To Blog or not to Blog…. (that’s the question)

And the answer? Well that’s quite simple… its yes.

Blogging is an important part of our lives, whether we actively seek out blogs ourselves or not. Blogs can provide us with information we may otherwise have no access to. Blogs provide content for news articles, reputable blogs can be a source of research, they also provide an interesting look into social history.

But what isn’t discussed is the importance of blogging from a music scene point of view, well that was until this week, when BBC Introducing Lancashire partnered up with Creative Lancashire and hosted a soundBytes industry session.

The discussion focused on the importance of blogging both from a music scene perspective and also from an industry view point. Amongst those that attended where local music bloggers and industry delegates, including Manchester blogger Joe Sparrow writer of the blog A new Band a Day and Liam Walsh – album plugger to radio stations.

The discussions, which will be broadcast in two weeks on BBC Introducing Lancashire, made a good argument for why bands in particular need to get into blogging. I for one agree with this, as was stated in the session, bands need to create their own publicity, and a blog is a very easy way to do this.

Bands need to connect and engage their listeners. And whilst it is true that Facebook and Twitter are a great platform for this, Blogs can offer a better reading format and, once set up and the link passed to Facebook friends, can be a more concentrated area in which to link tunes to Soundcloud or YouTube channels. Let’s face it, can any one of us say we catch every status update or tweet from our contact lists…. No.

So a band set up a blog, and their fans read it, is that it?. Well no its not. As was mentioned by some of the industry delegates, the music industry and the press look to blogs to get more information about a band or singer songwriter. At BBC Introducing, when researching a band we will look to blogs and Facebook etc. to see what they have been doing, to see what material they have out there, we are not the only ones.

Gone are the days when bands looked to the press to create a buzz about them, sorry bands but that is now up to you.. you need to create the buzz i.e.: make yourselves accessible, put your tracks and gigs out there for people within the industry to see, and most importantly give interviews and tracks to reviewers and local bloggers. This brings me to my next point.
A local music scene is not just created by bands. It is in fact created by bands, venues, promoters and journalists.. especially local bloggers all working together. Each of these areas depends on the other to make the whole scene work.

In a recent interview (which will be blogged about soon) I spoke to film maker Jon Spira about his new documentary “anyone can play guitar” the film focuses on the Oxford music scene and features big names such as Radiohead and Supergrass, but the aim of the film is to show that these bands did not get to the heights they did on their own. Without the local press and the local promoters, these bands would not have had the platform to even start.

I asked him how the Oxford music scene survives and his answer was this “Oxford works, because it’s a community and if you look at how it all started, it’s about participation. You need to participate before you can take anything out of it…. Everyone goes to each other’s gigs, everyone just supports it as a music community”.

This is a true statement for any town or city. If you want your music scene to be vibrant, then help it along, in which ever area you can. This is not only aimed at music, the same would apply to photographers or artists, create the scene, create the buzz.

If you are interested in hearing the session that went on this week, it is due to be played out in a few weeks on BBC Introducing on BBC Radio Lancashire – I will status update on Facebook… and of course on here.

And in the meantime here’s a few blogs for you to check out:
www.anewbandaday.com
www.deadlyrhythm.com
www.angelofmetal.com

Have you heard the one about ....... an interview with comedian Lewis Costello.

When you talk to Lewis Costello about his comedic career, he gives the impression that he’s not quite sure that he has one. And when you ask him about how he got a supporting slot for Ed Byrne's tour in 2008, he doesn’t really know how that happened, if you ask him about being a contributing writer for series 2 and 3 on Russell Howard’s good news show, he simply says “I got an email”.

Lewis is 18, he’s from Blackburn. He started performing comedy 3 years ago, and in those 3 years he has managed to perform in places such as London’s Comedy Store and the Edinburgh fringe festival. He has also performed in New York – were he had the uncomfortable experience of looking Jesus straight in the eye (see below).
He was recently nominated for Latitudes “New Act of the Year” Award and supported Doug Stanhope on his 20th Anniversary comedy shows in London. Oh and he also performed at Download Festival.

