Summer 2002
We're amping up. There's a flurry of activity building up to the release of the new record ADULT WORLD. It's a fascinating learning experience. I've only been in the record business for 30-plus years, but it's been on the artist end. Now, I find myself on the label side, and what a difference. I have a new found sympathy for the folks in manufacturing, artwork and distribution. It's not glamorous and it's not a lot of fun but it's truly the nuts and bolts of how this business works.
Learning how to really understand a marketing plan and co-op grid, and the constant struggle to find money to pay for things is really a challenge. What with the fact that we don't have the million dollars per record that the majors spend to launch a new record, we've been looking for new ways to reach you, The Public. One is through strategic partnerships.
My friends at Fender have stepped up to the plate and are working with us to co-promote the ADULT WORLD TOUR 2002 and the new record with a series of nationwide contests to win a Fender Stratocaster. The Apple computers folks are also coming into the picture with their "Made on a Mac" campaign. I did, indeed, make ADULT WORLD on a Mac and we're working on doing a series of demonstrations at Mac stores along the tour route. We'll post them as they're confirmed.
We also have the fine folks at X-Large Clothing giving us some coll stuff to wear so that we have some semblance of cohesive style on stage. Hey, it's tough to look cool and wear something that doesn't give you gig-butt every night. You know, we'll talk about our goals to anyone providing they--and their products--don't violate my fundamental principles of fairness and usefulness. I know the expression "thinking outside of the box" has been run into the ground these days, but that's exactly what we need to be doing to find to find new ways to get our records heard. All this may not sound too interesting, but it's what some of my days are like and it's my report and I'll write about whatever I feel like writing about.
The reality of going back on tour is becoming a part our daily plan and I admit I'm getting excited about it. The line up for the band is set and will feature Doug Lunn on bass. Those of you who follow my work will know Doug. He's not only one of the most in-demand studio bassist in Los Angeles, he's also co-leader of the Vida Vierra Band. These folks are the hardest dancing, most fun groups in LA. It's really much more than a band, since it includes the Swing Brazil Dance Company, who are a dance troupe, singers, and percussionists. I went out to hear them recently. They had the Temple bar in Santa Monica samba-ing and Latin dancing their asses off. I hadn't seen folks having that much fun at a club in a long, long time.
Also, on drums will be Eric Gardner, who has been with me for a year or so in-between stints in record company pop bands that need a real drummer to fill out their "next big thing" line-ups. Eric is a hard grooving and subtle player from the East Coast and has worked all over the country in all manners of musical aggregations. From Latin jazz in Miami to Boston blues groups. Eric played drums on ADULT WORLD and is the hottest young drummer in town. I hope I can hold on to him.
Bringing the touring group to completion is the addition of Jim Wilson on keyboards, guitar and vocals. Jim is a member of Mother Superior and they are my very special guests on the entire tour. As it turns out, he was open to the idea of temporarily joining my group for the duration of the tour and it all fell into place.
For me, it's an absolute dream line-up. I've been wanting to expand my working line-up to 4 musicians, but the costs of touring are so high that I couldn't afford the fourth member. When it occurred to me that Jim might consider working his gig and my gig, my prayers were answered. Rehearsals have been going great. We warm up with 30-40 minute improvisations that seem like they go by in 4 or 5 minutes. The music just flows with everybody carrying the ball and playing like a team. The guys all have extraordinary instincts and all of them comprehend a wide range of musical influences. They all know about Sun Ra and James Brown, Chuck Berry and Charles Bukowski.
I'm looking forward to playing this tour more than any I've ever done. Playing with these guys is a ball y'all. We're gonna to tear the roof off the sucker. If I said I was thrilled about getting into a van and driving 10,000 miles around these United States, I'd be less than honest, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to play music for a living and hang out with this fine group of fellows. The real pay-off is, and always has been, the camaraderie and mutual respect of the people I work with. To be a worker among workers, a fellow among fellows. It doesn't get much better.
I'd like to try an experiment. I'm asking you to write out your dream set list. Remember that I have a new record "Adult World" that I'll be featuring on this tour and I know that most of you, at least on the first half of the tour will not have heard any of this music yet. It hits the street on July 16th and so after that I expect everyone to know it by heart. Anyhow, what would you like to hear me play when I come to your town? Consider my solo CD's and my work in the MC5. I really do want to know what you think.
I went to Chicago last month to attend the preview screening of the MC5 documentary film "A True Testimonial." To say it was an intense experience would be an understatement. Got to spend some time with my old partners Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson and getting to know Rob Tyner's family has been probably the greatest gift of the whole movie experience. His daughter Elizabeth has become like a niece to me. Its kind of difficult to relate to you what it felt like to watch this film. I'm sitting there watching the story of the early formative part of my life on the big screen. It's me, me and more me...not too healthy a deal for an egomaniac like me.
