Indie Night School

INS @ NOISE POP 2007: CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

2007-01-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

We are excited to announce confirmed speakers for this year's "Noise Pop presents Indie Night School" session on the weekend of March 3 and March 4. Please note that specific times will be announced shortly.

Confirmed Speakers...

Ted Leo
Cathy Bauer, Co-Owner of Lookout! Records (The Donnas, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Operation Ivy, Green Day)
Jordan Kurland, Zeitgeist Management (Death Cab for Cutie)
Darius Zelkha, Tough Love Management (Josh Ritter)
Dan Kasin, Manager (Two Gallants)
Travis Hellyer, Talent Buyer, Mezzanine
Todd Gascon, Zent Law Group (Richard Buckner, Oranger, Tussle, many others)
John Swanson, Founder, Pacific Noise
Kevin Crouse, MP3.com
David Rosenheim, CEO, JamBase, Inc.

Moderated by yours truly, Tom Sean

INS returns to NOISE POP (San Francisco)

2006-12-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

After a tremendous two-day panel series at last year's Noise Pop, which saw lines down the block and straight-to-the-point discussion with the top music professionals in San Francisco, Indie Night School is returning this year to help independent musicians live a more successful life in music.

Convening at the Swedish American Music Hall on March 3 and 4, each day will feature two panels. Among the topics to be covered:

- Booking (getting into the top clubs in the city, working out of the audition circuit, playing non-traditional shows...)

- Management (what to look for in a manager, where to find them, when you need them/and don't need them...)

- Labels (what do they actually do, do you really need one, how to catch their attention)

- Lo-Fi 2.0 (what can musicians learn from the Youtube revolution, how to record on a low-low-low budget, recording music in the post-album world...)

Panelists to be announced soon. Please contact tom [at] theblackspoons [dot] com for more details.

IMPORTANT: ADDRESS FOR INS TONIGHT

2006-07-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

Tonight's INS event at Little Radio runs from 7-9pm, doors opening at 6:15. The address (please Google Map this!) is:

1218 Long Beach Avenue
ZIP = 90021
(It's near the intersection of Alameda and Freeway 10)

When you map it, be sure to input the zip code.

See you all tonight - I gotta board the flight...

Tom - Indie Night School

INS in Los Angeles (July 12 at Little Radio)

2006-06-19T15:33:00.000-04:00

On July 12, INS is celebrating its one-year anniversary in style with its first ever panel in Los Angeles! Scheduled for Wednesday, July 12, 7-9pm, at Little Radio (1218 Long Beach Ave.), the conference will bring together a group of dynamic music professionals to field questions from the L.A. independent music community. Speakers include:

· Jennifer Knoepfle, Director, Membership Group, Pop/Rock - ASCAP
· Kevin Bronson, Los Angeles Times (Kevin will address music journalism and reviews.)
· Laurel Stearns, Capitol Records (Laurel will address A&R/scouting.)
· Jeri Yoshizu, Manager of Sales Promotions, Scion (Jeri engineered Scion's boomingly successful lifestyle campaign. She'll address the opportunities and risks presented to artists by the convergence of big business and independent music.)
· Jax, Rock Insider

* More panelists to come, panel subject to change

Regular admission is $8 and tix are available here.

ASCAP members receive free admission to the event by RSVPing tom@theblackspoons.com with the subject line: "ASCAP"

INS CELEBRATES ITS ONE-YEAR BIRTHDAY

2006-06-07T09:36:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to light a single solitary candle for INS today, which was founded one year ago this month. When the idea came about, I never dreamed it would be this much fun, involve so many great cities, or that it would bring together so many fantastic panelists, musicians, and supporters.

I'd like to thank all the speakers I've worked with so far, as well as the people who have supported the series. I'm really excited, as well, for our first INS in LA on July 12.

Above all, I want to thank the folks at ASCAP (www.ascap.com) and Pianos (www.pianosnyc.com) who have been sponsoring INS right from the start. And thank you to Michelle McDevitt and Gavin Rhodes at Iconocastic.com for bringing INS podcasts to the world. Very very special thanks to Harry Poloner, Marc Hutner, Margaret Spoddig, Jennifer Knoepfle, and Jin Moon.

Without further ado, INS would like to thank the following sponsors and panelists. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone - if so, please email at tom@theblackspoons.com to remind me.

SPONSORS
--------
-ASCAP
-Plug Awards
-Noisepop
-The Deli Magazine
-Filter
-Little Radio
-Flavorpill

