The informant is a 23 year old musician who enjoys learning exchanging stories about legendary bands with his fellow musicians. This piece would be exchanged during a band practice  or when speaking with another musician to prove knowledge of game-changing bands.

“So, uh, some label executives were trying to woo The Smiths to sign with them. I believe it was probably the one that they ended up taking, so it was Warner in the US for distribution. And um, they, you know, took them out to the guitar shop – ‘cause that’s how you could woo people back then and they had the budget to do that kind of thing. And so, he saw the beautiful red, hollow-body guitar with all gold hardware, and it ended up actually being the guitar he used for like the entirety of The Smiths, and like a big part of their sound. But, uh, he sat down, and the first thing he played, the first thing that popped into his head that he did was the opening riff of “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.” Which is ironic, seeing as like, the guitar, you know, like spoke to him and like made him happy. But that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about the duality, the irony. That’s what The Smiths are all about.”

My informant learned this piece from a fellow band-mate. The Smiths is one of my informants favorite bands. Many modern-day indie-rockers look to The Smiths for inspiration and guidance on how to make music that is important but popular as well. This would be exchanged during band practice or when speaking to fellow musicians to prove one’s knowledge of music.

Analysis:

This piece is interesting because it has the nostalgia factor of what the music industry used to be with the line “‘cause that’s how you could woo people back then and they had the budget to do that kind of thing.” Today’s musicians envy the prominence of labels and flow of money that bands had just ten years ago. However, today’s musicians enjoy their freedom and the fact that most of them don’t have to answer to a label.

The informant is a 23 year old musician who enjoys learning exchanging stories about legendary bands with his fellow musicians. This piece would be exchanged during a band practice  or when speaking with another musician to prove knowledge of game-changing bands.

“So, English rock group Radiohead found themselves in need of a place to record their new record, The King of Limbs, in Los Angeles. They ended up using – uh, I believe she’s – because she’s a fan, actually um, Drew Barrymore’s basement. And um, in the, you know, her name was included in the liner notes and that’s when people figured out. Everyone thought that it was like some weird joke. And then after some more, uhm, you know, further investigation, they found that uh, it’s actually because that’s where they truly recorded it. And then, that album was actually like, pretty universally, hated by fans and critics, initially. And then, a few weeks later, everyone was like “Uhhhh actually this is like some of the freakiest, coolest stuff Radiohead’s done!” So, make a album in Drew Barrymore’s basement. People might not like it at first. So, just beware.”

This is important to the informant because it is an example of a band whose popularity did not guarantee an understanding of their music. The informant learned this from a fan-rub website about Radiohead. This would be performed during band practice or when in conversation with fellow musicians to prove one’s knowledge of music.

Analysis:

This story is interesting because it demonstrates the fickleness of the music industry and its fans. Even though Radiohead was already a highly successful band, successful enough to have fans like Drew Barrymore, their music was not understood immediately by the media or their fans. Musicians that are trying to make it in today’s industry are hyperaware of the fact that people will not blindly accept what you put out. However, in telling the legend of the making of this album, it reminds musicians that success is achievable and negative reactions to one album does not end a career.

The informant is a 23 year old musician who enjoys learning exchanging stories about legendary bands with his fellow musicians. This piece would be exchanged during a band practice  or when speaking with another musician to prove knowledge of game-changing bands.

“So, uh, The Smith’s track How Soon is Now, which actually ended up being their biggest US hit, um, arose from a single session. And now actually I’m forgetting what the single was. But they had a single, a B-side, and they were looking for a third track to record to put on the second side because they had, they did these things called “maxi singles” where there was the single and then you got like two songs on the back side. Uh, and they came on, uh, twelve inch records instead of seven inch. And, so, they brought in – Johnny Marr, the guitar player, brought in a cassette of that guitar part and it was called “Swampy.” That was all it said on the cassette. And he got the idea “why don’t we put this over a hip-hop beat,” because it was the eighties and hip-hop was like starting to blow up. Um, and, uh, it was never officially on an album. Um, and the band never made a music video for it. Now the label had different ideas for this song. They knew that the way hip-hop was blowing up in America that they could, that this song had potential. So, they actually made a video without consulting the band at all. Put it together with like clips from a movie. And uh, they made it without the band’s permission. The band was very furious. And then, also, I believe this time with the band’s permission, um put the song on their album Meat is Murder – their second album – uh, only on the US version of the album because of its overnight success in the US. So it’s not on the UK version, it is on the US version, crazy.”

This story is important to the informant because it is one of his favorite bands, as it is of many of his fellow musicians. The informant learned of this story on an internet forum for fans of the band. This would be performed during band practice or when speaking to fellow musicians to prove knowledge of music trivia.

