"MUSICIANS HANGING WITH MUSICIANS"
This interview with Jeff Wallace was a little different because it was on the phone with him. I used my girlfriends iPhone because there is an application that allows you to record whole conversations and play them back. Instead of rushing and struggling to write everything down I had it on record and I could relax and talk to him a little. The combination of me bring friends with Jeff and me not really talking in formal interview language it was hard to pick out the parts that were worth writing down. So the editing to make it a presentable interview was tougher in this one. I asked the "Banana Phonetic" question because that is my brother's band and Jeff is good friends with all of them, and they played in the festival.
Q:So how did the festival go?
A:A huge success. Through ought the 6 hours 1500 people came. The aftermath of it was really good. People around town have been talking about it and our facebook page has gotten a lot of fans because of it, so overall it was good for MySecretBoston.
Q:Did u get everything out of it that you expected to?
A:There's always more. More press would have been nice, but at the same time we are competing with all these other websites so we can't really use them to get the word out. So yes absolutely it was everything we wanted, it was pretty ambitious for a new website and nothing went majorly wrong.
Q:How did banana phonetic do?
A:They are my friends obviously, but now my professional opinion is that they can hang. They hung with bands that make a lot of money doing it and they carried themselves, played an amazing set, and the crowd and other bands loved them; and some of the bands want to do more gigs with them. That's what it's all about: musicians hanging with musicians.
Q:How did u get all the bands?
A:The five bands that I got I've seen them all a bunch of times living in Alston and I said,"what the hell?" Local bands I knew personally. Jeff Robinson is the sax player for Duppy Conquerors, a sweet Marley tribute band that plays every Monday night at a bar in Somerville called precinct (one of my favorite spots, and one night I was having a beer and I asked him, "yo you wanna play a show?" and he said yes. Some were more official, those had performance requirements and can sell out the paradise in Boston, but if the price is right they will always play. Overall, the five bands that I got flowed together perfectly.
Q:Did you write about it?
A:I felt couldn't write a review because it would have been completely biased. I made sure people knew it was a success, but we beat the coverage to death and we didn't want to take it too far.
Q:Are you going to try and do another?
A:Absolutely. Immediately after we set up a meeting to see what we can do to make it bigger and better next year. For us it was a perfection situation, because all we needed to do was promote it and pick the music for the day. None of us really had any experience doing something like this and it went well so we are definitely trying to take it further. I can't wait to see it grow. Going in I was most excited about the bands. I spent days, weeks, months piecing together the lineup and there isn't a single band on there that I wouldn't vouch for. The best compliment I got was from someone in one of the bands who said, "Thank you for bringing all of us together." There was a strong sense of community amongst the bands who played and there were even a lot of people from bands who didn't play just in the crowd checking things out. Everyone was happy to be there.
Showing posts with label Jeff Wallace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Wallace. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Q&A Number Two
This second interview with Jeff Wallace from MySecretBoston started as an interview about the actual website in terms of setup and his input, and ended up being about how the website helps him do his job and the process he goes through at shows.
Q:MySecretBoston, the music section specifically, is set up in a cool way with a music playlist, your twitter posts about bands playing, and general music news in the center. Did you have any say in the ideas of the actual set up or do you just fill in the information?
A:I had a lot of say in this. It was basically my page to design. We're changing over to a different multimedia server so expect more music on the site shortly. We also are putting together a video team. Pretty soon I'll be adding another music blog with a rotating cast of writers. We're hoping to make the page into it's own site and the more we can offer in terms of multimedia the better. Yeah I can sit there and write about a band, but I'll always be limited by words. Sometimes people need to simply hear the band for themselves and make their own judgments.
Q:How do the twitter link and the playlist help you do your job?
A:he twitter feed is great for quick updates while I'm at shows. It's also a useful tool to drive traffic to our site. Basically I'll post a teaser and then have a link to a page on the site.
Q:Do any bands know about your name? In other words you are in a great position to publicize and get the word out for bands struggling to make a name for themselves. Have you been approached while out at shows?
A:I've made it a point to get out and meet as many people in the local music community as possible. This isn't limited to musicians either. Bartenders, door people, booking agents, club owners, photographers, promoters, and other writers are very important as well. It's all about who you know and more often than not people are willing to share resources. I'm getting to a point where I show up at a local music club or bar and I feel like I know at least a dozen people in the room, important people too, at least on the local scene. I've been drinking beers with some seriously talented people. I guess that happens when you average 4 to 5 shows per week.
Q:If you are there for an assignment do you make any notes while you are actually there or do you enjoy the show and do write ups when you get home?
A:I very rarely take notes at a show unless I know something is too important to forget. I always bring a notebook just in case, but I think it's important to experience a show just as everyone else in the room does and let your memory decide what's important.
Q:Does it make it harder to enjoy the music as a fan when you are on assignment or is it just as enjoyable?
A:As long as I'm listening to a piece of music I'm always on assignment. Everything I hear is part of a bigger picture and can be put to use at some point. Music is endless.
Q:MySecretBoston, the music section specifically, is set up in a cool way with a music playlist, your twitter posts about bands playing, and general music news in the center. Did you have any say in the ideas of the actual set up or do you just fill in the information?
A:I had a lot of say in this. It was basically my page to design. We're changing over to a different multimedia server so expect more music on the site shortly. We also are putting together a video team. Pretty soon I'll be adding another music blog with a rotating cast of writers. We're hoping to make the page into it's own site and the more we can offer in terms of multimedia the better. Yeah I can sit there and write about a band, but I'll always be limited by words. Sometimes people need to simply hear the band for themselves and make their own judgments.
Q:How do the twitter link and the playlist help you do your job?
A:he twitter feed is great for quick updates while I'm at shows. It's also a useful tool to drive traffic to our site. Basically I'll post a teaser and then have a link to a page on the site.
Q:Do any bands know about your name? In other words you are in a great position to publicize and get the word out for bands struggling to make a name for themselves. Have you been approached while out at shows?
A:I've made it a point to get out and meet as many people in the local music community as possible. This isn't limited to musicians either. Bartenders, door people, booking agents, club owners, photographers, promoters, and other writers are very important as well. It's all about who you know and more often than not people are willing to share resources. I'm getting to a point where I show up at a local music club or bar and I feel like I know at least a dozen people in the room, important people too, at least on the local scene. I've been drinking beers with some seriously talented people. I guess that happens when you average 4 to 5 shows per week.
Q:If you are there for an assignment do you make any notes while you are actually there or do you enjoy the show and do write ups when you get home?
A:I very rarely take notes at a show unless I know something is too important to forget. I always bring a notebook just in case, but I think it's important to experience a show just as everyone else in the room does and let your memory decide what's important.
Q:Does it make it harder to enjoy the music as a fan when you are on assignment or is it just as enjoyable?
A:As long as I'm listening to a piece of music I'm always on assignment. Everything I hear is part of a bigger picture and can be put to use at some point. Music is endless.
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