4 Questions in 5 Minutes: Tristen Colby, Styrofoam Turtles

This is the “4 Questions in 5 Minutes” video with Tristen Colby of The Styrofoam Turtles. His best advice for bands trying to break out and reach a bigger audience: play all the time and check oil levels on your vehicle if you’re touring all the way up in Wisconsin….

Experiment: Band Management: Blog 10: On the Radio


“Band A” is on the radio! I am managing “Band A” for one year, interviewing a bunch on experts in the video series “4 Questions in 5 Minutes,” and then using the best advice to promote “Band A.”
So last week I followed some advice and sent out the lead single from “Band A” to 20 college radio stations. I didn’t expect much. 
But on Monday I got an email from KPSU in Portland saying: “We’d be down to add this single! Are the lyrics FCC friendly? If so, throw an mp3 over to me and I’ll add the track to our rotation this week. Let me know if you have any questions!” 
No sh*t. “Band A” is in rotation in Portland. Fawkkkk.
You don’t know this about me, but I’m a bit of a d*ckhead. (Probably Derek Allen and Derek Frye know this about me.) I’m relentless. If you open the door even a little bit – I will shove it open. The fact is that I didn’t believe you could just send your songs to radio stations and someone would listen and pick it up. So I’m going back to those other 19 college radio stations and letting them know that KPSU has “Band A” on rotation, and I’m adding 10 more college radio stations, and I’m going to tell the local radio stations around here, and I’m going to tell those breweries who pay $200 a show, and I’m going to tell the underground music clubs in Greenville, Charlotte, and Johnson City. Give me and inch and I’ll take a mile.

Ep 54: Dust Hat, Minihorse, Skunk Ruckus, Idiot Glee, Wine Lips

Music from alll these great bands, plus: Pickled stuff, especially eggs and onions. New rap. Strap-on dildo belt speculation. How to be fearless/delusional. (Follow us on Facebook! Instagram! Twitter! And lots of stuff about these and other bands, including artist interviews, is at www.hlycrp.com.)

Song We Like: Don’t Know by Zip Tie Handcuffs

The harmonies, drum, and guitar are all at exactly the same level, and it moves really fast and with precision. A good song to listen to on an excellent pair of headphones.

Song We Like: Tornado by Dirt Bike

We love post–irony. A really good, simple/complicated song about not knowing how to play music, by a band who definitely knows how to play music.

Song We Like: Come Up With Me by Guerilla Toss

Lots of layers of synth, abstraction in melodic patterns, and the talking-singer talking-singing about something. Not understanding + still liking = a relaxing action for the brain.

Song We Like: Roller Girl by Jacques Le Coque

Somehow on the podcast we neglected to discuss the priceless line “You talk like Madonna but you move like Heather Graham.” Discuss amongst yourselves. Jacques le Coque is fun.

Song We Like: Looks Good to Me (A Top Hat and a Rabbit) by the Cannonball Jars

Recorded in an echoey sphere, changing channels and styles, floating or bouncing jangily, chasing rabbits and not ever missing that show on TV. It’s excellent

Song We Like: Hidden Beatles Song by 3 Legged Dog

There’s some parts where the band all comes in kind of jangly, and there’s some parts where the guy just does his thing; it doesn’t ever make sense, but it doesn’t ever not make sense either. The progression is intuitive and so, so beautiful. One of Cinnamon’s all-time favorites.