I was just looking over the site and noticed how long it has been since we've updated our blog, it has been quite a while indeed.  That doesn't mean that there hasn't been a lot happening in the past couple months, it is more that the boys of SL have settled into a solid routine, and to break the routine to blog seems more cumbersome than it should.  We are writing new songs, developing a new sound, and all in all are just feeling spiffy.  I promise that there will be blog material for you viewing pleasure every week from here on out.  The new year is on the horizon and 2008 is going to be a banner year for Stone Lucy.

Now, a quicky...

Pay to play

As of 12/1/07 Stone Lucy has relocated to a cabin in the hills outside of Richmond.  Being out there in nature is a great change of scenary, and it has given us time to reflect on an issue all bands face - the idea of pay to play which permeates the scene.  It costs so much money to be in a rock band that it hardly seems worth it sometimes, and with the economy in terrible shape one wonders how and why local rock bands are able to survive.

Example:  As a band, Stone Lucy is open-minded and willing to accept most of what the world hands us, and believe it or not we try not to bash people that don't deserve it.  We've found a case where someone totally deserves it - our former home, MetroSound Studios is a big time rip-off.  If you are a local band looking for a place to practice, and you are too loud to practice in the fan (as we definitely were), do not rent from the douche bag who owns and manages MetroSound.  First of all, the price that we were paying for our space was outrageous.  Secondly, but most importantly, the attitude of the business is entirely wrong.  Don't get us wrong, there are some fine guys working there just doing their day jobs.  However, with management we (and most of the other bands there, too) were consistantly butting heads.  Simply put, this is a matter of "pay to play" economics.

The owner of the store should be allowed to charge whatever he wants.  However, within the city of Richmond it is very difficult to find a decent, secure practice space that will allow a band somewhere to store their equipment, access it 24/7, and generally play late.  Unfortunately, the situation for practice spaces is the same as it is for gigs...skewed in favor of the property owner and not in favor of musicians. 

Just like Metrosound, most clubs have their pick of bands because there are so many acts.  The problem is that owners do not benefit from innovative acts.  Hell, they might not benefit from good acts.  Instead they benefit either from acts that are tepid enough not to scare anyone away, or from acts which can consistantly bring a large crowd.  How do acts consistantly bring a large crowd?  Well, that's the subject of the next blog...stay tuned.                  

Will here.  I was recently having a chat with my good buddy Akshay Narang, I fabulous singer-songwriter who lives in Nashville.  Akshay and I are about as different as two friends can be, but I feel that we remain close because we both are considerate and have a passion for music and culture.  We had an interesting myspace conversation about the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows that I thought might be thought provoking to some.  If you don't know about the cd yet, here is the Time article on it which I quote from in our conversation http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html.  Please feel free to send your thoughts and opinions.  Remember, these are hastily written by both myself and Akshay, so don't hold us to rules of spelling, grammatical, and/or argumentattion.

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Akshay

radiohead is putting out a new record on the 10th of this month. it is only available on their website as either a discbox release (two cds, vinyl, book, artwork) or digital downloads. here's the thing: for the digital downloads, you determine the price. that's right. you decide how much it is worth and that is how much you pay for it. $1 per song? fine. 5 cents per song. fine.

fucking madness.

-akshay

Will

Yeah, I heard about that. That is fucking dumb, they are going to get robbed...I hope they were able to pay for the production and promotion of the album with warm wishes and liberal guilt - last I checked, Kid A, Hail to the Theif, and their last record did not sell so well. Also, they are currently label-less, so the entire monetary hit is coming to their pockets. Pretty risky for a band with so much to lose.

Which makes me think:
1. Why the fuck doesn't Radiohead, arguably one of the best bands in the world (because they've sold millions of records, worked as real innovators, and also maintained a defiant political agenda inspite of success), have a God-damn record deal? Is there no record label in the world willing to play ball with them on their terms, yet Fergie can name her contract?

2. I'm trying to determine what Radiohead is trying to do here as well...why would you let people name there own price? Is this just some gimmick to bring people to their music? If I can get each song for 3 cents, I'm gonig to be tempted to download the whole damn thing for less than a buck and let Thom Yorke worry about how he feeds his kids - 'cause I don't care. Are they banking on the good nature of the consumer? Why not just price the album at a reasonable price so that way people can afford it? Assuming that it costs them as much to make a CD as Stone Lucy 1 cd = 1 dollar; if they priced the damn thing at $5 and sold 100,000 copies, that's $500,000. They can really only lose with this scheme of theirs, so I don't understand. No one is going to come in at like $100 per song. I'm not saying music is about making money, but if you are financing everything on your own, only a fuckin' idiot would roll the dice in the way they seem to be.

