We’re now into the second day of Atlanta Music Roundtable 2011 and we couldn’t be more pleased with the response. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read though our discussion and provided us with feedback. You’re all a part of what make’s this city’s music scene so special.
And if this is you first time encountering an AMR post, welcome, and make sure to catch up on our previous discussions. This is the fourth in a weeklong ten-part series that will be featured on a variety of Atlanta’s best music blogs. You can see the schedule of posts below with links to those discussions that have already appeared. You can also visit atlantamusicroundtable.com for more information and to read up on the entire Roundtable on one convenient site.
Monday: Most Underrated Local Artists (Ohmpark) / Mediums and Formats (Hijacking Music)
Tuesday: Artists You Expect to Break Out in 2012 (Max Blau) / Best and Worst (Me)
Wednesday: Favorite Shows (Wholly Roller) / Visuals (BeATLanta)
Thursday: Best EPs and Songs (Promising Chord) / Favorite Places to Buy and Hear (Atlanta’s A-List)
Friday: Best Local Albums (Little Advances) / Best Non-Local Albums (I’m A Bear! Etc.)
As for this post, ten local music bloggers don’t come together to have a log and wide-ranging discussion on the year in music without having a lot of love and appreciation in their hearts for Atlanta music and the artists and communities that support it. Part of the purpose of this particular discussion was to talk about the things that make the Atlanta music scene the amazing, wonderful thing that it currently is.
But it was also an opportunity to vent. To whine, bitch and complain about all the things that drive us nuts or that we would like to see changed in the future. As terrific as the scene is, it has its fair share of faults and this was our attempt to expose them. So read on, and make sure to let us know what you think.
Bret (Hijacking Music): One of my favorite (and also least favorite) things about the Atlanta music scene is the amount of awesome shows happening almost every day. There is no shortage of good lineups to keep me going out week after week. The month before we held the Hijacking Music Festival, I was able to go out almost every night to at least one good show, if not more, and promote the festival. This can also be a pain in the ass on nights where there are three shows — all worth seeing — and I am forced to pick one.
House shows are starting to really pick up and I am very happy to see this. I think it would be great if there was some kind of ‘house show circuit’ here in Atlanta that locals couple play week after week, and be able to play for new people each time in different places around the city.
High up on my list of favorites is the Atlanta music bloggers. I am positive other cities have their own local music bloggers, but having now been a part of this Roundtable, meeting everyone, and seeing some of the behind-the-scenes things take place like putting together these discussions and the show, is inspiring. Without people like this who show a genuine interest — biased or not — local acts would have a terribly hard time trying to get press and get noticed.
I am only going to mention one thing that I dislike about the scene — the “front of stage bubble”. You know what I am talking about.
You are at any venue in the city, even some that are full of people, and right there in the front of the stage is a big huge gap just waiting for people to stand and dance in.
This drives me CRAZY.
As a fan of music, you got off your ass, came to the show, paid the cover and paid to get your drink… now you and everyone else is piling in, filling up from the back of the venue first, leaving a huge open space right in front of the performers.
All I can say here is stop being such a bitch and get to the front! They don’t always bite.
These artist have been practicing hard to put on a great performance for you, and they FEED off your energy.
I encourage anyone that sees this ‘bubble’ in the future to stop being shy and stand right in the middle of it, and dance. Once you do, others will follow. They always do.
Emily (Wholly Roller): I totally agree with Bret, we have an amazing music community here in Atlanta. I feel like it’s very warm and inviting. From the house shows to the bloggers to — most important of all — the bands, we have just an excellent scene here. It’s a beautiful thing.
We have some of the greatest promoters/bookers in the world that get the best shows to Atlanta. And we have amazing venues! Like Bret said, there’s always something awesome happening somewhere, sometimes more. And we don’t have to search for it. It’s just there, welcoming us with open arms.
Alright, I know we have some concert photographer among us and I love you guys, really I do, but obnoxious photography at shows is something that drives me insane. And there are some very considerate photographers, I’m looking at you, Tim, and you too, Max. And there are others. But there are a few that stick out like a sore thumb that aggressively push themselves to the front halfway through the show, don’t say excuse me, and take pictures the entire time. Is that really necessary? I know y’all have a job to do, but COME ON. Get your shot and enjoy the show. Same goes for those of us with cellphones. Don’t get me wrong, I love to document what’s happening in front of me, especially if it’s a favorite, but there has to be some kind of limit. Seeing the show through a viewfinder isn’t that awesome.
