The band's new single, what do you think?

[UOK]

Hey everybody, I was wondering if you could give me an appraisal of my band's single, listen here<---

The song is called "Local Tragedy" and it's a demo version somewhat (it's been mixed fairly quickly so the quality's not as great as we'd like). I doubt too many of you are into pop-punk but maybe you could check it out and let me know how shitty it sounds, any feed back would be great.

[gaba]

Good stuff UOK. I'm no music expert, but I love fun music and I cannot sit still through this one. I know, maybe the lyrics aren't exactly supposed to be "fun" but the music makes me want to move and the lyrics are very relateable. (Coming from kind of a loser... not sure if "broke" is a great target audience but if they like you enough I guess they might give up beer money one week to buy an album.)

I went to college during the mid-'90s and a lot of my friends liked 311 (still do). Not exactly the same, but similar enough that I think they'd like you. I'm not sure that's a great thing though. I'm getting a little old. It may not be such a good thing that I like your music.

[UOK]

Thanks man. I wrote the song about people doubting me for chasing a dream, and it was directed towards all my supposed friends who are wasting away doing nothing while criticizing me for trying to make it. It's a fun song but the words definitely are a bit sharp edged.

[Otis Day]

UOK, I liked it. I am into all types of music and I could appreciate that tune. sound a little like Air5 to me, which is a good thing. One thing, I liked the solo singing much better than the overlaying(response, whatever you call it).

I listened to the other tunes there as well and not bad. I am not a big punk fan but enjoy some Green Day, Air5 and Red Hot Chili Peppers, more mainstream stuff. I guess I was a Ramones fan as well. There are others but hit and miss stuff. I will be honest, I got into the Go-Gos when they first came out back in the early 80s.

[gaba]

Thanks man. I wrote the song about people doubting me for chasing a dream, and it was directed towards all my supposed friends who are wasting away doing nothing while criticizing me for trying to make it. It's a fun song but the words definitely are a bit sharp edged.

Cool. I didn't quite get that. Now I think I like it even more.

[G08]

Not bad at all man! I'm going to echo OD in the sense that I didn't like how there was an overlay in your voices earlier in the song, it almost sounded like it was a bit off (I'm no expert so if I'm wrong just tell me to STFU). But in all honesty, I liked it and I'm going to listen to it again.

[UOK]

Not bad at all man! I'm going to echo OD in the sense that I didn't like how there was an overlay in your voices earlier in the song, it almost sounded like it was a bit off (I'm no expert so if I'm wrong just tell me to STFU). But in all honesty, I liked it and I'm going to listen to it again.

Thanks! The mix that's currently on there is a mono mix, some things are tossed stereo left/stereo right, but none of it is truly mastered. The final mix will likely be in a month along w/ the rest of the album, and we're pretty damned proud of it, and once it's done I'll give you guys a chance to listen to the whole damned thing if you so choose.

[G08]

Have you guys signed with anyone or are you hoping to push the CD at concerts?

[UOK]

We're as un-signed as un-signed gets. The entire record is home-recorded and we are all DIY, not a lot of choice. We're going to basically saturate the market with the record, and yeah selling it at shows will be a prime part of it, but the midwest is actually a really, really shitty place to be a pop-punk band. There are few to no all ages venues, little to no music scene (other than 80's/southern/country/classic rock cover bands), and in order to play a show at any respectable venue you have to not only drive the 2+ hours there, but we likely have to pre-buy tickets (which can cost anywhere from $50-300) and sell them. This is extremely hard when you don't know anyone in the area and likewise nobody knows you. So it's sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't type of deal.

We've been compiling a list over the last few weeks of places to send the CD off to get reviewed at, as well as radio stations, blogs, etc that will hopefully like what they hear and give it some air time. We got extremely lucky and we're in the works of trying to get onto a show in Milwaukee with New Found Glory, and hopefully that'll open a few doors for us, but we're going to lose an insane amount of money to do that show, merch/record sales be damned. It's a hard thing what we do, and the payoff is playing on stage and hoping someday there'll be a lot of kids that latch onto it and love the songs enough to support us.

[Boris13c]

Thanks man. I wrote the song about people doubting me for chasing a dream, and it was directed towards all my supposed friends who are wasting away doing nothing while criticizing me for trying to make it. It's a fun song but the words definitely are a bit sharp edged.

see, I can completely relate to you there

I am trying to become a published writer (of a book rather than the various magazine pieces) ... wrote a nice sci-fi adventure, which was rejected ... got the "gee, why you trying to do that? gotta have connections" bullshit from folks who have since become un-friends

(the book is currently in re-write ... I am not giving up)

why would friends harsh on a friend's dream?

so I liked the song

[RING4CHI]

see, I can completely relate to you there

I am trying to become a published writer (of a book rather than the various magazine pieces) ... wrote a nice sci-fi adventure, which was rejected ... got the "gee, why you trying to do that? gotta have connections" bullshit from folks who have since become un-friends

(the book is currently in re-write ... I am not giving up)

why would friends harsh on a friend's dream?

so I liked the song

Wasn't Dr. Suess's books rejected something like 27 times before getting published?

[Boris13c]

Wasn't Dr. Suess's books rejected something like 27 times before getting published?

not sure ... I do remember reading in his bio that his efforts were not immediate hits

the rejection letter actually offered encouragement, and telling me I do show "creative potential" ... which implies they read it

[UOK]

not sure ... I do remember reading in his bio that his efforts were not immediate hits

the rejection letter actually offered encouragement, and telling me I do show "creative potential" ... which implies they read it

The thing about it is today, in any form of media, there's not a single source that defines what is good and what is bad anymore. In past years, the goal of most bands was the cover of Rolling Stone. Today, Rolling Stone often views current music through the eyes of a classic rock fan, which makes a lot of sense, but they're no longer the authority of what rocks. For my band, we're trying to get into Alternative Press or Kerrang! magazines. But there's also TONS of magazines, blogs, webzines, etc. that are spread out all over the place. Not to mention local newspapers. A lot of the "big" god-names of cultural editorial publications are also often defensive and shoot holes in most small-time amateurs.

Smaller publications are more likely to give your work a more clear-cut honest review. Even if its not a positive review, it's likely a lot more thorough and objective than big-timers. Of course there's always asshole journalists and websites that will try to make their name off of trashing you, but you gotta take it all with stride.

A good way to look at trying to chase a dream is to think about what you'll be doing when you're on your death bed and thinking if you had any regrets. There's always going to be regrets, and maybe you won't make it. But at least you tried, which is more than what most people can say.

[gaba]

That one of the great things about the internet. You don't have to take some douchebag's opinion of a new band when you can just listen for yourself. You've just got to find an audience. You may not get rich and famous on the internet, but you can certainly find enough of an audience to make drawing a crowd a little easier. Hell, there are people who's entire fame is based on myspace or youtube. Of course, it'd probably be a little easier to pull of if you were a hot asian chick with a killer rack... but that's no reason not to try.

[Otis Day]

UOK, are you going to send the CD all over the state? If so try sending one to the LASER 92.7 in my hometown. They are a rock, alt rock, new rock station. they play some local music on there, not much because in this little burg (Galesburg, IL) there isn't much good about local bands. There is one locally that has been winning alot of online competitions. They have gotten to go to Vegas and New York. Their name escapes me at the moment but they flooded youtube if I remember correctly.