Lewis will tell you these things, in a rather begrudging way. But when you get beneath the media publicity bit, you will find an 18 year old lad, who isn’t quite sure how he has managed to get where he is, (if in fact he is anywhere, as he sees it) but is just enjoying the ride, and when you have the opportunity to sit and have a cigarette with him, and he tells you the story of his nan, Max Clifford and some singer from X Factor….. you see, even if he doesn’t, just why he is getting somewhere…and fast.

Interview:

SB: When did you start performing (what was your first gig, and how did it go)

LC: It was November 2008, in Blackburn, with Brendon Burns. And it went pretty well! Too well, really. My next gig was a few weeks later at a theatre in Burnley, and I was shit. In my head, I went from planning a world tour to planning on retaking exams.



SB: Explain how you have managed to get to where you are at, at the moment (for example the route you took, how did you get noticed etc.)

LC: I'm nowhere special yet! I have taken a weird route though. It's been quite a DIY approach. A lot of friends help out. I was 'managed' for a while by my friend Zac, and my publicity person was my friend George. I had a European tour this Summer just gone, which sounds impressive, but really it was just me visiting a few countries with some friends and tagging on shows.

Doing stand-up is a fucking fantastic way of meeting people. And when you meet people from different places, you then have a floor to sleep on, wherever they live. And with accommodation out of the way, you can do a show there without it costing too much. Actually, for my show in London this year, I was staying with a guy who I helped get started in stand-up, who lived about ten minutes away from me before moving to London. And while I was there, I was catching up with a Canadian stand-up comic called Sophie, who I met while supporting Doug Stanhope in London the year before.

I've always booked my own shows, and I'm just lucky that my friends are legends, because they always help out. The route I've taken, really, is trying to carve out some sort of following by doing shows wherever I can, with the help of whoever is willing.



SB: How did get the opportunity to work on Russell Howards shows.

LC: I was sent an email asking me to be an additional writer on the show. Boring story, but you asked.



SB: How was touring with Ed Byrne - considering you were quite young at the time.

LC: Ridiculous. I'd always thought he was an amazing comic. It was a chance I definitely didn't deserve, but I got it, and every show I did with him went really well. And I got the chance to see his set which was great, and he gave me some advice on my act that I still remember, it's always in my head when I'm on stage. That was a huge chance, and I loved every second. Went to see his new show in Blackburn not so long ago, and it was amazing. Non-stop perfect observational comedy.



SB: You have gigged in New York how was that.

LC: I'm assured it went very well, I was asked back, but I remember it being weird. I was really queasy, and couldn't walk to the stage in a straight line. The host of the show that night, before I went up, she talked to a guy on the front row who looked like Jesus. And all I can remember is feeling tired and ill, stood on a stage with a scorching light in front of me... And I was trying to remember some jokes, whilst looking Jesus Christ dead in the eye. I don't suppose that’s a common tale from English comedians performing in America. But my experience of performing in New York was super intense. I'm going back next year. Hopefully, there won't be as many religious icons in the audience.



SB: What did being nominated for the Latitude new act of the year award do for you ( and what year was that)

LC: It was 2010. Which I fucking resent, because it was being headlined by Florence and the Machine, Vampire Weekend and I think Empire of the Sun. I don't even know. But my biggest regret in stand-up is that I didn't start a year earlier. If I was asked to perform at Latitude in 2009, I would've seen Thom Yorke, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Tricky. I love these guys. Listen to them at least once a day. Thom Yorke is wailing as I write this, actually. And THAT'S why I hate Vampire Weekend. Fuck Vampire Weekend. What was the question?



SB: You completed your first tour last year, will there be one this year and what did you learn from that.

LC: There has been a tour this year, it's just been a bit more European. Last years was good! Intense, but good. It included three dates opening for Doug Stanhope at the Leicester Square Theatre and Doug is, for my money, the best stand-up comedian in the world. They were the best gigs of the year. If I learned anything, it was in Edinburgh. Don't be honest about the quality of your show when advertising it to punters. Tell them it's very, very good. Or else they won't buy a ticket.

