Two Lights! They're a band! They worry about money!

Oh!

When they said Cabs, I thought they meant Bass Cabs. Not Taxi cabs.

Anyway, Two Lights are now officially this years Rebecca Black.

And did she make a fortune out of people laffing at her on the itnernet?

Oh, wait, she, did.

(left typo in on purpose)

I guess what I want to separate out from the ridiculousness of these guys is this: there's a myth floating around that in the age of indie and/or the internet, you no longer have to spend money to *make it* as a musician, because computers magically make good-sounding records for pennies and the internet magically promotes music via "word of mouth" and "viral" whatever. This myth is pernicious and annoying, and it's especially dumb coming from people who are in some shitty band that really is just a hobby.

What about the myth that the only way to have a decent recording is to spend a bunch of money in a studio?

Anyway, Two Lights are now officially this years Rebecca Black.

And did she make a fortune out of people laffing at her on the itnernet?

at least she had a song that people got some form enjoyment out of.

there's a myth that people need to make good-sounding records

A truly terrible almost-year-old live review:

Two Lights unlocked the night, though they weren’t in unfamiliar territory as the rock band call New York City home. While the venue was still filling up, the four man ensemble easily captured people’s attention with their catchy songs and impressive guitar work. Keyboardist Abner Willis seamlessly transitioned between the keyboard, guitar, and vocals, showing off his diverse talents while his brother Harper played lead guitar and took over vocal duties on several of the songs. Behind it all, bassist Ryan Gross filled out their sound with a steady, propulsive rhythm. They weren’t an opener that you would have expected for an act like Astronautalis, but it didn’t matter; they had the kind of sound that any music fan would enjoy.

YES OF COURSE.

What about the myth that the only way to have a decent recording is to spend a bunch of money in a studio?

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, January 30, 2012 11:13 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well if you're not doing that, you at least need a properly sound-proofed space, decent equipment (mics, preamps, software, mixing board, etc.) and you need someone who knows what they're doing with recording, and moreover, a lot of fucking time.

Astronautalis (born Charles Andrew Bothwell) is an American hip hop artist based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Astronautalis.jpg

Thanks wikipedia!

Also, all three of these bands look horrible.

I mean:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music/dirtygold/mercury/5.jpg

wtf at baby gilmour face?!

"Socks, I've heard of these socks
I don't need them, my band rocks!"

This BTW is the innocent Two Lights lighthouse from Cape Elizabeth, who really should sue at how its good name has been sullied:

http://www.gramlighthouse.com/image-files/me-capeelizabeth.jpg

Well if you're not doing that, you at least need a properly sound-proofed space, decent equipment (mics, preamps, software, mixing board, etc.) and you need someone who knows what they're doing with recording, and moreover, a lot of fucking time.

time more than anything else? if you have time then you can learn out what you're doing with whatever equipment you have.

While the venue was still filling up, the four man ensemble easily captured people’s attention

.. oh there's a band on ..

If you do visit the real Two Lights, enjoy the Lobster Shack!

Time and knowledge.

a lot of my favorite albums lately are being recorded mostly in-the-box, probably with cracked software, with maybe just the internal mic on a sampler for live sounds.

not that that makes it easy, just cheap. everybody has to learn to be an engineer now.

Meantime, the Willis brothers have a defender! Unfortunately for them.

The people who “used to” know how to make things work are not so good at making them work anymore. The Clive Davis and Ahmet Erteguns of the world do not fit as they once did. I find this sad because those two gentlemen alone sprung forth a ton of sonic greatness so mammoth we are still digging our way out.

weird, someone visited my page 15 mins ago who were listening to http://www.last.fm/music/Astronautalis

Makes it sound like elephant droppings. (xpost)

yeah i'd say the bands of the last 10-15 years have definitely been a lot more technically minded. the Raymond Scotts of the world are finally having their day

well did not expect astronautalis to pop up in this thread

btw he's not originally from MN, he just moved here i guess he was from out there and fell in love with mpls or something, plus for his type of hip hop this is prolly the best place to be

Baby Gilmour Face is also a dead ringer for brother-in-law dude from Weeds:

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI4NTE3NjAxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDQ5NTk3MQ@@._V1._SY314_CR18,0,214,314_.jpg

also we are definitely being unfair to two lights...and mean, too

but there's something about a certain kind of naivete that comes from people that grew up privileged and so certain of their own specialness (probably reinforced by the type of parents that had the means and willingness to drop 25K on instruments and however much on voice lessons and shit) that i just want to grind into the pavement with my boot heel until it's dust.

i don't know why.

It's because we're annoyed with idiots who act like Gautama before he stepped outside the palace walls.

If only Austin Wiggin had had that kind of money and patience to spend on The Shaggs.

a lot of my favorite albums lately are being recorded mostly in-the-box, probably with cracked software, with maybe just the internal mic on a sampler for live sounds.

not that that makes it easy, just cheap. everybody has to learn to be an engineer now.

― the third kind of dubstep (Jordan), Monday, January 30, 2012 11:29 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I guess I have some personal bitterness on the matter, having had the experience of both successfully recording in a studio and trying and failing to DIY a recording. We even had a member who was fairly knowledgable about recording, but we all had f/t jobs and the only space we had where we could record loud stuff like live drums was a parent's suburban house an hour and a half away (which basically meant we needed to schedule for when they'd be out of the house or on vacation). We still had to shell out a decent amount of money for gear and software, and it ultimately just never got finished (admittedly, this was partly unrelated to logistics).

I also think people are blind to the utility/necessity of some kind of marketing/publicity budget -- not paying some asshole $1000 to send out "e-mail blasts" but actual, properly done marketing and publicity.

^^^

good art always requires resources

Then again, I also have had the experience of making a studio record in two days for less than our failed DIY record cost.

what is the utility of a marketing budget?

in a social sense

None, unless you want people other than your friends to actually hear your music.

I also think people are blind to the utility/necessity of some kind of marketing/publicity budget

agreed.

and fwiw i do think it's harder to make a great sounding "live band" type of record on a shoestring budget, the stuff i'm thinking about is basically electronic music.

another good way to do that is to make good music xp

I don't think they actually expected to see champaign fountains and elegant sounges backstage. This is just the kind of bad writing you'd expect form a certain type of ameteur.

making music, scoring babes, school of rock 4eva

lol @ iatee perpetuating the "good music will magically find an audience" myth

another good way to do that is to make good music xp

― iatee, Monday, January 30, 2012 12:27 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Again, this is the myth of cream rising to the top. There's a bajillion bands out there. In most cases you're not going to hear about a band without someone doing something to promote them beyond just having a bandcamp page and playing dive bar shows.

they should do more drugs prob

sort of feel contempt for any band playing shows in NY and not currently billing themselves as "two lights"

otm

lol

they should spend some money on cool clothes, write articles abt being sad/p4k and become superstar djs

Hey, I created a thread on IMM to share experiences and opinions on worthwhile diy marketing/publicity.

independent music marketing publicity done properly

lamp u should take this band under yr wing

Again, this is the myth of cream rising to the top. There's a bajillion bands out there. In most cases you're not going to hear about a band without someone doing something to promote them beyond just having a bandcamp page and playing dive bar shows.

ya but the idea that someone should hear your band instead of someone else's band - I mean this is something you are doing to help humanity, in the big picture it's basically a vanity thing. so it's not a total bummer people aren't gonna be using money for this.

this is not something you are doing to help humanity*

yes it is