E.REX

LIES AND MARKETING

2012-01-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you read.

There is an artist who is currently stirring up the music and celebrity media into a froth to publicise her forthcoming album. I will not name the individual, so as not to add weight to her marketing machine, but those in the know, will know exactly who this person is.
What I find fascinating about this person, and the media’s perception of them, is that her entire back story is a lie.

Again we have the leaked stories about how she ‘just uploaded a song onto Youtube and within a week a million people loved it so much, they viewed it’ - the headlines were something in the order of ‘Internet Overnight Sensation’, or the like. Even though it is completely obvious to anyone with even a tiny bit of intelligence that this never happens by accident, the national press still quote this occurrence in their articles as justification for writing the article. It is widely known that Youtube ‘hits’ and Twitter/FB ‘friends’, ‘followers’ & ‘likes’, are all created by the artist’s publicity team, to make it look as if there is a sensation. It happens all the time, not just in the music business, but also in the advertising campaigns of normal everyday household products - a buzz created to make something dull look talked about and consequently worth talking about. Of course this type of advertising is not available to all; only to those with a lot of money.

So here we find our emerging artist, an innocent miss from a trailer park - apparently. Who has just astounded millions of eye and earballs. Despite millions of videos and songs on the internet, millions of souls have found this very video on Youtube and liked it.... come on, let’s look more closely at the back story of this trailer girl... oh there you go, she did live in a trailer park for a year whilst writing songs for this new album. She was studying in a New York University, living in Brooklyn... getting produced by a world famous producer... made an album that no one liked... it was released, didn’t sell and then was deleted... she disappeared and returned with new face and tits... and now the marketing machine really kicks in and she is everywhere: TV, magazines, newspaper, internet news, album reviews, blog, tweets... hmmm. Something does not add up.

The missing piece of the puzzle is this: her dad is a multi-millionaire property investor. Now I get it. Money.. money paid for all this to happen. Money paid a team to make and construct this pop star.

The thing is though, despite the manufacturing process, and the bulldozer marketing, there is a songwriter and performer underneath the silicone and trout-pout. But how do we as ‘elementary’ artists believe in an artist like this? She produces songs that have an appearance of being genuine and she sings as if her heart is really breaking; but how do you relate to a writer from such a privileged position in society? Does she really understand and feel the things she is saying, or like her marketing campaign, is it all just one big lie? She sings “Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough” (Born To Die); I don’t for one minute believe she has ever known a tough road (and I mean a really tough road, not a bad day in the recording studio), and if she ever walked along one, it was to see what it felt like before stepping back into a limousine... not really the same thing. Compare this to neilson’s: “Sometimes it seems this road we’re running on just gets longer and longer” (Harry, Lyn & Me) and see which performance is the more believable.

I suppose you may think this is all sour grapes and another no hoper whining about how unfair it all is and how it is the hardest game in the world, forty years man and boy etc. And I suppose it is, but the point of the article is this, when you are not working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at a menial job, you tend to have a bit of extra time for crafting songs. When doors are opened for you instead of closed in your face, you are more likely to have enough self-worth to keep going despite inner demons. When millions of dollars are spent advertising your new album, how can you fail... so is it about the music, or is it about the money?

So the album is released on Monday, and I bet now that it will be front page of all the download stores - it will be pride of place; she will probably be a guest on one of the chat shows or magazine programmes aired that week; she will have reviews in all the main papers; her product will be placed for all to see; placed there by money. And you have to ask yourself a question, is this very expensive fake worth your attention?

By the way, I do like Born To Die and on first listen I was intrigued. My interest was just soured when I learned the truth. Part of me wishes I was as ignorant as the average man; gloriously happy in my idiocy.

EMI Records Losses

2010-02-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

One of the big four major record companies is finally feeling the results of not adequately supporting talented songwriters and artists. EMI have published their losses today and blamed the digital age for cutting their previous profit margin. Their actual problem is relying on repackaged Beatles albums and investing in vacuous pop acts instead of allowing quality writers to grow. I am sure they never thought that their power would wither and their roster of bands and singers become so diluted. Good riddance. A label who helped songwriters to sign contracts that effectively waived their intellectual rights and profits, passing them onto the corporation is just pure evil. The sooner these dinosaurs become extinct, the better.
It is coming to the time when the independent labels will take over the world and artists will be paid for what they have created, rather than a company executive. We longer need corporations to get our music in a shop, or record us; we do this at home, unshackled.
Now all we need is the audience to free themselves and open their minds to this new order.

