"shifting", our latest album, was released like two or three months ago. the record is awesome, we love it and we think it deserve at least a couple of spins in every openminded rocker cd player (so if you fit, don't waste time and do it now!).
on about a hundred and fifty reviews we got from all over the world, like 90% are good ones and most of these are even enthusiastic, getting marks from 8 to 10 on a 10 point scale. so also journalists seem to agree with our (non-objective) opinion.
we also toured a bit accross europe, playing in austria, hungary, poland, germany, denmark and sweden. we have also been invited to wave gotik treffen, the most important gothic/dark fest in the world, where we performed supporting caspian, junius and good is an astronaut. considering this, you might easily think that our career is ready to start at full throttle. well, you're wrong.
the record is not selling really good. no real people is getting into the band. even in our homeland (beloved and behatred italy) ppl is not really giving a fuck about what we do. we have some warm but gaunt fans here and there around the world. they surely make us happy, but this doesn't help in taking the band on, facing everyday life accidents. indeed we have some major problems with our jobs. italian economy is almost sinking and we are not in the condition of leaving a comfortable job to follow a mere dream at almost 30. we are still waiting to get some money from some of our partners, but it seems like they have just the same problems we have and everything seems to be fucked up in the business. last but not least, we had to cancel a tour in germany because we got no real interest from the venues. not bad, uh?
well, on the other hand, we have a big label that released our previous albums and it's gonna release also our next one - and this is something really precious nowadays, trust me. plus we are actually able of planning short tours over europe, despite the german failure, and we're lucky enough not to waste too much money in that. so let's say we have quite a rewarding and unique hobby!
unfortunately the thing is that there are many successful bands out there, with right the same history that we have, playing a kind of music that is equal or worst to ours, but somehow (maybe beacuse they are british or american, maybe because of their superfashion-alternative look) they have the tons of fans that we don't have - and i am not only talking about the emo kids, i am talking about our scene, the so called "post-rock/metal/hardcore". this awkward thought is stuck in our minds and it's hard to let it go.
we have been playing for so many years, spending so much time, so much energy and so much money in it. we have a good pro-level album with many good reviews on the most important magz all over the world but we still have to fight to get like 250 euros for a show that cost like 300-350 euros to us. wtf. sometimes it really seems like walking backwards.
is it all about us? about the music? about the band?
is there a way to fix things?
your mighty warriors,
ats.
This is simply unbelievable but, as an italian who i am, we have to sink in our shit musical scene...we don't know why but it's simply like that...and this is so sad.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will reach what u deseserve...
'couse your music is wonderfull.
Cheers,
M
thanks matteo. the situation is pretty sad indeed. but as i said, we are some mighty warriors and we are not gonna give it up that easily. we still have many songs to be written, albums to be made, music to be created. it's still a long way to the top!
ReplyDeletea.
Cd is dead! Music has to change its format, again! Stop spending money on cd printing, it's lame to do in 2010.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite likely, anyway we are not spending money on that, since we have a label that takes care of this kind of things.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way music has already changed its format into digital. The matter is that you cannot even think of making some money from that, so how to fund your band?
I know, but it has changed only in part.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, your label could put that money aside, and spend it in other ways that could be more useful for your band, like tours, video, promotion and so on...
Anyway I think that making money with "underground" music is quite a dream! Almost all big ("underground") musicians, as you know, have a first "real" job!
I agree with you, making money is a dream.
ReplyDeleteHowever funding your band (that means no profit-no loss budget) is not an unreachable target. Moreover, that could be a good starting point to step to the next level, in the case you would like to do that.
I agree, it is a difficult target not an unreachable one, but I think that cds are no longer the way to the goal, even not to lose money. Probably even digital music is not already good for it.
ReplyDeleteWe have to look for new ways, and try to do the best we can with old ones (live shows, merch, digital download with free offer payment, few vinyl copies..etc..).
Those who have to change their approach to give a sense to all of this, are labels and media in general...some do it quite well already, some do not.
Totally right.
ReplyDeleteIt's a matter of the music industry, that unfortunately runs over the real music makers.