SPEAKERS
--------
-Adam Shore, Vice Records
-Alec Bemis, Brassland Records
-Alex Coletti, Producer of MTV Unplugged
-Amaechi Uzoigwe, Dex Jux, World's Fair, Plug Awards
-Amylu, Shaw Promotion
-Andy Shaw, Shaw Promotion
-Aspen, Suicide Girls
-Audrey Levy, Melody Nelson
-Ben Morgan, Talent Buyer, Millcreek Tavern (Philly)
-Billy, Talent Buyer, Sin-E
-Brandon Schmidt, Manager, Interpol
-Brian Brophy, Managing Editor, Mesh SF
-Brian Long, Manager, VHS or Beta (also founder of Astralwerks)
-Bronques, Last Night's Party
-Chris White, Talent Buyer, Livenation (Avalon/Warsaw)
-Christian Bernhardt, Kork Agency (SF)
-Dan Koplowitz, Friendly Fire, formerly Fanatic Promotion
-Dave Stein, Attorney to Taking Back Sunday...
-Deb Zeller, The Make Out Room (SF)
-Deirdre Corley, Verbose Coma
-Doug DeFalco, Assistant Talent Buyer, Southpaw
-DJ Mojo, Promoter, NYC
-Eddie Applebaum, Manager of Local H, Morningwood
-Elliot Aronow, The Simple Mission
-Emily Silman, Astralwerks
-Eric Morse, Brooklyn Responds, Trampoline House
-Fred Navarette, Matador/Beggars
-Geoff Sherr, Manager, Robbers on High Street
-Isaac Green, Founder, StarTime Records
-Jaan Uhelszski, San Francisco Chronicle, Founder of Creem
-Jake Dobkin, Co-Founder, Gothamist
-Jasper Coolidge, Head Talent Buyer, Pianos
-Jay Ruttenberg, Time Out NY
-Jeff Price, spinArt
-Jen Carlson, Gothamist
-Jenny Francois, Aeki Tuesday
-Jeralyn Gerba, Associate Editor, Daily Candy
-John Moore, Talent Buyer, Bowery Ballroom
-Johnny Beach, Head Talent Buyer, Mercury Lounge
-Jonny Kaps, Manager, stellarstarr*
-Justine D, Motherfucker
-Ken Anderson, Attorney to The Beastie Boys, Radiohead
-Kevin Collinsworth, Founder, Music For America
-Kimberly Chun, Senior Arts and Entertainment Editor, San Francisco Bay Guardian
-Kjersti Egerdahl, West Coast Editor, Performer Magazine
-Laura Young, The Modern Age
-Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
-Leigh Lust, VP, Atlantic Records
-Lio Cerezo, Founder, Kanine Records
-Lisa Hix, Managing Editor, Flavorpill SF
-Louise Zervas, A&R, Kill Rock Stars
-Maria T Sciarrino, Booking Agent, Plain Parade (Philly)
-Marni Wandner, Brooklyn Responds, Double Blind Music
-Martin Bisi, Producer, Sonic Youth
-Matt Hickey, High Road Touring (SF)
-Matthew Fritch, Editor of Magnet
-Matthew Perpetua, Fluxblog
-Michael T, Motherfucker
-Michelle McDevitt, Audible Treats, Iconocastic
-Michelle Panache, Panache Booking/Magazine
-Mike Blaxill, Music For America, Bands Against Bush
-Mike McKee, Editor of Rockpile
-Patrick McNamara, Oh My Rockness
-Paul Mahajan, Producer, The National, YYYs, The Liars...
-Polsia Ryder, Gigantic Music
-Richard Grabel, Attorney to Sonic Youth, Interpol, Modest Mouse
-Rosie McNeel, Underground Fairy
-Sam Kinken, Talent Buyer, Livenation (Irving Plaza)
-Sarah Lewitinn, Ultragrrrl
-Sascha Lewis, Founder, Flavorpill
-Sean Agnew, R5 Productions (Philly)
-Sean Roberts, former Senior Director of A&R, TVT Records
-Stacie, Heyday Entertainment (Philly)
-Steve Lillywhite, Producer, U2
-Syd Butler, Founder, French Kiss Records
-Todd Cote, Leafy Green (SF)
-Todd P, NYC Indie Promoter Extraordinaire
-Tom Sarig, Manager, Blonde Redhead/Le Tigre/Against Me!
-Will Langolf, formerly Senior A&R, Warner Brothers, currently managing Matisyahu, Counting Crows, and others
-Yalan Papillons, Talent Buyer, Knitting Factory
-Zach Mexico, Talent Buyer, Pianos

Stanford University hires Tom Sean as their new professor of Chinese history

2006-05-29T15:46:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tom Sean, born Thomas S. Mullaney, was recently hired by Stanford University as their new tenure-track Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese History. On May 17th, 2006, Sean received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University, where he had been studying for the past six years.

Sean will be relocating to San Francisco in August, at which point he and his bandmate Ruben Mercado (still based out of New York) will continue to support the band's newest album, The History of Modern Silence, produced by Paul Mahajan (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The National). Sean and Mercado have also begun work on the band's third recording.

Sean will continue to run Indie Night School, which will soon hold a conference in Los Angeles.

Podcast with Steve Lillywhite (U2), Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth), and more NOW AVAILABLE!

2006-05-23T17:59:00.000-04:00

The podcast of the November 30th Producer session of Indie Night School is NOW AVAILABLE! Sorry for the delay, but it's been a crazy few months.

For direct downloads of the mp3 (in two parts), please click here.

To subscribe to the INS podcast (FREE), please enter www.iconocastic.com/xml/indienightschool.xml in your iTunes

The speakers that night included:

- Steve Lillywhite, Producer for U2
- Martin Bisi, Producer for Sonic Youth
- Bill Racine, Producer for Rogue Wave
- Paul Mahajan, Producer for The National
- Victor Van Vugt, Producer for Depeche Mode, Beth Orton

Get it soon, and please tell your friends.

INS returns to Philly on Wed., May 10 with the Editors of Magnet, Rockpile...

2006-05-04T18:14:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, May 10, 7-9pm, INS returns to Philly for a second time to host a special session on music journalism and getting your band reviewed. It's FREE, thanks to the good folks at ASCAP, and will take place at The Five Spot. Panelists include:

* Matthew Fritch, Editor of Magnet
* Mike McKee, Editor of Rockpile
and more

To RSVP, please send an email to tom@theblackspoons.com ASAP

To hear past sessions of INS, please visit www.iconocastic.com

THIS SUNDAY, learn from Suicide Girls, Last Night's Party, Shaw Promotion, Motherfucker...