Popstars love disasters

2010-01-22T03:07:00.000-08:00

Here we go again... Even though there are places in the world in need of assistance 365 days of the year, it takes a special sort of disaster to see the popstars and celebrities come out from under their rocks, with their overblown arrogance, telling us they are going to save the world. Satan himself (Mr Cowell) is using his connections in the underworld to record a version of that uplifting song 'Everybody Hurts'. Naturally everyone wants to be involved to show they really want to make a difference.... as long as that means just going to a studio to sing a line and make themselves feel a whole lot better. So you see the usual suspects Bono, Chris Martin etc doing a lot for charity but not wanting to talk too much about it...!
Is it just me that finds their actions so abhorrent? Yes I know their intentions are honourable and the money from sales (that the record buying public is actually putting forward, not the rich celebs themselves) will help to rebuild people's lives, but it is the way these soulless priviledged few seize this opportunity.
No longer will you hear the cry when someone faints: "Is there a doctor in the house?", it will be "Is there a popstar in the house that can sing a song to raise money for this person who has fainted?" ... and there will be a queue of popstars, with their chests heaving and their brows furrowed, really caring about the tragic event (until the cameras move onto the next news item). Great publicity and it is free... so although REM are waiving their royalties on the new version, and I am sure none of the artists will be paid, their own albums will see a sudden boost in sales.. and the record companies take their share of that, and the publishers, and the songwriters and the performers.... and still Haitians live in tin huts, just as they did before the earthquake. Where was Wyclef Jean before the earthquake...? Happy to be away from his birthplace and living in luxury I guess. Where was Chris Martin, well he visited Port au Prince with Oxfam a few years ago and agreed people were living in poverty there... thanks for that Chris. And so poverty and exploitation will continue until there is some equality of wealth... so that will be forever then.
And I suppose you could say, it is better to do something than just write a piece damning others for doing their bit for the cause, well, yes ok, you're right.

A Christmas Boyle

2009-12-01T09:56:00.001-08:00

I don’t normally like to discuss these things, as by doing so makes me acknowledge that they exist (which I wish they didn’t), and also by seriously considering their existence gives them a gravity they do not warrant. I assure you that I would prefer not to talk about it as I believe that if you ignore something, it will eventually go away (I am sure that this current fascination will soon wither, as these things do not have enough substance to last long).
Susan Boyle’s rise to fame is the model every undiscovered musician the world over wishes for. After decades of singing to yourself and a small select group of friends, you are given a break. In the past this break came from either your demo being picked up by a record company or their A n R man showing up at your gig with a contract. This kind of break guaranteed nothing really, not even an audience, but this was very desirable and it was a seemingly attainable goal, because it was based on your own belief in your talent (however deluded that may be).
Now imagine you enter a talent contest and your break happens before millions of people. Consider that you can sing, but look like you really can’t. With an audience’s collected expectation at its lowest, you sing well and the perceived skill you have is suddenly magnified a thousand-fold. You couldn’t ask for more.
Added to this is the backlash of pure sympathy from the initial cutting remarks. Sympathy plus the misjudged perception of your ordinary talent, makes you out to be prince of princes, when you are really just a nice frog who can gribbet with the best of them.
Fantastic.
However, add into this fairy story the devil incarnate, Mr Cowell. Not a talent scout, not an artist, but a business man: a banker in every sense of the word. I would be happy for Ms Boyle if it wasn’t for the fact that for every halfpenny she makes, you can guarantee Mr C is making a pound sterling. He gets richer from every sympathetic download and has milked this opportunity for everything he can. From the initial staged ugly duckling to swan routine, to opening doors in America.
I guess the important thing to remember is that when people are buying the CD, they are buying into the story not the product itself. Ms Boyle can sing, she can hold a tune, she has a voice unquestionably. But it is not really that special. What has captured the imagination of so many is the way her story has unfolded, and unfortunately this is wholly manufactured. It is fake, it is part of Mr Cowell’s unstoppable marketing machine. It is manipulative and it is ugly. And worst of all it serves only Simon Cowell. The public seem quite content making his pile of money larger, as the rest of us suffer the worst depression in decades. I still wonder why this is. I do not really believe that the record buying public are really that blind to Cowell’s sleight of hand.
I wish Ms Boyle happiness. I wish for Mr Cowell the fate of Mr Scrooge before his redemption… the money boxes and chains being forged for Mr Cowell would stretch around the world many times, weighed down by every plastic disc of poor quality he helped manufacture. Merry Christmas.