Hit me back with your thoughts, this is interesting

Akshay

this is interesting indeed.

i actually hold the opposite view point, william. i think it is a great marketing technique for digital sales. the only money they have spent thus far has been on the making of the album. they have spent no money on manufacturing physical copies of the cds, hence, no packaging/shipping/handling/artwork expenses. aside from this, todays artists do not see much from cd sales anyway, especially since the advent of file sharing and lack of consumer conscience. i think this 'name your price' gimmick will only help them promote their music.

radiohead are out of a record deal because they have fulfilled their six album deal with emi. they are currently in negotiations with a few major labels who are courting them. when a deal is signed (allegedly sometime this week), there will be physical copies of the new cd manufactured and slated for release early 2008.

i do not think any member of radiohead is worried about having enough money to support his family. they are at the point where they have enough of a devout following that they can progressively make 'unpop' records and still sell out venues across ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />europe and america.

i think marketing gimmicks like 'name your price' will only help them garner the attention they so deserve.

my two cents.

-akshay

Will

 I suppose it is a good way to drum up support, but all and all I really only feel like Radiohead (and the industry) can lose from this and not gain. Here's my rationale (this isn't really a syllogistic argument, just a point by point):

1. As you mentioned, Radiohead is in no danger of going broke or having no fans. You are right. When I mentioned that they have so much to lose, I really meant something more about credibility and the ability to make change. When Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster they were hands down the biggest act in the world - outside of like Michael Jackson or Madonna or the Rolling Stones - and ulitmately they didn't win shit, Ticketmaster still sell us tickets at inflated prices and the industry is still run by mega corporations. What did happen is that Pearl Jam lost fans by seeming preachy, they lost revenue, and a couple years later they were no longer the biggest bands in the world. Radiohead does not have the level of popularity that PJ had at the time of the Ticketmaster debate - far from it. I feel like they could lose credibility. And what if online sales are lackluster? What if you throw a party, buy all of the beer and treats for everyone, and no one shows? Surely a poor reception to the album would hurt their future in record industry. Maybe Radiohead doesn't give a shit. I doubt they care how they are viewed by the public and record-company types. Good for them, I don't either - but it will ultimately hurt us all.

Here's why:
2. Say Stone Lucy produces our best work to date. I'm working very hard and plan to continue to write and hone the songs until this album is as great as we can make it. Ultimately, this is going to cost me a lot of money if we want to get our names out there, get the right shows in support of the cd, get merch and at least make my money back. Right now Stone Lucy is operating at a loss, and a big loss. So Radiohead decides that they will subvert iTunes and record stores and the whole system. And on top of that, they are trusting their fans to be scrupulous enough to download at their own price! First of all I'm going to download the album for a dollar and they can go fuck themselves for having such a dumb idea; second of all, what are you and I going to do? We don't even have the pseudo-moral leverage that good ole anti-establishment Radiohead has, so I doubt that there are any Stone Lucy fans out there, besides maybe you, that would pay us a fair price for tunes if we had to give them up to the consumer at the price they name. For the working musician it isn't about making money, it is about breaking even for your hard work and time. If people weren't even willing to pay my band a dollar per song it would be exceedingly tough for me to keep it going.

3. There is a larger issue here, as well. How low do real musicians have to go to sell their work? What about the major label, big-time acts that aren't going to follow suit? I have a feeling that these acts are going to be the pop acts that currently control the download market because they are targeting a larger community - people who like 3 minute catchy pop songs. So what does a complicated, smart band like Radiohead do - instead of proving a point that bands can still maintain mainstream popularity and create compelling music by demanding more from a record label and releasing their album with great aplomb, they opt to work like Priceline - so now Fall Out Boy albums will be sold for a dollar a song or $15 at a store, while Radiohead albums will be sold for much less. The industry makes more money from the pop acts, the pop acts make more money to fund themselves, and actual musicians who are writing something worth writing are forced to sell the product of their labor for far less because they will never have the money or ability to promote themselves the way the middle man could have promoted them.

