Sunday, February 08, 2004
Thought for the day
As John Donne might have said, “No man is a one-man band, but no one should be more than a one-band man”.
Thinking behind thought for the day
“Side projects” are all the go among big-name musos these days. Talk about having one’s cake, and eating it too - you’ve got the rest of your band waiting patiently while you go off to record/gig with similar others. Note that bass players never seem to go off to do side projects; presumably because an all-bass player band would offend the laws of physics, taste, or something else.
The really offensive thing about side project bands, though, is their resemblance to boy bands. Both are inherently manufactured groupings, and it is a fair bet that the lecherous, middle-aged producer invariably behind a boy band has an approximate counterpart in the person who brings the oh-so-creative side project together.
Please don’t think that I am being a musical prude here. Musos are free to form and disband bands as often as they want. But if you’re going to do it on the side, you owe it to the rest of the band to invite them in - or, if not, to call it a day.
A group dynamic cannot be cryogenically frozen, for resuscitation at a later date. If PM John Howard wants an issue to connect him with the Yoof, he should ditch the Sacred Institution of Marriage and replace it with the Sacred Bond of The Band.
Dedicated to no one in particular on this eighth day of February 2004. Happy St Kilda Festival, everyone. Let the clans gather, and rock the commons!
As John Donne might have said, “No man is a one-man band, but no one should be more than a one-band man”.
Thinking behind thought for the day
“Side projects” are all the go among big-name musos these days. Talk about having one’s cake, and eating it too - you’ve got the rest of your band waiting patiently while you go off to record/gig with similar others. Note that bass players never seem to go off to do side projects; presumably because an all-bass player band would offend the laws of physics, taste, or something else.
The really offensive thing about side project bands, though, is their resemblance to boy bands. Both are inherently manufactured groupings, and it is a fair bet that the lecherous, middle-aged producer invariably behind a boy band has an approximate counterpart in the person who brings the oh-so-creative side project together.
Please don’t think that I am being a musical prude here. Musos are free to form and disband bands as often as they want. But if you’re going to do it on the side, you owe it to the rest of the band to invite them in - or, if not, to call it a day.
A group dynamic cannot be cryogenically frozen, for resuscitation at a later date. If PM John Howard wants an issue to connect him with the Yoof, he should ditch the Sacred Institution of Marriage and replace it with the Sacred Bond of The Band.
Dedicated to no one in particular on this eighth day of February 2004. Happy St Kilda Festival, everyone. Let the clans gather, and rock the commons!
