I also work in advertising, though I work at the "alternative weekly" here in Denver. Oddly enough, the music editor and I have had many conversations about music and his tastes don't go much farther than the Fray or the Decemberists. Most of the other writers are into the Killers, or something of that nature. Most of our music reviews are culled from other affiliated papers, so if you see a review of something good, we probably had nothing to do with it. That all being said, I find our music conversations akin to ramming my dick against a concrete wall.

I don't talk about anything but baseball with the people in my department.

For me - CRAP.

-Jeremy

warmowski wrote:

alex maiolo wrote:The funny thing is that the art rocker I play with was the A&R guy who signed Hootie

Interesting.

I mean, you rehearse with him, so it stands to reason you've had hundreds of chances to snap his neck.
But instead, you rehearse with him.
I mean, I'm sure he's a fine fellow and all, with many positive attributes.
It's not a simple problem, I admit.
I'm only saying Adolf Eichmann was kind to the children of Buenos Aires, but the Mossad didn't let that get in the way.

This is the funniest thing I've read all week.
Spitting out coffee funny.

I think of this when I sit across the table from him at lunch.
"How could this guy, who knows more about Krautrock that Julian Cope and is on a first name basis with legions of my heros, have DONE that??"

Yes, it occurs to me that he contributed to the greater bad for many years, and using "that was his job" as an excuse makes your Eichmann comparison even more painful.

But before that, he started at Trouser Press at age 16, played with Glenn Branca at age 18, hung out in the Bowery when things were happening, is genuine pals with Patti Smith, Jim Carroll and all those people, worked for MTV in the first few years, when they were truly revolutionary, formed Hugo Largo, worked with Eno, blah, blah, blah.

So that's the guy I know and make music with. A guy who can see the point of droning along for 10 minutes. A dude who can build an entire song around a singular sound. I always forget that he was The Man for a long time. I guess he was signing bands that actually play instruments, but...

And he's just fucking *nice*, man. Biggest music fan I know..

THAT'S why I don't snap his neck.

-A

This is possibly the best thread ever.

Here's the best answer I've come up with (I stole it from a friend) to the "what does your band sound like question."

Coworker: "So what do you guys sound like?"
Peri: "You know what Ted Nugent sounds like?"
Coworker: "Yeah man, the Nuge!"
Peri: "We really don't sound anything like that."

They either laugh or think you're an asshole. And if you (try to) answer honestly you sound like an asshole any way.

D-bag: "Do you play covers?"
Peri: "No, we're not a cover band."
D-bag: "Why not?"
Peri: "Because we're not a cover band."
D-bag: "Do you refuse to play covers?"
Peri: "We're not a cover band."
D-bag: "Why don't you play stuff that people want to hear though?"
Peri: "Because we're not a cover band."

I've had the above conversation numerous times.

I also love it when people just can't fathom how you don't like (insert shitty band/artist currently ruling the airwaves).

"Oh, so you don't like stuff that's popular?"

"No, I don't like stuff that sucks."


A new dude started in our office last week and got wind of my being in a band. He is a volunteer fireman and apparently they hire a band for some big party they have every year (last year's band was G.B. Leighton for you Minneapolites in the know).

Him: "How much do you guys charge to play."

Peri: "Well it doesn't really work that way, we don't play covers. And we play shitty clubs, not wedding dances."

Him: "That's ok, we had G.B. Leighton last year. They didn't play very many covers. I think we paid him like $1500; you could make some money!"

Peri (humoring him): "Yeah, cool maybe we could check it out, but I'm positive they won't want us to play this thing."

Him: "You never know. Why don't you give me your band's business card and I'll give it to the guy who takes care of that stuff."

Peri: "Yeah, here's my band's business card you fucking douche bag."

Peripatetic wrote:

"Oh, so you don't like stuff that's popular?"

"No, I don't like stuff that sucks."

How many times have I had this conversation?
I lost count by my 16th birthday, and I'm 38 now.

-A

chrisc wrote:I wouldn't say I'm the "rock guy," but I've been asked if my computer was broken more than once because of what music was playing on it.