Work is the scourge of the working class

2009-11-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

Remember when you left school or college with dreams? Can you recall the mountain of applications you made for jobs you wanted? How long was it before the rejection letters piled up along with the household bills, and you considered getting a temporary job to tide you over? Remember telling yourself that you would continue to apply for jobs you wanted around this temporary job? The first few weeks you would check the papers and tear out any possibilities and put them to one side. Remember thinking you would get around to sending off for the application forms? Remember coming home from your temporary job every night too weary and discouraged and disillusioned to do anything but watch TV?
And then ten years go by, fifteen years fly by and your temporary job is now permanent. You are comfortable. You can pay your bills and go on holiday. You can buy a flat screen tele even though your old one, although enormously fat in comparison, was perfectly fine. You don't look for those jobs you wanted any more.
And one day, quite by accident, a job advert catches your eye. It is one of those jobs. It asks for someone with 10 years experience in that field. You think to yourself, if I hadn't spent my life working all that time, I could really have made a concerted effort to get that job I wanted all those years ago... and now it is too late.
Experience is everything. Make the right choice and remember when you make a decision that you will not have any regrets.
Regret only not making a choice.

The fucking NME

2009-11-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

NME Editor Krissi Murison said this week about their current issue that contains the ‘best 50 albums of the first decade of the 21st century’: "This (list) is the definitive word on the greatest albums of the 00s - as voted for by everyone who helped make music brilliant this decade."

Can you believe the arrogance of this deluded journalist? She uses words like "definitive word" and "everyone who helped make music brilliant". Does she really believe ‘everyone’ is actually included? I just cannot express fully my disgust. The music press’s denial that any music of any quality is created that they do not know about, is unbelievably narrow-minded and short-sighted.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is not the chart that I find so distasteful, it is the way they feed it to us. We all know that these lists of best ofs and greatest of all times, are just horseshit, and no-one will ever be fully satisfied with the entire list (I for one cannot believe Tricky is not there, 3 truly original albums and not a sniff; Kate Bush’s wondrous return in 05 not mentioned; no Tokyo Police Club or Bombay Bicycle Club; no Art Brut, no Frank Black, no Aimee Mann, no Born Ruffians, no Red Light Company, nothing by Sigur Ros, no Modest Mouse; did I dream that Kings of Leon released 4 albums that didn’t make the list?; Antony and the Johnsons anyone? Gilbert O’Sullivan? And these are the bands you will know.. there are dozens more that are ‘very’ independent and you will never have heard of them)…
I’m sure you will all have a list longer than this with missing persons (why not comment below to vent that anger?). However, this is not my point. The problem I have is that ‘they’ think they are the dictators of good taste, that their ears are permanently tuned into what is great, that they are somehow contributing to this current cultural renaissance we now all enjoy (!). They haven’t got a clue, it is just business, it is just money, sometimes, somehow something good will see the light of day, but that is not by their judgement. They are so busy trying to create the scene, that they do not really know what is going on at all. They are like a freight train, full of their own self-important faulty produce, stuck on a predetermined course, unable to move from their tracks – great things are happening on either side but they cannot divert from their destination, so instead of stopping and listening, they plough on… and as they have the loudest voice (their steam whistle is heard for miles) everyone is forced to listen to them, but their voice is shrill and painful now. So you know what, I am putting my hands over my ears and going la la la la la la la la la.
From their list, I have left the ones I have enjoyed over the last decade below. By the way I am not saying that the other artists that made the list and I have deleted are not worthy (these things are of course very subjective), but I do object very strongly to being told that everyone who helped make music brilliant this decade, voted for this list: the BBC says that "Bands such as Radiohead (at number ten and fourteen) and Arctic Monkeys (at number four), plus record producers and label bosses were among those who cast their votes." Oh that’s right, ‘the business’ voting for themselves, holding each others’ willies as usual. Step out of the light ladies and gentlemen, you are standing in puddles of your own piss and you stink.
Remember that me and you helped make music brilliant this decade and always have done, the fact that most people will never hear what we do or say does not make it any less interesting or worthy. I have said it before and I repeat, stop buying into the false values perpetuated by the media and the music business! We will always be here and we will always write and play and sing. They will wither and die when we stop paying attention.

