Tenerife forum

[bardofely]

Glastonbury is always amazing as an experience as well as for the bands and a great place to discover music too! I was there last year as a guest speaker in Speaker's Corner but the year before I played the Avalon Cafe and was MC for the Avalon Stage. Same again in 2002. I was disappointed to miss REM in 2003 cos I was tied to the stage still when they were on cos I had to put the last act on, but it was incredible meeting Arthur Brown who to my mind was one of the most amazing performers there and needless to say he treated us to 'Fire' as well as a rousing cover of U2's 'Still haven't found what I'm looking for' which everyone sang along with. He told me he used to live in Cardiff until he was 11 and that's where I'm from! Arthur Lee and Love were brilliant too. Also in 1998 which was VERY wet I was booked for the Wise Crone stage and gave one of my best sets ever and was rewarded with an encore! I realised that if I could do this with just a guitar and vocal mic that much as I'd love a band I was OK as a solo act!

I am also friends now with Pina whom I discovered at Glastonbury 2003 when I heard her incredible voice across 2 fields and became an instant fan. Peter Gabriel signed her to Real World Records on the strength of her voice and I am not surprised. She lives in Cork but hails from Vienna. After I got home in 2003 I tracked her label down online and bought her album. I sent word to her manager and this is how I got in touch and we have been corresponding since plus I have been to see her gigging again!

Glastonbury is often full of surprises!
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[the bass player]

hello gents you will be pleased to know as from 24th april we have pushed at the gig we have at edwards bar starco and have had the stage widened and now have a live drummer so once again grand theft audio are a proper live band , i feel strong about the amount of midi ,backing tracks ect.
our line up is now
didi lead vocals rythem git
stuart bull lead git
richard spud spooner bass
domanic on the dustbin lids
so come down lads, have a beer, leer at the fit girls, and see a "live band"
also about that gig in the summer if yoiu need a band i think we would like to play if their is a spot until then take it easy
spud,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[bardofely]

Hey, Richard, this is such news! I am very glad you guys managed to get them to see the sense in it! Bigger stages are definitely part of the answer!

Have a look at the feedback I have just got for the OWB gig and yes, it would be great if you guys could play.

Bard
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[Loaded]

Great news on the stage and converting Dominic to drums, tell didi I'll be down on Saturday night to give him the adaptor for the Alesis I sold him and I'll pick up my dinero at the same time!

[smalltownrockstar]

Hello There, My Name is Rob... and I thought I'd throw my tupence worth into this one.

I've just got back from a week in tenerife, which i really did enjoy!!..I went with 3/4 of my band and so checked out the live bands wherever possible. We were told about the Lizard Kings before we went, and so last Wednesday went down to the moonlight bar on Adeje and watched...to be honest, and without sounding harsh, i thought they were'nt up to much.i thought they were less than ordinary.

However, the real find of the week was our 'local' bar's entertainment. The Murphy's Miz Fits at Christie O'Connors. The guy who sang had the voice of an angel, and even though he wouldn't play my requests for Damien Rice it was hard not to be hypnotised by his version of carrickfergus or the band version of coldplays green eyes!!..

we did a crawl of all the irish bars on the resort and were met with sub standard duo's and dodgy club singers. with pints of magners in my belly it didn't really hurt all that much.. but i was suprised at the lack of quality, as people like myself struggle to find regular gigs and make a living from the music (well it's impossible to do so if your not signed in england) and so i would have imagined that alot more talented guys and gals would be over there makin the most of their assets!... oh well just a thought.

does anyone have the e-mail address for christie o'connors or the mizfits..it'd be appreciated. if you do send it to robbiehough100@hotmail.com

oh, and bard...can i add you to myspace?
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[bardofely]

Hi Rob! Thanks for your interesting post and I know what you mean but seems to me that talented and original British acts would find it more of a nightmare here than in the UK unless they are happy to do covers and more covers! The line seems to be that this is what holidaymakers want and people who live here rock fans don't come into the equation in most venues. It's not all like that but you have to search out original music and most of it is by Canarian bands cos the Brits do covers. I told Ozzy from the Lizard Kings that they need an original song or 2 to make it in the UK or as I see it they would be just another of the thousands of pub rock bands that every town and city has. However here they rule the roost because they don't have much competition in their category and aimed at British punters.

Yes, please do add me at Myspace!
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[Loaded]

Hmm, interesting perspective on the Lizard Kings....

I have no real basis for comparison between them and UK bands as I've lived here for too long, but when I was on holiday in new york I saw my mates band and they seriously pissed over the Lizards from a great height... BUT without sounding like a Lizard King fan boy I've been watching them for almost 10 years now and although I don't see them as much as I used to I still think they are a quality live band.

Maybe it's because there are so few bands over here that us residents hold the Lizards on a pedestal, they are the band that pioneered live music in the tourist sector and I think they deserve to be known as the best live band.