Maybe Radiohead will see every cent of what they sell online, and maybe they'll make a fortune - but they already have legions of fans. Stone Lucy wouldn't fare nearly so well, and if this becomes the standard for artistic credibility, well, I doubt we ever will do well.

4. To quote from the Time article about this:
"Labels can still be influential and profitable by focusing on younger acts that need their muscle to get radio play and placement in record stores — but only if the music itself remains a saleable commodity. "That's the interesting part of all this," says a producer who works primarily with American rap artists. "Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I'm not sure there's any going back." "

I don't think this is a death-knell for the industry, but I do think that it is going to make popular music even more commercial, if that is even fucking possible. An even bigger problem, of course, is that bands at our level, the local level, have to generate more sales, more buzz, and be more marketable than ever to get a label to take a chance on them. That pushes bands into dichotomies - either they will be "innovative" (another word for "gimmick", typically) or they will rehash the same shit that is currently popular and hope that someone notices that they can do it too.

I'm worried about music right now, I'm worried about my band. I don't think what Radiohead is doing will help anyone but themselves, from the increased buzz about their cd. And, given that they potentially will not see a dime from downloads, they are taking an unnecessary gamble.

Stone Lucy's Syndicated Summer just received a wonderful review on the Boston-based music website Low-Budget Superhero.  Here's the link:   http://lowbudgetsuperhero.com/?page_id=692

Honestly, it feels like this is the first review we've had from someone who has actually listened to the fucking cd with headphones on, besides fans of the band and other bands.  Thank God for a real review from someone who is not the ever-present "Let's reveiw everything" writer who will always provide a bland, non-damning review for a few bucks. 

A couple thoughts on this review:

1.  We at Stone Lucy are always attempting to write rock songs in formats that are typically not on rock radio.  This doesn't mean, however, that we are always trying to write a 20-minute, totally unlistenable song.  We push ourselves to write the songs we think are missing from mainstream rock music.  Because of this we've been written off by some as being "pretentious".  We disagree.  The reason we write the songs we write is that we assume there are tons of people out there who listen to the same music we listen to and feel, as we do, that there is a lot missing from what's available to people in mainstream music currently.

2.  There are several VA/DC-area bands that we feel are pushing boundaries in unique ways, bands that are, in a sense, "progressive".  A couple easy names to drop are Akshay Narang, Ki: Theory, Red Anthem, One Friend, and Numa.  If you like what you are reading in the review and want to hear some other bands who we feel fit the same niche, these are good acts to check out.

Not all good acts are "progressive", but that isn't a bad thing...check out our next blog for some thoughts on "progressive music" and the trouble with other musical monikers.

Good question, friend, let me tell you!

5 cds I'm listening to lately:

5.  Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch - Our Lady Peace

4.  10,000 Days  - Tool.  Jambi has like the coolest guitar tone ever.

3.  Late Registration - Kanye West (I'm going to get the new cd soon, but I'm psyching myself up with this one)

2. Grace - Jeff Buckley.  Hell yeah.

1.  Down on the Upside - Soundgarden.  The reason our next demo will be recorded to tape.

For the last month Stone Lucy has been combing the RVA for the next drum god to fill out our songs.  Today we announce that we have found and retained the service of our second drum monster, a man with an awesome resume to back his amazine playing - Jed Gleason. 

Folks, I'll be honest here, I and the rest of the members of Stone Lucy were worried when Chris McKinney announced his departure.  Chris is a great talent who accels at a lot of things that most drummers find very difficult.  Not only does he have great chops, but he has a knack for taking the type of drum part that you've heard in rock songs before and twisting them into the odd time signatures that Stone Lucy songs require; and it took us almost 9 months to find him!  Another 9 months out of commission would not have been good for this group.  It might have killed us.

Then Jed comes and saves the day.  And everyone, I'm here to tell you that Mr. Gleason is badass.  This guy plays like a goddamn sledgehammer, but that belies his versitility.  The former drummer for the ever popular Black Cash and the Bad Trips, Jed was also the driving force behind the Tool influenced Atomizer.  This band's recordings sound like fucking Undertow, and we are pleased to see this type of heaviness get into the Stone Lucy sound.

Stay tuned for new shows, new songs at these new shows, and a new vitality in our live performances.  Peace out, bitches. 

