London – 11th July 08, Tired of the legend that London is the only place where bands can pull an audience or gain any success?
Sure, big cities such as Manchester and Liverpool have spawned their fair share of the rock elite but could the untapped market of UK Suburbia be a fertile new stomping ground for the best in British music?
Big factors such as a rise in the use of DJ’s, the effects of the smoking ban, a rise in home-drinking, and the ever-presence of Karaoke have all had a negative impact on the local music scene, but is the root cause more disturbing still?
Has the UK music scene become so bland and derivative that it is not inspiring punters through the door of your local venue?
The trick of pulling in the right kind of crowds to hear your music is a tricky at best.
The host of new bands who are swamping the scene right now are just not inspiring music fans to come out and see new music. The Indie-charts are dominated by skinny-jean wearing bands, churning out their derivative ‘angular’ guitar based musings: It’s become a very tired idea and no one but a select clique in certain areas of London is listening any more. The UK music scene should give people something to relate to and be the soundtrack to what is going on all over the UK, not just in the trendier parts of the capital.
Could a new breed of band such as SilverSky change all this around??
They believe a live show should provide a full-on experience and not just be another gig. This is SilverSky’s sole reason for being. If you can’t take people out of themselves and offer a release for the time you are onstage why should anyone come and see you?
So, is this a new dawn for the local music scene? Can punters be enticed back through the doors by bands offering a more full-on live experience?
Something has got to change…right???
worst
jag ever
I concur.
^
what he said.
I read that in the voice of an eccentric magician
about to reveal his new act. Nobody cares about anything anymore, haven't you heard?
Who wants a soundtrack to rainy days, racism, underage drinking, crap cars, holier than thou attitudes and paranoia anyway? If I was going to listen to a 'soundtrack' of what's happening somewhere, it wouldn't be the UK it would be a nice little paradise island where everybody is filled with sunshine and love.
And you could hear the words back then as well
That's
the daftest JAG I've ever read here. They haven't even included their Myspace address!
Fuck that.
With the increase in internet gaming and decline of highstreet retailing, how can Games Workshop stay open?
I've just listened to Silversky........
They're the Tesco Value Gene, but without the songs or the ability to keep time with each other.
Sounds like a full-on experience if ever there was one to me.
Ouch!
Oh!
...and for a band that apparently rail against how London-centric the music industry is, I found it quite amusing to discover that they come from errr.......LONDON and that 3/4 of their upcoming shows are going to be in....*drum roll please* LONDON.
Amazing.
No one in a select clique in a certain area of Dorset is listening any more?
I'm afraid not....
If it's not scrumpycore we're just not interested.
dude
the problem in london is lack of community between bands, and then punters as well. most bands are too busy climbing over each other for shows and other crap that they don't bother helping each other out. promoters instead of bands own this town. promoters should be there to serve the bands, not the other way around.
there are exceptions to these types but as a general rule these are the major problems I see for the music scene in this city.
the main problem in london
is there are bands like Silversky.
and the congestion charge.
and the price of milk.
and scurvy.
Christ, don't start engaging in his point
He's speaking on behalf of a London band who complain about there being no local scenes outside London! (Which, as you'll have seen, is the fault of karaoke)
Lack of community....
This is largely true, but there are always good promoters if time is taken to look for them. A few London promoters such as A Badge Of Friendship, Silver Rocket, Night Of The Long Swords to name a few all foster a healthy community and have done for ages. It's the shitty promoters like Glasswerk and a million other chancers like them that are a negative influence. They simply want to fill the myriad nights they put on in without any thought for how a good night is constructed, i.e. that the bands they have playing actually work well together. I mean, how do promoters expect to build good relationships when all they do is send out lists of nights they have free and tell bands to pick one! Then they think their job is done...the clue is in the name 'promoter'. rant over (this shit pisses me off in case you hadn't noticed!)
do people get paid
to do this?
They get given records, merch and free access to shows normally.
i think the idea of paying to see bands play live is dying and will eventually stop, yeah.
aggggh
i read most of this thinking it was gonna be a genuine question...fuck you buddy, i want my time back.
