Jumat, 28 Juni 2013

JRL

Java Rockin land kali ini adalah kehadiran gw paling singkat di Java rockin land. Memang gak niat-niat amat sih dibanding tahun-tahun lalu. Cuma pengen nonton Collective Soul sebagai band yang sering didengarkan saat SMA dan Sugar Ray.

Day 1:
Datang sudah malam gw ama si citra dan gagal untuk nonton karnatra. Sebetulnya keputusan yang tepat untuk datang malam karena sampai jam 6 sore Ancol gratis, alhasil jadilah ancol penuhnya amit-amit meski gw udah sampe malam. Karena susah nyari parkir akhirnya gw bikin tempat parkir sendiri, di puteran :p. Masuk ke venue, kelalang-keliling gak jelas lalu bertemulah gw dengan perwakilan dari kontingen band taiwan dari salah satu stand  yang mengajak untuk datang ke Tebs Stage tempat band taiwan tim mereka bermaen. Lalu gw diberikan kantong plastik yang berisi informasi tentang band-band Taiwan yang bermain di JRL. Isi kantong itu diantaranyua :Kartu pos dari band-band tersebut, serta apa saja informasi festival yang ada di Taiwan. Dalam hati gw berpikir menarik sekali ya mereka sampai niat untuk promosi, mengingatkan gw akan SID di Vans Warped Festival yang harus membagi-bagikan brosur kepada orang-orang supaya datang ke panggung mereka. Lalu gw pun dengan semangat bersama berjalan ke Tebs Stage untuk menonton salah satu band  namanya 88 Balaz. Di tengah jalan menuju Tebs Stage, ternyata Sixpence menyanyikan lagu Kiss me. Lumayan lah melambatkan langkah sejenak melihat ke main stage dan mengingat bahwa lagu ini dulu sering gw bawain sama band masa kuliah yang top 40 itu XD, setelah itu langsung lanjut ke Tebs stage yang ternyata kosong melompong.
Gw adalah mansia-manusia yang pertama kali nongol langsung berada di depan panggung dimana stage memang masih kosong, lalu dimulailah performance dari 88 Balaz. Performa band ini sangat menarik karena semua personil bermain dengan sangat-sangat enerjik. Meskipun sejujurnya gw gak tahu lagu yang dibawain tapi performancenya seru dan gw pun gak jadi beranjak jalan. Setelah baca-baca profile yang dikasih dari info desk taiwan ternyata gw baru tau kalo band ini sudah dibentuk dari 1996 masa SMA mereka, bangkotan juga ya tapi masih tetap enerjik seperti bocah ABG baru manggung XD.




 88 Balaz


Lanjutlah gw nonton Collective Soul dari jauh, penampilan mereka lumayan sebetulnya tapi entah kenapa IMO image rockstar mereka jaga sekali sehingga performance mereka seperti kurang menyenangkan. Berbeda dengan Balaz yang total Collective memang rapi secara musikal tetapi tidak bisa membawa suasana jadi menyenangkan. Sekelar collective soul Gw jalan-jalan ke beberapa stand dan melihat Hello Goodbye sebentar. Entah mengapa gw lebih suka melihat performance hello goodbye, lebih warm dan mereka lebih rileks padahal gw gak tahu lagu2nya,


Day 2:
Datang sudah sangat telat, datang cuma untuk nonton Last dinosaurs 4 lagu dimana lagu terakhir adalah lagu Honolulu. Lagu ini selalu menemani gw hampir setiap hari selama gw kerja di Palembang. Setelah lagu ini kelar gw langsung berlai ke Stage Segarra mengejar band go chic. Sesampai di segara, beh gw bengong melihat penampilan band isinya 3/4 personilnya cewek dan lebih gila lagi tingkat energic performancenya dibanding 88 Balaz. Musiknya Electro, upbeat dan di setiap jeda lagu sang vokalis selalu mengajak penonton berdansa lebih gila lagi. Basisnya si Sarah ternyata lucu juga, dan selalu digodain oleh para penonton. Sampai habis pun gw masih tetap ada di segarra karena kagum.

Go Chic 

Sarah, Idola pada hari itu

Vocalis go chic yang energinya kaya kelinci energizer.

