(Part 2) I'm a rockstar - Ask Me Anything

[SweetnSaltyPopcornPlease]

Hi there,

Some of you may remember when I started an AMA thread called 'I'm a rockstar on hiatus'. I have actually been OFF hiatus for quite a while and have been very busy.

I'm considering publishing my experience in the music industry. I'm making notes about what people want to know. So do you have any burning questions?

What do you think about the near complete disappearance of bands in the mainstream charts in favour of solo artists and collabs?

What are your thoughts on how the near-ubiquitous use of DAWs and playing to a grid have changed music?

If on the off chance you are Shirley Manson, you have been my biggest girl crush for years 😂

Hope this isn’t Ed Sheeran fucking with us all.

Can you link the AMA thread?

Also are you from NI?

Ok a weird question…has anyone ”stolen” your music, as in you hear a song and think hey, that song loop is mine!!

I wondered from your last thread whether my husband knows you (FOH engineer).

We’re expecting our first baby and it’s interesting to think about how he might balance touring / us being at home / me not being horribly resentful! But it truly is a lifestyle that gets its claws into you and I can’t imagine him giving it up completely.

I thought the same thing! as my dad is a sound engineer. Most notably more prevalent in the 90's (Pj Harvey, Bjork etc)

Do you take sugar?

One lump or two?

Is that like saying “oh you’re German? I knew a German once, hans. Do you know him?” 😀

Are you a bad seed?

You certainly don’t write like Nick Cave, have you read his Carnage book?

Thanks for the AMA. Sure I've heard you plenty of times as 6music is a constant in our household.

What do you think of the extortionate ticket prices now being set for gigs and festivals? I appreciate that production costs have increased since covid, but many people are being priced out of the incredible experience of live music.

There is an organisation called Tickets for Good, which sells/distributes tickets at heavily discounted prices or for free to people who work for the NHS, charities or those in receipt of certain benefits - but it's incredibly rare for any of the bigger name bands or festivals to be on there.

I wondered if it was Billy Duffy, Jarvis Cocker or Guy Garvey lol!

Great thread thank you

You sound very amusing and should definitely write a book!

Heh, no not at all - everyone who's been in the music industry for any length of time knows each other, or at least of each other. Sound engineers and roadies all seem to know absolutely everyone (and will tell you the most hair-raising anecdotes after a couple of drinks).

God, there’s a mental image…

"You can put a price on those lies. You can buy a mansion with those lies. How much money is a lie worth to you?"

That sounds like some decent song lyrics, there.

Are you instantly recognisable? I'm thinking about various big/ famous bands that people would probably know the lead singer but not the guitarist and I wonder how much difference there is in their lifestyles.

If you were in a restaurant and saw a fellow musician would you need to introduce yourself or would they more than likely know who you are?

@LaerealSilverhand yeah!! My dad comes out with some great stories just out of the blue like 'I remember that time when I was touring with Jo Strummer' and I'm like whatttttt! I have told him he needs to write his memoirs too,

Apologies. I can see how that language could be triggering.

Did you date Liz Jones?

Beat me to it!😂

I read a study somewhere study recently which compared the top 100 pop charts today, 20 years ago and 30 years ago (or something like that). If found something that 30 years ago something like 60% of the top 100 were guitar based (or guitar, drums, bass etc). While today it’s only something like 3%. Maybe a big band like Coldplay are sort of emblamatic of this change, having gone from a bog standard band, to the last ten years seeing many of their songs now being a sort of mishmash of pop, rock, electronic, with loads of electronic sounds covering up the traditional instruments. (And also quite a few collaborations with artists of other genres).
So, why do you think the vast majority of young people are no longer inspired by guitar/rock music, or do you see it as a healthy “correction” of sorts with multiple other music now taking centre stage?

I was literally just about to say: Please be Shirley Manson!