2006-04-17T22:47:00.000-04:00

I just got back from running an INS in San Francisco, and I'm eager to get back into the swing of things. This Sunday, April 23, INS NY is back with more edu-ma-cation. From 3-5pm, in the upstairs lounge at Pianos, we present:

F*** "SHOWS"... THROW PARTIES!
How to turn blah indie shows into orgiastic events

SPONSORED BY ASCAP, NY PRESS, and THE DELI

PANELISTS INCLUDE
-----------------
ASPEN, Suicide Girls
BRONQUES, Last Night's Party
ANDY SHAW, Shaw Promotion
AMYLU, Shaw Promotion
MICHAEL T, Motherfucker
JUSTINE D, Motherfucker
(more to come, subject to change)

Contact tom@theblackspoons.com for details, or view the right margin for tix info.

ASCAP present INS at NOISE POP

2006-03-03T20:11:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, April 1, 2006, we're taking INS to San Francisco. The event is part of Noise Pop 2006 and will be an all-day session on the ins and outs (more ins, though) of running a successful band in SF. We are proud to be sponsored by the wonderful organization ASCAP.

Time: 1pm to 5pm
Location: The Make Out Room
Cost: $12 or $20 for two; day-of is $12
Tix available in drop-down menu here .

Panel #1: GETTING BOOKED IN SF AND NATIONWIDE
1pm - 3pm

MATT HICKEY, High Road Touring (High Road Touring handles booking for Bloc Party, Indigo Girls, Portishead, Luna, Mission of Burma, Sleater-Kinney, The Fiery Furnaces, and many more)

CHRISTIAN BERNHARDT, Kork Agency (Kork handles booking for Trail of dead, Enon, Ariel Pink, Black Dice, Xiu Xiu, Voxtrot, and many many more)

TODD COTE, Leafy Green (Leafy Green handles booking for Devandra Banhart, The King of France, and many more)

MICHELLE PANACHE, Panache Booking (handled international booking for DMBQ, Green Milk from the Planet Orange, and many more)

DEB ZELLER, Talent Buyer, The Make Out Room, and guru behind Playing in Fog

Panel #2: START THE PRESSES - GETTING REVIEWED
3pm - 5pm

JAAN UHELSZSKI, San Francisco Chronicle, Founder of Creem

KIMBERLY CHUN, Senior Arts and Entertainment Editor, San Francisco Bay Guardian

BRIAN BROPHY, Managing Editor, Mesh SF

LISA HIX, Managing Editor, Flavorpill SF

KJERSTI EGERDAHL, West Coast Editor, Performer Magazine

More speakers to come! All rosters subject to change.

NOISE POP invites INS to San Francisco

2006-02-10T00:53:00.000-05:00

On April 1, INS is partnering with the mainstay San Francisco festival Noise Pop to host an all-day session at the Makeout Room. Details TBA soon.

More press on the all-day INS at Plug

2006-02-10T00:42:00.000-05:00

The good folks at Impose Magazine had this to say about INS:

Indie Night School is quite possibly one of the awesomest resources out there for independent musicians and music biz professionals, and starting at 1 pm Thursday, February 2nd the “School” will be an all day affair. Some of the biggest players in independent music will be gathering at Webster Hall for a series of panels addressing issues such as “Getting Your Music Reviewed” and “Getting Booked At The Top Clubs In New York.” Speakers will be representing hot websites Flavorpill, Daily Candy, Gothamist, and Fluxblog; hot record labels French Kiss, StarTime, Definitive Jux, Kanine, and Friendly Fire; and hot clubs Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Warsaw, Irving Plaza, Southpaw, and Knitting Factory. As always, it’s all put together by Tom Sean of the Black Spoons

INS in the Village Voice

2006-02-10T00:39:00.000-05:00

Tricia Romano spilled some splendid digital ink about INS the other day, as part of her story on the Plug Awards:

Earlier in the day, I went to Indie Night School�which, though it was daytime, still felt like nighttime since we were all sitting in the dark, except for some swirling red lights. INS, a smart idea run by Tom Sean, is a series of panels featuring representatives from independent press, labels, and clubs. This one, "Start the Presses: Getting Your Music Reviewed," featured Flavorpill's Sascha Lewis, Daily Candy's Jeralyn Gerba, Gothamist's Jake Dobkin, and Fluxbog's Perpetua dishing on how to get their websites to mention your band. I was surprised by the na the savvy-seeming crowd displayed. ("What are the big independent PR companies?" "What are the hot clubs?") Among the panelists' advice: Don't send the whole CD, just a link to a track (Dobkin); send swag (Sascha); don't send swag (Perpetua); MySpace is better than a press kit (Gerba); record labels resonate more than publicity companies (all), but don't sign to a major label, because the panelists are all trying to get off their promo lists. After you've done all this, you can get nominated for a Plug Award. Hopefully, when you win and you show up to accept the honors, we'll be able to recognize you.

Check it the entire story here.

Fox 5 spreads word of INS

2006-02-07T02:09:00.000-05:00

Our friend Jeralyn Gerba at Daily Candy was interviewed on Fox 5 recently, where she spread word about INS. More info here.

Maybe it's Maybelline

2006-02-07T02:05:00.000-05:00

Maybelline is hip to the INS tip, apparently. Check it out here.

ALL-DAY INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL (as part of the Plug Awards at Webster Hall)

2006-01-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

On February 2, Indie Night School is proud to partner with the Plug Awards. They bring you the music and the awards, we bring you the edu-ma-cation!

Here are the details (PLEASE REPOST AND SPREAD THE WORD!)

