Yesterday, the California Public Interest Research Group joined a growing number of consumer watchdog groups and independent promoters in protest of the proposed merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
They created a nice template that anyone (living in California or elsewhere) can use to send a letter to Attorney General demanding this deal be stopped. Now it’s easier than ever to at least have your voice heard in this matter—simply go to http://www.calpirg.org/action/consumer/stop-ticketmaster-merger and fill out the template.
This merger will only lead to higher prices in an already ridiculously priced concert market, so have your voice heard, our 8 blog reading fans!
For the latest ticket merger news, check out:
http://www.ticketnews.com/ticketmaster_livenation_merger_news
Friday, January 8, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
How to Start the Decade
Well, it's 2010. And that means it's time to make all these resolutions and whatnot that you will keep for a week or two, but forget about shortly after. However, I make this resolution to the 8 of you that read this blog... there will be more posts about music this year, and less posts about buttons and hiking. Why? Because 2010 is going to be a great year for music (and the start of a great decade).
You might say "You're just saying that because you are hard at work on a CD that will be released this year". True. But that's not the only reason.
We're just 4 days into a new decade and our friends The Steelwells are kicking off a month long residency at the Silverlake Lounge. Each week the show is free, and showcases a pretty sweet lineup of bands both local to LA, and to the pretty damn kickin' OC scene. If you saw them play after us at the last Hotel Cafe show, you know you want to catch at least one of the residency nights. Details are on their page.
As if that's not enough-- next Tuesday Magnolia Memoir kicks off a residency at Molly Malone's. If you've had the pleasure of seeing them live, you know that you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll pretty much have your face melted off by jazzy pop goodness.
I would advise all 8 readers of this blog to check out a night of both these residencies, so you can tell friends you saw these bands back before they blew up, and then of course get all elitist and turn on them once they have great success, which is totally my plan.
Anyway, just one way to kick off 2010.
Kisses!
You might say "You're just saying that because you are hard at work on a CD that will be released this year". True. But that's not the only reason.
We're just 4 days into a new decade and our friends The Steelwells are kicking off a month long residency at the Silverlake Lounge. Each week the show is free, and showcases a pretty sweet lineup of bands both local to LA, and to the pretty damn kickin' OC scene. If you saw them play after us at the last Hotel Cafe show, you know you want to catch at least one of the residency nights. Details are on their page.
As if that's not enough-- next Tuesday Magnolia Memoir kicks off a residency at Molly Malone's. If you've had the pleasure of seeing them live, you know that you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll pretty much have your face melted off by jazzy pop goodness.
I would advise all 8 readers of this blog to check out a night of both these residencies, so you can tell friends you saw these bands back before they blew up, and then of course get all elitist and turn on them once they have great success, which is totally my plan.
Anyway, just one way to kick off 2010.
Kisses!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
A Fond Farewell to a Friend... (Hotel Cafe, 9/12/09)
I know this is about a month late, but I figured we should post the gigography from Jeff's last show with The Quiet. It was definitely a fun one... and a great note to go out on -- as perfectly captured by this video. Here's to all the great memories Jeff.
Set list:
Live Life Now
Change Your Heart
She Will Have Her Way
Company You Keep
Summers Gone
On The Sideline
Another Heartache
I Do
Just a Friend (Biz Markie Cover)
Friday, September 11, 2009
The "Why".
As we inch closer to the halfway mark on our kickstarter fundraiser project, I figured it might be the right time to address a question I know a number of our friends and family might be asking themselves which is "why keep doing this?".
Over two years ago, we released our first CD. Did it bring us fortune? No. Did it bring us thousands of fans? No. Did the major labels come calling? Yes. Did anything come from it? No. And yet here we are gearing up to do it all over again.
So why are we doing this?
After the last CD came out, we did have interest from various labels. Interest to the point we got pages of notes from some of the executives, and feedback from some others, that left us looking at our music in ways we hadn't really thought of before. While some of the stuff was shallow record industry stuff we scoffed at (always act single and don't mention girlfriends on stage), some of it hit a nail on the head that we didn't even know needed hitting... which was: it's about songs, songs, songs. We had a CD with a number of good songs on it, and a number of other songs with really good parts... but then we'd go off and do things that were interesting to us as musicians, and not really interesting to an audience member listening. We had a tendency to do things because we thought it would sound cool, not because the song needed it.
When we sat down to look at the songs we had recorded on that CD, we suddenly saw them in a new light... deconstructing and reconstructing the way we played them. The two most popular songs from the CD-- I Do, and Everything & Nothing, remained mostly unchanged. The other songs ended up with new bridges, new solos, and suddenly they fit comfortably along with I Do, and Everything and Nothing.
This then began to bleed over into the new material we were working on. Suddenly we were writing songs with the idea that everything needed to be there for a reason. The songs finally became about every part working together, playing off each other, as one piece, not 5 musicians playing parts.
And the funny thing that happened was... suddenly the band that was playing out in support of the CD... wasn't the band represented on the CD. And it was at that point we realized, we needed to record again.
And this brings us to the "why" question we mentioned about 500 words ago. Before even launching this kickstarter project, and thinking of going into the studio... we had to each go and individually think about why we were doing this, and what this meant to us. For some of us, it was easy. It came down to a quote from Van "the man" Morrison: "When you make music, not doing it is not an option.”
