Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Operation BAMMsterdam, Day 1




We're taking this show on the road, folks. A couple weeks ago, Jamie, Jeff, and I were in Chicago working with web.illish.us on a Pay-Per-View live stream concert for Erin McKeown. This week the three of us are in Amsterdam. Rough life, I know.

We're here to work with BAMM EU. They serve a bunch of roles for BAMM.tv, a lot of back end work, EU programming, some editing, and program development. Nick Hansen (Co-founder and brother of Chris Hansen) has been over in Amsterdam and London for the better part of a decade. BAMM.tv has been on the collective mind of the Brothers Hansen for as long as I've known them (six years), and even longer, so it only made sense for Nick to put together a team to keep watch on what's going on in the music world on this side of the Atlantic.

Jamie (business operations), Jeff (media), and I (music operations) are here to help unify the fronts in terms of production and program development. As is the case with any start-up hurdling towards its launch, there are a lot aspects--production, finance, promotion, platform development--that need constant attention, so transparency between the two offices is critical. BAMM.tv's platform launch will take place at South by Southwest in March. We are officially "on the clock."

BAMM.tv is a forward thinking media company that produces, edits, and distributes and video content entirely in the digital realm. New website and platform currently in development.

Miscellaneous:

- Had an open seat next to me on the flight (nine hours)...until a lady moved from her aisle seat to the middle seat next to me mid-flight. What? The dude next to her kept falling asleep on her shoulder. To the guy who kept falling asleep on this lady's shoulder, thank you very much for messing up a good thing for me. When is the next time I'll have an open seat next to me on a nine hour flight? Never, that's when.

- Checked out a taping of Amsterdam Acoustic last night. So cool. Check out their site--a bunch of killer bands in equally cool settings. The band, Shout Out Louds (Merge Records), was incredible. Shot entirely on film (16mm) in a frat house. Not what you think when you think frat house--this building is somewhere between 300 and 400 years old--yet the odor is universal.



- I thought the tram running throughout Amsterdam was free. It is not. IOU 2.60 Euros.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

BAMM.tv Presents: Jarrod Gorbel



BAMM.tv is happy to welcome Jarrod Gorbel, formerly of The Honorary Title, to the studio this afternoon for a live performance of five songs off of his brand new album, Devil's Made a New Friend. A short interview will follow. Gorbel has seen many sides of the music industry during the unprecedented transitional period of the last several years, both as a indie artist and as a major label artist.

However interesting his insights may be, we realize that it's his music you want. His music you shall have. Enjoy, folks.

Details:
Who: Jarrod Gorbel
What: Live stream performance of the new album Devil's Made a New Friend
Where: http://www.bamm.tv/live
When: Today (Wednesday, October 27) 12 PM (PST)

Monday, October 25, 2010

Live Blogging #FailCon 2010



Some of the most important lessons in the startup world come not from success, but from failures. Such is the premise of FailCon, a day-long event at San Francisco's Hotel Kabuki, that is a refreshing change of pace from the typical conference circuit. Founders, executives, investors, and industry experts share their fears in an uncertain marketplace and--yes--the dashing of their hopes and dreams.

Not surprising for the Bay Area, the eclectic lineup features some big names in the media and technology space, and the equally eclectic topics range from failed social media strategies and the best ways to lose all your customers, to bank busting venture capital deals and high-tech gadgets gone bad.

The conference is about to begin, and Executive Producer Cass Phillipps runs a tight ship, so check back throughout the day for updates.

9am - "Why Successful Startups Fail Better"

"Startups fail because they confuse the search for a business model with the execution of a business model," says keynote speaker Steve Blank. He argues that the metrics for evaluating success for early-stage entrepreneurs is radically different from those of established businesses. "A startup," he adds, "is a temporary organization used to search for a scalable and repeatable business model."

Blank's message to entrepreneurs is to not obsess about polishing the business plan because it won't survive first contact with customers anyway. Instead, managing the transition from scalable startup to a sustainable large company is the art of failing successfully. "The distinction between being a visionary and hallucinating is a very fine line and based on context."