---
SPECIAL ALL-DAY SESSION OF INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL
Thursday, February 2, 1pm-6:30pm
WEBSTER HALL
Part of the PLUG AWARDS (www.plugawards.com)
Tix are here

Speakers include:

- John Moore (Talent Buyer, Bowery Ballroom)
- Johnny Beach (Talent Buyer, Mercury Lounge)
- Sam Kinken (Talent Buyer, Irving Plaza)
- Chris White (Talent Buyer, Warsaw/Avalon)
- Doug DeFalco (Talent Buyer, Southpaw)
- Yalan Papillons (Talent Buyer, Knitting Factory)
- Sascha Lewis (President, Flavorpill)
- Jeralyn Gerba (Editor, Daily Candy)
- Syd Butler (Founder, French Kiss Records)
- Lio Cerezo (Founder, Kanine Records)
- Dan Koplowitz (Founder, Friendly Fire Recordings)
Many more to come, subject to change

This an amazing event covering booking, music media, labels... like a CRASH COURSE IN RUNNING A BAND IN NEW YORK. Please contact me soon for details!

Victor Van Vugt (Beth Orton, Depeche Mode, ...) to speak at tonight's INS, also!

2005-11-30T13:09:00.000-05:00

Victor will be joining us tonight as well, which we're all really excited about.

Meet the Producers of U2, SONIC YOUTH, ROGUE WAVE, THE NATIONAL...

2005-11-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

Tickets for the next session of Indie Night School are now available here.

School will be in session on Wednesday, November 30, 7-9pm, upstairs at Pianos. It's on the topic of Producers and Recording Engineers. If you're interested, please get your tickets asap, since they tend to go fast.

The panel will be simply amazing:

- Steve Lillywhite, Producer for U2
- Martin Bisi, Producer for Sonic Youth
- Bill Racine, Producer for Rogue Wave
- Paul Mahajan, Producer for The National
- More to be confirmed
(subject to change)

Katrina Benefit INS podcast NOW UP

2005-11-19T16:59:00.000-05:00

The wonderful folks at Iconocastic have just updated their site with the podcast from the October INS on "How to Organize a Benefit Concert" (with Alex Coletti from MTV, Adam Shore from Vice, Todd P, Sam Kinken from Irving Plaza, the great folks from Music For America, and Marni Wandner and Eric Morse from Brooklyn Responds)! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE and you'll be updated automatically (it's entirely entirely FREE). AND PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

Podcasts available here: www.iconocastic.com

To subscribe, plug this into your iTunes>Advanced>Subscribe to Podcast menu:
www.iconocastic.com/xml/indienightschool.xml

9/28 Entertainment Law Podcast NOW UP!

2005-10-27T00:11:00.000-04:00

Brought to you by the wonderful site Iconocastic, the podcast of the 9/28 INS on Entertainment Law session is now up (with Richard Grabel, Ken Anderson, ...)! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE and you'll be updated automatically (it's entirely entirely FREE). AND PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

To subscribe, plug this into your iTunes>Advanced>Subscribe to Podcast menu:
www.iconocastic.com/xml/indienightschool.xml

Direct downloads:

Enhanced podcasts (iTunes 5.0 or higher required to play )
Part 1
Part 2

Normal mp3:
Part 1
Part 2

Hope you enjoy!

::This Wednesday:: Getting Your Music on the Radio

2005-10-24T16:24:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday, INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL returns to tackle the question of RADIO (i.e., GETTING YOUR MUSIC ON IT). Taking place next Wed, Oct 26, 7-9pm, at Pianos (upstairs), the event will give you the chance to meet/ask straight-forward questions of NY's most important and experienced radio promoters. On the panel, we have radio peeps from:

- Matador Records
- Astralwerks Records
- TVT Records
- Fanatic Promotions
- World's Fair Promotions
- others to be confirmed soon

If you're interested in coming, please contact me at tom@theblackspoons.com as soon as you can.

Podcast up with Brandon Schmidt (Interpol), Tom Sarig (Blonde Redhead)...

2005-09-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

Good news: the podcast of the August 17 Management session of Indie Night School is NOW AVAILABLE!

For direct downloads of the mp3 (in two parts), please visit: http://www.iconocastic.com

To subscribe to the INS podcast (FREE), please enter www.iconocastic.com/xml/indienightschool.xml in your iTunes

The speakers that night included:

- Brandon Schmidt, Manager of Interpol
- Tom Sarig, Manager of Blonde Redhead, Le Tigre, and others
- Jonny Kaps, Manager of stellastarr* and many others
- Brian Long, Manager of VHS or Beta
- Polsia Ryder, Manager of The Cloud Room
- Geoff Sherr, Manager of Robbers on High Street, and others
- Eddie Applebaum, Manager of Local H, Morningwood, and others

Get it soon! It was one of the best INS panels to date.

Tom
The Black Spoons
www.theblackspoons.com
http://indienightschool.blogspot.com

p.s. Don't forget about next week's INS Katrina Benefit on 10/4 co-hosted with Fringe Benefits. Speakers include Alex Coletti (Producer of "MTV UNPLUGGED"), Sam Kinken (Irving Plaza talent buyer), Adam Shore (Vice Records), Todd P (indie guru/promoter), one of the co-founders of Music For America, and Marni Wandner (Brooklyn Responds/Double Blind Music) Bands include Dave Deporis, Bravo Silva, and us, The Black Spoons. Email me for details.

