Loud is the New Quiet

This first part is off-topic. Don't worry, we'll get to the good stuff...

While driving to work today, I heard an ad on the radio announcing that Andrea Bocelli was coming to Fresno. He’s the blind opera singer dude. I’m not sure why, but as the radio guy said Bocelli’s name I started to think about other blind musicians like Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, etc., etc. (the reason I put “etc., etc.” is because I can’t think of any other blind musicians off the top of my head). So then, I thought to myself, “Wow, there’s been quiet a few REALLY GOOD musicians who are blind.” Then another thought occurred to me: How come you don’t see many of REALLY GOOD musicians with disabilities? In my lifetime, I don’t recall seeing any awesome opera singers/pop stars/county artists/whatever who are stuck in a wheelchair. I mean, how many one-legged jazz musicians have you heard of? None, I’m sure. I know they’re out there, but they’re just not in the mainstream. I’m not writing this as a joke; it was a serious thought. Maybe I just can’t think of any right now, but when was the last time you saw an emo rocker with cerebral palsy? Think about it.

New subject. Last night I was with my friend, Gen, at Barnes & Noble. Let me stress the fact that the bookstore’s name is Barnes & Noble, not Barnes & Noble(s). Understand? I used to work there for a time, and I would HATE when people added an “s” to Noble. So, when you’re around me, please don’t EVER make that mistake. Thanks.

So, yeah. I was at Barnes & Noble with my friend. She was looking for some books on cactus or cacti – whatever the hell you want to call them. While she was looking through cactus/cati books, I decided to browse through the crappy selection of music magazines they have there. I picked up the new Magnet, which is like a cross between Pitchforkmedia.com and Rolling Stone. It’s basically a magazine with a bunch of indie-esque bands featured in it. For example, the latest issue had the guy from The New Pornographers on the cover. It also featured stories with Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and some other bands that I’ve already forgotten.

As I flipped through the pages, I eventually came to the end, which usually happens. On one of the very last pages, there were a few black and white ads. I recognized on the pictures; it was latest Sleepover Disaster full-length, Loud is the New Quiet. (The band has since released an EP titled The Oceanographer.) After seeing it, I remembered Vince, the band’s drummer, saying something about them placing an ad in there. But I was still kind of dumbfounded to see a Fresno band advertising in a major music publication. It was just weird. I wondered to myself, “Does placing an ad like this really do anything? I mean, are people [in anytown U.S.A.] actually going to look at this ad, go to Sleepover’s Myspace page, listen to their music, then buy their CD?” In my natural negative thought process, I answered the question: no. But who knows? Maybe it has made a difference. I’m not sure. Maybe someone in the band can comment on this blog and answer the question for me.

I definitely think it’s good that the guys from Sleepover Disaster are doing things to promote their band. I’m just not sure that placing an ad like that will further whatever goal they’re trying to accomplish. May I just an idiot and don't know a damn thing about marketing/promotion. I just want to know what motived the band to do that. What was their underlying stratedy? I doubt placing that ad was cheap. I'll tell you that much. Shit, I don’t know. It’s kind of frustrating just thinking about it. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to make a point there; I just felt like sharing that story.

Vince's (Sleepover drummer) response:

the ad in Magnet magazine (and ads in The Big Takeover, Dagger, and a few others) resulted in a few thousand hits on our website (www.thesleepoverdisaster.com)- even though it's still in the works- and on our myspace page. the intention of running the ads was simply to raise awareness of the band name and the music, but we've made many great contacts, not to mention that CD sales though CDBaby.com and downloads from itunes (and several other sites) that have resulted have more than paid for the ads. we're not getting rich here, just trying to be self-sufficient, and running zine ads has given us a better ability to do that.

that said, the best publicity you can ask for in a magazine is an interview or an album review. why? because it's free, for one thing, not to mention that you'll probably get more space in-print. magazines aren't necessarily forthcoming with that kind of coverage, though, without name recognition, or some major accomplishment or exposure. bands at our level have to work day by day to get people to listen. running ads can "put a bug" in the ear of someone at a magazine so that next time you send that promo package, they might take a minute to listen. don't be so cynical as to call it payola at this level; we sent packages out for our first two releases to magazines that we had run ads in and got no attention whatsoever. it wasn't until "loud is the new quiet" that we began to get attention (a bunch of great reviews over the last few months), and i think every package we sent, every zine ad we ran contributed to that.

-vince from the sleepover disaster

In other “news,” Fresno’s Hop Skotch Heros are playing a show at Fresno State Wednesday, October 19th. I might go. Here’s the info:

Hosted By: Fresno State Women's Resource Center
When: Wednesday Oct 19, 2005 @ 5:00 PM
Where: Fresno State (in the peace garden)