Setelah GO chic selesai gw dengar suara sayup ada suara lagu someday sugar Ray, Oh no gw pun berlari ke Main stage mengejar sugar ray. DI tengah jalan sudah ganti jadi answer the phone, sehingga gw bernyanyi sambil berjalan selap-selip ke panggung utama. Sugar Ray, band yang memiliki frontman mark mc grath dengan jambulnya yang masih tetap tinggi ini sangat kharismatik. Kharisma sebagai orang yang hobi berpesta dan hura-hura (IMO) bisa dibawa sama si Om ini ke panggung dan menyebarkan kegembiraan ke seluruh penonton. Gymmick yang cukup kocak dengan mengajak penonton berkaraoke dan berdansa gila. Meskipun menyelipkan beberapa lagu alien yang sebetulnya gw gak tau lagu dari album mana dia tetap bisa membuat stage hidup.


Saran kalau mau submit musik

Ini ada postingan menarik dari http://www.yabyumaz.com/ tapi karena kalo diretweet linknya gak bisa keluar jadi gw reblog aja.

At this point in our not entirely illustrious career we receive a decent amount of music submissions every week. We try to check out each and every one that comes into us. Well, almost. Occasionally, we'll just skip right past one and it's usually because the words "MAJOR ARTIST SUBMISSION" are in the subject line. That's my pet peeve. That right there, all in caps announcing that a major artist is about drop some heavy shit on my ears right now. There seem to be a couple of hiphop / indie labels who have adopted this approach for some god-unknown reason much to my dismay.

I started to wonder what really gets to other music writers and how this knowledge might benefit bands. I then reached out to some of rad local music journalists for their personal pet peeves and suggestions for bands ready to enter the Submit-To-Press phase of their musical careers. Thanks to Jason Woodbury, Dee Wallace, Nicole Parasida, Troy Farah, and everyone else who took some time to share their suggestions!

Dee Wallace, The Spec

"I think my personal suggestion for all up-and-coming bands is to set up websites and/or social media accounts. It seems like a big "duh," but a lot of these newer bands do not have websites or social media accounts, or are inactive on the sites and accounts they've created.

I think it's an asset for any artist to have an online presence in 2013. The Internet is this massive network that makes it easy to reach, and interact with, a broader audience. At The Spec, we're less inclined to cover bands that do not have websites or social media accounts because, as an online publication, we need to be able to link our readers to the artist we're sharing." 

Nicole Parasida, EchoCloud

1. They clearly do not even read our blog based on the email they send.

2. I get emails from friends/fans of bands with no links. They should provide all the links - don't make me work.

3. We have a song of the week, video of the week, we cover events, host events. Often people submit things to us with no specific purpose. I prefer them tell me what they want.

4. Constantly sending me correspondence either via email, Facebook or both.

5. Posting their music on my personal Facebook page or contacting me through Facebook. There is a reason my contact info is all over echo cloud, I can't track these things through Facebook. Besides that I am a real person outside of EchoCloud so I'd prefer people not spam my personal page. This also goes for excessive tagging on Facebook for promotions. If we are friendly with each other (meaning we are on first name basis face to face) that's one thing but if I barely know you it's probably not cool to tag me on Facebook for your band promo stuff.

6. General lack of professionalism. 

7. My biggest pet peeve is when people do not share our posts that we write about them. It takes 2 seconds to share and it makes a big difference in terms of our reach and people going to our site. It kills me when people ask us to post their content and do not show the least little bit of reciprocity. It's rude and certainly doesn't make me care about ever posting about them again. We don't get paid to do this, the least you could do is share it.

Jason Woodbury, New Times / Tiny Mix Tapes / Aquarium Drunkard

Don’t: Ever write “[insert classic band] had a lovechild with [insert contemporary band] and that child grew up and jammed with [insert weird/offbeat musical reference here]” in your bio. In fact, don’t include any variation of this formula, no matter how funny or charming. Don’t ever say “lovechild” in a press release.

But especially don’t: Call your band “delicious” or any word you might use to describe food.

But most of all don’t: Say “eargasm.” Ever. It’s never been cool to say “eargasm” and it never will be.

Do: Include names of bands you've toured with, played shows with, or have legitimate connections with.

Don’t: Include bands that no one’s ever heard of though. Because duh.

Do: Include something really condescending like “I know your blog doesn't normally cover stuff as awesome as the music we make, but we thought we’d toss it at you in case you feel like pulling your head out of your ass and getting REAL down.”
But only if: Your band is really good. Like, the best band, and you like confrontation.

Don’t: Send a physical CD. Send a download link. Make a Bandcamp site with art, that way you don’t have to sacrifice the graphic element of your aesthetic.
Unless, of course: You’re reasonably certain that the person you’re sending a physical item to will be really into it. Maybe they told you they wanted it. In that case, by all means, send a cool thing. Maybe a cassette if you know they have a tape deck. Vinyl, if that’s what they’re into. But do your best to make sure that your item (and by extension, the money you spent making it) isn't going to end up in a big pile of stuff that will have to be given to Goodwill when that writer moves.