Creator of "MTV Unplugged" to speak at special 10/4 Katrina Benefit session of INS

2005-09-26T00:36:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

On October 4, Indie Night School is hosting a special session on the topic of "When Every Second Counts: How to Organize a Successful Benefit Concert ASAP." Immediately following, Fringe Benefits will present an evening of music with Dave Deporis, The Black Spoons, and Bravo Silva.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE
----------------
ALEX COLETTI
Creator and Producer of MTV Unplugged, Producer of the MTV Video Music Awards

SAM KINKEN
Ron Delsener Presents, Renowned Promoter at Irving Plaza, Town Hall, and Central Park's Summerstage

ADAM SHORE
Vice Records

TODD P
Indie promoter extraordinaire, heralded as the "One-Man Scenemaker" by Time Out NY

Information
-----------
Where: Mo’ Pitkins, 35 Avenue A, New York, NY
When: 7-8:30pm Indie Night School, music begins at 9pm
How much: $15 advanced, $18 day-of
Tickets HERE

All proceeds benefit WWOZ, the New Orleans radio station (now in exile) that is leading the drive to rebuild the shattered NOLA music community (www.wwoz.org)

NY Times features Indie Night School

2005-09-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

Back on September 4, Melena Ryzik wrote a great story about Indie Night School for the Sunday New York Times. It appeared on page two of the Arts & Leisure section, and really made my day (to say the least). Check it out here.

Daily Candy features Indie Night School

2005-09-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the archived story. Warning: bassists might find the content to be painfully true. Others will find it hilarious.

More kind words about Indie Night School

2005-09-17T13:59:00.000-04:00

Just came across this post. Thought it was kind, so I'm reposting it.

9/28 Indie Night School SOLD OUT

2005-09-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

After this week's article in Daily Candy, the 9/28 event on Entertainment Law sold out in about seven hours. This is the first time I've directly appreciated the power of the media! Because of demand, we are now starting to make tickets available for the October 26 Indie Night School on Radio Promotion. Please contact tom_nospam@theblackspoons.com (remove the "_nospam" tag)

Richard Grabel (Sonic Youth/Interpol...) to speak Sept 28

2005-09-12T18:49:00.000-04:00

Considered by many to be the "original indie lawyer," Richard Grabel will be joining us on Wednesday, September 28 for the next session of Indie Night School. The topic: entertainment law. He will join esteemed entertainment attorneys Reid Hunter (John Mayer) and Dave Stein (Taking Back Sunday), among others. For more information, please email me at tom@nospam_theblackspoons.com (remove the "nospam_" tag)

9/28 Indie Night School: I fought the law, and the...

2005-09-03T18:55:00.000-04:00

Join us on Wednesday, September 28 for the next session of Indie Night School. The topic: entertainment law. Thus far, the panel includes esteemed entertainment attorneys Reid Hunter (John Mayer), Dave Stein (Taking Back Sunday), and many more. For more information, please email me at tom[at]theblackspoons[dot]com

More blog reactions to Indie Night School

2005-08-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

Check out The Loose Record for reactions to this past Wednesday's session on management. (Scroll down until you see it.)

Jonny Kaps (manager of stellastarr*) to speak Aug 17

2005-08-17T10:52:00.000-04:00

Just confirmed, and we couldn't be happier.

August 17 Indie Night School SOLD OUT

2005-08-17T10:39:00.000-04:00

Tonight's session of Indie Night School is completely full. Only ticket-holders, confirmed guests, and (of course) panelists will have access to the upstairs lounge at Pianos tonight from 7-9pm. There won't be any day-of ticket sales. See you all tonight!

Podcast of July 14 INS (on labels/A&R) now up

2005-08-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

Please visit Iconocastic to listen to the July 14, 2005 Indie Night School session with reps from TVT, Atlantic, French Kiss, Warner Brothers, Brassland, and Kill Rock Stars.

Brandon Schmidt (manager of INTERPOL) to speak Aug 17

2005-08-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

The updated list of panelists for Wed., Aug 17 is:

- Brandon Schmidt, Manager of Interpol (JUST CONFIRMED!)
- Tom Sarig, Manager of Blonde Redhead, Le Tigre, and others
- Brian Long, Manager of VHS or Beta
- Polsia Ryder, Manager of The Cloud Room
- Geoff Sherr, Manager of Robbers on High Street, and others
- Eddie Applebaum, Manager of Local H, Morningwood, and others

"We manage." A discussion with the managers of Blonde Redhead, VHS or Beta, The Cloud Room, Morningwood...

2005-08-09T09:49:00.000-04:00

INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL no. 4: HOW TO FIND A STELLAR MANAGER (so you can be a band again)

In the wake of three highly popular sessions in NYC and one in Philly, INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL returns to tackle the question of management. Taking place on Wed, Aug 17, 7-9pm, at Pianos (upstairs), the event will give you the chance to meet/ask straight-forward questions of an amazing group of managers:

- Tom Sarig, Manager of Blonde Redhead, Le Tigre, and others
- Brian Long, Manager of VHS or Beta
- Polsia Ryder, Manager of The Cloud Room
- Geoff Sherr, Manager of Robbers on High Street, and others
- Eddie Applebaum, Manager of Local H, Morningwood, and others
- More to come

If you're interested in the event, please contact Tom Sean as soon as you can at tom@theblackspoons.com (please tell a bit about yourself, as well)

And the beat goes on: ongoing online discussions about Indie Night School

2005-08-07T18:06:00.000-04:00

So far, two panels in particular prompted some really interesting press and post-session discussion.

August 3, 2005 (NYC on music media and bloggers)

The Modern Age (Laura Young): Being a Talking Head
Daily Refill (Jen Carlson): Ahem...
Prefix Blog:Music Bloggers Discussion on Getting Your Band Reviewed
Good Evening: Ramblings and Blather
Yet Don't Dance: Indie Night School

July 29, 2005 (Philly on the booking process)

Philadelphia Weekly: A-List
Crewcial: Things I Will Do to Sean Agnew...
Crewcial: Indie Night School
Blackmail is My Life: Dissenting views...
I Love Music: Various chit chat

THIS THURSDAY: Come meet the main booking agents in Philly

2005-07-26T02:18:00.000-04:00

This Thursday, July 28, 7-9pm, downstairs at The Five Spot, Indie Night School will give participants the chance to meet the main booking agents in Philly *in person* and chat with them. It'll be a night of straight-forward questions, answers, and discussion.

