Discover Top Posts Tagged with #oncetheywere

Cutting vocals for the record with Kate!

Trying it out

Hello, hello, everyone! Nice to see you all back here again. I’ve finally settled myself back into the swing of higher education. As such, I’m going to be posting something up here every Friday, that way our content doesn’t go stale. Hopefully I can keep this going without missing any weeks. Here’s to hoping.

Anyway, we’re gearing up for our first show of 2013 at The Legendary Dobbs TONIGHT! We’re super excited because it’s our second main stage performance there, we’ve got a great time slot, and we’re opening up for The Parachuting Apostles, who are this months 93.3 WMMR Artist of the Month. We’re so stoked to open up for them and hang out all night.

For such a special performance we’ve decided to try out some new things for the live show. I just finished this new song called ‘Aeroplanes’ and we’re gonna give it a whirl. It’s a fun little pop tune with a hook that I expect everyone’s going to find oddly recognizable…not going to give anything else away though!

We’ve also got an audience participation bit we’re gonna throw at everyone and I’m really hoping it goes over well. Whenever I come up with ideas to spice up our shows I always get really excited and really worried at the same time. It’s always one of those cases where it COULD be awesome as hell, but it could also be totally lame. I’ve always got to push myself to actually do it though (I almost always chicken out). But I’ve learned from past experiences that I might as well just do it, because if it sucks then, whatever. If it works though, it’ll be dope. It’s fine though. Most of the time I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anyway.

#oncetheywere #Once They Were #The Legendary Dobbs #Dobbs #Dobbs Philly #Philly #Philly Music #93.3 WMMR #Artist of the Month #Indie

Etiquette

Being in a band you experience a lot of different people. Some are brilliant. Some are helpful…and some are just ‘jive ass motherfuckers’ as the Jazz Robots would put it. You can read all about these kinds of people on websites like www.musicclout.com where you can get first hand insight from other musicians. Or you could just read about it right here! Who wants to bother with hyperlinks anyway!?

So for your pleasure and convenience, I give you 4 Reasons Other Bands Won’t Like You

1) You’re Late

In my experience the people who are in charge of booking shows are very specific about what time you need to be at a show. These times (usually about an hour before show time) are meant for ALL the bands on the bill. There is no rule that says ‘if you’re the third band you can wait until twenty minutes before your set to show up because no one cares about the openers anyway’. That kind of attitude is disrespectful and, frankly, rude as hell. Now I realize that some bands are touring and may get caught up in traffic coming from New York to Philly and that’s fine, but being a touring act isn’t a free pass to just blow off the local musicians who are working their asses off to fill the clubs. Schedule your trip better. Budget your time. And hope for light traffic.

2) You Leave Early

If you’ve bumped around your local scene for any length of time then you’ve most likely ran into that one terrible opening act that skips out after their set (or maybe if they want to look like they care they’ll wait ‘til after the second). In my two years or so around Philly I’ve encountered this a few times, and it’s maddening. I go to a gig where my band’s playing at 11:30 PM and the call time is 6:00 PM. I am there, right on the dot. My evening is going to include standing around for four hours listening to who knows what, and then playing for an empty room at 12:15 because the first act was late and the second blew an amp. You know what I would really appreciate? If the other goddamned bands stuck around for my set. I mean come on! I spend my whole night supporting other acts, and then most of ‘em ditch as soon as they can. Don’t be those people. I do not like them, and no one else does either.

3) You Criticize During the Show

As a musician it’s very hard to shake the desire to be the best. Unfortunately, most of us are so far from the best it’s laughable. Most people lack the security to be satisfied with their abilities, so they tend to overly criticize others to feel like they’re better than they actually are. I know that I was guilty of this for years before I finally owned up to my own abilities and stopped trying to shoot other people down. I’m not saying being insecure will make other musicians hate you, because we’re all that way at one time or another. My point is that you shouldn’t be projecting DURING the show. What if the band you’re criticizing hears you? What if a journalist covering the show hears you? What if the lead singers mom who thinks her son is the next Freddie Mercury hears you? If nothing else you will have put yourself and someone else in an awkward, uncomfortable situation (which we all suck at dealing with). Not to mention, it’s just fucken rude. Wait ‘til you leave the show to make your comments.

4) You Don’t Rep Well

Take this point with a grain of salt. No matter how good a band is or how big their following, there will always be shows where they just don’t get bodies in the door. Sometimes it’s just out of the artist’s control. However, it is very frustrating for bands to play for the same people over and over again. I know that my band (shameless self-promotion alert!) can usually get twenty people or so out to a concert. That’s a pretty fair draw, but for us it’s the same group of people usually. We love to play for them, but it doesn’t help us grow our fan base. So when we go to a gig where we bring twenty people and the other two acts round up about five between them, it’s disappointing. Not only that, its sort of a waste of time. Like I said we LOVE playing for our fans, but that time that we’re playing that gig we could be playing a different show with bands that rep just as well. We’d get exposed to fifty new people, and that could translate into a larger following. Basically, when you’re going to play a show, rep hard.