Edited top 50:
1. The Strokes - Is This It
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
7. Arcade Fire - Funeral
13. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
17. Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
30. Elbow – 'Asleep In The Back'
31. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
43. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Advice for younger writers

2009-11-13T01:17:00.000-08:00

When you write something and give it to someone else to evaluate, if you are told it is not good enough, write something better.
It is easy to take criticism as a fault of the reader, that they don't 'get' your work. You can end up in a viscious cycle of giving out your work, getting bad reviews, blaming the reviewer, sending out the same work, getting bad reviews, blame the reviewer.
Stop it.
Learn from what you have created and move on; re-read your work. If you can't do any better then chances are, you are really not that good.
If you write more and receive more criticism, keep writing. One day you will have two things: a mass of work, and a plotted history of how you got where you are today. This is very important because it proves that you never gave up, and probably that work number 1 is not as good as work number 1000. You will see your progression and your improvement. This is your life lesson and it is something you taught yourself... if you still are a struggling unknown, consider the lesson you have given yourself your prize. Consider also that you really are a writer.
If you gave up at number 1, you are not a writer and were certainly not good enough.
Success is the point at which you creat something that speaks to someone else, even if that is just one person. Feel happy with what you have made, because no-one in the world could have done it but you. Never judge your own success in terms of who 'makes it', their work is no better than yours, it just landed on the right desk... a desk owned by someone with no real idea of what is good or bad, just what can sell.
If you only write to sell, you are not a writer, you are a salesman. This is fine as long as you are honest with yourself about your true intentions.
Now write something good.

Post holiday trauma

2009-10-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

It's always the same after a period away from normal life, when you return, everything feels tougher than it was before you went away.
A holiday, far from making you feel refreshed and renewing your enthusiasm for life, serves only to show you a life that you can never have. This is the scourge of the working classes.

Essentially this small depression in the normal flow of life at elementary recordings is the result of a break from the norm. Such a great time was had by all that no one wanted to come back. This glimpse of how the other half live is sitting like a tonne of bile in my gut this week, and I am sickened by that laughing, drinking, swimming, dancing, sweating man I was last week, he seems to stick two fingers up at me now as I sit behind this desk with nothing but a mirage of memories.

This is worse than New Years Day.

Remember this: never go on holiday. Next year I have decided I am not going to come back.

DIE SON DIE - The motion picture

2009-08-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

This is a link to give information about the screening of a film I produced:

http://www.thepublic.com/index.php/events/detail/die-son-die/

It is about post-punk-21st century misfits Miss Halliwell (for Misfits see Arthur Miller and the film starring Norma Jean, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift).

It is a film called DIE SON DIE

It is being screened/premiered at The Public art gallery in West Bromwich on 10 Sept 2009.

It is unmissable.

Twitter twats

2009-08-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently some genius in the US of A has been studying Twitter and found that 91% of its content is meaningless shit. I'm glad there are people out there who are around to state the fucking obvious.

What did amaze me however, was that only 6% was self-promotion (ie people in my position trying to advertise the wonderful artists on its label). I had it in my mind that there were more of us pointlessly posting blogs and tweets in the hope that someone out there gave a fuck.

Deluded aren't we?

No one is listening.

But still we continue, otherwise there really would be nothing of any value out there at all.

This is the 21st Century

2009-08-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe sometimes, that it is possible to make and record a film and a live album, put it in web-shops on the w.w.w., so everyone from Melbourne to Seattle can hear and buy it.

When I was young, you made a plastic disc and would have to physically get it into shops by driving around and delivering them. If you were lucky people would go to the shop and buy it. Today it is very easy to produce a product.

This, I suppose, is good.

However, because it is so easy, everyone is doing it. Before it would take more effort and a lot of people would just give up. There would be less product and the only records available were there because someone broke their back to make it happen. Today you can click a few buttons, send a few emails and there it is. And here we are, now everyone has a record out.

So it takes the customer longer to sift through mountains of shit. But it can be worth it, if you have the time.

If you want a signpost, just look at the stuff we produce and distribute.

Today you can buy DIE SON DIE. This is a good place to start. It was made by people who would not give up, despite many piles of vomit placed there by people with no creativity in them and little imagination. MISS HALLIWELL have overcome the shit and made a beautiful piece of music and film.

You just have to type Miss Halliwell into a search engine and there you are.

No more wandering down the high street; we have brought it to your door.

The 21st century is a wonder to behold.

Miss Halliwell - Die Son Die

2009-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

The most exciting artistic release by a band is happening this Monday, the 17th August 2009.

DIE SON DIE is a film and an album by Miss Halliwell. You can download it from iTunes from this Monday or direct from the band if you want an actual package including a CD and a separate DVD.

It is stunning. It is unmissable.

see here:

DIE SON DIE

the E.REX blog

2009-08-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

Maximum saturation.

That's what it is all about.

We will be heard. We will be hard. We will be.