The panel includes:

- Stacie, Heyday Entertainment, books The Khyber, North Star Bar, The Five Spot, Pontiac Grill, and many other major clubs

- Maria, one half of Plain Parade, which organizes live events in Philadelphia. She is also the host of "Two States", a local music program on WPRB (103.3fm - Princeton, NJ), as well as a contributing writer to XLR8R and Rockpile Magazines.

- Sean, R5 Productions, responsible for tons of DIY events in major and non-traditional spots throughout Philly, as well as the most important all-ages shows in town

- Ben Morgan, Millcreek Tavern, 2000-2003 handled publicity and local booking for Curt Flood Booking, which since has merged with Heyday Entertainment. While at Curt Flood, Ben handled PR and local booking duties for The Khyber, The Upstage, The Five Spot, NxNW, and Club 218

If you're interested in the event, please contact Tom Sean asap at tom@theblackspoons.com and he can give you information on tickets.

ABOUT "INDIE NIGHT SCHOOL"

INS is a music conference series hosted by the band THE BLACK SPOONS (www.theblackspoons.com). The series deals with all the many aspects of running a band professionally, independently, successfully, and ethically. As committed DIY-ists, The Black Spoons are interested in creating a forum where people can get past all the generic/outdated info being thrown around in publications like "Musicians Atlas" (half of the listings in which are wrong) and the "music industry" books one finds in Barnes & Nobles (does a book about music promotion by the editor of Spin Magazine really speak to the average band?). The panels give people the chance to meet the *real* people who run the Philly music scene, and to ask them down-to-earth, practical questions.

Bloggers, bloggers, everywhere (Aug 3)

2005-07-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

In addition to print media maestros Ruttenberg and Greenblatt, the August 3 session of Indie Night School is proud to work with the people who make the NYC blogging world go 'round Check this list out and see if you don't start getting all giddy-like:

- Oh My Rockness http://www.ohmyrockness.com
- Ultragrrrl http://www.ultragrrrl.com
- The Modern Age http://www.themodernage.org
- Gothamist http://www.gothamist.com/
- Melody Nelson http://www.melodynelson.com
- Jenyk http://www.jenyk.com
- Aeki Tuesday http://www.aekituesday.com
- The Simple Mission http://www.thesimplemission.com
- Underground Fairy http://undergroundfairy.blogspot.com
- Verbose Coma http://blog.verbosecoma.com

If you're interested in attending, please contact me at tom@theblackspoons.com

Jay Ruttenberg (Time Out NY) and Leah Greenblatt (EW) to appear Aug 3

2005-07-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

For the third session of Indie Night School - on Wed. Aug 3 upstairs at Pianos - we are excited to work with Jay Ruttenberg from Time Out NY and Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly, not to mention basically every major music blogger in the city (more on that later).

Podcast of July 14 event on A&R coming soon...

2005-07-21T23:42:00.000-04:00

Sit tight, ladies and gentlemen. A podcast of July 14th's stellar session of Indie Night School is in the works. If you're interested, please email me at tom@theblackspoons.com

Well, we're movin' on up... An interview with We Are Scientists about life after getting signed by Virgin

2005-06-25T15:24:00.000-04:00

We Are Scientists, touring Europe presently and the U.S. in July, are a "super b" (stands for "superb band") from Brooklyn who very recently signed on with Virgin. What's life like after the ink dries on a major labor deal? Let's take a look...

[INS: Indie Night School; WAS: Chris of We Are Scientists]

INS: Think of those before/after dieting ads you see on the L-train. Before: We Are Scientists are unsigned. After: You're on Virgin. From the perspective of running your band (booking, promoting, building fan base, finding time to write songs, structuring practice, trying to sell albums) please describe both the "Before" photo and the "After" photo.

WAS: The fact of the matter is that we've always had loads of ambition, but not really much of a mind for the business aspect of things - none of us really liked hounding people to listen to our demos, or passing out fliers outside of shows, or wrestling with bookers on the phone - I just always found it really humiliating. We'd loathe the few months before a tour, when we'd have to call every random venue in, say, San Francisco and beg for a show, only to wind up playing a Halloween party in the basement of a teenager's parents' house in Alameda, instead (which, by the way, was actually a pretty fun show). Life got a lot easier for us once we'd been playing around NYC for a couple of years and could finally stop actively soliciting shows - I think we've been invited by another band or promoter to play every show we've had in the past two or so years, so we haven't really done too much local booking in a while. We've never been very good about promoting ourselves - there always seemed to be something of the sleazy and shameful in passing out fliers or talking up our band to people, at least in my mind.

After. Uh, it's kind of hard to say, at this point. Really, we currently spend most of our time correcting the work of the people who are working with us. Mind you, we're very happy with our business relationships - everybody we work with seems largely concerned with making us happy, and they're all good at what they do. It's just that, now, there's a certain disconnect between our ideas and the final product (here I'm talking about actual, physical products - things like album art and t-shirts and promotionalposters, etc.). Everything goes from our mouths through a third party before it's manifested physically, and sometimes things are lost in translation, so we spend a good deal of time piping up and explaining what it is, exactly, that we envision. I'm fairly certain that that was a large part of our draw for Virgin - we definitely know what we want, and their job is essentially to make it happen.They are certainly welcome to weigh in with their opinion, of course, as they're a business and we are, for lack of a better term, their product, but we're pretty vehement in asserting our views. Here's something that most people might not find intuitive - unless you're a totally pre-fabricated boy band, labels don't want to have to do any of the work, in terms of figuring out how to present the band to the world. Things are so much easier for them if they just spread the message that you've already devised. We've got a pretty definitive idea of who we are and how we want to present ourselves, and we're pretty vocal about it.