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

BAMM.tv in Chicago: Erin McKeown




Somehow, someway, I am writing this post from the Presidential Suite at the Belden-Stratford Hotel in Chicago (great view, crappy continental breakfast...is there any other kind?). The weather has been picturesque and post-card autumnal. The city is no less than cinematic. It reminds me of when folks come to visit us in San Francisco this time of year. The weather is perfect and the city has its best foot forward. Our visitors remind us how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city, which is true, but we know--oh, how we know--that SF soup fog is rolling in approximately three minutes after dropping our guests off at SFO. In other words, Chicago is about to get cold, and it's important to remember this simple fact when romanticizing to such extremes.

Allow me to get to the topic at hand--why is BAMM.tv in Chicago? We are here working with our friends at web.illish.us on a live stream concert by Erin McKeown. As some of you know, we've done our share of streams from our studios in San Francisco, but tonight we are streaming a live concert from the beautiful Lincoln Hall. If all goes well, you might be seeing a bit more of BAMM.tv on the road. We are also testing out a pay-per-view concert model.



Full disclosure--I hadn't heard of Erin McKeown until this project came up. It didn't take long to realize she's an immensely talented songwriter that challenges the very notion of categorizing. More impressive to me, she's been at this music thing for over ten years. Perhaps my appreciation for persistence and longevity serves as proof of my own aging, but it takes balls to commit to a music career for that long. It really does. Tonight marks the ten year anniversary of McKeown's first studio album Distillation (Signature Sound), and to celebrate she will play Distillation in full. The second set of the night will feature requests from the online audience. I know--a lot of variables in play tonight, but it should be interesting to see how the whole online audience impacts the show in the venue. Definitely worth checking out here.

Miscellaneous:
--Jeff, Jamie, and I got up close and personal with a tiger. Although lame to see in a zoo, still pretty cool to see.



--Went to the Alder Planetarium to see a 3D show. I know space is cool. I know. I just wish I cared.



--Unos deep dish pizza for lunch. Birthplace of deep dish pizza. The crust is where the magic happens.
--Lincoln Park is a really cool area of Chicago. Close to Wrigley, lots of cool bars and restaurants.
--Went to the Apple Store to grab a hard drive. Really cool store to go to when you get to snicker at the people waiting in line for their iPhone-related issues. I want to feel bad for them.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

5 things I've learned about musicians





Since last February, BAMM.tv has invited over 30 bands to our San Francisco studio to perform short sets. These performances are live-streamed over the old internet. Following the show the team at BAMM.tv mixes the audio and edits the video, and in a few weeks the entire performance is polished and adorned with some serious bells and whistles. Our basic belief is there are a ton of incredible bands and artists out there that you don't know about, that you ought to know about, and if we can help you find them then everybody wins.

In most cases, we include a short interview with the bands following their performance. I have conducted most of these interviews, for better or worse. Here are 5 things I've learned about musicians, based on my conversations over the past 8 months.

1. 98 percent of all the musicians that have come through BAMM.tv are polite, intelligent, regular folk. Granted, we aren't scheduling U2 here, but musicians--regardless of their status--oftentimes carry the following labels: prima donna, self-absorbed, melodramatic, unreliable, etc. I don't know about you, but I find it a lot easier to get behind a band that is made up of people who work hard and who aren't dicks.

2. Musicians are savvy, and the successful ones know how to hustle (I mean this in the best possible way). Most of the bands that come through BAMM.tv are on their own, and the ones that are signed to labels aren't exactly rolling up in a Porche with a model in the passenger seat (old Volvos, Subarus, and Econoline vans are more popular choices). The musicians we've worked with oftentimes approach their music as any founder of a start-up would. They are their own manager, their own booker, driver, guitar tech, roadie, website admin, album artist, and accountant. They are a study in multitasking, because they have to be if they want to play anywhere other than the corner bar.

It's impressive to be sure, but I often wonder when they find time to be creative. I was talking to Ben Morrison of The Brothers Comatose about this just the other night. He had spent the past 8 hours working on the website, updating Facebook, posting tweets (how I hate this term, but I need to get over it already), and so on. I thought, "That's awesome, Ben. But I like you in the songwriter role more than I like you for your social media skills." I worry that the folks that are really making a run at a music career don't spend enough time on what ultimately matters--writing better and better songs. It felt good to hear Matt Adams of The Blanks Tapes tell us that he usually writes anywhere from 30-50 songs for an album. He's managed to keep his focus on his most important asset. This isn't as common as you would hope.

