it's been a while! hope you've all had good summers and such. Plenty has been going on since last blogged. We have some final mixes for your delectation up in the player, these are tracks which will definatley be on the new album, and all that remains now for them is mastering. the page looks a little different as well - there is new art work on the way, and as it gets done i'll share it with you, like last time. i hope you enjoy the new tracks, i don't know what else to say really - bit lost for words today, which is unlike me! but keep your eyes and ears peeled, changes are afoot....

sending love as ever

xx

I've just spent a lovely day in the sunshine, in the garden, in my pants, thinking about alternate lyrics for my song "the Lotus eater". We're doing final vocals for it in about a weeks time, as Andy P is going to gay Paris in the interim, lucky bugger. Everything else is in the bag though, and we are almost ready to roll, it's a very exciting and nerve wracking time for me, i'll have you know. i bloody well hope people like the music after all this to-ing and fro-ing!! if not i shall retire disgracefully and raise meercats or something. As it is, i fully intend to be an old lady who wears purple and smells of wee, so this would just be a hop skip and a jump away.

On other matters, why is 'middle england' so shocked and enraged the MP's have been caught with their hands in the till? as the politician William Pitt said as long ago as 1770, "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" or put another way, "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely". Politicians in self serving sensation! - you don't say, go figure. I'm quite liking the air up here on the moral high ground, nice view, makes a change for me....

Whilst i'm at it, why all the hoo ha around the policing at the G20? why were people shocked that the police were inciting participants to riot, and heavy handedly attacking people who were just minding their own business? as a frequenter of many free parties and demos over the years, i expect no less from our dearly beloved dibble. Maybe the beast that is people power has finally woken from it's apathetic slumber, and the worm is turning. here's hoping.

and don't even get me started on those tight fisted, bailed out bankers.....theres a word for them, not usually used in polite company - it begins with C ends in T, and has a U and an N in the middle, and no, it's not CNUT..........


up the revolution my friends...

As you can all see, i have changed my nom de guerre to Faith and the Fury, in honour of my new record, frankly I was bored of being me, and fancied being a sort of a band for a bit, (even if it is still only me myself and I really) - hope you like it! it might take a bit of getting used to, but hopefully it'll grow on you. Also, have put up some more monitor mixes and a demo for you to listen to. the good news is we are inching closer and closer to completion of the record. Pete has buggered off to his house in Italy again. apparently to build a terrace, as you do!?! which has somewhat interupted the last leg, but it's all shaping up nicely. I am tucked away in my little flat in hackney dreaming up new songs and lyrics....watch this space!! hope all is good with you,

sending masses of love

fi xx

i am a naughty monkey....i knew it was wrong, but i did it anyway, now i've had to take them down...i hope i've tantalised you enough to keep you interested! you'll just have to wait

on a more joyful note, happy valentines day everyone!!! hope you all have cupcakes and kisses

big smoochy ones from me :-)

xxxx

I have put the monitor mixes up for you to have peek at, i shall probably get told that it's a bad idea to play them to anyone, and have to take them down again, but it's been SO long since i had any new music up, and i wanted to share them with you, and see what you thought

hope you like

xx

hello lovelies, i am writing this from the back of the studio in parsons green, whilst pete is twiddling his knobs..... just getting some monitor mixes together for da mangement to take to L.A. on Friday, they're going for the Grammy's and meetings, i'm keeping my fingers crossed for them on both accounts! Life is good at the moment, i'm absolutely brassic after xmas, not two brass farthings to rub togther, and it's pretty treacherous on the old vespa in the ice and snow, but overall i'm feeling smiley. we're finally getting some of the tracks we've been working on to the point that they're ready for proper mixing, so i'm very happy. as ever it's been / contnues to be a long old process. It looks like himself is gonna be off round the world touring from march right through to december this year with A.N. Other enormo rock band, so i shall be keeping the home fires burning with lots of 'me time' (as maya angelou called it) for music and general fabulousness...... cautious optimism is the name of the game.

Will put the monitor mixes up for you when i get them, so you ca listen to what we've been up to

fi xxxxx

hello lovelies, i've got the full on flu :-( which is genius timing, given that it's 3 days til xmas. But i just wanted to wish you all a cracking festive season full of fun and frolics, hope you have a fabulous time, and i see you on the other side for more music and merriment.

lots of love
fi xx

p.s. don't eat all the mince pies at once

it's sunday, i thought i'd had a little lie in, then looked at the clocks. low and behold it was 9.30, and the clocks had gone back - those bastards at greenwich need to stop messing with my mind. i'm at a loose end, so i thought i'd write a blog.

I'm absolutely knackered at the moment, there seems to be loads going on in all areas of my life, and since i'm almost pathologically incapable of saying no to anything, i'm trying to cram it all in. Tons of my friends seem to be having babies at the moment as well (filthy breeders!), so there are seemingly endless foreheads to kiss and whistles to wet, which is actually quite lovely. Babies smell delicious and have cutie wrinkled hands and toes, but all new born's look the same, despite what their intoxicated parents might think. I have resorted to telling lies along the lines of 'yes, he/she looks exactly like you, he/she has your eyes" but there are only so many times you can say these things and sound convincing. I have to say, people close to you having babies is the best contraceptive i know, however I'm looking forward to leading all these lovely children astray when they get older.

on the album front things are hotting up, pete's back from italy, and we've been back at it again, and lorks-a-lordy i do believe that i can see a light at the end of the tunnel now! hopefully the end is nigh, or at least sort of nigh, and i'll have some lovely new music to play you soon.

also - i am absolutely obsessed with the american elections, surely obama has to win?? no right minded person could vote for the Mccain / Palin ticket??? but i think it's gonna be to close to call..... v exciting....and scary

so i'm gonna take the dog out now and do sunday-ish sorts of things, and try not to watch anymore election stuff on youtube

xxxx

i'm in a thoughtful mood today. I am aware that in general, if i am judging, and pointing the finger at another person, usually there are three fingers pointing back at me, so it's best to avoid the whole "he said, she said" scenario. But this morning my best friend came over, and he's splitting up with his wife of 1yr. He thought he'd married the woman of his dreams, turned out she was a snake with tits. He's desperate and heart broken. Why do we do these things to each other? why do we behave in ways that cause maximum damage to others? why are we unable to see that what we give out always comes back to us ten fold? So this kind man keeps giving and she keeps taking and breaking.....

