I Always Dream About A Unified Scene

Anyone who's been in a band knows about how most shows are booked, or at least, how they're booked in New York. You find out who's booking, and you email links to your music, and say what dates you're looking for. If they like what they hear, they'll offer you a slot. Usually a bum night at first, a Monday or Tuesday, then a few gigs down the road maybe a better night.

And there's a bunch of other bands doing the same thing. And maybe four or five of them get booked that same night. Chances are, nobody in any of the bands knows anyone else. None of the bands' fans know any of the other bands, either. In a perfect world, that would mean that fans for five different bands would hear four other bands for the first time. What really happens is that each band's fans (friends) leave pretty much right after their set, barring a few diehards. Pretty much nobody gets any new ears hearing their music. It's a bit of a drag.

So here's what I'm trying to do.

Whenever I book a show, I try to bring other bands with me: bands that I've shared bills with before. Bands that I want to hear and that I think would like to hear The James Rocket, too. Bands who will stay for the other sets, and keep a bunch of their friends in the club partying with them. Bands like Bunkbed and Tixe, The Mitchells, Futurex, The Jack Bennys, Mirror Queen, Destitute NJ... not all of them sound the same, but they're all cool people to hang with and they all make great music.

I don't know if it'll work, but it seems like a better way to go than the sort of rotating door shows so often end up being.