I am the manager of TapWater. Ordinarily this means that you manage operations and department heads, and keep the whole thing on task. Well, if you are the manager of a young band, this actually means that you manage on top of handling the booking, marketing, promotions, financial planning, bus driving, even gear humping! You gotta do anything and everything that comes up. Most of the time, I take it in stride and even welcome it -- it can be overwhelming at times but its exciting, never boring, and always challenging.
One of the things that causes me alot of stress is that I have to run the band's sound when we play a place without adequate audio. Uhm, let's just say, I am not the most mechanically inclined individual and standing in front of a 36-channel sound board is not really my ideal place on the planet. But, I had no choice, I had to learn. Ravi, who is a professional production guru, and Wes, who is also a professional audio tech, both taught me as much as I was willing or able to learn. I do understand the concept of mixing sound -- layering the levels of the instruments and voices so that they blend together in a way where all the sounds are accented and complement each other. But, dang it, I just don't get how EQing works, no matter how many times they explain it, so I just am not equipped to deal with feedback. And when you are dealing with 5 monitors and 14 mics, let's just say feedback is a familiar friend.
So, its scary. Once TapWater starts playing, Ravi and Wes are on the stage and its just me at the board handling it all. If feedback occurs, I gotta just do my best and sometimes I just can't fix it. Its frustrating for all. In fact, running audio is the most important job at the show. If the sound person isn't skilled, the band sounds awful (no matter how great the music is) and the crowd will not enjoy the show.
Thankfully, we have recently found an amazing audio tech who has been donating his time to us. We call him Golden Graham. He ran our sound at the Aladdin and did a fantastic job. As we gain more traction in Portland, we want to take Graham on full-time. He can't make it to our show this weekend, so I am behind the board at least one more time.
Send me good thoughts!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Idea Factory
Sometimes I really just cannot get my brain to stop. Camp TapWater is an idea factory and it is the most exciting thing about working for this band. We all believe our music to be special, and we believe that we were given this gift to make a difference. Here are some of the ideas we are currently kicking around:
1. A partnership between Portland's City Repair and Hopworks where we throw an event to raise money and recruit volunteers for City Repair. They are a fantastic nonprofit with tons of personality that reclaims public space. They help communities create public gathering spaces. They help neighborhoods build tea houses and pizza ovens out of cob, create public gardens, and rip up concrete that really isn't needed. And Hopworks is a totally green, organic brewery with the kindest most down-to-earth staff. They are perfect for each other -- lots of overlap between our fans, City Repair supporters, and Hopworks customers.
2. A partnership between us and SolTrekker, this amazing nonprofit that has converted an RV into an environmentally sustainable show room. They use this beautiful RV as an educational tool and a symbol of the change in energy that is approaching. We would like to write a grant with them, buy a tour bus, have them go to town on it and then give tours of it while we tour, using it as an educational piece. Did you know we can make biodiesel from algae and that there is enough right now to free us from reliance on foreign energy? Check out their web site.
3. A partnership with Joe Trippi, the legendary campaign manager for Howard Dean who knows how to build and mobilize web communities around issues the people find important. He is a true believer in democracy and believes that America can be a beacon of light to the world. His book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has changed my life. I finally understand what the web means for us as a country, and what it means to really embrace technology. So I have now committed to learning how to create online communities that have a say in the future they want to create.
That's just a few of the ideas spinning around. The challenge of course is turning those dreams into reality. It is what we all work for each day. And what keeps us going is that we do believe we can make a difference for each other and the world.
1. A partnership between Portland's City Repair and Hopworks where we throw an event to raise money and recruit volunteers for City Repair. They are a fantastic nonprofit with tons of personality that reclaims public space. They help communities create public gathering spaces. They help neighborhoods build tea houses and pizza ovens out of cob, create public gardens, and rip up concrete that really isn't needed. And Hopworks is a totally green, organic brewery with the kindest most down-to-earth staff. They are perfect for each other -- lots of overlap between our fans, City Repair supporters, and Hopworks customers.
2. A partnership between us and SolTrekker, this amazing nonprofit that has converted an RV into an environmentally sustainable show room. They use this beautiful RV as an educational tool and a symbol of the change in energy that is approaching. We would like to write a grant with them, buy a tour bus, have them go to town on it and then give tours of it while we tour, using it as an educational piece. Did you know we can make biodiesel from algae and that there is enough right now to free us from reliance on foreign energy? Check out their web site.
3. A partnership with Joe Trippi, the legendary campaign manager for Howard Dean who knows how to build and mobilize web communities around issues the people find important. He is a true believer in democracy and believes that America can be a beacon of light to the world. His book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has changed my life. I finally understand what the web means for us as a country, and what it means to really embrace technology. So I have now committed to learning how to create online communities that have a say in the future they want to create.
That's just a few of the ideas spinning around. The challenge of course is turning those dreams into reality. It is what we all work for each day. And what keeps us going is that we do believe we can make a difference for each other and the world.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Conundrum
I face seemingly infinite challenges as TapWater's manager. One that has been on the table for quite awhile is where to book TapWater, especially here in Portland where it seems that people are really starting to follow us. For one thing, you know if you have seen us that we have a ton of gear. In fact, we have a running joke called "You guys got alotta" because at least once each time we play a fan, a bartender, a passerby, someone always comments "Wow, you guys got alotta [shit, stuff, gear, equipment, whatever]." We have so much gear that we can't fit in the smaller clubs because their stages and audio systems are too small. But we don't quite have the following to be playing 500-person theaters that do have the adequate room and audio. So, what do we do? We often end up crammed inside smaller venues, spilling out onto the dance floor and forced to augment their audio system with our own mics, cables, stands, monitors, and sometimes even amp racks. Ack! The sound tech -- if there is one -- is generally totally overwhelmed and we are often pressed for time because the venue does not allot us proper time to set up and sound check.
Some people have suggested scaling back our set up. I have thought about this, and well, we don't wanna! The fact that everyone plays multiple instruments is part and parcel to who we are -- our sound, our versatility, our vibe. And I observe that it's what many people like about us, the way we combine many instruments and genres in unexpected, fresh ways. We could leave out the marimba or the upright bass but then you wouldn't be hearing the music the way that it is indeed meant to be played.
This challenge has been a difficult one to deal with. Any suggestions out there?
Some people have suggested scaling back our set up. I have thought about this, and well, we don't wanna! The fact that everyone plays multiple instruments is part and parcel to who we are -- our sound, our versatility, our vibe. And I observe that it's what many people like about us, the way we combine many instruments and genres in unexpected, fresh ways. We could leave out the marimba or the upright bass but then you wouldn't be hearing the music the way that it is indeed meant to be played.
This challenge has been a difficult one to deal with. Any suggestions out there?
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