Posts about Bands
On March 5th
covering Bands, creative partnerships, Music Ensembles
I was fortunate to talk with Peter Jenner a few weeks ago. The former manager of Pink Floyd, the Clash and others as well as current manager for Billy Bragg, Jenner is vitally engaged in issues of digital music policy and payment systems.
- photo: futureofmusic.blogspot.com
But since I don’t know anything about all that, I got to ask him something I’d been wondering about for a long time.
When a revered band breaks up, the fans mourn and protest, and hopes for reunion dog the band members until enough of them die off.
But maybe the band has run its course and it’s time to end before it becomes its own tribute act. There are times when it is better to declare victory and go home, put out the box set, shed a tear and go on to new projects. It can be liberating and dignified. Read more »
On February 26th
covering Bands, creative partnerships, Ensembles, Music, Music Ensembles
Bands and startups have a lot in common. I have been exploring this idea for a couple of years. I’ve been spending time talking to musicians and tech entrepreneurs.
I’ve been gestating a blog post on this idea — but it’s out of hand and it wants to be a book. I will try to be a good little blogger and offer my thoughts in little bites. This goes against my nature, but it’s a good discipline.
So for now: all you musicians, go read this post by the always-pithy startup guru, Paul Graham. He begins with one of his favorite ideas: Read more »
On October 29th
covering Bands, creative partnerships, Ensembles, Music Ensembles
I returned from the CMJ Music Marathon where I was immersed in the pragmatics and problems of the indie-band life, and went straight into a 3-day seminar at the Kennedy Center on boards of nonprofit arts organizations. I have so much to talk about I don’t know where to start.
The central thing this is all about is creating a structure that supports creativity. That’s it. Either an organizational structure, a business model or a way of working.
I have some gems to share from far-seeing luminaries as diverse as George Clinton, True Master and Michael Kaiser.
Soon.
On October 6th
covering Bands, creative partnerships, Group psychology, Teams
This post by Matt Milosavljevic titled What I Learnt at Startup Camp supports my thesis that human factors are a huge make-or-break factor in startups, bands, and other creative entities. He puts it rather nicely:
People, in my opinion, are the key differentiators between the success and failure of pretty much any startup. It’s true that lady luck can make several cameos during the course of an act, but really it’s the cast that will makes or breaks the show.
Well said. I like his Venn diagram about the degree of “overlap” between people. I’m inclined to agree.
On October 4th
covering Bands, creative partnerships, Music, Music Ensembles, Teams
This is the heart of why I’m doing this blog and all the other things you’ll see if you look around my site. (This post is inspired by Merlin Mann’s great talk on how to blog. )
I was a musician before I was a psychologist — low on the food chain and too much of a generalist (ahem, dilettante) to compete at a satisfying level in either the hard-core classical world or the jazz/ studio world.
I got to play in garage bands, jazz ensembles large and small, orchestras, chamber groups, new-music ensembles, early-music ensembles, theatre orchestras and a bunch of ad-hoc groups and gigs. They all had one thing in common. When they were going well, it felt unbelievably great. But every group could devolve at any time into sheer misery, a big soul-destroying bowl of suck. Read more »