[bardofely]

[irishmusico]

I have been reading this thread and I thought I might add my bit.In our duo we use a drum machine and I play left hand bass.I would love to play in a full band but bar owners wont pay the money so we do what we do to survive.Whether you play live or use midi files dosent seem to be an issue for a lot of the general public who for the last 10 years or so have been brought up on top 40 bands lip syncing and dancing to backing tracks.
There are some good musicians in Tenerife that have the bass and drums on backing tracks,and there are some bad ones that stand behind keyboards with a ridiculous amount of music coming off the stage that one or two people
could not possibly reproduce live.
There was a time when for example a guy/girl with an acoustic guitar could play a gig on their own then came along drum machines and the ante was upped a little.Then came along the midi reveloution and a lot of solo musicians embraced this(including myself for a while)So now you have the solo guy playing the acoustic on his/her own to being surrounded with the musicial equivelant of a symphony orchestra.Can we go back to the solo guy just playing his guitar and bands being bands and getting paid to rock the joint?I don´t know,I would like to think so but as long as the public accept backing tracks as the norm I dont think it will change.
Live music vs backing tracks n drum machines? for me Live music wins hands down.

After a particularly good gig one night ,a punter came up to me and shook my hand and told me what a fantastic DJ I was
Mabey my calling is elsewhere

[irishmusico]

I have been reading this thread and I thought I might add my bit.In our duo we use a drum machine and I play left hand bass.I would love to play in a full band but bar owners wont pay the money so we do what we do to survive.Whether you play live or use midi files dosent seem to be an issue for a lot of the general public who for the last 10 years or so have been brought up on top 40 bands lip syncing and dancing to backing tracks.
There are some good musicians in Tenerife that have the bass and drums on backing tracks,and there are some bad ones that stand behind keyboards with a ridiculous amount of music coming off the stage that one or two people
could not possibly reproduce live.
There was a time when for example a guy/girl with an acoustic guitar could play a gig on their own then came along drum machines and the ante was upped a little.Then came along the midi revolution and a lot of solo musicians embraced this(including myself for a while)So now you have the solo guy playing the acoustic on his/her own to being surrounded with the musicial equivelant of a symphony orchestra.Can we go back to the solo guy just playing his guitar and bands being bands and getting paid to rock the joint?I don´t know,I would like to think so but as long as the public accept backing tracks as the norm I dont think it will change.
Live music vs backing tracks n drum machines? for me Live music wins hands down.

After a particularly good gig one night ,a punter came up to me and shook my hand and told me what a fantastic DJ I was
Mabey my calling is elsewhere

[bardofely]

Thanks for your feedback, Irishmusico!

I suppose I'm used to UK gigs where people expect proper bands and singers with guitars but I know a large percentage of the audiences here do prefer this. It's just that they don't get it!

With regard to venues that won't pay full bands the answer is to get bookings in the ones that do. If the Lizard Kings can do this why can't other acts? Actually they can and do, like Soundchaser for example, and there are plenty of Canarian rock bands and some reggae ones too.
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[irishmusico]

Bardofely,I think it would be great to have more live bands.I just came back from the U.S. where live music is everywhere its great.I have been going to carpe diem myself since it opened and the music in there is great.They have some exceptional musicians playing in Jazzissimo also.
Cheers

[bardofely]

So you know what I mean then!

Jawara said somewhere that he thinks the Canaries need a hit to get the music scene to change and the world to look seriously at this place ( he is hoping to achieve this) and I totally agree and have said the same thing. Just because the islands are small doesn't make any difference - the population isn't! Wales is small and yet has turned out lots of world class acts showing it can be done.

I have a live musician, writer and poet friend from Iceland called Michael Pollock coming over in January. He has a most impressive music CV and comes from a country where it was hard top get a rock music scene going but it happened and turned out Bjork. I told Michael what is like here and he isn't put off and is hoping for some gigs and press here. He is sending me some Cds and I'm going to see if I can sort something out for him. Here are some of his sites:

http://myspace.com/michaelpollock

http://www.sisterm.com/Michael/videoMichael.htm

http://www.tappingmyownphone.com/MDOPbio2.html

http://www.gigg.is
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[Joselito]

I agree with you guys, live music is best. But I thought some comments were a bit unfair and some judgements too easily made. Here are some of my thoughts:

-Most music we hear is NOT live. Would you ban all CD players, radio stations, etc. only cause that "steals" potential jobs for musicians?

-Would you ban PA systems, effects processors, etc too, along with fancy keyboards, modules and karaokes? Since they're all "artifacts that enhance your production of music".
Everyone moans at the drummer who lost his job because of a drum machine, yet nobody cares about the millions of people who lose their jobs and vital income daily so that we can buy cheaper goods in general. I know many struggling/jobless peasants who are far more skilled at what they do than many guitarists stomping on some chinese-made FX simulator...
Also, nobody misses the job of professionals such as the "sound-engineer", a much needed element if you are going to play so-called "live music" in Tenerife (probably more needed than some musicians).

In other words, do you judge musicians on their performance or on "what surrounds them"?

-Moreover, some musicians might actually prefer to play with a backing track because it enhances their music in a way difficult to achieve with live musicians; forfeiting the great "feel" of a proper band.
Some may have a long history of unsuccessful attempts to form a decent band (something not surprising in Tenerife!) others may just prefer to avoid the hassle of working in a band and be independent.
It's not just about the money: when a bunch of musicians manage to sound good and work well together, it's already a miracle! let alone getting a chance to play, a decent wage, etc.

