Unicron Veteran Member Posts:1696  
| 2/24/2005 1:32 PM |
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I don't think that it's just down to putting in the work abroad, Bell X1 have spent a hell of a lot of time in the UK since Music In Mouth came out with little to show for it.
Whether or not you think they're a good band or not (and I do) they are certainly better than Keane and Snow Patrol who you could lump them in with if you looked at the softer side of their material and those bands are doing very well for themselves.
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Pilchard Advanced Member Posts:699
| 2/24/2005 1:54 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Unicron
I don't think that it's just down to putting in the work abroad, Bell X1 have spent a hell of a lot of time in the UK since Music In Mouth came out with little to show for it.
Whether or not you think they're a good band or not (and I do) they are certainly better than Keane and Snow Patrol who you could lump them in with if you looked at the softer side of their material and those bands are doing very well for themselves.
The UK is not the be-all and end-all of what lies outside ireland. if u look at a lot of the acts who've broken thru in the last 12-18 months - Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Damien Rice - their big break came in the US. Yes, selling a million copies in the UK is hard work. Selling a million in the US is even harder but it does set u up for a knock-on industry effect. Once an album starts to roll and breaks over a certain quantity of sales, it takes on a rollercaster effect (see norah jones, d rice etc)
i'd say bellx1 themselves would agree that they have not worked really hard abroad yet, their 1st US dates come in mar at SXSW and NYC. they will say that the rec company didnt give them the cash to do those dates but that hasnt stopped a rake of acts going over to the US and giving it a go with no-one backing them. i dont want to slag Bellx1 cos i genuinely like them but i really hope that the game plan for their new album will see them spending v little time this year or next year in ireland.
now, with all this talk of work, i had better do some myself |
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The_Thin_Man Basic Member Posts:137
| 2/24/2005 2:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mutch
I think music quality is little to do with sucess, at least I hope not or otherwise Aslan are fantastic and better than, say, My Bloody Valentine!
It would be nice if Aslan moved to a large English city. And stopped playing music. |
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bonzoBasic Member Posts:364
| 2/24/2005 3:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mutch
I think music quality is little to do with sucess, at least I hope not or otherwise Aslan are fantastic and better than, say, My Bloody Valentine!
Quality of the music, attitude, energy, image and the x factor are what will help you break outside Ireland. You need heaps of ambition and I just don't think there are many bands that have that.
The reality is for a band to make it outside Ireland the A & R kids of UK music companies will have to come to Ireland and be blown away, not just by a band but by the attitude of the band and the energy around them. The most anticipated gig recently in Dublin - Bloc Party - Irish? No.
Theres no one band here that when you go and see them as a complete outsider you'd be blown away by them. We like them because its the Irish scene.
Anyway, its good that some opinions are being aired on this topic. |
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 2/24/2005 4:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mully
quote:
Originally posted by Gar
Alison Curtis, Jenny Huston, John Walshe and Dave Hegarty all play unsigned bands on their radio shows so not much wrong there.
Yes, There is. Its at 2o'c in the morning !
There is a good right up on the state of 2FM in the ticket last week
http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2005/0218/3543895871TKDISCONEW_A_A.html
Basically saying how the just move the chairs around in the sitting room every so often (chairs being Ryan, Callaghan & Gogan ~ all old men, who with the exception of Big Larry, dont know exactly have their finger on the pulse of music) instead of trying something new. If the head of 2fm had so much faith in the new djs that get the night shift, why doesnt he give them an audience.
The lack of Phantom has been a death knell for a lot of bands over the last few yrs, so fingers crossed that not too much changes when it kicks off in July.
thats a very good piece alright mully, thanks for telling us about it
and yes, i hope phantom makes a big decent impact. the fact that they have their heads down and are working away on stuff for the summer launch instead of giving big puffy interviews about how great they are fills me with great hope. i think Phantom will change when it comes back but it will be changes for the better - more professional presentation, tighter productions but the same 100 percent alternative/Irish music mix. |
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Norman SchwarzkopfBasic Member Posts:427
| 2/24/2005 4:39 PM |
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Thanks for all the thoughts! Some good stuff. The laziness factor was something I had considered but was afraid to mention it for fear of having my head bitten off. I have a friend in a band (they shall remain nameless - they begin with "The") that are good musicians and have had some very good reviews for their EP but play so few gigs, it's laughable. When I talk to any of them, theyre so laid back about the whole thing it boggles my mind. It's easy, I suppose, to ponce around Dublin acting cool and confident rather than having the balls to risk total failure by going for it 100%. It's a very Irish thing to have the piss taken out of you for "getting above yourself". I can't think of a big Irish media success, music or otherwise, that hasn't been derided. The Thrills (as much as I hate them) got flack for ignoring the Dublin scene and heading straight to London.
A great idea would be a low budget Jools Holland type show on Irish TV, like a televised Hard Working Class Heroes gig....
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
| 2/24/2005 6:30 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Pilchard
The UK is not the be-all and end-all of what lies outside ireland. if u look at a lot of the acts who've broken thru in the last 12-18 months - Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Damien Rice - their big break came in the US. Yes, selling a million copies in the UK is hard work. Selling a million in the US is even harder but it does set u up for a knock-on industry effect. Once an album starts to roll and breaks over a certain quantity of sales, it takes on a rollercaster effect (see norah jones, d rice etc)
i'd say bellx1 themselves would agree that they have not worked really hard abroad yet, their 1st US dates come in mar at SXSW and NYC. they will say that the rec company didnt give them the cash to do those dates but that hasnt stopped a rake of acts going over to the US and giving it a go with no-one backing them. i dont want to slag Bellx1 cos i genuinely like them but i really hope that the game plan for their new album will see them spending v little time this year or next year in ireland.