One of the reasons the local music scene is 'dying' (whatever that means) is that bands refer to the people that come to watch their gigs as 'punters'. This kind of makes it hard to build a community. Especially when you have the nerve to charge people for plodding, sub-britshit indie rock.
Dreadful waffle
Really, you shold get a job writing for the arts and culture magazine of one of the Sunday 'liberal' newspapers; your waffling is that bad.
No-one outside of London gives a fuck about London - it's just another city, except it's full of cunts.
he he he
also the comment about 'the rise of home drinking' has a distinct Daily Express feel to it.
hello!
Ouch
Take it you won't be coming to London in the near future??
Mass Debate (fnarr fnarr)
Seem to have created a bit of a shitstorm with more than a few mudpies thrown my way.
Fair comment, I guess we all have an opinion.
So, to all those with something to say please give me 5 unsigned bands that are actually worth checking out.
I have played a shitload of venues and have not so far not found many I'd give a bucket of piss for.
Note: Bands that have taken their sole musical inspiration from 'Up The Bracket' don't count.
CRAINE!
They hate unambitious skinny jean wearing indie bands as well. They'd be right up your street.
Maybe get to a few more gigs.
Because you're being silly now.
just checked out their myspace
why do such bland mediocre bands try and make out they are the saviours of live music
see above
so. who are the saviours?
I wouldnt say there is any need for saviours
as live music is probably healthier now than it has ever been, just because bands dont break into whatever the 'indie charts' are doesn't mean there isn't great stuff going on.
it doesnt need to be saved
and if you cant find any bands better than 'silversky' then you're not looking hard enough or going to enough good gigs.
and disingenoues posts like yours
just come across as shameless self promotion rather than caring about music and will never make people think favourably of your band
Shame!
Why is promoting a new band 'Shameful'?
Is it because it's not cool??
good luck with what your're doing mate
it's just...
mate.
according to your profile you are 30.
Act like it
like?
take up golf?
haha
Mike-A Music taste: Anything from, Guns and Roses, The Smiths, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters to Sam and Dave, Otis Redding and James Brown.
Game over.
sorry
forgot it's against the rules to like bands that have sold a few records.
thou shalt not and all that.....
nothing wrong with some of those bands
but it does seem that you are out of touch with new music and therefore your appraisal of the music scene is hard to take seriously
Great minds
etc.
From all your posts
it's sounding like you're hideously out of touch. It's not 1995 any more.
ok, ok, ok
apparently I'm crap, old, and out of touch.
so.... please recommend some bands to go and see so I can educate myself.
in all seriousness I want to see some good bands, but still haven't found what I'm looking for.
gaaah. U2 reference. the ultimate sin.
what are you listening to a lot now
then maybe someone can suggest something.
I'm stuck in a 90s grunge rut so it wasn't a snotty dig at you.
A Northern Soul
by the Verve. see, I am stuck in 1995 after all.....
I'd also like to find some good new bands to listen to, but it seems hard to wade through all the tosh.
to be fair MGMT seem ok.
Think of how much shit was about in 1995.
Surely there's just about every style of music imaginable available to go and see today. Does it matter if it's the cool thing that everyone's into? If you genuinely can't or can't be bothered to go and find something you like to go and see, then make your own music of course. Just don't hail it as the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Theres loads of good new bands about
majors dont neccesarily sign them, but they are out there.
If you are serious about being taken seriously. Record a better demo, send it into DiS and various music blogs and hire a PR when you've got something credible ready for release. A bad JAG on here just makes you look silly and underrmines the credibility of what your doing
^^^
though typing silversky! is a lot harder than craine! or jag! when shameless self promoters come a-calling.
That post reminds me of the saddest advert I ever saw for a film with martin kemp and chris barrie in, there was a (bad) plot synopsis and a terrible begging note to come and see the film to 'support the british film industry'...
I feel slightly let down...
this guy seems to be quite polite. Bad JAGs are only funny if the band in question are arrogant, smug or rude.
What is this shit?