Adam (BeATLanta): I would agree with Bret that one of my favorite things is the amount of awesome shows, venues and bands that Atlanta has to offer on a daily basis.
Other than that I would say that I really love how vibrant the music community has become. The amount of active bands playing shows, the amount of promoters promoting, and the amount of blogs that are covering shows, albums, bands, etc… really is something for everyone to be excited about.
My least favorite thing about everything is show times. Every show starts late. I myself am to blame as I’ve started plenty of shows late (it’s something I’m working on) but I think it would benefit everyone for a starting time to be posted and then stuck to. I believe its wishful thinking, though. There is not too much else I could complain about. Maybe music snobs. I won’t name names but some folks in some bands truly believe that music should sound a certain way and they shit on everything else, despite its talent.
Tim (I’m A Bear! Etc.): The community, running into old folks and meeting new people are the best. Atlanta has some really passionate and welcoming musicians. After the Roundtable last year, I really felt like all the bloggers were coming together, too. 2012 will be even better for blogger collaboration. Another best thing is our promoters. Tight Bros, OK Productions, Word Atlanta and everyone else still keep bringing the best shows to town. They’re the best promoters, by far. Although I do personally hold all the promoters responsible for not having The Radio Dept. make a stop in Atlanta.
As for the worst, all I have to say is I know Atlanta is home to the Atlanta Braves baseball team but when so many shows have bros chanting the tomahawk chop to get a band to encore, I cringe. Best example of that was at the Fleet Foxes show in which all bros in attendance started the tomahawk chant to get them to come on stage and then the band playing about a minute or so of the tomahawk chop. It’s embarrassing.
Denton (Little Advances): I think the best thing about Atlanta music is diversity. Some genres are more well-represented than others, and it might be easier for certain types of music to get a foothold with audiences. Still, I like that you can find just about anything here if you look for it.
But I hate going to a free show at 529 and seeing 10-20 people inside watching a band when the patio stays packed all night. If you bothered showing up, why not give the bands a chance? It’s free, and there’s no risk. If it sucks, you can just retreat back to the patio.
Christina (Promising Chord): My favorite thing about Atlanta music is the sense of community. I have never felt more welcome and a part of something great like I feel about being in this community. Great music is been played and released throughout the year which makes for never a dull moment. I like that I can basically find one or more shows a night to attend. I love free shows because it’s a great way to discover new music but, like Denton mentioned, not a lot of people take advantage of them. There isn’t much I dislike because I feel so fortunate to be able to experience music in so many ways around Atlanta.
Davy (Ohmpark): So, I’m going to kind of combine my best and worst. I’ve often complained in the past that the larger media outlets locally have spent more time inserting their own agendas than reporting on what’s actually happening in the scene, and also that the scene was very divided. But in recent years, I think these phenomenons have actually contributed to the vibrancy and growth of the local scene in a weird, indirect way. If Creative Loafing and Stomp and Stammer were covering the scene as thoroughly as they could, there wouldn’t be room for so many music blogs to be relevant. Because there has been this vacuum of coverage, it allowed something else to become a major force. And while at first the various cliques in this city were at odds with each other, the web of music collectives and fan groups has grown too large to ignore everything outside of one’s inner circle, so for the most part the attitude toward each pocket of style has shifted from standoffish to one more of mutual respect. When I first started Ohmpark, most of the other local bloggers wouldn’t even give me a link back. But now, even though all of us bloggers have quite different tastes in music, we can all come together and support one another and understand that there’s room for all of us in the conversation. And the same is happening with musicians in this town. It’s been fun over these last few years to watch all of these different, extraneous musicians connect with one another and create a community where, rather than everyone trying to sound the same to fit in, everyone seems to be celebrating the wide differences between one another. While you may not read about it in print, there is a scene here that contains more unique artistic voices than one city ought to be capable of sustaining, and the fact that we’re doing it in such a DIY fashion is even more impressive.
