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.

SXSW Travel Blog #2

Thursday, March 11, 2010

11:08 AM, 100 miles west of Las Cruces, NM on Interstate 10



We pulled the U.S.S. Griswold into Justin’s Diamond J RV Park parched and on empty stomachs. The slogan on their pamphlet reads “An adult RV Park.” I don’t know exactly what owners Doc and Christine Justin mean by that, and perhaps I don’t want to know. It was a park in every sense of the word, complete with mini-golf course, dog run, and a pickleball court. The lots were full. Judging by the stillness, most of the occupants were in bed by 8:30. Make of that what you will.

We were jokingly saying RVs are a lifestyle more than a vehicle, but one pass through the Diamond J proved our joke to be true. There were some serious rigs in the lots. Some of them bore a closer resemblance to tour buses than RVs. Jeff-the-intern, who spent 5 months on an RV in Vallejo, CA, gave us more insight on the subculture. Turns out there are daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly rates. Doc and Christine must be making a mint on their plot of dirt on the far outskirts of Tucson.

After polishing off two pizzas in about five minutes (delivered to the RV!), we cracked open the brews and sat on the roof. The stars and silhouetted mountains were more than enough to keep us up there as the tempeture dipped.

Aside from the occasional steer and the snow-dusted boulders of Saguaro National Park, the landscape remains the same today. I assume that will hold true for the duration. Jamie rode shotgun for my morning turn at the wheel. The ever-sentimental Cat Stevens blared as Fernando and Jeff-the-intern slept in. We sang along. It’s what you when you’re 1,000 miles into a 4,000-mile road trip.

I don’t know what affects the other more—a song or your state-of-mind—or if it’s a matter of sequence, but it’s a complex relationship defined by psychological subtleties. I wasn’t feeling sentimental this morning, and initially we were laughing at the songs (the echo on the vocals in “Hard-headed Woman” is hilarious), but then I got into it, and beneath the sarcasm in our singing was a sincere effort to hit the notes and remember the words. We cursed when we screwed up.

But music doesn’t have to be taken seriously to be profound. Sometimes I think the real serious songs are a lay-up. Too easy. Most every musician wants to be taken seriously, and in an effort to be profound they write serious songs that are uninteresting. Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do” is funny any way you look at it, but there’s an emotional truth to it, too (hell, if relationships aren’t funny, then nothing is). My life experiences make that song more profound song than, say “Blowing In The Wind.” Maybe that’s why Rolling Stone’s “Top 100” this or MTV’s “10 Best” that never interested me. The only top lists I care about are those of my friends’.
I’ve sunk into a tangent. Straight, unending roads have that effect.

-Phil, Captain of the S.S. Griswold