I don't want to be too offensive, but "I Want To Live In Norway" has some of the worst lyrics I've
"I wanna live in Norway
Everyone is beautiful there
They have very little English
So maybe I’ll have peace up there
Cos they’re gentle to you
Though they’ve never met you before
It doesn’t matter to them
You’re not a lost soul in the wind
I wanna live in Norway
People judge you because of your deeds
Not your race or religion
Everything is equally shared with you
Cos they’re gentle to you
Though they’ve never met you before
It doesn’t matter to them
You’re not a lost soul in the wind
I wanna live in Norway
I wanna live in Norway
Don’t wanna be bombed by the USA
Don’t let me die in Basra
I wanna live in Norway"
QED.
I agree with the first half...
I live in the Guildford / Aldershot / Reading areas...
But there is no new breed of bands coming. Trust me.
Ahhhhhhh
no.
I was trying to be nice about this band...but come on..."Don’t wanna be bombed by the USA
Don’t let me die in Basra "
awwwwwwwwwwwwwww no. no. no. no.
.
but its about the world we live in yeah? topical and gritty. with gentle norwegians.
i jsut wanna know if Basra is rhymed with USA.
BASRAAYYYYYYY
OOOHHH BASRAYYYYYYYY
I think it's pretty horrible
to be laughing at somebody's lyrics.
I know
but it's friday...work is dull etc etc.
This guy isn't in the same league as Craine or Avangaaaad though.
.
horrible compared to what? i cant think of anything that is classed as horrible but is less horrible than laughing at someone's lyrics. its a very mild form of horrible really on the grand scale of things.
i think im safe from hell for another day.
well it just invokes images in my head
of taking a drawing someone in your class did and showing everyone and saying "look how crappily drawn the arms are...etc". Maybe the lyrics mean something to whoever wrote them (maybe not too of course). I remember once whe nI was about 17 I had made an album I recorded at home in my room and I brought it in to give to a few people and then somebody put it on in the sixth form common room for people to mock. I guess it's my problem, sorry.
aye
but he's not 17, in a fragile 17 year old state of flux, surrounded by people he knows and has to see every day. he's 30 on the internet.
true
I suppose he only brought it on himself. Maybe people are just trying to hard to find something to sink their teeth into since this was a blatant jag.
Well, if you can't take criticism, and don't expect it.
You really shouldn't form a band.
"i wanna...
live in norway / where all the people say / hey! i love norway / today / mmmmmmmmyeah / feel it / but don't let me die / on a pie / underneath a silversky / i wanna fly high"
Listening ? Comprehension!
Idiot! Do you just have brain rot? As I was hoping you will not be reproducing.. ever!
Although with you being the product of a british education system, it's not a shock. After all your nation sends squaddies to Afghanistan on £15,000 a year!
Rule Britannia lol
:)
DON'T EXPECT YOU TO GET IT!!
HUMAN PIGBAG! SAYS IT ALL!!
you don't play bass do you?
we need a bassist in this area, sort of...!
Aldershot?
Poor man, I was born there but fucked off to the fine pastures of fleet at the age of 1.
But still, no bands.
Reading has Six Nation State and Ben Marwood and that's it really. And The Fez has shut.
There used to be loads in those areas.
Skinny jeans ruined it all.
There's bands
but not enough places for them to play.
And lots of really, really terrible bands to wade through.
...
...
...
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHH!!!!
<reads again>
AUGH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
I have Norwegian relatives
and go there frequently.
Last time I was there a man used a pram (containing baby) as a battering ram to get past me. No excuse me (well no words - wouldn't know the Norwegain for that), no nothing.
This invalidates the otherwise startlingly beautiful lyrics.
^^ wasn't that
the norweigan eurovision entry this year?
Wrong!!
Did you pass your English Comprehension at school!
Christ you could at least slag me off accurately!!
'hey man, you wanna go out to a show tonight?'
'meh, i dunno, i might stay in, drink a few beers and do some karaoke...'
a band called K.O.Kaine
from where I live, Wakefield were on MTV2 last night, which was quite odd. I know 2 of them, and 2 more in the video and it was quite unexpected
K.O.Craine
xJAGCOREx
"Jag"?
Can someone enlighten me?
Before there was CRAINE! there was JAG
Some years ago they infamously spammed these boards with street teamer style hype posts.
Actually, I think they were written by band members posing as fans, since then any self publicising tends to be met with cries of 'JAG!' and the term 'Jagging' has entered the DiS lexison.
