Goodbye, InnerPartySystem

Posted by Jamie in Music | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
8August2011

InnerPartySystem by R.E. Barbash, rebarbashphotography.com

It’s devastating to a music fan when a band that you’ve invested so much heart and soul into decides to call it quits. It’s even worse when you have the feeling that the band’s best work was still ahead of them. It’s a selfish thing, really; the artists are ready to move on, to do what they feel is best for themselves, but we want them to stay, to keep doing what we know.

This is to say that last week I was one of those fans, trying to cling to InnerPartySystem’s ankle and plead for them not to go. Very few bands have made such an immediate and lasting impact on me as IPS, who came into my life as many bands have: as the opening act for another of my favorite bands.

The controversial and somewhat disturbing video for "Don't Stop."

In December 2007, my friends and I descended upon the city of Chicago with one thing in mind: a weekend of fun and partying at Kill Hannah’s annual New Heart for Xmas celebration. The first night was an intimate concert for the band’s die-hard fans, and we were thrilled at the prospect of hearing some old and rare live songs from the band’s catalog. That night, however, I think KH were all but upstaged by their opening act.

Hidden behind a bank of programmed lights and a wall of samples and synth, backed up by live drums and guitar, and with a singer with a voice so steady and clear that it never got lost amidst the chaos around it, InnerPartySystem came on that tiny stage at Subterranean and owned that crowd. I have never danced so hard in my life. The hooks were infectious, the lyrics instantly unforgettable. By the end of the set, despite never having seen them, we were screaming, “feed the rich, and fuck the poor!” right along with them.

It was instant attraction; an immediate addiction. Their Download EP made its way into our car’s CD player and didn’t leave for several months. Fortunately for us, IPS went on tour with Kill Hannah the next year, and we had the chance to see them several times. Their live set never disappointed. The mix of live and sampled instruments, and Patrick’s amazing voice delivering vocals with the force and rage of a speech at a populist rally brought such incredible energy to the stage. I never saw them have an off night.

This isn"t the Metro show, but it"s a great live video of "Transmission," up close so you can see the insanity.

One of my favorite live IPS memories happened again in Chicago, at the next year’s New Heart show — this time, the main concert on Saturday night. We were in the front of the balcony at the Metro, with a great view of the stage and the packed crowd below. The guys then launched into this insane cover of Joy Division’s “Transmission,” and the sight of the four of them onstage, silhouetted by their light show, each bent over his own instrument, intently grinding the song out, ratcheting up the intensity as it built to its climax was a sight and experience to behold. If you ever doubted it was possible to give electronic music life, that performance would have made you a believer.

Even lyrics-wise, IPS’s songs hit deep and home. To me, they’re rooted in the GenX mindset, railing against the glorification of pop culture, the soul crushing experience of growing up in towns with dying industries, closed minds and no oppotunities, and even the bitterness of relationships gone wrong. There is no shortage of thinly veiled contempt for many modern American institutions. I think that’s another reason why their music speaks so strongly to me. The message is one that resonates with my generation, even if the sound is very 21st century. It just doesn’t get old.

Another great live performance, and one of my favorite IPS songs, "Heart of Fire."

I don’t know what led to the band’s demise — sorry, indefinite hiatus — but I’ve always thought they were too “smart” for mainstream music. Their videos are as edgy and borderline disturbing as their songs, to the point where they censored and eventually re-shot the video for Don’t Stop. I think the modern recording industry just didn’t know what to do with them. The band had also gone through some changes recently, moving more toward a strictly electronic sound and losing a member. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the newer sound, but the quality of the songwriting was unchanged. I don’t know if this was a sign of the band’s impending demise or not.

So, while I selfishly wail and gnash my teeth over the loss of one of my favorite bands, I will continue to tell anyone I come across who is looking for new music to check out their stuff. I think it’ll endure, whether or not the lineup does. And to the guys from IPS — each of them nice, witty, interesting and so kind to their fans — I wish nothing but the best. I can’t wait to see what comes out of their individual madness, if this is what the collective produced.

Turntable.fm – My new obsession

Posted by Jamie in Music, Web | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
22July2011

DJ sets not for the faint of heart.

With both Spotify and Turntable.fm launching recently in the US, it’s been kind of a field day for techie music lovers. It seems like everyone has been eagerly awaiting Spotify, while Turntable.fm has sort of snuck up along with it. I still haven’t been able to pass full judgment on Spotify yet, but I know this much: I can’t get enough of Turntable.fm.

The gist of Turntable.fm (which is still in beta right now, but if you have a Facebook friend who uses the service you can also use it) is in a particular room there are up to 5 DJs, who rotate each playing a song for the room’s occupants. You can choose from a rather extensive searchable cache of songs, or you can upload your own. Rooms can be public or private, and there is no set theme or format, only a few restrictions on how often an artist can be played to maintain DCMA compliance.

As someone whose friends socialize using music, this service is gold. If we can’t get together to see a concert or roadtrip with iPod playlists, this is the next best thing. Actually, it may be better. We get together in a room and start spinning whatever suits our fancy, but inevitably we begin to influence each other’s choices and flow. A musical hodgepodge morphs into an 80s hour, then guitar rock, followed by some kind of theme. Today, after complaining about the weather, the theme was “hot” and “cold.” It’s way too much fun to try to dig up songs to fit the theme and one-up each other.

I like that there is a bit of a competitive aspect to turntable.fm as well, with listeners allowed to give DJs’ song choices a thumbs-up or thumbs down. A thumbs-up awards the DJ a point — more points mean more credibility and unlock new DJ avatars. Too many thumbs-down and your song gets yanked. If you’re DJing for a large group of spectators, that’s a lot of pressure to impress. Among friends, well, every song gets a thumbs-up. Well, almost every song. When it comes to Nickelback or Staind… I just can’t. Not that any friend of mine would try spinning that dreck anyhow.