I'm not really sure how to answer that question, I guess, in fewer than a couple hundred thousand words. I'm going to move on and hope that all of this is answered incrementally in the following responses.

INS: Do you, Chris, and Michael live off of music now, or are there still "day jobs" and the feeling of "oh shit, it's the first of the month... time to pay rent"? What's life like now that you're signed.

WAS: We do all live off of music now, mainly because there is legitimately no time to do anything else - we've been at home for about 20 days in 2005. For a while, rent was a nagging issue, although we were never destitute by any means - we'd all maintained pretty good jobs for the past few years, and, by virtue of our abstaining from extravagant lifestyles, had saved up enough to keep ourselves out of real financial trouble. There were a few months before we'd gotten signed when we were all jobless, touring and recording our album, which we produced on our own before we were signed, and, since there was no real way of knowing whether that gamble was going to pay off, there was always the creeping suspicion that we'd screwed ourselves.

Luckily, it worked out, and we can do this for a while without really sweating it too horribly, but I'm always acutely aware of how much money the band is spending, and the notion of a quickly dwindling band bank account is never far from my mind. We definitely all have less money than we did when we had day jobs, but the payoff is that playing music is our day job, I guess.

INS: Your best friend in the whole world calls you tomorrow and says, "Hey, Keith, Virgin wants to sign us!" He wants to get a beer with you and ask you your advice. What do you say to him? If, instead of Virgin, he had said "Kill Rock Stars," would your advice be the same or different (how)?

WAS: I guess the answer to that question is wholly dependent on who that friend is and what their band's situation is like. The fact of the matter is that there are no guarantees, whichever way you go. To jump into signing to a major label while harboring the notion that your going to be a huge fucking superstar is obviously ludicrous, but, likewise, assuming that you're automatically going to build a slowly-but-surely escalating grassroots following by signing to a solid independent label is equally presumptuous.

We signed to Virgin with zero expectations, and our intent is legitimately to simply make the most of our time playing music. If we sell 10,000 albums and get dropped straight away, we'll certainly be disappointed that our career lacked in longevity, but, shit, at least we'll have done something fairly interesting with our brief time as professional musicians. Before April, none of us had ever been to England, and by the time the year is out, we'll have been here at least four times. We're going on tour in the States in July with our best friends and favorite band, Bishop Allen,and then, (hopefully) in September, we'll be touring the UK with Editors, our favorite band over here. So, you know what - we'd be assholes to ever complain about having had this opportunity.

That said, the three of us are all well-educated, perfectly competent guys who could very easily have satisfying and profitable careers in other fields, and we were all essentially on our way to doing just that before we got signed. I quit a job that I actually loved to do this, not because I'm a born musician who's only purpose on this earth is to create, but because I'm in a band that I love with my two best friends, and it seemed really stupid to not at least try to make a go of it.

Again, I'm not answering your question. Sorry. I guess my main advice to my friend would be to simply make sure that the label really, actively wants to sign you. After SXSW, we were, for
whatever reason, something of a hot ticket, and we took a lot of meetings with a lot of people, and let me tell you - you can absolutely tell when a label is courting you just for the sake of
having landed a coveted act. We had dinners with label folks who claimed that they loved us but might as well have fallen asleep face- first into their soup, for all the excitement they were actually demonstrating, and there's no way we would have signed with any of them. The fact is, the people at Virgin really seem into us, and our booking agents really seem into us, etc., and (perhaps this shouldn't really be a consideration in matters of business, but I can't help it) we actually like them as people.

A good friend was actually speaking to me recently about his bands' prospects, as they'd just been offered a deal with a small but solid label but also had some majors sniffing around. He opined that he'd rather be his label's prority band (a la Pavement to Matador) than be a forgotten douchebag band on a giant major, which I think is solid reasoning.

INS: Indie bands tend to have a close, almost sympatico/fellow-traveler relationship with their fans - esp. ones who were there from the beginning. Now that you're signed, how has your relationship with your fans changed? Or, if it's too early to tell, how do you think it might change?

WAS: I think the issue has less to do with the indie/major schism than with the actual size of the band. The smaller the band, the more capable they are of interacting with fans on a one-on-one basis. It's just a numbers game. As it now stands, we're still relative nobodies, and so we have more than enough time to dote on every fan we've got.

INS: Lots of bands think, "wow, if we were signed, we'd have much more time to concentrate on music." Is that true? Now that you're signed, have you become more or less busy? Do you find yourselves with more or less time to work on writing music?

WAS: Holy crap, no way. Since we've been signed, our lives have involved very little actual leisure time. Which is not to say that there's not a lot of down time - there's plenty. We get to sit in a van for hours every day, or sit in the back room a club, or wander around anonymous blocks of whatever random city we happen to be in that day. Like i said, we've been home for only a handful of days this year, and my particular song-writing regimen requires maximum
solitude, as I'm insanely self-conscious about the process. Needless to say, minimal song-writing has gone on since we've started touring in March, and we're on tour steadily for the rest of the year. If you're the kind of guy who can write while sitting in a passenger van
with a bunch of other people in close proximity, though, you'll probably be fantastically prolific.

Listen and learn: www.wearescientists.com

Unsigned Bands + Veteran Producers. An Interview with Susu

2005-06-11T21:26:00.000-04:00

Susu, the indie/alt/punk band (to steal from their myspace profile), recently completed work on their new 6-song EP with producer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth). We at Indie Night School were wondering: how in the world did an unsigned band get to work with such an industry veteran? So we asked.

[INS=Indie Night School, A=Andrea (guitar/vox), M=Mike(bass/vox)]

INS: As an unsigned, local band, how did you meet Martin Bisi?