Do: Be personable. But don’t kiss anyone’s butt.

Don’t: Ever be bothered by what a critic says about you, unless you agree with what they said. Don’t decide whether you agree or disagree right away. Think about it a little. Or don’t. Go with your gut on this one.
Eargasm? Really? Pass.

Do: Send a polite follow-up email reminding someone that you sent them something. Wait a minute to do it though, and remember that they get a lot of stuff. Be persistent but don’t nag. I can’t explain exactly how to do this, but you know what I mean, right?

Don’t: Take it personally if a person doesn't want to write about your band. Keep being the band you want to be. If you are a good band, there’s a writer out there into what you do. Don’t be upset that the lady or guy writing about about noise music or EDM or free jazz doesn't want to write about [your] acoustic reggae band or hardcore outfit.

Do: Read the site/publication/blog that you’re sending your stuff to. Read it real hard.

Don’t: Ask someone to do you a “favor” and write about you. That’s insulting. To the writer, sure, but mostly to you, the person making some art. The Stooges didn’t ask you to “do them a favor” and lose your shit to “Funhouse.” No one ever tossed on D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” as a “favor” to D’Angelo. They put it on because they were going to make the moves on a special someone. John and Alice Coltrane didn't need someone to do them a “favor” when they set out to touch the face of God through their art.
Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t treat your art like something that requires a “favor” to be noticed. That’s gross. Have stupid, ridiculous, probably-unfounded-or-justified belief in what you do. If you don’t have that feeling in your gut about your songs, tear them down and start over. If your art can be deterred by someone sending you an email that says “no thanks, not my thing,” your art is lacking. It’s not that person’s job to like your songs. It’s your job.

Do: Have fun. It’s music, you know?

So there’s a few do’s and don’ts. Feel free to disregard any one of these entirely, dear reader, or change a “do” to a “don’t.” They’re entirely subjective, and I will most likely change my mind about some of them/all of them later. Except that thing about “eargasms.” I’ll never change my mind about that.

Troy Farah, New Times

My biggest pet peeve is all the hipster fools calling this thing in Phoenix a "scene." All we are is a bunch of young adults that enjoy music. It's not a movement -- it's a bunch of the same people who grew up together or played in bands together or are neighbors or screwed each other or owe someone a favor or have enough money from daddy to afford a turntable or whatever. It's all very Möbius and that's not a bad thing. In fact, it's better to realize that being part of a "scene" is the opposite of cool. In a scene, you have cliques and a certain standard to appeal to. My favorite artists are the ones that work hard at their output, don't prescribe to the self-serving identity of the rest of the city and don't take this whole "Phoenix is gonna be the next coolest city" thing seriously. The people that show love and support to their neighbors without having to draw lines in the sand or identify with something or label something -- those are the people that matter to me.

Oh, and my biggest pet peeve in terms of writing about it is when people think I should write about their band just because I know them. It's a little more complicated than that, buddy.

Us again... Um, YabYum
Well,  hopefully that clears some things up and offers everyone a little insight into the realm of press letters. Thank you again to everyone who took some time out of their busy music-writing schedule to send us their input. And, of course, if you're a musician looking to submit your album, send it to us here: yymeditors@gmail.com. Just please, please don't put "MAJOR ARTIST" in the subject line or I won't read it. 

Images Source

Sabtu, 01 Juni 2013

Membiasakan yang salah

Beberapa waktu lalu gw membuat kesalahan menghilangkan dokumen penting di rumah, dan dengan yakin gw pun mencoba mengurus ke pihak terkait. Sayangnya beberapa hari sebelumnya ibu gw baru saja mengganti nama KTPnya karena dulu pernah terjadi kesalahan administrasi. Nama yang salah ini sudah dipakai di berbagai dokumen yang ada, hal ini sebetulnya membuat keadaan menjadi ruwet karena gw harus meminta surat keterangan ke kelurahan untuk hal yang salah ini....

Sebetulnya gak perlu seruwet ini masalahnya kalau saja dari awal Ibu gw sudah membereskan nama yang salah di KTP dan tidak menggunakan nama yang salah ini ke berbagai dokumen baik untuk buku tabungan, SIM, dll. In the end membiasakan sesuatu yang salah memang akan menambah masalah di hidup kita saat sekitar kita menerima hal yang salah itu sebagai sesuatu yang benar, dimana saat kita mau mengembalikan ke hal yang benar ternyata sudah menjadi kebiasaan dan gak semudah itu.....