The filmmakers have done a fabulous job of telling the story of the MC5. Of course, the passing of Fred Smith and Rob Tyner make the film kind of one-sided, in as much as they weren't there to reflect on their sides of the story. It's truly a shame, because they were the best storytellers in the band. Life and death are not fair, but the rest of us did our best to carry the message.
The film covers all the bases. The early formative years down in Lincoln Park through the heavy political days in Detroit and Ann Arbor and our struggles with the Detroit police, the FBI, the music business and one another. The story unfolds in graphic detail with never-before-seen footage that is intercut with interviews with all involved. At times it's not a pretty story, and it's definitely not a glossed over VH-1 biopic of over-inflated multi-millionaire rock star excess. This is the real deal. I'm grateful that the story is finally getting told and told right. The in-concert footage is stunning. I had not seen some of it before and, at one point, the audience in the theater actually cheered aloud after a particularly dynamic performance. That was thrilling.
Some of the footage was hard to watch, especially later in the story as the band begins to break down. I know my mind is damaged from my years of abuse, but I remember almost everything except one particular performance. There is some footage of me drinking whisky before going on stage in 1971 in Helsinki, Finland and playing a concert. I have absolutely no memory of that night. Scary. I wish I had better news about when the film will hit the streets, but I'm kind of out of the loop about that. Its about me and my band. I helped them make it, but it's not my film, it's theirs and they're holding it close to their chests. More news as it happens.
We're trying something that I learned from some of the other groups that I work with. Street Teams. Apparently, this is an idea that has possibilities for us to reach out to friends and fans around the country and enlist them in our cause. Getting the word out, getting posters up, making radio and retail visits. I think it's a cool idea but some of the folks we work with are warning me that most of the people who sign up for street teams don't do the jobs they're given. I'm guessing it's one thing to sit at your computer and respond to e-mails and sign up for free tickets and merch and back-stage passes, but it's another thing to actually get your ass up out of your chair and go out in the street and do the work.
This will be an interesting experiment. Perhaps you'll join us. I'd like to see you all when I come through your hometowns across America.
Stay in touch while I'm away. Visit the message board and tell me what's going on...See you soon, America!
Wayne Kramer
We're amping up. There's a flurry of activity building up to the release of the new record ADULT WORLD. It's a fascinating learning experience. I've only been in the record business for 30-plus years, but it's been on the artist end. Now, I find myself on the label side, and what a difference. I have a new found sympathy for the folks in manufacturing, artwork and distribution. It's not glamorous and it's not a lot of fun but it's truly the nuts and bolts of how this business works.
Learning how to really understand a marketing plan and co-op grid, and the constant struggle to find money to pay for things is really a challenge. What with the fact that we don't have the million dollars per record that the majors spend to launch a new record, we've been looking for new ways to reach you, The Public. One is through strategic partnerships.
My friends at Fender have stepped up to the plate and are working with us to co-promote the ADULT WORLD TOUR 2002 and the new record with a series of nationwide contests to win a Fender Stratocaster. The Apple computers folks are also coming into the picture with their "Made on a Mac" campaign. I did, indeed, make ADULT WORLD on a Mac and we're working on doing a series of demonstrations at Mac stores along the tour route. We'll post them as they're confirmed.
We also have the fine folks at X-Large Clothing giving us some coll stuff to wear so that we have some semblance of cohesive style on stage. Hey, it's tough to look cool and wear something that doesn't give you gig-butt every night. You know, we'll talk about our goals to anyone providing they--and their products--don't violate my fundamental principles of fairness and usefulness. I know the expression "thinking outside of the box" has been run into the ground these days, but that's exactly what we need to be doing to find to find new ways to get our records heard. All this may not sound too interesting, but it's what some of my days are like and it's my report and I'll write about whatever I feel like writing about.
The reality of going back on tour is becoming a part our daily plan and I admit I'm getting excited about it. The line up for the band is set and will feature Doug Lunn on bass. Those of you who follow my work will know Doug. He's not only one of the most in-demand studio bassist in Los Angeles, he's also co-leader of the Vida Vierra Band. These folks are the hardest dancing, most fun groups in LA. It's really much more than a band, since it includes the Swing Brazil Dance Company, who are a dance troupe, singers, and percussionists. I went out to hear them recently. They had the Temple bar in Santa Monica samba-ing and Latin dancing their asses off. I hadn't seen folks having that much fun at a club in a long, long time.