Hey suckas,

Will here.  I suppose it has been a few weeks since the last blog and so here we are because I've nothing to do tonight and I'm feeling a little writerly.  For all of you out there chomping at the bit to find out who the next drummer is, or to find out if you are the new Stone Lucy drum god, sorry, but you'll have to keep waiting because the auditions begin unabated.  In the meantime, here are some top 10 lists I've compiled (in no particular order, I suppose).  I'm going to bulletin this afterward so I find out what your favorites are:

Albums:

10.  De-loused in the Commatorium (The Mars Volta) - Really ambitious pop-song writing that takes every single convention of writing catching material and turns it on its head, yet the album maintains a singablility and listenability not often found in ambitious music.

9.  Ten (Pearl Jam) - I bought the TAB book to this and learned all the solos when I was like thirteen, which explains why I sound a lot like Mike McCready.

8.  Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) - Just takes my breath away; all of the lyrics on this cd are both at once very personal and universal.  I feel like there are two types of song writers, the type who write songs about existential conundrums and the type who write about personal experience.  I think this album is the example of the former and is probably the yard stick to which all other albums in that genre are measured.

7.  Abby Road (The Beatles) - Amazing production, amazing songwriting, and really a great vibe to this whole record.  Makes me feel like I'm 8 years old in my parents' car.

6.  Lateralus (Tool) - I didn't like Tool until Akshay mentioned that the songs Garrett and I were writing sounded exactly like them.  Once I heard Aenema I was like "Fuck!  I thought I was doing something different!"  I feel that there are lots of bands that play things that are technically difficult in the same way that Tool does, but on Lateralus I think they show the world how to make an artful record that is technical and emotional.

5.  Sticky Fingers (The Rolling Stones) - One of my Dad's favorite records; my Dad is not a music guy, but he did turn me on to a lot of the right stuff. 

4.  Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits - I've been going nuts over this record for the past few months.  The production on these songs is frickin' nuts.  Listen to the production on "The Boxer" and then tell me that this was recorded in the 1960s.  Nothing else from the same period sounds as slick and badass, and there were alot of amazing people making records then.

3.  American Beauty (The Greatful Dead) - Best lyrics on any CD, in my opinion.  Except for 'Operator' and 'Candyman' that album is just top notch.  I don't listen to this album alot, but it has to make the cut.

2.  Down on the Upside (Soundgarden) - probably up there for my favorite cd of all time.  Everything on this record kicks ass, yet it has lots of personality.  Just like the Seattle scene, this record is aggressive, smart, and is raw in all of the right ways.  Fall Out Boy couldn't fake their way through an album like this.

1.  The Mule Variations (Tom Waits) - I had one more, and while there are probably 30 albums I have in mind right now, this one is taking the final spot.  A complicated, heartfelt album with some of the best vocals.  This album is so intensely Southern in its style that I was really shocked to find that Waits is from California, but what can you do?

I'd really like to hear from some guitarists on this next one.  Again, no particular order

Guitar Solos:

10.  Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix) - This song is amazing for all of the guitar work, the solo itself is actually really sparse for the normal flash that Jimi exudes.  I think this is a great example of guitar tone making a solo powerful.

9.  Art School Girlfriend (Stone Temple Pilots) - Another tone solo, but this damn thing is out there...Dean DeLeo gets all over the fretboard and does an amazing job of using feedback, effects, harmonics (both artificial and natural), and even some sweep picking without sounding like a metal-head and turning out a crazy, artful, and really short solo.

8.  Three Days (Janes Addiction) - I thought this was the best guitar solo ever when I was like 15.  That isn't knocking the solo by calling it juevenile, I just mean that it was a really formative solo for me.

7.  Blackhole Sun (Soundgarden) - I don't care if I've heard this song more than anything else ever, this solo is great, and I'll always keep the song on to hear just that part.

6.  'L' Via l'Viaquez' (The Mars Volta) - 3 solos traded between John Frusciante and Omar Rodrigo-Lopez; and Frusciante rips it the hell up.  This song makes want to dance like a Brazilian and play guitar.

5.  Europa (Santana) - One of the few instrumental guitar pieces I can play all of the way through perfectly.  It took a lot of work to nail the touch.

4.  Rude Mood (Stevie Ray Vaughan) - He plays so fast and cleanly that I think most people would miss that he also happens to be literally punching his guitar strings for about half the damn song.  I tried it and it tore-up my fragile little hands pretty quickly.  Consequently, I can't play this song.

3.  'Cause We Ended as Lovers (Jeff Beck) - Also really great guitar tone, cool backing, and a seductive vibe.  I really think Jeff Beck is an amazing player, but really, who needed me to say that?

2.  Something (The Beatles) - A great guitar solo by George Harrison.  I feel like so many guitarists either noodle away or just try and repeat the vocal line that very rarely does the guitar create its own instrumental motif and use that as the basis for a solo.  This is a really good example of that.

1.  Sick, Sad Little World (Incubus) -  I think this solo is great.  Probably one of the few rock solos of written in a long time that doesn't suck, I think that Mike Enzinger knows that he is a way better guitarist than most of the bands that would be labeled his "peers" and though he rarely will point it out to everyone, he does do that here.

Album art:

10.  Lateralus - Tool

9. Revolver - The Beatles

8.  Purple - Stone Temple Pilots

7.  No Code - Pearl Jam

6.  Nevermind - Nirvana

5.  In Utero - Nirvana

4.  Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

3.  Ritual de lo Habitual - Jane's Addiction

2.  When the Pawn... - Fiona Apple

1.  Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins

What are your top 10s?

After a year of faithful, creative, and amazingly badass drumming, our man behind the kit Chris McKinney has had to step down and move.  While this has happened suddenly and taken the band aback, we can only wish Chris the best in all of his future persuits and there are certainly no hard feelings between any of us.  Chris will always be a life-long member of the extended Stone Lucy family.  Chris will almost certainly post his own blog here in the coming days, but since his departure is now official, we'd thought we'd let our fans and all interested parties know now.

We are also now in the search for a new drummer and will be holding auditions over the coming weeks to find our next drum guru.  Feel free to drop us a line here on myspace or at stoneband@gmail.com if you know of a drummer that fits the bill or if you'd like to take a crack at it yourself.  Thanks.

Wow, it has been a long time since we've posted, and it feels like it has been even longer since we've played a show (though it has really just been a couple weeks).  There is still a lot to chat about, so go get a cup of tea, maybe a scone, and sit back and enjoy...

STONE LUCY NEWS!

This edition features several important changes for SL...first of all, let us talk gear.  After months of searching and discussing with multiple companies, Will and Chris are getting their endorsement deals squared away. 

Will is now the first endorsed artist of the fledgling Jarrett Guitars who made a splash at last winter's NAMM show are known for their work on their work on the Shelby Cobra Anniversary Series guitars.  In fall Jarrett guitars will release their first full-on product line featuring several models, one of which is to be the "Will Decher Signature Series" featuring all of the appointments that adorn slick Willy's new instrument, which is a true work of art, and, we might add, an f-ing tone machine.  Having owned many guitars including top notch PRS and Gibson guitars, I can easily say without hesitation that these instruments are peers with these brands, and in many ways surpass the other brands because of their delicate, handmade qualities.  We will be posting pictures soon - but if you come on out to a show, be prepared to drop your jaw.

Chris McKinney is discussing drum endorsements with several custom drum makers, who have enthusiastically offered to work with our resident drum god.  We will keep you posted on what we are certain will be the amazing kit that Chis decides to play.

In other news, songwriting is going well for the next CD.  Our expectations of what this band can do are high, as we all hold our playing and songwriting in high esteem, and want to record an album that we can be proud of for the rest of our lives.  We are nearly half way done with the writing and hope to have completed the majority of the songs and get into a pre-recording phase by October/November.  Many of these songs are going to mark a directional change for SL.  Not content to remake the same songs or style this album will feature a diverse crop of tunes that will feature Adam Parker taking on guitar work, will expanding his role to including sampling, keys, and Chris and Garrett are going to be kicking in some extra percussion. 

We are slating the next album for release next year, so there is plenty of time to wait - in the meantime, if you haven't picked up a copy of our 7 song EP Syndicated Summer, you are one of the few, because it is moving.  Get your butt in gear, come out to a show and buy a copy, order the album from CD Baby, or download our music from iTunes.  If you are just content to listen to the terrible audio quality here on MySpace you are missing out on a lot of the ear candy that went into this CD. 

As mentioned in a previous blog, Will is back home in DC and so look for Stone Lucy to expand into the city and kill some shows around town.  First up on the slate is Asylum, this Friday, with our good buddies Rome in a Day and Numa.  Catch this night of 3 stellar acts and don't forget to message us if you are attending the show to pick-up a discounted copy of Syndicated Summer - $2 with your MySpace message, MySpace friendship, and attendance at the show.  Normally this would cost you $5, so get on the ball and send us some more messages. 

See you all soon!