Flights Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Their certainly seems to be a high level of elitist and competitive behavior in Aberdeen.The improved accessibility to recording equipment these days may also be a factor in bands just doing their own thing and not really interacting with other groups. In the past compilations and split e.p's were quite common but you don't really hear of a lot of folk doing them these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 There are definitely collections of bands that play together a lot and are pals. From my own experience, ourselves and Min Diesel play a lot together and regularly hug each other. We're also good friends with Bonehouse, Pensioner and Kaddish from Dundee. Then there are the bands on Bedford Records, who are mostly pals. The "scene" maybe isn't great from this point of view, its not going to turn heads, but these sorts of "scene" activities certainly exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tam o' Shantie Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 I really do think it is as simple as people being skint I find people are very eager to help local bands out and go to shows and buy merch etc but it really is expensive to go to a gig, have a few beers and buy a t-shirt. Then there is the argument that maybe the people complaining about the music scene just aren't a part of the younger thriving scene. I think what Tuff Wax are doing is also awesome.Put good bands on on a Friday or Saturday night and people will come. From my experience, its only really "school nights" that struggle for gig goers. I don't think that is so bad, and when there's a decent band on, Aberdeen is RAWK CITY.thanks y'all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 thanks y'all!Why? I wasn't talking about Tuff Wax. Not that I don't think it is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Their certainly seems to be a high level of elitist and competitive behavior in Aberdeen.The improved accessibility to recording equipment these days may also be a factor in bands just doing their own thing and not really interacting with other groups. In the past compilations and split e.p's were quite common but you don't really hear of a lot of folk doing them these days.People still do splits quite a lot.I wouldn't say there's much elitist going on. There's a fuck load of bitchiness though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 That's a scene from a gig-goer's perspective, but what about from the bands' perspective?Is there a 'scene', in terms of bands actually working together and supporting each other? Are there bands that regularly gig together, organise stuff between themselves, or even just hang about together? To me a scene is when people from outside the area start noticing that something is happening. Some sort of collective force that creates more than the sum of its parts. Maybe central belt people suddenly looking north and saying "what's going on up there?" Is that likely any time soon? Do we have that now?there's still a lot of bands helping eachother out. IMO. You still see gig swaps and stuff going down. I think it has dwindled a bit thanks to stuff like RBBJ getting people exposure without the need for making friends in bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tam o' Shantie Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Why? I wasn't talking about Tuff Wax. Not that I don't think it is good.oh, wrong quote. ahh fuck it. sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest E.C Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 i wanted to do a dweller/deportees split to "mix it up a bit" but nothing ever came of that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 That's 'cause we hate you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 More small venues are needed. Like Cellar 35 which is a good venue though a little impractical, with the noise complaints and such. There's just not enough 60-100 capacities for smaller gigs. It's shite putting on a handful of local bands on at the HUGE Tunnels. Even with 40 or 50 in there, it looks dead. There seems to be a good number of little pubs that play live music, but it seems they limit themselves to pub-rock and cover bands etc.You look at other cities like Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester than have a plethora of little venues available, alot of which are free to use. Fewer overheads means you can charge about £2 on the door for a bill of 4 or 5 local bands, and still make sure everyone who brought backline gets petrol money. Around here, venues are expensive to hire, so you're getting charged 5 quid to see your mates band. It's not alot of money, and it's not the promoter's fault, but it can be enough to put people off, especially on a weeknight or whatever.For a city this size, it's odd that there's not alot to choose from in terms of where local bands can play. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Captain Toms could be an amazing shout for hosting gigs more often. Never made it down to any of the gigs there yet but it'd be a fantastic size for most of the wee shows in Aberdeen.xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 It's meant to be pretty awesome. i'd feel bad about stomping in to the walls there though.And hey, don't know the wide open-ness of tunnels, great for getting down there and looking like a right tit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 It's a Dr Drakes-style venue that the city is lacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Wow old thread, no one really knows better about what it was like before than Ross. He was one of the main driving forces behind it back in the day. Sadly now we're left with no Kef, no Drakes, dick heads in control of Drummonds and a tunnels sound system that is in a terrible condition so everything just sounds like a wall of noise. On the plus side Andy and the guys in the Lemon Tree seem to be doing good stuff, Moorings is still going strong Moshulu is on its way back, Tom is doing great stuff in his studio, and you can wear ear plugs in the Tunnels and it cuts out a lot of white noise so you remember your actually listening to music and not an out of tune radio.We miss Drakes and we miss Kef, like him or not but Paul Stewart used to get a lot of decent touring bands and Kef was a good place to play and a great venue, Drakes let bands cut their teeth so to speak. Moshulu was the kinda bridge between small gigs and bigger more important bigger scale gigs.Its hard to say where we are now a days, on the one hand we have bands actually getting out there more than we used too, but i think more bands have been pushed into that because of how little Aberdeen has now, both have their pluses and negatives. There isnt the collective like there was, but to be fair that didnt really get us bands anywhere at the time, but i think that was because we never pushed what we had, we found a nice little niche and were happy to string it along for as long as we could.Aberdeen has always had hugely talented people, now we have people like Emlie Sandie getting out there, the quine Beth Black going on tour with Bombay Bicycle club and a few of our local bands getting good tours going, that alone has to be a positive. You also have big artists like Example saying Aberdeen is one of the best dates on tour.Things up here are not dead, its just not as interactive as it used to be, but bands dont need band friends as much anymore, you can record yourself with a £2.99 app, you can reach the entire world with a couple of web pages and you can arrange a tour having never met a person, yes you could these things years ago, but its a lot easier now.I dont think i have made any point here at all, i just like being seen posting about the scene, i just dont want to let go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Beth black? Don't you mean amber Wilson? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Yeah probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer_Rosa Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 It's meant to be pretty awesome. i'd feel bad about stomping in to the walls there though.And hey, don't know the wide open-ness of tunnels, great for getting down there and looking like a right tit.Jakebassist is why we can't have nice venues. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 I hope she still does solo stuff. I have her ep and it's beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross G Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Cellar 35 is the best venue in Aberdeen hands down. Especially when busy. Good acoustics in there too. And a reasonably priced bar. Which frankly - is a plus. As Tunnels take the absolute piss with their overpriced manky pints that taste more like pipe cleaner than beer, and served in plastic cups. Gads.Only problem with Celler is humphing all your gear down those bastard stairs. Nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Who is Beth Black? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 she is another local accoustic singer type, i got mixed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaaakkkeee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 cara mitchell is really good. You know what's good for our scene? Inme. Dave McPhereson plays here all the time and it always gets a crowd and gives loads of up and coming acoustic acts a great chance to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest E.C Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Captain Toms could be an amazing shout for hosting gigs more often. Never made it down to any of the gigs there yet but it'd be a fantastic size for most of the wee shows in Aberdeen.xxhey, good idea; http://www.facebook.com/events/173412056118079/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest E.C Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Played at Cellar twice and had complaints about turning down both times. When the bands do then turn down, the sound's not as good. Floor shows don't really work when the guitars are turned down, because the drums are so overbearing and the vocals are the only things that are run through the PA so that ends up being all you hear. Drakes was perfect in that it was a standalone building that didn't need to please people upstairs/downstairs/next door and it was big enough to have 'atmosphere' when packed out but small enough to be easily intimate when it wasn't. It had it's flaws, sure, but I really don't feel there has been as much of a "community" feel to Aberdeen since it closed it's doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teabags Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 I wish I could like that post a thousand times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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