-The demand for music and entertainment in a holiday island like Tenerife is huge. That, together with an increasingly greedy, low-quality industry, is obviously going to favor cheap music and entertainment.
A lot of these tourists simply want to hear their favourite tune, and even want the "horn section" in it (although they may not have the musical education to identify the instruments' voices) or the 100-piece orchestra; and they don't care through which means this is achieved! So obviously the cheap means are going to have a priority here (ie. keyboards, sound modules, karaokes, etc)

-SOMEONE has to provide this entertainment. There are a variety of low-cost acts on the island and, good or bad, they can all be praised for one common thing: having the courage to face an ever-changing audience night after night. Besides some of them, karaoke, covers or whatever, do a fantastic job on stage that not everybody is capable of; starting from simply leaving problems aside and putting a smile on their faces.

-It takes a certain effort for people to assimilate music in general (the media, radio, TV, etc play a BIG part in making sure people assimilate CERTAIN music). Then, when people are on holiday, they are ON HOLIDAY: i.e. they are not suposed to be making this effort in trying to assimilate/appreciate some bloke's "original" lament/composition. They can do that in their hometown, where there are plenty of aspiring rockstars...

-The "originality of music" is another question. What would you say "original music performers" about the jobs of classical musicians who have spent a lifetime learning an instrument only to end up playing the music composed by others? Some of these performers of "cover music" are putting far more personality and originality into one song than many composers do in 100 of their "original" pop songs.
Specially if we're talking about songs like the ones most Tenerife-Bands play: a choice of about 7 different chords (one for each note of the diatonic scale) following patterns that have been exhausted by countless bands over the years (many years!!). Today we even have computer software that does this automatically!
Plus you will find that most of the original elements found in today's popular music are everything but the actual composition: song arrangements, musicians' playing style and gear, production team, image, etc. And then the overall result sounds like some variation of another band in the past... There's hardly any bands lately that sound truly original to me.
Of course I am not saying we should all stop composing, but that there is originality in everything we do as musicians and we should all respect that.
Every person is unique and has a unique way of expressing him/herself, from the original composer to the karaoke entertainer. I suggest we spend our time and energy making better music and avoid getting caught in simplistic categorisations like "original music vs. covers" or "live bands vs. backing tracks"

Joselito


[/u]
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Niin on pitkät miun pihani
Kuin on pitkät pilven reunat

[bardofely]

Joselito, you make a lot of points there so thank you for this well thought out and interesting feedback.

There are lots of areas to this debate and one that occurs to me that is important is that people like to hear and experience stuff they are used to. So I prefer full bands and original songs and singer/songwriters because in the UK you can go out any night of the week and see these and as a writer/musician myself I like to see what others are doing. Some acts I like and others I don't. Here I cannot do this because the majority of bars present covers, tributes and karaoke.

You can do away with singers and musicians completely and just have a DJ playing records and many people are happy with this and in such circumstances the DJ becomes the entertainer and person on the stage. There is skill needed to do this job but it is different to playing or singing live on stage.

To comment on what you said here I will explain why I felt motivated to start this thread:
"I suggest we spend our time and energy making better music and avoid getting caught in simplistic categorisations like "original music vs. covers" or "live bands vs. backing tracks"

In the UK, where by Tenerife standards there are countless 'proper' bands and countless venues presenting real live music, there is an often heard moan from singer/songwriters and bands who write their own material that they cannot get as many gigs as they'd like because venue owners only want covers acts! By the standards here the acts in the UK would have to rethink this completely and realise they were living in a great place for original live music because they are able to get some gigs and find some bars that will let them play.

On a selfish basis, and on a non-selfish basis on behalf of aspiring writers and musicians, the situation here I feel needs changing because if there is nowhere you can air your talents, practise your skills in front of a real audience and maybe develop a fanbase (the usual route a new act takes) what do you do? Many people give up after a short time anyway in the UK but here I would suggest they wouldn't even think about starting faced with the situation offered. Thus original music is stifled.

It all depends what you're looking for. I have one friend who couldn't get a band together here to back her original songs and she has left for mainland Spain where she has found a lot more success in the way of getting to play and exposure for her music. This is a route offered: if you don't like it here leave but that doesn't seem right! Going back to Wales where I am from it used to be that bands looking to get a break had to go to London to get seen. The Manic Street Preachers being a prime example of an act that did this. For some reason all Welsh towns have continued to spawn new original bands who want to make it in the music biz and fortunately the industry has opened up a lot giving a lot more opportunity to new acts there and with role models like The Manics, Super Furries, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia, Stereophonics etc to try and follow after.

I mention this because Wales is a small country and needs tourism too, in fact some seaside towns are nearly dead in winter because of this and the tourist want the same as the tourists here. They want covers and karaoke and comperes and bingo and all that, but this hasn't stopped a lot of venues allowing showcase nights for original acts or many small labels springing up to release music. I don't see why it can't be done here more than it has been done!

On your point about many of the acts who use backing tracks being very good entertainers, I agree with you and do appreciate a lot of these.
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