One of the best things about turntable.fm is how easy it could make exposing a captive audience to new music. Fans of a band can spin their songs in a crowded room and possibly get new converts in droves. It’s the next generation of the listening party, mixtape and playlist, interactive and collaborative. Playing DJ with my friends has brought back so many songs I used to love and already given me some new favorites. I really hope turntable.fm takes off.

Anime Festival Wichita 2011: A Wake-up Call

Posted by Jamie in Following My Bliss | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
20July2011
Troy Baker at AFW 2011

Troy Baker: voice actor, musician, goofball and one of the most inspiring people I've met in years.

A little different take on what might usually be a “con report” — this is why it took almost two weeks to get out.

After nearly 15 years as an anime fan and even longer as a general nerd-in-residence (as well as a nascent video gamer), I had the chance to attend my very first anime convention July 8-10. Anime Festival Wichita was a nice, relatively small con that wasn’t too far away and featured guests Julie and I recognized and events that sounded fun and interesting.

Little did I realize that AFW was going to turn out to be far more than just a fun weekend for me.

I have long held the belief that the universe conspires to place people in your path who have a message — a gift — for you. What you do when you encounter those people is, of course, up to you. AFW was loaded with people with messages for me, whether they realized it or not. Most of them were subtle, and came by way of interaction, a fun time sorely needed, a conversation, a shared experience. Knowing nods when talking about your favorite anime, shared gripes about an especially irritating video game level, comments from people who actually get your Dr. Who shirt (not the least of whom, master of ceremonies extraordinaire Peter Pixie) — all made me wonder, “what took me so long?!” A whole community of creative nerds like me were just waiting to make a connection.

One panel in particular stood out to me that weekend. While I came expecting to hear crazy behind-the-scenes anime stories, character imitations and goofy comedy, in this case what I got was a cosmic kick in the ass.

The panel was called “How to Turn Your Dream Into a Career” and was led by Troy Baker, who has voiced several memorable anime and video game characters, especially (for me) Snow in Final Fantasy XIII. He’s also a talented musician and songwriter. He stood (okay, lounged on a table) at the front of that room and as a person who has found success in an incredibly creative, niche field gave heartfelt advice and encouragement to fans that had similar dreams but perhaps weren’t sure what to do with them.

Troy showed a genuine interest in every person’s story and gave direct, practical feedback. He didn’t shoot down even the wildest pipe dreams, but redirected and helped expand the vision to show how the winding path of a career can take you to places you couldn’t anticipate. He used his own eclectic career as a prime example. His enthusiasm and earnestness made it easy to believe and buy into what he said.

He drove home four messages that really stuck with me:

  • Do what you love. Take something you enjoy, and find ways to do it.
  • When you have a dream, make sure you do some small thing every day to further yourself toward the dream. At the end of each day ask, “What have I done today to make progress toward my dream?”
  • Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t done anything. It doesn’t accomplish anything. Acknowledge and move on.
  • Be open to allow your dream to grow and change. Give it room to transform. Don’t be so focused on one specific outcome that you deny yourself exploration of a path that could be even better.

It was wonderful to hear such a positive, empowering, yet practical message. I actually went to the second session of the same panel the next day because I wanted to hear more dreams and his advice for them. I kept applying it to my own situation: all of the things I keep saying I want to do but just can’t get past my apprehensions, the intense negative self-talk when I didn’t do what I said I would, the fact that I still don’t completely know where I’m headed. He shrugged and said “that’s okay.” That’s okay. Yeah, it is. I actually heard and believed those words, and I took them home with me to give me the boost I needed to regroup and go at it again.

It would be so great to have more panels like that, where fans (especially teens and young adults) who feel marginalized and uncertain and who often by nature are more socially awkward and insecure can get some guidance and encouragement from their idols and role models. I realize that this a convention and not a therapy retreat, but there is such a wide gamut of topics covered in panels, why not?

Being surrounded by that much encouragement and positivity energized me. I socialized, made new friends, connected with people who are the kind of people I want in my life: creative, passionate, friendly, open-minded and just a little weird (hello Rachel, Ally, Dusty and of course Eric Vale). I forged relationships there that I want to last a long time. While my problems were certainly not solved in an instant from that panel, or any of the other fun and games of the weekend, I came away with a renewed resolve to approach them in new ways.

It’s been a long haul for me, the past year. My creativity has grown stagnant, and I’ve been expending my energy in a lot of useless places. I’ve felt like I wasn’t moving forward, partially because I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I thought I’d lost my dreams. Stepping into the surreal world of AFW and attending that panel helped me realized that they’ve been there all along — I’d just lost sight of them.

A beginning.

Posted by Jamie in General | Leave a comment
1July2011

Starting a new project is always difficult, especially when it’s a blog. Trust me, I’ve tried over a dozen times to do it. As a web professional, I know a score of “best practices” for starting and maintaining a blog, and frankly, they’ve always been intimidating to me on a personal level. I want to blog, I want to write, but I couldn’t resolve all of those self-imposed professional constraints with the fact that I couldn’t decide what to write about. The pressure I put on myself made blogging an imposing prospect that was immediately robbed of any fun or value for me. Every blog I’ve ever started has never made it past one post.

I turned 34 on June 29. On that day, I gave myself permission to write about being Jamie and being 34. I’m not placing any constraints, as long as I’m 34. That means I can write about my web work, my travels, my growing love for anime and video games, my lifelong love of music, my passion for awareness about mental health issues, and even my relationships. I want this blog to grow organically and hopefully through the year find its voice — or, find my voice. It may not be a blogging best practice, and it may not be the most cohesive project, but it will be me. I’m looking forward to it.

It’s going to be a good year.