HIPSTER RUNOFF

Photos by Ryan Barkan via BrooklynVegan

It's difficult to be a buzzband in the modern world. It seems like every1 is just trying to do stuff on the internet to 'go viral'/capture ur attention for 1-4 minutes, but they are forgetting about the spirit of music. The spirit of humanity. Music is here to lift us up, and help us enjoy life...sometimes even 2 help us escape from how much we h8 the trappings of modern society. My buzzband decided to do something new and original. We decided to go to the people. Instead of playing in a club or bar or church auditorium, we were going to find real people to play our real music. We went to a meaningful subway portal.

Playing our music to people who use public transportation will help us connect with real people, living real lives' in this real city of ours. First, we will succeed as a local band, playing rush hour every day for the next year. Then we will be signed and go 'national', and hopefully 'international.' It seems plausible that record label CEOs chill on this bus stop. In addition, this meaningful public space means provided us with some sweet acoustics that really helped our sound.

It was kinda inconvenient though, bc my female band mate has a really zany vintage piano thingy. Sucked 2 lug it down the stairs.

A lot of people didn't 'get' us and our music though. Maybe this is indicative of mainstream markets and their expectation of 'how music should sound.' So many bros were just like 'I want to get on my day without all of this hipster scum making my life hell.'

I think some of them confused us for 'beggars'. They didn't look at us or listen to us, as if we were less than human. Maybe they hated buskers (people who play music 4 money) because they don't have a solid track record.

We made $1. I wonder if it would be easier to maintain this business model, or to try to sell digital copies + exploit commercial licensing on the internet.

It was about more than just 'making money.' We used HD flip cams to cover the event, so we could get tons of internet media. Youtube, tweets, flickr fotos. We are social. We are social media.

Tons of people were twitpicing and dropping mad hashtags. Some people even used a tumblr app to live microblog that (Thank G-d for 3G wireless networks).

Wonder if the Bedford L Platform the altest place to play a meaningful live impromptu performance, or if we should have gone to a stop with a mainstream audience?

It seemed like we had invented something new. A new movement. The busker wave scene had been born, and we felt like we were the ones taking it to the mainstream.

Everything was going really chill. We had a lot of fans, and people were mad stoked to see us playing our cutesy indie music in a live zany context...

but then some ass hole African American came over and started banging on empty Home Depot buckets

Then some other African american came along and started banging on even more buckets, creating an ambient sound that sorta felt like Phil Spector recording Animal Collective.

Then things got weird when another busker band came along and started playing

Then some AZN bro came and started riffing on his acoustic

The vibe was texturous, and another African American busker came to riff on his sax.

We were fortunate enough to have a keyboard player there to really add some cute jingles. Her yamaha keyboard + amp + power generator really came in handy in the 3rd hour of our jam sesh.

Another AZN came out of nowhere and jammed hard on his sterling silver electro saxophone

Two of the founding members of the busker wave movement were sort of resentful of the new found popularity of our busker wave super group. They had been in the industry for 20 years, but didn't understand how our busker group had monetized so well.

Then a cello bro got off the subway, and we wrote a 'sad' song. Really mellowed out the whole subway platform.

Then wrote a dance anthem with the help of a zany guy + another accordion player

It seems like tons of foreign tourists really got into our band. They took pictures on their digital cameras, then uploaded them to their picasa accounts.

Overall, I think our experiment was successful. We made a lot of new fans, met some real people, and we felt like we reconnected with the spirit of music. Indie music no longer just lives on the internet. Indie music lives on the streets, in the subways, and in the sewers [via the Ninja Turtles].

Not sure if our next show should be in a city bus

or on an airplane?

Feel like city bus might 'reach real people', but people who are flying probably have tons of spending money that they are willing 2 spend on CDs + band merch.

1 indie band. 1 dream

Was it a 'good idea' for this indie band to play a show at a subway stop to create internet media?
Where would yall play to make the most amount of fans? The Super Bowl?
Do yall think buskers are annoying because they play shitty music?
How do u feel about black men who bang on buckets as if it is a 'real art form'?
Would yall rather give money to a busker, a beggar with a witty sign, or an indie band?

I often romanticize 'moving to the city' and utilizing public transportation. I have grown up in suburbia, and when I go to design school next semester, I surely won't be taking a car. It seems like I could really get in touch with the 'ebb and flow' of the city/the cultural zeitgeist of the common man by riding buses/subways/monorails every where.

But then I saw this video where a Chinese woman and a Black woman 'go at it.' It seems dangerous, like there is a whole 'cultural disconnect' underlying their shouting match. I understand that blacks and AZNs h8 one another, but it seems like they should settle this type of disagreement outside of the bus by having a constructive conversation about their hardships, eventually understanding that they are 'basically the same person, except they speak different languages.' I feel worried that some sort of 'act of minority angst/social repression' would take place on the public transportation vessel that I am riding on. What if it was 2 teenage minorities with guns? What if a group of minorities go on some sort of 'shooting spree'/'hostage takeover' of the bus? Sorta wish that I could make them realize that no1 on the bus is 'that much richer' than them. Sorta wish u could channel their angst into something useful, like a 'kewl new genre of music' [via horrorcore 2.0] instead of acts of violence.

Worried/concerned. I feel like I want to depend on public transportation, but I just want to be safe + stay alive. I think that 'uncultured' people are not able to appreciate the beauty of public transportation since they have never owned a car/had their parents buy one for them. It seems like if they understood the hardships of car ownership (insurance payments, oil changes, neverending maintenance, have to pay summer job teens 2 wash ur car, finding parking spots, etc), then maybe they would chill out, and realize that public transportation is truly the best way to live? Maybe if they understood our nation's foreign dependence on oil, they would 'appreciate' the public service they are doing by utilizing a public resource.

Do u have any tips 4 staying safe on public transportation?
Should women use public transportation alone?
Have u ever seen something violent/zany/tragic happen on a bus/subway?
Would ur life be more meaningful if you could take youtube vids of zany cultural disagreements happening in ur bustling city?

I ride the subway a lot. I'm actually thinking of moving from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Brooklyn is just becoming kinda like the inside of an Urban Outfitters. I just need 2 grow up. I need to be around people who are actually creative, and not just trying to 'look like Bob Dylan.' I just want substance/meaning. I want 2 be inspired by my peers. I want to represent inspiration to others. The most frustrating thing about it for me is not being able to stand out from the crowd because s0 many posers have hijacked the personal brand of a traditionally creative person.

This winter has given me an excellent opportunity to experiment with new personal branding concepts. My latest yarn body suit represents 'being trapped in my society' but kind of highlights how I am lazy and comfortable within this trapped state. Instead of buying clothes, I think I'm gonna start making my own wardrobe. It might not be as 'nice looking' as a Crystal Castles fan bag, but I think I will be a better metaphor.

2k9 will be all about exploring 'what u represent' and trying to be a lil bit more conceptual.

/////
/// <3 Mass Transit/

Public Transportation: I utilize u
I stand with the common man
I make more money than most of the common men
But I ride with them

Saving fuel
Saving emissions
The city thrives
because we can move from Point A to Point B
I move from Point X to Point Z
But I still ride with the common man

Listening to podcasts
People watching
Visiting websites on my 3G network
I live in a real city
Will never move to suburbia
Because they live in houses
and drive cars
forgetting what makes us
human after all

Next time I play Sim City
I will not build roads.