Rube (Atlanta’s A-List): I’m late to the party here, but I think Davy nailed it. Oh, and I hate the chop too!
Moe: I think the Atlanta music community is a fairly obvious choice here — great promoters; terrific venues (including some really incredible alternative spots with places like the Goat Farm and the Cottage); an increasing number of smart, forward-thinking music collectives; and one of the best lineups of locally-organized music festivals anywhere in the country. But — and I’ve been harping on this all year — it’s the diversity and the confluence of influences that makes everything possible. Are there bands and genres that are marginalized and underrepresented? Absolutely. But it seems to be getting better with each passing month. There are more and more opportunities for more and more bands playing a wider variety of music. Think about almost any genre and chances are someone in Atlanta is doing it and doing it well.
My big pet peeve, though, are some of the audiences that come out to shows, especially at the Earl. People, when there is a band playing on stage, you need to SHUT THE FUCK UP. There are plenty of places for you and your friends to hold a conversation. In front of a stage while an artist is performing is not one of them. I promise you, there are those of us who do care about what’s happening musically and we didn’t pay good money for admission and drinks to hear you talk incessantly about how great your burrito was or why your goddamned boyfriend won’t call you back. It’s rude, disrespectful and it needs to stop.
I find it interesting how most local critics, music writers, etc.. tend to completely look over the diverse and creative experimental music scene in this town. It seems to me that a lot of you are rather dismissive of anything that does not conform to the pop/rock template. Even if that pop/rock is played on keyboards/computers instead of guitars.
Billy, I’m not going to speak for any of the other bloggers, but, for my part, I’m never dismissive of anything. I’ll admit that experimental electronic music is not my primary music of choice, but I think if you look through all the music we highlighted this year, a good portion of it came from electronic acts. That doesn’t mean I’m not missing out or or overlooking some artists. If there’s some music out there that you feel deserves more coverage, by all means let me know because I’d love to hear it. – Moe
Billy, can you be more specific? Because I really don’t think that’s a fair assessment of what we cover. Who are we dismissing?
I would have to disagree with the first comment as well. Each writer’s coverage can speak for itself. Go search “experimental” on the sites and see what pops up. Its one of my favorite things to cover and write about. Whether or not the word experimental shows up on these topics doesn’t mean we’re not mentioning those bands, cause we mention plenty of them.
I agree that a lot of what I cover can be considered experimental or electronic more so than pop. If there are acts i’m missing out on, I would love to know who they are. I’m always looking for new music!
The promoters in this town do NOT promote their shows. They just place shows in “cool” rooms, hope the locals draw a good crowd, that people just magically find out about each of the performers that they might like as well as when & where the show is. It’s a joke.
Pete – Are you saying that Atlanta promoters don’t promote any of their shows AT ALL? Or are you just referring to shows with local bands? I’m also curious to know what you’re expectations are in terms of where and how much they should be promoting. I follow all the local promoters on Facebook and Twitter and I feel like I’m constantly being updated with show info and promos. There’s nothing magic about it.
Pete,
In my experience I’ve witnessed promoters of all shapes and sizes in Atlanta and by no means is it fair to generalize ‘Atlanta Promoters’ as a joke. Some don’t work hard but most in this town work very hard. Maybe you aren’t familiar with some of the truly fantastic ones out there. There are many promoters, many bands and many rooms to play. The reality is that there is a lot going on in this town all of the time. A promoter can work their ass off to promote a band but if that band hasn’t built much of a core fanbase or the bill isn’t filled out with a band who can draw well then their promoting skills can only do so much. It’s just a simple math problem really. For years I’ve been a part many shows with no outside promoter at all and these shows were sold out. I believe that being your own promoter for a period of time is crucial to an artists success and can be very rewarding in several ways. All the tools you need are right there for you. Anything is possible.
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Cheers,
Lil Vitamins
Great post and great responses!
Billy, the pop/rock template is more easily accesable than the experimental one, which means a broader audience is going to listen to it, therefor a broader audience is going to report on it.
There are definitely people out there support and promoting the experimental music.