All of this basically boils down to one thing: BE PROFESSIONAL. When you act professional, you’re perceived as a professional, and that’s all that really matters. Now go my friends, and don’t let other bands hate you!

#etiquette #manners #professionalism #oncetheywere #indie #blog #music blog #performance

need motivation

Hey everbody! I know it's been waaay too long since the last post. It's gotten to that point of the year when everything is happening once, as I'm sure many of you are experiencing. In the uproar of school, work, and copious amounts of Doctor Who, the blogs gotten a little neglected. Get's sorta tough to find the motivation to write stuff sometimes (musical or otherwise). That's why this post isn't going to be much really, but more of a conversation starter.

I'm sure you've all found it hard to get motivated sometimes, so I wonder what kinda stuff helps you to get back to doin what you need to. Throw some comments down and let me know, then maybe I can get my shit together again. haha.

#motivation #adice #oncetheywere #once they were #holidays #end of semester #hectic

it's not important

Hello people of the Internet! (So basically just people in general, right?). It’s been awhile since my last post. Sorry about that, I’ve been sort of short on ideas lately, not to mention stressed out. In fact, that’s part of what this entry is going to be about.

As you all know (or at least I hope you do), I am a musician, as I imagine many of you are. If so, I’m sure that you’ve had the same experiences that I have with the frustrations of studying music. It can be really overwhelming sometimes. Between singing those fifths flat, dragging in the chorus, forgetting lyrics, missing chord changes, and just screwing up in general it can be pretty discouraging. The fact that all your friends seem to always sing in tune without even trying doesn’t help either.

I’ve recently fallen victim to this negative aspect of being a musician and…well it sucks. For a very long time I was entirely positive and productive with my music and what I was doing. Unfortunately, I’ve become so focused on overanalyzing and improving my technical facility lately that I lost sight of my most basic philosophy about music: it’s not that important. Don’t question my love of music. I knew when I was twelve that I wanted to spend my life playing, writing, and learning about music. It’s one of the biggest parts of my life. But what I try to recognize is that it’s ONLY A PART of my life. Just a part. It doesn’t inherently define me, nor does it directly correlate with my value as a person. The ability (or lack thereof) to always sing the third scale degree in tune doesn’t make me a better or worse person. What’s more is that no one else watching thinks so either. Let’s be real. None of your friends are going to up and leave because you just can’t quite tune that flat ninth.

The thing about music is that it’s something that is inherently good. I’m racking my brain trying to come up with anything negative about music itself and I honestly can’t come up with a thing. Any potential negativity from music (such as the musicians’ chronic confidence issues) stems from people being intellectually influenced by it, but it’s not the music itself that’s negative. What I’m getting at is that music is a wonderful thing, and I don’t think there’s any justifiable reason for it to be the cause of strife. As soon as music creates pain or frustration it’s totally defeating the point of itself.

I know that I didn’t become a musician because it’s frustrating and it drives me absolutely insane, and I don’t think anyone does. We do it because of how much we love music and because we have some deep desire to be a part of it. And that’s a wonderful thing. I always try to remember that when I have a rough time with music.

Just try to keep in mind that the ability to play music perfectly is not the beginning or end of the world. It has so little effect on what’s really important. Some of the greatest people I know can’t carry a tune for their lives. Many of the most influential people in my life wouldn’t know a vibraphone from a glockenspiel. That sort of stuff isn’t important, not in the way that it can seem when you’re stressing out about that new song that isn’t coming together. Just remember to always regain some perspective.

Music’s great, and it should make you feel great. If it doesn’t…you’re doing it wrong.

#music #frustration #oncetheywere #blog #indie #conidence #self help #advice #musicians #music blog

After All

Hey everybody! As I sit in my empty, Sunday computer lab, I'm realizing that I'm short on blog posts for you all. Instead, I thought I'd throw up lyrics to our newest tune so you can all check it out. You can watch a rehearsal of us doing the song here...not that you have to...but you can.......

anyway, here's the lyrics. Let us know what you think of them!

A girl from Neptune came to me In skirts of colors I couldn't see With stars tattooed across her cheeks And eyes like spiral galaxies She said, "What's that clutched in your hands? It looks unfit for one night stands." And that's not what I would've planned But she's the kind that doesn't want to land And after all there's no one that I shouldn't call It's not me But I just can't ignore the certainty Empty sheets woke up with me Like every mornings company And I could feel the space between The constellations I shouldn't have seen And after all there's no one that I shouldn't call It's not me But I just can't ignore the certainty That's what we get for trying All the days that we stood in line And all the tongues clicking out of time With all the street cars And I can't find a reason Why the heart's so hard of hearing All the sounds that are disappearing In the 'so far away' And after all there's no one that I shouldn't call It's not me But I just can't ignore the certainty