3. Band back-stories are boring. In many of the earlier interviews I would start with the stock question--"How did you all come to be in this band?" Turns out--and I know this will come as a shocker--most bands are formed by...wait for it...a group of "friends." These "friends" usually "hang out" together, and oftentimes they share interests, like music. Sometimes they even meet at concerts, and, being fellow music-lovers, they bond over music. Bands come from all different places, like Oakland, Sacramento, Lodi, a small town called Los Angeles, or even places not in California. They spend some time "jamming," and perform for the first time at an open mic or a shitty bar. They stick with it, realize they really do get along, and then they get better at writing songs. I know there were a lot of mind-blowing realizations in that paragraph. Take a minute if need be.

4. Drummers are second-class citizens. I don't know how this started, but drummers get no love. If a band messes up during one of their songs, all looks go to the drummer. The tempo was all wrong. Too fast. Too slow. Wrong fill. I should know, because I'm guilty of this many times over. You might as well lump bassist in this category as well. Guitarists and singers better recognize. The best part is, the drummer and bassist are usually the most educated musicians in the band. They are the glue, and without them these bands would be just another folk duo in the coffee shop singing cringe-worthy knock offs of one of following three songwriters--Bob Dylan, Jeff Tweedy, or John Mayer/Dave Matthews.

5. I have a renewed faith in music. There really are so many incredible bands out there that stand up to just about anything we have on our iPods. Great songs--not good, but great songs--surround us and we don't know about them. We just need to look a little harder, look in different places, and most importantly go to local shows. Don't just show up for your friend's set, see the opener. My hope is that BAMM.tv can expose you to as much of this great music as possible. And with that in mind, I should probably get back to some booking.

Phil

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

BAMM.tv Presents: All Smiles




Jim Fairchild has seen views the rest of us can only imagine. Take, for instance, the view from the stage at The Greek Theater, or from the stage at Red Rocks, or from...well, you can fill in the blanks. Whether as the guitarist for Modest Mouse, or during his time with Grandaddy, Fairchild has seen a lot from the elevated stages of Rock & Roll. He's looked out onto the sea of people the rest of us can only occupy.

Today, Fairchild will have the view from the BAMM.tv stage when he streams a live performance as All Smiles. It doesn't get any more basic than this. Just Fairchild and a guitar. BAMM.tv's first introduction to All Smiles came about a year ago when we streamed an All Smiles performance from the offices of Topspin Media. We all walked away impressed, as I'm sure you will today if you tune in. Details are below. By the way, check out the All Smiles website for a free album download.

Who: All Smiles
What: Live video stream from BAMM.tv Studios
When: 3 PM (Pacific)
Where: http://www.bamm.tv/live

Friday, September 24, 2010

BAMM.tv Presents: Adam Haworth Stephens




Let’s just address the elephant in the room right off the bat: Adam Haworth Stephens is a part of Two Gallants, and Two Gallants is a part of Stephens, but neither are defined nor paint the entire picture of the other. Moreover, neither should limit the other. With that said, on September 28, 2010, Saddle Creek Records will release Stephens’ solo effort, We Live On Cliffs. Tonight (9/24), Stephens will give a preview of the new tunes as a part of a video stream and private performance from BAMM.tv studios.

It’s unknown whether the album marks a new direction for Stephens’ songwriting or just a sabbatical from the sparseness for which Two Gallants has gained critical acclaim. Either way, there is much to relish on We Live On Cliffs. Although full, warm, and even at times cozy, a sense of urgency remains at the heart of the songs.

Pre-order We Live On Cliffs, bundles and all, here.

Who: Adam Haworth Stephens
What: video stream performance of We Live On Cliffs
Where: BAMM.tv Studios (San Francisco), streamed on BAMM.tv/live
When: Friday, September 24, 8 PM (PST)