Band Management: Blog 47: Screwing It Up

I am managing “Band A” for one year. (And I’m managing the release of “Pipe” by The Styrofoam Turtles on our label.) I am doing this because I think underground music is the best art form in the world – by far! – without a question!
I grew up in the 80s and it was clear that “indie bands” were the best and that “college radio” played the best music. The Cure, New Order, Fugazi, R.E.M., PIXIES, etc…
About a decade ago, it was clear to me again that the underground music scene was creating art so much more superior than the establishment. And one of the first bands I started following was The Pack AD. (Listen to “Haunt You” or “The Water.”) This is a band with such great songs and a following and label support, so that creating music is Maya Miller and Becky Black’s focus.
I always wanted to know how they negotiated the collapse of the music industry.
We played them on the podcast and then I set up an interview with Maya for our “4 Questions in 5 Minutes” series. She wanted to use WhatsApp for the conversation and then I also downloaded ApowerRec to record the conversation on my phone.
I screwed it up – I didn’t get the two apps working together correctly.
The thing about this blog is that I’ll totally fess up when I screw up. I chatted with Maya – who told me that neither of them knew how to play their instruments when they started, that they never made a conscious decision to have their lyrics be so dark (check out this band Ian Duvall and Jenna Duvall), that MySpace was really helpful when they started, and that Maya thought they’d have a tough time getting noticed if they started today.
It was great to talk with one of my heroes – and I didn’t record the conversation. Sorry. Sorry Maya. I’ve been too embarrassed to tell Maya my phone didn’t record the conversation. Everyone please listen to The Pack AD – “Needles” or “Yes I Know” – they have tons of great songs…