SF v NYC scenes, views by ex-Black Spoons, Chairman Wow, Stanford professor
Thomas Mullaney is, as far as I can tell, a complete badass. Besides being an assistant professor of modern Chinese history at Stanford, he was in the NYC-based Black Spoons (myspace, you can also check out this feature or this review) and now is getting going with his new band, SF-based Chairman Wow (myspace). In addition, he started the very cool Indie Night School (which has appeared as part of Noise Pop for the last couple of years).
Yesterday he was on KZSU’s Lunch Special show, where Stanford professors and the like pick the tracks and talk to the host for an hour (and which I produce). He picked a great show of music and also said some interesting things, particularly about the difference between being in a band in NYC and SF. I asked him afterwards if I could reprint that section of the program. Here are his thoughts, transcribed and cleaned up a bit (all with his permission):
[Getting booked in clubs in New York City] is a little tricky. They’ve seen it all…Everyone in the audience has [their] arms crossed and they’re saying ‘prove it to me.’ In San Francisco everyone’s clapping for you the second you get on stage. You could get on stage and tap your foot and people would support you, so it’s the exact inverse. A lot of my artist friends in San Francisco are actually very critical of the city for that reason. They think that the lack of critical atmosphere is something that paralyzes the art because…it’s like having an audience full of moms. [clapping] ‘My kid inherently is good!’ You have to give yourself that pressure instead of the audience giving it to you.
…
I think one of the biggest differences is that in New York and in LA, you have the high density presence of industry and in San Francisco you have none, in terms of national industry…New York especially, I think, is a proving ground, so you have a lot of bands that are not from New York…If you look at reviews, they’re New York by-way-of Oklahoma City or New York by-way-of some other place because they make the music where they’re from, then they move to New York and try to prove it. That leads to a very high intensity and competitive environment. There aren’t a lot of bands that, say, play consistent bills together or hang out together as friends. The band comes on, plays, [and] gets off. The audience that…comes to see that band, they leave. Then in San Francisco, it’s the exact opposite: I think that more bands are friends with each other, play the same bill and therefore are on the same label sometimes, and therefore the audiences that come out are friends with everyone in all the bands and so they stick around [for the whole show]. It’s a great thing, but, again, it can lead to an uncritical atmosphere. So it’s a plus and minus.
The other one is the cost of space, which, I think, is pretty similar between New York and San Francisco. Creativity costs money in New York because you’re buying a $20 an hour, $15 an hour, sometimes $25 an hour practice space. There’s no such thing as playing in your basement; there’s no such thing as playing in your garage. But San Francisco has the East Bay, so you do have warehouse shows; you do have basement bands. That leads–I’m going to be kind of Marxist about this–that leads to a different form of music because you do have time to mess around. I think that’s why you have Interpol [in New York]. That’s why you have [singing steady eighth note bass line]. That’s why you have that pulse, that beat. I think it all emanates from the fact [that] you’ve got to get in, make your music and then get out of the practice space, in about two hours sometimes.
And now an mp3 (more available at the Chairman Wow website and myspace):
Chairman Wow – The Next Three Words I Say (mp3, from the band’s site)
I love this account of the NYC music scene. This is exactly what I experience. The only thing I would say is that I /do/ actually know a lot of NYC bases artists who are in pseudo-families with other NYC musicians. It depends on the scene, but there are bands that are friends, and share apartments, etc.
Exemplum Gratis: I was at a show last night where I saw Richard Julian, who is the lead guitarist for Sasha Dobson. And just before Julian went on, Dobson and friends appeared in the door. Much the same, when I saw Sasha play last week, her sometimes guitarist, Jesse Harris, and friends came to see Sasha perform. Then they all hang out and sip drinks and chum-chum after the shows. This is not at all uncommon, in my experience.
But as for being a “tough crowd” kind of city, I totally agree. And, that is what I love about the NYC music scene. You are there for the business of seeing good, scratch that, excellent music. No fooling around. That is my favorite part of NYC– no nonsense. You don’t have to clap for mediocrity.