massively misunderstood not only by the public, but also by many of their fans. I do not doubt that the majority of Juggalos understand the message ICP is sending. I just can't help but think that there is some connection between the themes of the songs, and the notoriety of the fan base as violent.
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