The last date of the tour is a hometown gig at the Thwaites Empire Theatre, November 22nd, as part of the Blackburn Comedy Festival. It's the biggest solo show I've ever done, and we're doing all we can to make it a big show. Dave Bishop, one of my favourite comedians in the country, is supporting, and we have a screen on stage. There will be a celebrity cameo or two, and it's a fiver to get in. Might as well.



SB: How was download?

LC: AMAZING. Amazing weekend. Euphoric. I'm not even gonna go into detail, because I wouldn't stop. The set went down really well, and I met some of my best friends there. I'm definitely there next year. Actually, we are building the 2012 tour around Download. A few friends and I are taking a van across the country and playing whatever seedy little places will have me. This year at Download, that was the gig of the year. Once a year, it seems, I find a perfect audience. Stanhope's audience were great, and Download's were great. On the same bill was Jason Rouse, an amazing comic who I'd wanted to see for some time. He killed. And as for music, I was pretty much a second stage regular. Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie were the highlights. I've got a dollar bill with Alice Cooper's face on, framed, which he pierced with a sword before throwing into the crowd. Insane.



SB: Your act is not for the faint hearted, would you consider taming it if the perfect opportunity arose for you.

LC: No, but that's not to say I don't tame it. Sometimes, I'll tame it for fun. I never do well though. I actually took part in the Blackburn Christmas lights switch-on last year, for some fun. Totally clean set. It was horrible, the audience hated it as much as me. Had a gig at MediaCity in BBC actually last weekend, and on paper, it seemed like I might need to tone it down. But I didn't, and it was great. Moral of the story, it's in everyone’s best interests to let me carry on effing and jeffing.


Website - www.lewiscostello.com

What Preston needs is a ….

Guerrilla artist.

I have become very intrigued by the whole idea of the “guerrilla artist”, not only by the art itself, but by the persona and the mystery of such artists, as well as the motivation behind their need to create pieces of work, that can look astonishingly beautiful, but then can be lost, painted over or forgotten about.
Guerrilla art or street art, can come in many forms, be it objects left in places for people to find, sticker art , or full on art installations suddenly popping up from seemingly nowhere, but the kind of street art, I have become fascinated with is the age old graffiti type.


Not the run of the mill, some kids are bored let’s spray a wall type, but the intelligent, playful and trying to get a message across type.
I have discovered that it is not a new thing, street artists have been around since the 70s and 80s, probably the most notable is the so called Grandfather of stencil art – Blek le Rat, the French architect stencilled his famous life size portraits of people and little rats all across Paris in the early 80s.


Our very own Banksy has often mentioned Blek la Rat as an inspiration behind some of his famous street art. But it’s not all stencilling and spray cans. Another Parisian street artist who goes by the name Space Invader, creates intricate mosaics of 70s inspired computer game characters, he then displays or “invades” these tiles in cities across the world.


When I was in Paris a few months ago there was guerrilla art on almost every street corner, one of the most noticeable and memorable for me, was down a little back street next to my hotel. The area was just out of central Paris, and had a very diverse mix of residents from almost all communities imaginable, and it was also just a little bit dodgy.
But in the midst of all this, down a little side street, spray painted on the pavement about a meter apart were a series of red roses. Just, red roses. They were beautiful.


Now you may be wondering, why does Preston need a guerrilla artist.


Well, the answer is simple. It would bring character and culture to a place that, despite its title of “city” has not quite managed to become one yet, especially in the sense of having a diverse arts and culture scene. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things happening in Preston that are helping it become more cultural and more diverse.


Places like The New Continental put on touring theatres, comedy nights and also hold events. They Eat Culture are an inspired group of people who put on cultural events all over Lancashire. But Preston, I feel has no identity. It seems to want to become a city but is still trapped in a “Town” mentality.


So I say, let’s have some guerrilla artists, the city is full of art students and creative types.. Surely one of them can emerge from the dark at night, spray a stencil or create a mosaic and give the city a bit of much needed character, and me something nice to look at.


N.B. I do realise the actual act of graffiti is illegal and could result in an arrest…. But..