Analysis:

This story is important because it demonstrates that while it may have been easier for bands during the time of big labels to have a steady income, these bands did not have freedom. Bands today envy the popularity of legendary bands just ten years ago but value their independence and freedom in their ability to write and perform what they please. It also speaks to the fact that a wildly successful song was created by happenstance, alluding to the fact that success can come unexpectedly and at any moment.

The informant is a 23 year old musician who enjoys learning exchanging stories about legendary bands with his fellow musicians. This piece would be exchanged during a band practice  or when speaking with another musician to prove knowledge of game-changing bands.

“I’m talking about the Irish rock group, My Bloody Valentine, who, I guess rose to prominence in like the late eighties – early nineties. They released a series of EPs, um, that they recorded, uh, and attracted some attention of, like, independent labels. So they were signed to like one of the biggest indies in the UK, or in like the isles, the British Isles. Okay, so basically they, uh, they finally got the go ahead to start recording a full-length album on Creation Records. And they hauled in a ton of, like, vintage gear – which was less expensive at the time. Like it was valued as like a cheap alternative to new gear. Like it wasn’t like vintage gear yet, it was like this is a crappy amp from the sixties. It was like, you know, and it was worth like nothing then. So they had these like huge stacks and basically started getting really experimental in the studio. Um, and then… they would get tinnitus – which is ringing of the ear – from how loud all the stacks of amps were and would have to take a break. And so they would spend like a week trying to record part of a song and then have like a big bout with tinnitus and have to stop and then forget what they even wanted to do. So this album took, like, a couple years and, like, basically almost bankrupted their tiny label. Uh.. and I don’t remember the exact amount, but I think the legend has it that it was almost like half a million dollars they spent recording this album. And, I mean, it ended up, like… being the completely different, like, scene-altering record that they were going after. But it was like a huge, uh, a huge, um… risk for the label to undertake. And I hope they made that back, I mean, this really is on everybody’s list of the best albums of that era and most influential for bands. I could list, like, a ton of bands that were heavily influenced by that album and the tones.”

My informant heard this story from one of his fellow band members. It is important to him because this band changed the course of music in his eyes and people have different theories about how this band came to have such an original sound.

Analysis:

I believe this is in line with what most musicians do when speaking to one another. They love to exchange stories about different legendary bands and add to the legend of that band’s music and influence.

My informant is a 19 year old student studying neuroscience at USC.

“Um okay so, my first story is about this house on my street growing up that always was like a little bit – I just always had a weird feeling about it because…um. Basically my neighborhood has like, four, not four, maybe like, six different like basic housing plans and then like each house in the neighborhood is just like some variation or mirrored design of those different options. But there is one house on my street that was just like, looked very different than the rest and had this very ornate gate that led into their courtyard. It was like very, I don’t even know how to explain it. It was like this iron-cast gate that had very swirly-like type metal, uh. I don’t know like Medieval looking, but not Medieval. And it was painted royal blue. And basically never saw anyone going in or out of the house. And, even on Halloween, all the houses, you know, they usually leave their porch-light if they’re home and want people to trick-or-treat. This house never, uh, had the porch-light on and never had anyone home for trick-or-treating. And so it was always just this very mysterious house, uh, I just – we didn’t really know actually who lived in it. Um… except for one year, on Halloween the porch-light was on. And so I figured, okay, this..this is interesting because now we can trick-or-treat there. Um, and so, we go, and we trick-or-treat and then the people that answer the door – it’s like kind of this maybe twenty something year old guy with like his girlfriend, um. And so, yeah, they give us the candy, whatever, we leave. Um, and that was the only time that I ever saw anyone in that house. And I lived in my house like my whole life, so this is like, you, ten years that I’d never seen anyone in the house before. Basically then, so in middle school, so fast-forward like two or three years or whatever, um. There – I’m driving home from school, and, or my mom is, and the entire street is like, coned off. There’s police cars and caution tape across the road. Um, you can only get to my house by going, like, this opposite way, ‘cause we’re on the other end of the street. And basically what happened was I guess a woman was actually – an older woman – was the one who owned the house and she had been murdered … by her son – who, now, retrospectively, looking back, I think, was the guy that was there that one night for Halloween trick-or-treating. And basically, he killed his mom, who was living at the house alone. And killed her and cut her into pieces and put her in the freezer – in the fridge, of like her refrigerator – very gross. Um, so yeah, I feel like that house is like scary, and always got weird vibes from it, and then very bad stuff happened there. And that’s that. And obviously the house was foreclosed, and someone else bought it, and they redid the entire house and took out the gate and now it’s like a young family living there so. Hopefully, it’s like not … scary.”

The informant would perform this in a setting where everyone is telling some sort of strange or scary story.

Analysis:

People are afraid of the strange or unknown and assign these things supernatural or paranormal powers. My informant, as a young child, noticed something out of the ordinary and naturally labeled it as a bad thing. This time, she was right.