This made me smile. I used to work at a tech startup, and occasionally would play Naked City (Absinthe) or Keiji Haino or La Monte Young (2nd Dream) at my workstation, all of which would bring the CEO out of his office to look for the dying hard drive. This would be no matter how quietly I'd play it.

I'm a big fan of the: "Hey man, I heard you play in a band. My cousin's in a band, they play everything, man. They play down at Sparky's and P.D. Pappy's and sometimes at Dibbo's. Where do you guys play at? My cousin says they make $100 a piece! How much does your band make?"

Yes, the dreaded "Kind of has a clue" co-worker who equates being in a band with making money playing "Taking Care of Business" for drunks in suburban bar & grilles. I have met this dude a few times. I'm sure you have too. They love to tell you how stupid you are for playing original music when you could be like their cousin/brother/in-law.

Also bewildering to these clods: Playing out of town shows.

"Man, why would you guys go to Iowa City to play?"

"Because we have some friends there that play with us when they come here and we really like the club."

"Fuck that shit, you guys need to play at Shooter's in Maplewood. My cousin said they got $800! Give me your number, I'll have my cousin call you."

or worse yet...

"You guys play out of town alot? Can I give your number to my brother in-law? He's in a really great band, I forget what they call it, a jam band? Anyway, they'd really like to play some shows on the road."

I'm very fortunate that I currently work in an office with a lot of like-minded individuals. Yesterday I had a conversation about Don Cab. The day before someone was talking about getting to record at EA soon. The guy I share an office with is a Johnny Cash nut. We just voted to find out who the rock guy at the office was.

I made it into the top 3 people "having a vast understanding of and eclectic taste in rock music." Unfortunately the other two guys are in bands and I was put out of the running.

Peripatetic wrote:A new dude started in our office last week and got wind of my being in a band. He is a volunteer fireman and apparently they hire a band for some big party they have every year (last year's band was G.B. Leighton for you Minneapolites in the know).

Oh my fucking god this happened to me once.

At my last job (a mortgage processing house) we had some sort of annual summertime customer employee appreciation picnic...uh, for one year, and then the whole company went tits-up. Anyway, one of our title specialists (a completely square late 30s/possibly 40-something black woman--i only point this out to fully illustrate the cultural disconnect) was on the commitee for planning this employee picnic, and knowing that i was in a band, she kept bugging me to have my band play. I kept trying to explain to her, "no, you see, we're really loud and don't play covers. No one will be able to have any conversations over us whatsoever." She was unfazed and insisted that people would dig seeing their co-worker play in his band. I kept avoiding the issue (because i'm a nice guy by and large and didn't want to just say "leave me the fuck alone, we're not a goddamn wedding band") until finally i had to lie and tell her that the other guys couldn't get off work to do it (which probably wasn't really a lie, but you know).

At one point, one of the other title specialists--a slightly younger (but still older than me), slightly more with it black woman--waved me over to her desk and said, "good for you; don't let her bully you into playing, because everyone else realizes it would make no sense." I found it amusing.

The picnic was in a park in a pavilion where they set up a karaoke machine (that no one went near) and people were casually chatting and a few people broke out a football and were playing and whatnot. Relaxed picnic environment. While i understand that it would have been really fucking hilarious in retrospect to have my band there blasting at full boar with Yale running around playing his guitar with the pavilion supports and getting into everyone's faces and me standing on my drum kit and lighting it on fire and whatnot, i was really glad that i didn't cave because that's the sort of thing that probably puts your blossoming mortgage career in jeopardy.

well, DrAwkward and Peri,

you clearly are not the "Rock Guys" at work you fucking pussies.





Love,

kerble wrote:well, DrAwkward and Peri,

you clearly are not the "Rock Guys" at work you fucking pussies.

Look, i learned my lesson when back in high school my dad insisted my shitty cover band play our biannual family reunion. There's nothing quite as embarrassing as blasting through "Johnny B. Goode" and "Hard to Handle" when your uncles and aunts are all covering their ears, no one is paying attention because they're all playing Sheepshead or Volleyball, and the rest of your band is giving you the stinkeye for putting them up to it. I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T WANT TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN.