Aberdeen Doesn't Exist... Discuss?

[delboy]

aye i got that but still cant find it! having another look now!

[Rachie]

Scan it in for all to see Ross?

[Chris]

aye i got that but still cant find it!

I think that was the point.

the other point about "who the fuck goes to gigs in aberdeen?" I think was taken from other messageboards and not realted to the NME pullout.

Perhaps I've misread the original post though.

[Ross]

I think that was the point.

the other point about "who the fuck goes to gigs in aberdeen?" I think was taken from other messageboards and not realted to the NME pullout.

Exactamundo

[Rachie]

Although in a way, they are technically both saying the same thing. By missing Aberdeen off the map, NME is basically saying "who the fuck goes to gigs in aberdeen". They're giving us the finger by not recognising we exist!

[delboy]

oh right yes the proverbial penny has dropped! it always annoyed my whilst they never included aberdeen in their student guide, given the amount of students in the city and the amount there is to do in the granite city.

[Biz]

Fudge Fanzine

I just bought NME for the free CD, the magazine has gone downhill since the 1990s when I last bought it,with writers more keen to show how clever they are at writing than actually saying much about bands, FUCK THEM, Fudge Fanzine is a great fucking laugh,and you always get a couple of good tracks on their CDs.

Dr Drakes monthly gig guide and even The Lemon Trees (always inacurate and always late brochure) are a much better read.

REVOLT NOW contact the NME and direct them to this site...they may change their tune.

[delboy]

do you know what i bought record collector today for the first time in ages and comparing the level of journalism in each publication, you get to realise how most NME journalists these days are smug, cliched just out of nappies desperately failed wannabe musicians who just try their damn hardest to be clever and witty with every sentence as well as jumping on whatever the latest bandwagon happens to be. whilst in record collector, there is serious music journalism written in a clear, concise manner, perfectly balanced in opinion and. most importantly, more enjoyable to read.

[Camie]

to be hoenst alwasy stayed away from NME. They are one of these alternative magazines that tried to look trendy at the same time. Small time fanzines are the way for honest opinions.

[RicoAUBL]

indeed.... more of a metal hammer man myself...

anyhoo

might send those fools an e-mail... tell em what's what

hmmm... maybe..

*ponders*

[Adele]

"who the fuck goes to gigs in aberdeen"

its not only Aberdonians who go, Shetlanders do as well!!

[HummerOfIntenseEvil]

I don't read the NME' date=' but I sent this for you :

Fuck me, here we go again, a victim of Geography ? Or peoples fucking laziness ?

"who the fuck goes to gigs in Aberdeen"

Err, all the Aberdonians who can always fucking afford to go to "the one and only Scottish Date" (in Fucking Glasgow, 140 miles from here) because, A lazy fucking band can't be arsed travelling to "the Deen".

When I become famous (ho ho), I am going to play 100 Shows in Scotland, and one in England (hmmNewcastle) and see how the FEBs like it.

Phil "le peep" thompson[/quote']

Lovely stuff. Not my words, the words of Shakin Stevens.

[Flossie T Sheep]

why do you all continue to write this reactionary bollocks?, all claiming to be hard done by and ignored by the press?, wasn't it about five or six months ago you were moaning about the Press & Journal not giving local music enough coverage?

look, nobody owes you a career or a living in music, its your music, you put the hard work and dedication in and you'll maybe reap the rewards

i am sure Aberdeen isn't the only place in Britain with universities and colleges thats been omitted by the NME's little throwaway student guide, besides the NME isn't the sole media representative of British music so why get up in arms about it?

maybe you should all quit moaning about your plight and stop trying to make this entire fiasco into a bloody outrage, the NME is a farce anyway, an antiquated rag thats no longer relevant anyway, get in with making your music and making your bands better if thats a possible enough task for you all to carry out

plus Biz, i think your post doesn't exactly give a piece of good advice - direct them to this site?, are you honestly serious when you say that?, i think the NME would take one look at this site and never mention Aberdeen ever again if they saw the nonsense thats written on this site plus the fact that people are making this an issue is making people go out and buy the fucking thing in the first place to see what the fuss is about!

i am sure they will get e-mails from people in all the places they haven't mentioned, you have to remember that these feelings of outrage that have been evoked by this tawdry little booklet mean nothing to them and they will largely ignore your e-mails because they're not going to be worth any space on their letters page and even if your outrage and others' outrage is printed, its going to be like one or two letters that get printed, you're fighting a losing battle to be honest

best wishes,

el flosso

[Flossie T Sheep]

I'll get on to it tomorrow' date=' once I get a copy of the NME and photocopy it. Not paying to read that shit. Any way maybe a certain venue could write in disgust saying that they have recently started taking bookings for larger bands maybe offer the Editor to come and visit see what its all about. May also mention that Aberdeen has one of the best local music scenes in the country.[/quote']

Aberdeen has one of the best local music scenes in the country?, how do you know? have you ever actually been out of Aberdeen and seen how good or bad other local music scenes are in different areas of the UK?

i would hardly say Aberdeen is way up there with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, London, Belfast, Newcastle or places in Wales like Cardiff or Newport where great bands the likes of the Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Myncki come from, lets be honest now eh?

best wishes,

el flosso

[rune]

Aberdeen has one of the best local music scenes in the country?' date=' how do you know? have you ever actually been out of Aberdeen and seen how good or bad other local music scenes are in different areas of the UK?

i would hardly say Aberdeen is way up there with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, London, Belfast, Newcastle or places in Wales like Cardiff or Newport.

[/quote']

Good point

[Rachie]

Bear in mind that "great music scene" does not necessarily mean the home of bands who have already sold out to major labels, that defeats the point of "local music scene". Aberdeen does have a great music scene, I've got friends from out of town who say they'd give anything for their local scene to be as good as Aberdeen's.

[rune]

this means that the music scene can thrive in splendid isolation and one day when people realise that Aberdeen is more exciting than Glasgow

You are so wrong, what do you know about the glasgow scene?

You see aberdeen produce bands that compare with julia 13 or aereogramme?

No you dont. Its obvious you dont know what youre talking about.

[jester1470]

Bear in mind that "great music scene" does not necessarily mean the home of bands who have already sold out to major labels' date=' that defeats the point of "local music scene". Aberdeen [b']does have a great music scene, I've got friends from out of town who say they'd give anything for their local scene to be as good as Aberdeen's.

A great local scene is surely one that nurtures and creates bands of the calibre of the aforementioned, so much so that the majors will take notice and sign them out, quite frankly Aberdeen doesn't have that. As someone in the past who has been involved in the Edinburgh scene in the mid 90's and consequestly some crossover into the Glasgow scene, Aberdeen doesn't come close to the quality of bands that were being produced down there. Aberdeen is full of ego's without the talent to back it up, its too easy to become a big fish in a small pond here and sadly it means many bands with talent get to a certain level and stop pushing. How many bands in Aberdeen have sold over 1000 albums, 2 maybe 3 if we're lucky ? In a place like Aberdeen that shouldn't be too difficult if the acts are getting out and playing and with decent management, compare that to Glasgow and Edinburgh, or even smaller places, there's probably comparable figures with Dundee, and it's hardly the musical centre of Scotland.

If bands of a strong calibre were coming up through the ranks in Aberdeen then there is a chance that NME and other publications would take note, at the moment we're nowhere near that. How many bands here have played in front of ove 500 people ? People here seem to reach a certain level and stop reaching, and the current scene pepetuates that.

The most successful musicians in Aberdeen are the ones who in general aren't part of the 'scene', this is primarily because the people here think of the 'scene' as being punk and rock bands. Aberdeen has a very strong acoustic scene that is pretty much ignored by most people on here (not everyone I know).

Who'll be the next from Aberdeen to be signed to a major ? I could take a few guesses and none of them are hugely scene based, in fact I only know of 2 acts who have had major label interest in the 'current' scene though I could be wrong.

When Aberdeen starts bringing up bands that make an impact nationally then we'll see the publications take note. Maybe some of the current crop of bands have what it takes, but if thats wht they want then they've got to get out of playing in Drakes and play further afield and frequently.

Cheers

Stuart

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

and a major label signing is the only measure of success in your eyes?

[jester1470]

and a major label signing is the only measure of success in your eyes?

No, but when you're talking about NME taking an interest it's one of the big considerations. If a band is good enough at what they do with mass appeal they will have major label interest, at least when they're starting out.

Is signing to a major a measure of success to me - yes it is, it's not the only, hence I mentioned the idea of people playing to bigger audiences and sales of 1000+. As I said it shouldn't be difficult for a band to sell over 1000 here yet not many oare doing it.

Would I sign any of my acts to a major, in a second, it's one of the best ways to build up a fanbase that you can then take to a smaller indie setup later.

There are many ways to measure success, touring, getting out there playing to many people and selling cds is a measure of commercial success, like it or not thats easier with major label backing.

Cheers

Stuart

[rune]

A great local scene is surely one that nurtures and creates bands of the calibre of the aforementioned' date=' so much so that the majors will take notice and sign them out, quite frankly Aberdeen doesn't have that. As someone in the past who has been involved in the Edinburgh scene in the mid 90's and consequestly some crossover into the Glasgow scene, Aberdeen doesn't come close to the quality of bands that were being produced down there. Aberdeen is full of ego's without the talent to back it up, its too easy to become a big fish in a small pond here and sadly it means many bands with talent get to a certain level and stop pushing. How many bands in Aberdeen have sold over 1000 albums, 2 maybe 3 if we're lucky ? In a place like Aberdeen that shouldn't be too difficult if the acts are getting out and playing and with decent management, compare that to Glasgow and Edinburgh, or even smaller places, there's probably comparable figures with Dundee, and it's hardly the musical centre of Scotland.

If bands of a strong calibre were coming up through the ranks in Aberdeen then there is a chance that NME and other publications would take note, at the moment we're nowhere near that. How many bands here have played in front of ove 500 people ? People here seem to reach a certain level and stop reaching, and the current scene pepetuates that.

The most successful musicians in Aberdeen are the ones who in general aren't part of the 'scene', this is primarily because the people here think of the 'scene' as being punk and rock bands. Aberdeen has a very strong acoustic scene that is pretty much ignored by most people on here (not everyone I know).

Who'll be the next from Aberdeen to be signed to a major ? I could take a few guesses and none of them are hugely scene based, in fact I only know of 2 acts who have had major label interest in the 'current' scene though I could be wrong.

When Aberdeen starts bringing up bands that make an impact nationally then we'll see the publications take note. Maybe some of the current crop of bands have what it takes, but if thats wht they want then they've got to get out of playing in Drakes and play further afield and frequently.

Cheers

Stuart[/quote']

Finally someone who talks sense. Being on a major tho isnt a mark of success, take conflict for example

[Flossie T Sheep]

Bear in mind that "great music scene" does not necessarily mean the home of bands who have already sold out to major labels' date=' that defeats the point of "local music scene". Aberdeen does have a great music scene, I've got friends from out of town who say they'd give anything for their local scene to be as good as Aberdeen's.[/quote']

i think you confuse and contradict your own argument there, is Aberdeen not a city in the same way Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, etc are cities too?

i think there was probably points in time where bands the likes of Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, Happy Mondays and The Smiths were probably "local bands" in their areas too and played places the size of Drakes when they were first starting out believe it or not.

i think this other notion you make about bands not "selling out" is another thing thats absolute twaddle, i think that entire notion is nothing more than silly attempts at adopting a rebellious recalcitrant posture and is dishonest

i think most bands in Aberdeen want to make careers out of their music and want to play bigger venues and sell more of their records and build up a bigger fanbase and get recognition in other places apart from their own backyard or "local music scene" and i am sure if record labels approached such bands and offered them a record deal of some description then i am sure they'd take it

best wishes,

el flosso

[Doc]

A great local scene is surely one that nurtures and creates bands of the calibre of the aforementioned' date=' so much so that the majors will take notice and sign them out, quite frankly Aberdeen doesn't have that. As someone in the past who has been involved in the Edinburgh scene in the mid 90's and consequestly some crossover into the Glasgow scene, Aberdeen doesn't come close to the quality of bands that were being produced down there. Aberdeen is full of ego's without the talent to back it up, its too easy to become a big fish in a small pond here and sadly it means many bands with talent get to a certain level and stop pushing. How many bands in Aberdeen have sold over 1000 albums, 2 maybe 3 if we're lucky ? In a place like Aberdeen that shouldn't be too difficult if the acts are getting out and playing and with decent management, compare that to Glasgow and Edinburgh, or even smaller places, there's probably comparable figures with Dundee, and it's hardly the musical centre of Scotland.

If bands of a strong calibre were coming up through the ranks in Aberdeen then there is a chance that NME and other publications would take note, at the moment we're nowhere near that. How many bands here have played in front of ove 500 people ? People here seem to reach a certain level and stop reaching, and the current scene pepetuates that.

The most successful musicians in Aberdeen are the ones who in general aren't part of the 'scene', this is primarily because the people here think of the 'scene' as being punk and rock bands. Aberdeen has a very strong acoustic scene that is pretty much ignored by most people on here (not everyone I know).

Who'll be the next from Aberdeen to be signed to a major ? I could take a few guesses and none of them are hugely scene based, in fact I only know of 2 acts who have had major label interest in the 'current' scene though I could be wrong.

When Aberdeen starts bringing up bands that make an impact nationally then we'll see the publications take note. Maybe some of the current crop of bands have what it takes, but if thats wht they want then they've got to get out of playing in Drakes and play further afield and frequently.

Cheers

Stuart[/quote']

I was just the other day speaking to a north east duo who play a lot in aberdeen (and all over scotland as well) who are in discussion with a major about a deal. They're not scenstersin any sense of the word, but a pro working band who make a living from music. This means a lot of playing covers in holiday parks and clubs ect but it's work and you play what the client wants. However, it's their own material that got a major interested. Stuff the rarely play live but release on CD. They got where they are by relentless work and touring. I won't tell you their name as they hate all that scene snobbery but it's not hard to work out.

[Biz]

Xs Relocat

i think you confuse and contradict your own argument there' date=' is Aberdeen not a city in the same way Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, etc are cities too?

i think there was probably points in time where bands the likes of Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, Happy Mondays and The Smiths were probably "local bands" in their areas too and played places the size of Drakes when they were first starting out believe it or not.

i think this other notion you make about bands not "selling out" is another thing thats absolute twaddle, i think that entire notion is nothing more than silly attempts at adopting a rebellious recalcitrant posture and is dishonest

i think most bands in Aberdeen want to make careers out of their music and want to play bigger venues and sell more of their records and build up a bigger fanbase and get recognition in other places apart from their own backyard or "local music scene" and i am sure if record labels approached such bands and offered them a record deal of some description then i am sure they'd take it

best wishes,

el flosso [/quote']

XS RELOCAT have rehearsed every week for 3 years, our ambition is to gig at Dr Drakes, as far as making CDs to sell or being part of a record deal that will never happen, if we were any more ambitious it would mean gigging in Drummonds or The Lemon Tree , fuck THE MAN he sucks.

[Zippy]

You are so wrong' date=' what do you know about the glasgow scene?

You see aberdeen produce bands that compare with julia 13 or aereogramme?

No you dont. Its obvious you dont know what youre talking about.[/quote']

I'm actually talking about a pointless fantasy, as I said at the end of that post! Your'e right I don't know alot about the Glasgow scene, and I think Aereogramme are an amazing band as they proved last Thursday!Lapsus Linguae are also from there and they are also amazing! Aberdeen probably isn't as exciting as Glasgow but I do hold Aberdeen in high regard! I take it back, I hope Aberdeen can rival Glasgow one day, you never know. In the end its pointless being regionalistic (is that a word?) or even nationalistic in terms of music as I probably appeared. If music is good,then it doesn't matter what scene it came from!