remixed-up

Above is one of New Haven’s own local bands, and how they came to form. When creating a band it’s generally important to start out on the right track. Below is a presentation that provides a brief overview of the general steps required to form a band.

http://prezi.com/d3y7lxtert81/how-to-start-a-band/

In addition to the basics, starting a band is dependent on a lot of different elements. Some bands get as far as forming a group of musicians, scoring a good place to record, and creating a mix tape, but still aren’t getting the instant success they’ve hoped and dreamed for. Assuming the band is talented, one of the main reasons they’re not rising to the top could likely be due to their location.

With a population of over 18 million people, New York City has been a center for the music industry since the beginning of the 20th century. A band band starting In NYC already has the advantage of being in the public eye each way they turn with producers, agents, and managers as their neighbors. In a city filled with a keen interest for music, even a band’s subway stop performance could catch the eyes of the right people.

Burning Bridge Street, a band formed last year in Oswego, NY has taken the steps needed to create a band with a unique sound and small following, but according to member Jon Zella, they are finding that their rural area is limiting as far as venues go.

“Through an on campus organization that I am in I had the idea of us performing at an event, this got us into high gear on picking songs to play from other bands and having enough to play the gig, but around the 3rd week we found out the event was  being cancelled and we started to write our own stuff and now we  just finished recording an Demo with 5 songs. We’ve played in front of people once at a little basement show …and we’re looking to play shows in Oswego very soon.”

Although New Haven’s population of a little over 800,000 is little in comparison to NYC’s population of over 18,000,000, there are a considerable amount of opportunities and public interest for a small city like New Haven, especially when compared to an area like Oswego, where a band starting up has limited play options. With effort, there have been a considerable amount of bands that originated in the New Haven area, but according to Gabe Gomez of local band Piff City, the success they are looking for won’t happen in a smaller city like New Haven overnight.

“I knew going into this we would have to give 110%, and personally, I think we’ve given 80 so far. It takes a while to produce quality music…but the biggest difficulty is time commitment.”

A group in a smaller area hoping for stardom may think their success isn’t possible at the same level bands starting up in NYC experience, but bands now have an unlimited venue: the World Wide Web. According to Americans ages 18-35, 41% of them look to a band’s website to find new music. Also, bands in rural alreas and small cities alike can now rely on sites like Pitchfork, Fluxblog and Epitonic.com that provide a substantial alternative to the music magazines and publications NYC is famous for.

As a band starting out in the New Haven area, it is essential to know the different venue options, but more importantly a band should know in what location an audience will most likely attend a show. Below is a timeline of the popularity of various local venues.

 http://safe.tumblr.com/safe/video/2305994986/500

So, you know the bands you like.. but do you know where to go to see them? The place can be just as important as the music being played in it.  Luckily for New Haven, quite a variety of new venue options have developed in the past few years alone. “Toads until a couple years ago was one of the only accessible venues around,” says   Fred Hoxsie of Manic Productions, a booking and promotion company based out of Connecticut. New Haven’s Toads Place has featured bands like Bob Dylan, The Black Crowes, Billy Joel, and The Rolling Stones since the 70’s, but it wasn’t until recent years that there were this many options.  Hoxsie explains that this “rapid” growth was more of a gradual progression;

“The first big ‘scene’ you found in New Haven was around the early 2000’s was Hardcore. Those who went to hardcore shows [at Toads Place] …eventually came together and formed bands and played there or at legion halls…it fanned out from there into what it is now.”

From there, the music scene grew into what it is now, and the new supply of clubs the area has at its disposal is a result of the growing demand for more places to play. Local businesses like Anna Liffey’s, Bar, and Wicked Wolf that are able to provide performance space reap the benefits of being a part of New Haven’s music subculture.

“I love having a place to go to on the weekends where I can relax and listen to music with my friends… the clubbing thing isn’t something I want to do every weekend.. It’s nice just having a low key hangout with live music and cool people,”

said Tyler Reynolds, a local college student who frequents the smaller music venues like Café Nine in favor of dance clubs.

 The number of venues has multiplied in just a few years, and as long as the demand for music outlet stays on path, it looks like there are going to be a lot more opportunities for local musicians, local businesses, and music lovers alike. 

Posters coaxing Yale student bands to play at local venues cover bulletin boards all around the Yale’s New Haven campus in New Haven, but other bands of the area are saying that they aren’t getting the same kind type of attention.

Yale and other local colleges together maintain a student base of nearly 50,000 (city data), but it’s Yales proximity that draws the largest crowd among them.

“It’s like a brand name, local clubs know if they have a Yale band playing it’s going to get a good amount of people, so they book them instead of us. ” said Quinnipiac University student musician,  Alex Cohen.

There are  50+ listed bands that hail from New Haven according to metrocrawl that are all vying for some coveted play time in the one of the 10 main venues of New Haven, and according to some, Yale take precedence.

Mike Farrell, a musician and New Haven resident of eleven years said,

“Bar used to have local bands come play every Wednesday night which was a really cool thing, but they actually scrapped that with a spot  for Yale bands just because having people from Yale they can guarantee more people are going to come…we don’t have very much, they’re taking that away from us even further.”

A local individual shares his musical journey.

Band members of the local band, Voted Most Random speak on their Warped Tour performance. 

This video captures Tim Kasher’s efforts to break the mold of his genre while he was still part of a band. It delves deep into the struggles Kasher has faced throughout his musical career in doing so.  Interestingly enough, as a part of his he’s finally done it. Kasher recently went solo, which may seem like a typical band breakaway at first glance. Kasher on the other hand, seems to view this break as an extension of himself rather than such. He was recently quoted saying;

“The direction, at least to me, doesn’t seem so fresh…As long as I’ve been writing bigger rock songs, I’ve always countered them with storytelling kind of songs. This is just a new chapter in that much longer lineage of albums I’ve been doing in that sense.”

Is this the entrance into a new genre for the musician? The New Haven area will get to experience the new Kasher when he performs at Toads place this evening, and find out for themselves.

     New Haven’s second annual “East Rock West Rock” music week is coming to a close. This year the week long festival attracted over 175 live musical acts, with genres ranging from Classical to Reggae to DJ/Dance. Breakthrough locals and veteran visitors shared stage in coffee shops, clubs, and restaurants at every corner, and attendees are already talking/tweeting/blogging about their favorites.

     Quite possibly the most talked about performance thus far was that of Broken Social Scene. Leading up to their show at Toad’s place with The Sea and Cake, The New Haven Advocate described the band’s latest music as “eclectic, lush, and experimental,” and the Yale Daily News reported,

” With Broken Social Scene’s vocally pleasant, moderately dancy and texturally complex sound, you should have quite a few toes to tap. If you don’t like ’90s rock and you don’t like rap, Broken Social Scene is the East Rock West Rock headliner for you. Plus they’re Canadian — how could they possibly offend you?”

Above is one of their latest videos.

     East Rock West Rock ends Sept. 25th, so be sure to at least check out what should be another notable performance by The Quick and Easy Boys at Café Nine on Friday, Sept. 24 at 9:00 p.m.