A: I was out celebrating a mutual friend's birthday, and during a conversation we (the birthday boy and I) were talking about recording. I had mentioned trying to get a hold of this local NY analog engineer who did the early Sonic Youth recordings, as recommended to me by another friend, but couldn't remember the name. Turns out he was there that night and friends with my friend. Small world. He introduced us, and I got his number and website info. We had been looking at a few different places for a while, (even considering a great studio in Chicago), but it turned out we just ended up liking so many of the albums on his discography we were excited to work with Martin. So a few months later we set up time.

M: The timing couldn't have been better. We were looking around for someone to work with and Martin's name came up from a few different angles. It was an easy choice to go with him, even if we didn't have a label backing us. We just wanted to have an accurate representation of our music put to tape, for whatever reason, and home recording just wasn't doing it for us. Home recording can be fun for a while, but the results never did us any favors. Some bands can take the limitations of home recording and use it to their advantage. We always just ended up sounding like we were stuck in an elevator. That's what Martin had to offer us. Space.

INS: From the time you first met Martin, to the moment you burned the final master of your EP, what was the process like to work with him?

A: It was pretty easy, well, I don't want to say easy because there was work involved, we slept very little that week, but easy in the sense that Martin's a vet - There wasn't really any time wasted. We had very strong ideas of what we wanted and didn't want, and Martin was more than capable of handling it. I mean, as far as our sound, we were never looking to spend a lot of time layering tons of tracks, which would entail lots of mixing. The process was quick and dirty, and Martin's good company. Basically we spent a day of tracking, half a day on vocals and overdubs, and 3 days mixing, in which we were present at all times.

INS: I know that, every now and then, we receive emails from producers interested in having us record at their studios. In these emails, they tend to give us a list of "production credits," often which list huge names. However, the term "producer" is a pretty flexible one, and often gets used instead of the more mechanical-sounding title "engineer." How can an indie band know when they're being approached by a tried-and-true "Producer" as opposed to an engineer who is simply trying to get business for his or her studio? What is a "producer" and what does it mean to work with one?

A: Well, I think this question may not really pretain to us - I know that when I think of a "producer" I think of someone who has influenced the outcome of your sound remarkably by his or her hand. Some people might be looking to just get an experienced engineer, like we did, though not to say he wasn't involved in production at all, that's impossible. I mean, if you're looking to go out and record, it's probably important that if you're going to spend money you have a good idea of what you want out of recording - it's pretty obvious when someone is trying to get business for there studio, but that's pretty irrelevant, since it's all business at some point. That person who might have a lot of experience might be very talented, but not what you are looking for.

For example, s/he might have produced a lot of classic heavy metal albums, but you are in all female surf band. It just might not translate well. I suppose my advice is chances are you should be looking more for what you want rather than taking the first thing that comes your way. As far as unexperienced people, we've let plenty of friends record our demos. :)

INS: The 24K-question: did M.B. "produce" your EP or "engineer" it? More specifically, did M.B. actively shape the sound of your album (and, thus, your band)? If so, how? Can you give some examples from the recording process ("more cowbell" and things of that nature)? How do you think the EP would have sounded differently without his production assistance?

A: Overall, he engineered it. I don't think our sound is very heavily influenced by him. He was able to take what we had and capture that, for better or for worse. Though there are bits where he was creative and had ideas, and I mean, to say he didn't leave a mark would be silly. I mean, part of the reason we went to him in the first place is because he's all analog, and we like that sound. Not to mention the sound of all the other albums he's worked on. The contrast of production and engineer can be a big grey area, especially if you are working with experienced people. I guess a clarifying example of high production would be Britney Spears. Or even Radiohead. They really push the envelope in terms of being able to perform their "sound" so well live.

M: A few weeks before we entered the studio Martin came out to see us play live. Immediately after our set he was up on stage making suggestions as to how we could best translate our live sound to tape. I knew right then than that he had taken an active interest in having us sound our best. Most of Martin's input was technical. Like having Andrea run her guitar through two amps, etc. We knew Martin's recording techniques would compliment our sound. That's why we chose to work with him. Though I wouldn't say he actively shaped our sound. He knew how best to achieve the sound we were looking for. He was very in tune with what we wanted to get out of the recording. I should also mention the architecture of his studio. His space is very raw and cavernous - not to mention kind of spooky. Martin explained to us that the Battle of Brooklyn (the first engagement of the Continental and British armies in the Revolutionary War) took place in the general vicinity of his studio. So there's also some seriously troubling history there as well. I think the nature of the space with its wide open rooms and dank atmosphere definitely leaves a mark on his recordings.

INS: Beyond the actual recording process, has working with M.B. opened up any other doors for your band? Was your relationship limited mainly to recording, or does he have "points on the album" and plan, for example, to pitch your EP to labels?

A: It was limited to recording only.

INS: Your best friend in the whole world calls you tomorrow and says "I just received an email from a producer who's interested in recording our EP." Your friend wants to buy you a beer and ask your advice. What do you tell him/her? What should s/he be thinking about/looking for in the process of finding a producer?

A: Look at albums you like, look at the credits. Get rates. Has this producer worked on anything you like? Or, does s/he have anything you see that might have potential for your band? I would be actively looking rather than waiting to be approached. Looking for what what fits your sound and what you want to achieve best. Do you want a real slick album or something more dirty? Do you have tons of tracks that you want to lay down? You might require both a producer and an engineer if you feel you need the coaching and direction a producer can provide.

[Susu is playing Trash on July 23, and Delancey on August 31. Take a listen and a look-see at www.susuband.com or www.myspace.com/susuband For more information on Martin Bisi, please visit www.martinbisi.com]