If you've got Mustang Sally
then count me in!
yes
In answer to your question..
They probably can't, no.
one man will save us
Matthew Cargill.
He's putting on a really decent night in Reading on Saturday with some class local bands...there is a thread about it about somewhere.
Its a rare occasion that this man throws a party but they are always alot of fucking fun. Its at the Rising Sun with Wow, Pigeon Eyes!, Shield Your Eyes etc...
Anyway it'll be a proper good old get together between like minded people minus the stereotypes and biases with some great music.
http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/3603456
Jag of the epoch
hilarious
made my afternoon
my reply
or the averall thread?
the original post
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
lol
Ppppfff.
"SilverSky has 1845 friends."
Losers. Only 1845?
SilverSky and Hatred!!
Hi all! I'm the Irish lead singer of SilverSky - and b4 you do it and say - YES I am TW*T!!
This hatred of anything decent is a real English thing! You prople are just crabs in a bucket.
The real reason there is no great music scene anymore is that unlike in the 70's and 80's when great acts like Queen, The Smiths and Joy Division we're around - people don't support each other - instead you are all spoonfed by The Sun and the NME who have made it cool to criticise. If you are seen to approve of anything you lose ur cool points!
Fact - yes we don't like skinny jeans angular guitar rock - but The Libertines were amazing as are the Arctics - it's the 1000 acts that write watered down versions of their hits that grind on us!
Comment above SilverSky has only 1845 friends. Losers. SO what! It's so sad that you refuse to make comments about the songs - although you are right - SilverSky haven't featured in the NME - so we must be losers - right??
You people are right! We're terrible! We should give up!! check us out on www.myspace.com/silverskymusic to spit more vile!!
Remember I called you a crab in a bucket! Hate me, Hate my music all you want!!
Er
you may want to do your research - DiS is not exactly the most pro-NME/the Sun music site.
the other member of your band took criticism alot better
and seemed geniunely interested in peoples opinions. Where as you come on here with no understanding of the site and make all kinds of incorrect assumptions and look like an idiot.
actually im not convinced this is even a real person
Email him and find out
Ignoring the fact that the intentions of Mike A's
question were self promotional, i would offer the opinion that 'local' music scenes are affected by a number of things - primarily what bands exist in the area, what venues exist and the dynamic of those venues.
Certain places such as North Wales have a real lack of good venues but a really supportive bunch of bands and fans, whereas somewere like Bolton may have a few very proactive and open minded venues, but no really good local bands, meaning that their 'scene' is based around visiting bands from the outlying constituencies.
The question of the local being dead is a bit redundant really - most places have some sort of live music communtiy, its just a case of whether its derivative or original, supportive or competitive etc etc
LOL
.
this thread
just turned for the better!
*grabs the popcorn*
Silversky... chill out...
... you used to play all the local veues in Croydon before you deserted them for the bright lights of London, so maybe you should head back to the scene which is still going so well down there?
It's true that there's very little co-operation between bands these days... my band always tries to hook up with our support bands and people we've supported; we've made some good friends and played some great gigs through those contacts.
Regarding the "hater" attitude of people on DiS, you're not far off: it's all too easy to dismiss new bands who post on here (even though everyone in a band has probably all done it themselves at some point), and the more LOLZ you can muster in your cutting remarks the better it seems.
Silversky probably belong over at DiS's sister site www.thequietus.com to be honest.
I have your Tracks demo from way back... it's still quite good (even though, or maybe because, it just sounds like Bends-era Radiohead).
Oh, and no, you're not the saviours of music, that was marillion about 8 years ago (argh... I'm talking about their business model... don't hate me too!) or napster...
Hmmm...
"Regarding the "hater" attitude of people on DiS, you're not far off: it's all too easy to dismiss new bands who post on here"
That's not really true- if you look further than the endless trail of shameless JAGs that fill up the music board and the response they get from DiSers, and instead look at the amount of positive threads about new bands then you might considers taking back what you've said.
doh
Having followed the article here I assumed it was in the "announcements" area, not the "music forum" bit... I suppose that explains a large proportion of the hostility...
spot the missing words
Having followed the article here *from the front page* I assumed...