Also, on drums will be Eric Gardner, who has been with me for a year or so in-between stints in record company pop bands that need a real drummer to fill out their "next big thing" line-ups. Eric is a hard grooving and subtle player from the East Coast and has worked all over the country in all manners of musical aggregations. From Latin jazz in Miami to Boston blues groups. Eric played drums on ADULT WORLD and is the hottest young drummer in town. I hope I can hold on to him.
Bringing the touring group to completion is the addition of Jim Wilson on keyboards, guitar and vocals. Jim is a member of Mother Superior and they are my very special guests on the entire tour. As it turns out, he was open to the idea of temporarily joining my group for the duration of the tour and it all fell into place.
For me, it's an absolute dream line-up. I've been wanting to expand my working line-up to 4 musicians, but the costs of touring are so high that I couldn't afford the fourth member. When it occurred to me that Jim might consider working his gig and my gig, my prayers were answered. Rehearsals have been going great. We warm up with 30-40 minute improvisations that seem like they go by in 4 or 5 minutes. The music just flows with everybody carrying the ball and playing like a team. The guys all have extraordinary instincts and all of them comprehend a wide range of musical influences. They all know about Sun Ra and James Brown, Chuck Berry and Charles Bukowski.
I'm looking forward to playing this tour more than any I've ever done. Playing with these guys is a ball y'all. We're gonna to tear the roof off the sucker. If I said I was thrilled about getting into a van and driving 10,000 miles around these United States, I'd be less than honest, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to play music for a living and hang out with this fine group of fellows. The real pay-off is, and always has been, the camaraderie and mutual respect of the people I work with. To be a worker among workers, a fellow among fellows. It doesn't get much better.
I'd like to try an experiment. I'm asking you to write out your dream set list. Remember that I have a new record "Adult World" that I'll be featuring on this tour and I know that most of you, at least on the first half of the tour will not have heard any of this music yet. It hits the street on July 16th and so after that I expect everyone to know it by heart. Anyhow, what would you like to hear me play when I come to your town? Consider my solo CD's and my work in the MC5. I really do want to know what you think.
I went to Chicago last month to attend the preview screening of the MC5 documentary film "A True Testimonial." To say it was an intense experience would be an understatement. Got to spend some time with my old partners Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson and getting to know Rob Tyner's family has been probably the greatest gift of the whole movie experience. His daughter Elizabeth has become like a niece to me. Its kind of difficult to relate to you what it felt like to watch this film. I'm sitting there watching the story of the early formative part of my life on the big screen. It's me, me and more me...not too healthy a deal for an egomaniac like me.
The filmmakers have done a fabulous job of telling the story of the MC5. Of course, the passing of Fred Smith and Rob Tyner make the film kind of one-sided, in as much as they weren't there to reflect on their sides of the story. It's truly a shame, because they were the best storytellers in the band. Life and death are not fair, but the rest of us did our best to carry the message.
The film covers all the bases. The early formative years down in Lincoln Park through the heavy political days in Detroit and Ann Arbor and our struggles with the Detroit police, the FBI, the music business and one another. The story unfolds in graphic detail with never-before-seen footage that is intercut with interviews with all involved. At times it's not a pretty story, and it's definitely not a glossed over VH-1 biopic of over-inflated multi-millionaire rock star excess. This is the real deal. I'm grateful that the story is finally getting told and told right. The in-concert footage is stunning. I had not seen some of it before and, at one point, the audience in the theater actually cheered aloud after a particularly dynamic performance. That was thrilling.
Some of the footage was hard to watch, especially later in the story as the band begins to break down. I know my mind is damaged from my years of abuse, but I remember almost everything except one particular performance. There is some footage of me drinking whisky before going on stage in 1971 in Helsinki, Finland and playing a concert. I have absolutely no memory of that night. Scary. I wish I had better news about when the film will hit the streets, but I'm kind of out of the loop about that. Its about me and my band. I helped them make it, but it's not my film, it's theirs and they're holding it close to their chests. More news as it happens.
We're trying something that I learned from some of the other groups that I work with. Street Teams. Apparently, this is an idea that has possibilities for us to reach out to friends and fans around the country and enlist them in our cause. Getting the word out, getting posters up, making radio and retail visits. I think it's a cool idea but some of the folks we work with are warning me that most of the people who sign up for street teams don't do the jobs they're given. I'm guessing it's one thing to sit at your computer and respond to e-mails and sign up for free tickets and merch and back-stage passes, but it's another thing to actually get your ass up out of your chair and go out in the street and do the work.
This will be an interesting experiment. Perhaps you'll join us. I'd like to see you all when I come through your hometowns across America.
Stay in touch while I'm away. Visit the message board and tell me what's going on...See you soon, America!
Wayne Kramer
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