However, the nature of being in a band does take a toll on many other aspects of your life... it's like having a 2nd job with no paycheck really, so friendships suffer, relationships suffer, your free time suffers. For reasons such as this as well as others, we lost Jeff, a founding member of the band.
Personally, I knew that even if I wasn't in this band, I would be sitting at home writing songs, playing to an audience of my girlfriend, or my cat. The idea of not having music is something I couldn't deal with. Music has been an important part of my life since I was younger, and is something that is going to be a part of my life as long as I can still do it. And the fact I can get up on stage with friends, playing music that we've created, and the fact we can play that music for an audience that supports us, no matter how big or small it is... well that is reason enough to keep doing it. That's why.
Over two years ago, we released our first CD. Did it bring us fortune? No. Did it bring us thousands of fans? No. Did the major labels come calling? Yes. Did anything come from it? No. And yet here we are gearing up to do it all over again.
So why are we doing this?
After the last CD came out, we did have interest from various labels. Interest to the point we got pages of notes from some of the executives, and feedback from some others, that left us looking at our music in ways we hadn't really thought of before. While some of the stuff was shallow record industry stuff we scoffed at (always act single and don't mention girlfriends on stage), some of it hit a nail on the head that we didn't even know needed hitting... which was: it's about songs, songs, songs. We had a CD with a number of good songs on it, and a number of other songs with really good parts... but then we'd go off and do things that were interesting to us as musicians, and not really interesting to an audience member listening. We had a tendency to do things because we thought it would sound cool, not because the song needed it.
When we sat down to look at the songs we had recorded on that CD, we suddenly saw them in a new light... deconstructing and reconstructing the way we played them. The two most popular songs from the CD-- I Do, and Everything & Nothing, remained mostly unchanged. The other songs ended up with new bridges, new solos, and suddenly they fit comfortably along with I Do, and Everything and Nothing.
This then began to bleed over into the new material we were working on. Suddenly we were writing songs with the idea that everything needed to be there for a reason. The songs finally became about every part working together, playing off each other, as one piece, not 5 musicians playing parts.
And the funny thing that happened was... suddenly the band that was playing out in support of the CD... wasn't the band represented on the CD. And it was at that point we realized, we needed to record again.
And this brings us to the "why" question we mentioned about 500 words ago. Before even launching this kickstarter project, and thinking of going into the studio... we had to each go and individually think about why we were doing this, and what this meant to us. For some of us, it was easy. It came down to a quote from Van "the man" Morrison: "When you make music, not doing it is not an option.”
However, the nature of being in a band does take a toll on many other aspects of your life... it's like having a 2nd job with no paycheck really, so friendships suffer, relationships suffer, your free time suffers. For reasons such as this as well as others, we lost Jeff, a founding member of the band.
Personally, I knew that even if I wasn't in this band, I would be sitting at home writing songs, playing to an audience of my girlfriend, or my cat. The idea of not having music is something I couldn't deal with. Music has been an important part of my life since I was younger, and is something that is going to be a part of my life as long as I can still do it. And the fact I can get up on stage with friends, playing music that we've created, and the fact we can play that music for an audience that supports us, no matter how big or small it is... well that is reason enough to keep doing it. That's why.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA, 8/15/09
A loud and energetic audience fueled the latest Quiet stop at the Hotel Cafe. The second to last show before Jeff leaves the band saw us leaving the horn section and light up vest behind, but the rambunctious crowd more than made up for it. We rolled out the newer songs with style, and the audience ramped up Another Heartache to an 11 with our forced arena rock moment of shouting "HEY!" on the designated breaks. We got to feel like Green Day for a shining moment. September is just around the corner, with the big farewell to Jeff show, so we'll make sure it's one for the books.
set:
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Come November
Everything and Nothing
Let it Fall
The Company You Keep
One More Chance
On the Sideline
Another Heartache
Live Life Now
Oh Darling! (The Beatles)
set:
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Come November
Everything and Nothing
Let it Fall
The Company You Keep
One More Chance
On the Sideline
Another Heartache
Live Life Now
Oh Darling! (The Beatles)
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Band News
Jeff Kaptain, founding member of the band Plan-R, which eventually became The Quiet, will be leaving the band next month. He's going to be with us for two more shows, so if you haven't rolled out for awhile, you should come on out and say goodbye with us this weekend. The details and a note from Jeff follow:
Jeff's First (of 2) Goodbye Show!
Hotel Cafe - 10PM (sharp)
1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028
21+, $10 cover
And from Jeff:
Hello, Everyone.
I am writing to let you all know that I have made the incredibly difficult decision to leave The Quiet. I am sure many of you who have followed us through the years must know just how hard this decision was for me. However, in looking at my life right now in the broadest possible scope, I am confident that this is the best decision for me to make at this time.
For all of you who have supported the band and the music for the years of my life I have dedicated to it, you have my deepest gratitude for the love and support you have given. I will always consider myself part of The Quiet family, and I don't believe there are better people than the current group of guys to carry on what we all have put so much into.
My final two local shows with the band will be our August 15 and September 12 Hotel Cafe shows. Thank you again for all of your support...looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming shows.
-- Jeff
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