I personally try to support experimental music that I find that I enjoy, I do this because it’s where my musical roots come from. That said, this year I did not make as big of an effort to seek out and find those artists as I have in the past, which I plan to change for 2012.
Pete, have you been outside in any area of Atlanta and NOT seen a Tight Brothers flyer(they all look the same for years now and are easy to spot), or a Speakeasy Promo flyer? Brannon from Speakeasy is on the streets with a HUGE bag of flyers every week promoting each one of his shows, which he has almost every night.
I think a better statement would be that BANDS do promote their own shows enough, especially ones a promoter asked them to be on. I know this first hand.
I’ve found that when I ask bands to be on a show, the level of promotion they do for the decreases compared to a show they set up themselves.
If you can find a good balance between promoters and bands working together on a single show, it’s almost always a success.
Little Vitamins, you are spot on with this statement and bands(even promoters) should not forget this.
“I believe that being your own promoter for a period of time is crucial to an artists success and can be very rewarding in several ways. All the tools you need are right there for you. Anything is possible”
I love all of these answers, especially the “bubble” , the talkers, and people hanging out on the patio and not taking advantage of free shows. Hell, some people won’t take advantage of the entire lineup even if they’ve paid. I recently attended a show at 529 and there were more people outside than inside the entire time, despite them paying a cover. I guess a lot people may go to a show just to see one band in particular and not care about the other bands, or some people only go for social reasons, but I really just don’t get that. You’re there, you paid, why are you standing outside during the performances? To each their own.
Great posts guys!
I can name a few off the top of my head..
Brainworlds, Pony Bones, Tree Creature, Gashie, Hopi Torvald, Lapsteel & Theremin, Klimchak, Lid Emba, David Kirby, Social Studies, Magicicada, etc..
and that is a quick list between shifts. Back to work.
Billy, three of those you named made my top albums of the year list for 2011, and I’ve blogged about almost all of them on your list before. I think “dismissive” was a little too strong a word choice.
Yeah, I’ve written about or at least mentioned half of those artists on Little Advances.
Since we’re on the topic….
In my experience, Atlanta’s noise/drone/experimental musicians are worse at self-promotion than their rock band counterparts. I’ll get emails from OTP emo bands and Christian singer-songwriters, but I’m rarely contacted by experimental musicians, even though I’ll actually post noise and drone on the blog. My inbox does not dictate my coverage, but an email does guarantee that I hear something. I’m always actively looking for new local bands and releases, but it’s impossible to catch everything.
It’s likely that many local experimental musicians assume there’s a limited audience for what they do, so they don’t bother pushing their music as hard. Maybe the rock bands are just more optimistic about their ceiling, and they respond accordingly. After all, nobody plays noise to get famous. And there is admittedly something intriguing about fringe music that stays on the fringes. Still, I wish they’d push just a little harder, because there’s a place for it. Davy covers it, Moe covers it, I cover it. BeAtlanta recently had Tree Creature play their house (how dismissive). Bret’s in a drone band. We are not unfriendly to this kind of music.
Excellent conversations happening here, y’all.
I totally agree with Little Vitamins about promoting the shows. I think we have some of the best promoters that get the best shows and utilize their resources to let people know what’s happening, but they can only do so much. The bands have to promote themselves, this true for shows and for just getting their music out there.
And I’m just going to throw this out there, but it’s not just the promoters and the bands jobs to let us know what’s going on. It’s our job (as fans, bloggers, concert goers, etc.) as well. And I think this is also true for music discovery. Obviously, it has to be there in order for us to find it. Venue schedules, promoters’ websites, Bandcamps, Facebook pages, etc. are there and they usually have the info we need. It’s up to us to follow them and mark it on our calendars.
Pete, if you don’t think we as bloggers, venues, promoters and bands are informing people properly, can I ask you if you use Twitter? Or Facebook? Do you sign up for emails from places like the EARL, Drunken Unicorn or Ticket Alternative? I know I try to keep an updated calendar on the sidebar of wholly roller every month. Moe, Davy, Christina, Bret and Denton post upcoming shows regularly on their sites. We all have Twitter and/or Facebook pages that we update regularly as well. If you do follow promoters, venues, bands and bloggers, can I ask what are we missing?