Actually that is a really good point about the UK not being the be all and end all, but it is a major market thats close by and naturally the one that people would think of trying to tackle first.
I interviewed Paul Noonan last September and he seemed to think that the band put in a good bit of work abroad in 2004. Just being pedantic but this years SXSW will be their second appearence in the US, they opened for Damien Rice at a gig in New York last year. They were supposed to play last years SXSW but one of the band needed an operation and they were forced to pull out.
I would agree that I'd like to see them play fewer gigs here in the next year and have a real go of it abroad (if nothing else it would save me a few quid as I go to pretty much every one of their gigs in Dublin), to that end I hope they're viewing the proceeds of their very extensive Irish tour in April as a warchest to help finance that. |
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 2/25/2005 9:49 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Unicron
I interviewed Paul Noonan last September and he seemed to think that the band put in a good bit of work abroad in 2004. Just being pedantic but this years SXSW will be their second appearence in the US, they opened for Damien Rice at a gig in New York last year. They were supposed to play last years SXSW but one of the band needed an operation and they were forced to pull out.
one gig in new york does not make a US campaign!!! this has been the problem with irish bands since time begun - head to the east coast, do a few shows in NYC and boston and think that's america ticked off. BellX1 have the potential to do very well in the US - i hope they have the energy, commitment, self-belief and lack of ties to home to work their asses off during both coasts and the flyover country inbetween
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
| 2/25/2005 6:00 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Pilchard
one gig in new york does not make a US campaign!!! this has been the problem with irish bands since time begun - head to the east coast, do a few shows in NYC and boston and think that's america ticked off. BellX1 have the potential to do very well in the US - i hope they have the energy, commitment, self-belief and lack of ties to home to work their asses off during both coasts and the flyover country inbetween
You're right of course, I didn't mean to imply that opening one show for an old mate of theirs constitutes an assault on the US, was just (pedantically) correctly one small inaccuracy in what you wrote (I'm really sorry, it's an illness).
You mentioned that they were playing in new york next month while they're over for SXSW. Got any details? I know people (non-Irish ones at that) over there that would like to go to that. |
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dope fiend New Member Posts:78
| 2/26/2005 1:53 AM |
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who honestly do you think deserves to make it?
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strollerAdvanced Member Posts:576
| 2/26/2005 2:21 AM |
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If BellX1 are going to make it big anywhere they'll need more than just a hectic touring and promotional schedule. They're going to need at least three tunes on their next album that'll make good catchy radio friendly singles. Tongue was way too long and had too many break downs and the levels on Snakes and Snakes were all over the place, it sounded like a rough demo. They'll need to pull their socks up but I reckon they're capable of doing it. I mean there was nothing on the first two Snow Patrol Patrol albums to suggest that they were ever going to be big and look at them now. All they needed was one good single with loads of studio trickery that they're hopelessly incapable of re-producing live (Spitting Games) and two other ones that were inferior rip-offs of other people's hits, for Run see Coldplay's Yellow and for Chocolate see Dove's Pounding.
So If Bell X1 can rope in Jacknife Lee to make one single that's cracking and two songs that sound like half arsed versions of say.....This Years Love by David Gray and Everybody’s Changing by Keane, then the UK and beyond will be theirs for the taking.
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 2/27/2005 5:36 PM |
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It's simple; those good enough break out in some manner.
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| 3/16/2005 12:27 PM |
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I'm a bit late to the discussion but for bands to break, they need to tour. The only Irish band of the last decade or so that I know of that toured/tours a lot is The Frames. I've seen them 7 times in the last 3yrs or so, only one of those times was in Ireland. They play a LOT over here and not in big places either. None of their shows has been over 500 people AFAIK and most of those are Irish. Will they break 'big' ? I don't think so as they just dont seem to fit in with whats 'cool' over here but I keep hope.
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sweetieBasic Member Posts:132
| 3/16/2005 2:13 PM |
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As far as I know, a major aspect of breaking the states (or UK) apart from hype, which will only get gigs in the major cities, is getting on a tour with a major player in those markets. The irish managers/record labels might not have the kudos or contacts to acheive this or the bands themselves may be turning down tours because they are too strenuous or the band they are supporting aren't cool enough.
I think bellx1 had major hopes for their last album breaking abroad and were pinning alot on 'eve..' making a splash across the pond. I've read that they are getting a song on the new Orange County (The OC) soundtrack and that will be a help although mundy didn't make much inroads from the romeo and juliet st back in the day. I've heard that the new bellx1 album will be released in the summer and the material has taken a talking heads direction.
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strollerAdvanced Member Posts:576
| 3/16/2005 2:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkO
The only Irish band of the last decade or so that I know of that toured/tours a lot is The Frames.
What about the Sawdoctors? After they finished their first album back in the early 90s they decided to tour the states. When they inquired about the costs of launching a promotional campaign for a nation wide tour they were quoted crazy money. So instead they took out an advert in every regional paper in Ieland. They gave a full list of American dates and they asked readers to contact any friends or relatives that they had in the cities and tell them to go to the gigs. Apparently every date on the tour sold out. |
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| 3/17/2005 7:07 AM |
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Good point, I forgot about The Sawdoctors.
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 3/17/2005 3:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkO
Good point, I forgot about The Sawdoctors.
i wish i could forget about the sawdoctors....... |
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