Then I opened the papers, and read about the "credit crunch," and the rescue packages put together by the various governments, using our hard earned money. Was it not obvious to the apparently astute and financially savvy CEO's of the top 5 banks, (who, in Britain, earned 65million pounds last year in in salaries and bonuses alone) that the current way of operating the financial markets would eventually make the system untenble, and lead to bankruptcy? Am I alone in thinking that we should not have to pay for rich men's folly? why don't we take back the bonuses they had last year, and return the money to the banking system? this might at least go some way towards reparation for the mess that they have made.

It struck me that my friend's problem was really a microcosm of the macrocosm, in that we all victims of our own selfish desires, (the desire for sex, love, money, power, control etc). This in turn makes us victims of our own short termism, and often blind to the consequences of our actions. We have an innate ability to conjour realities that aren't really there - we see what we want to see - in the process lying to ourselves and others. Unless these desires are ameliorated with kindness, compassion and an eye to the long view, we'll probably continue to shit on our selves and each other. With selfishness and greed to the fore, these kinds of situations will keep happening, and the world will continue going to the dogs.......

Tihs is a little something steve albini who is a producer / engineer / songwriter / journo wrote about our dearly beloved industry..... bang on the money....


The problem with music

by Steve Albini

This is an article from Maximum Rock n' Roll 133 written by Steve Albini, and it details the problems encountered when dealing with a major label. Reprinted without permission.

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke. And he does of course.


I. A & R Scouts

Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A & R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire." because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly.

These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well.

There are several reasons A & R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences. The A & R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it.

When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast.

By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A & R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.

These A & R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on.

The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little memo, is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document&183; That is, once the band signs it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength.

These letters never have any terms of expiration, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another laborer even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.

One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young "He's not like a label guy at all," A & R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises [something he did with similar effect to another well-known band], and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A & R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it.

The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity.


II. There's This Band

There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label. They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus -- nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work.

To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyways, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much!

One day an A & R scout calls them, says he's 'been following them for a while now, and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time.

They meet the guy, and y'know what -- he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude. They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot.

The A & R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question-he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe-- cost you 5 or 7 grand] and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about.

Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself. Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children-- without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties. Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer--one who says he's experienced in entertainment law and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be great royalty: 13% [less a 1O% packaging deduction]. Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever.

The old label only wants 50 grand, an no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter million, just for being in a rock band!

Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money.

Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody In the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab) use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better. The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on T-shirt sales! ridiculous! There s a gold mine here! The lawyer Should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe.

They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo. They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old "vintage" microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm."

All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies!

Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are:

These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. income is underlined, expenses are not.

Advance: $ 250,000
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
Manager's cut: $ 37,500
Legal fees: $ 10,000


Recording Budget: $ 150,000
Producer s advance: $ 50,000
Studio fee: $ 52,500
Drum. Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $ 3,000
Recording tape: $ 8,000
Equipment rental: $ 5,000
Cartage and Transportation: $ 5,000
Lodgings while in studio: $ 10,000
Catering: $ 3,000
Mastering: $ 10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping
tapes, misc. expenses: $ 2,000


Video budget: $ 30,000
Cameras: $ 8,000
Crew: $ 5,000
Processing and transfers: $ 3,000
Off-line: $ 2,000
On-line editing: $ 3,000
Catering: $ 1,000
Stage and construction: $ 3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation: $ 2,000
Director's fee: $ 3,000


Album Artwork: $ 5,000
Promotional photo shoot and
duplication: $ 2,000
Band fund: $ 15,000
New fancy professional drum kit: $ 5,000
New fancy professional guitars [2]: $ 3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp
rigs [2]: $ 4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $ 1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $ 1,000
Rehearsal space rental: $ 500


Big blowout party for their friends: $ 500


Tour expense [5 weeks]: $ 50,875
Bus: $ 25,000
Crew [3]: $ 7,500
Food and per diems: $ 7,875
Fuel: $ 3,000
Consumable supplies: $ 3,500
Wardrobe: $ 1,000
Promotion: $ 3,000


Tour gross income: $ 50,000
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
Agent's cut: $ 7,500
Manager's cut: $ 7,500


Merchandising advance: $ 20,000
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
Manager's cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000


Publishing advance: $ 20,000
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
Manager's cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer's fee: $ 1,000

Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000
Gross retail revenue Royalty
[13% of 90% of retail]: $ 351,000
Less advance: $ 250,000
Producer's points
[3% less $50,000 advance]: $ 40,000
Promotional budget: $ 25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label: $ 50,000

Net royalty: $ -14,000
^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^


Record company income:

Record wholesale price
$6.50 x 250,000 = $1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties: $ 351,000
Deficit from royalties: $ 14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and
distribution @ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000
Gross profit: $ 7l0,000


The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player
got paid at the end of the game.

Record company: $ 710,000
Producer: $ 90,000
Manager: $ 51,000
Studio: $ 52,500
Previous label: $ 50,000
Agent: $ 7,500
Lawyer: $ 12,000
Band member net income each: $ 4,031.25

The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.

The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige.

The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys.

Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.