#or does some performance by a band/singer/musician whatsoever count

[halinski]

is "what's the first concert you ever saw" a question most people can answer because i had to watch ted lasso a bunch of times before i even had a questionable maybe answer of the first concert i chose to go to and i'm not even sure it's correct (my memory is just bad bc mental illness i guess??????)

[28allthelove28]

Essay on Fandom and Obsession (One Direction & Fionn Whitehead mainly)

I think it is vital to not make people feel guilty for the things that they enjoy. It is also important to realise that everyone gets obsessed with stuff, and it’s not a bad thing.

Fandom can often be seen as being predominantly young girls screaming and crying over young boys, and apparently that is not cool. At least a lot of people seem to think it is not cool, but that attitude is wrong. Yes, teenage girls have been freaking out over young men since before Beatlemania, but intense fandom and excessive love for your idol is by no means exclusive to young girls. Think of Morrissey. Grown men devote their lives to worshiping him. I’ve witnessed hard, tough, old men in tears, covered in Smiths tattoos, shouting every lyric out at a Morrissey gig, and no one batted an eye. It’s great! David Bowie inspired generations of working class lads to dye their hair bright orange and go out wearing glittery make up. Loads of men really idolise Oasis. Everybody loves Radiohead. I’m one of the proud and devoted thousands who flock in their Goth uniform to see The Cure perform every couple of years, and hopefully I always will be. The best moment of my life was my last Cure gig, and I’m very happy about that. Of course, fan girls don’t just like male musicians, a lot of girls like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Little Mix, so do a lot of boys. Lads also like Justin Bieber as well as girls. Maybe it is naïve, unnecessary and problematic to even consider fandom in terms of gender, especially in terms of only two genders.

To mention fan fiction, I bought a book from Rough Trade Records which was part of a series of works inspired by different musicians. It was a short story which the author imagined after listening to the album Dry by PJ Harvey. It may not be classed as conventional fan fiction per say, due to Polly Harvey not being directly featured in the story, but each chapter began with the first lyric of Polly’s song, in order of the album tracklist. Something creative and imaginative was born from an enjoyment of music, it was wonderful. And fandom is obviously not just music orientated, thousands of people are obsessed and devoted to football. I couldn’t even count the amount of Newcastle United Football Club tattoos I’ve seen. Game Of Thrones, Star Wars and Harry Potter have enormous fan bases too. The Great British Bake Off is huge, so are specific YouTubers, make-up brands, celebrities like the Kardashians, fashion brands, games, and phone apps. There are so many areas of fandom and obsession, when you begin to think about it. I may have glossed over and simplified some things but these serve as only a few brief examples, out of many, of how diverse and wonderful fandom can be.

Being a fan is clearly by absolutely no means just young females liking young male singers, and it probably is problematic to think so. Perhaps why it can initially seem that way, to me anyway, may be because a girl obsessing over a boy has been my personal experience, and in contemporary culture today, the media really does like to mock girls like me. To focus on One Direction in particular, because that is my biggest obsession, and is most relevant to this discussion, many journalists enjoy frequently claiming that all One Direction fans are hysterical, naive 12 year old girls, who want to sleep with the band, and only like them because they’re pretty. When in fact, not only is that disrespectful to any 12 year old 1D fans, but many fans have grown up with One Direction and are around the same age as them, if not much older. Many One Direction fans don’t fancy the band whatsoever, many 1D fans are boys, many fans are gender fluid, and all the fans that I’ve interacted with genuinely love 1D’s music and respect the band members. Yes, there are some people who sexualise, worship, and disrespect One Direction, but tabloid journalists can often only focus on that side of things.

I think it is important to highlight more so, that a vast portion of the One Direction fandom are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and through 1D and their fans, feel loved, supported, understood, welcomed, included and inspired to be strong and proud. A lot of One Direction concerts are full of rainbow flags, which then get shown on the big screen, signed by Louis, and worn by Harry. Harry has ‘liked’ Instagram posts encouraging people to “Support feminine boys” and Louis has even corrected Harry when he accidentally misgendered a fan. A vast portion of the 1D fandom, myself included, genuinely believe that Harry and Louis are in love, and have been in a secret relationship for years, and we completely support them. (I have a separate essay on this.) I talked about this recently with a lecturer in queer art history, who also believes in Larry, and is in awe at the level of visual analysis ‘Larries’ have undertaken to examine Harry and Louis’ complimentary couple tattoos.

Harry has inspired young boys to wear nail polish because, until seeing him do it, they “Didn’t know boys were allowed.” Again, I don’t want to skim over important issues, but I am quickly mentioning the importance of One Direction’s queer community, and Harry challenging gender norms, to disprove the media idea that all 1D fans are just there to sexualise the band. Yes, I and many others do find One Direction very beautiful and sexy, but I don’t want to be their girlfriend or their lover, at most I just want to be their best friend. I want to continue enjoying their music and supporting them as individuals. And so do the majority of fans that I interact with.

The way in which mainstream media represents One Direction fans can make them expect everyone to mock them. However Mark Radcliffe, a radio presenter on 6Music, an alternative station you would never expect to mention One Direction, recently spoke very kindly of Harry Styles and his fans. He saw people queuing to meet Harry, and explained on his show that they were very excited, and “Why wouldn’t they be?” Mark discussed that Harry was doing solo work and even made a feature out of fandom, asking listeners to text in their own experiences of queueing for their idols. Mark kept chatting to Harry’s fans, checking they were ok and he even brought them breakfast. The entire time Mark mentioned Harry and the fans, he spoke sweetly and respectfully and completely normally. This shouldn’t have been refreshing to hear, but it really was. I tweeted to thank Mark for his kindness, to which he ‘liked’ and replied. I simply found this a lovely and heart-warming example of respectable music news outlets treating young pop fans nicely.

Harry Styles himself was even asked about his fan-base being mainly composed of young girls, as if he were supposed to feel embarrassed about that, and he brilliantly commented “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s changing… Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future – our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool’. They like you, and they tell you.” I really don’t think there is a better way to say it. One Direction fans defend them against the media, but they also correct them if they make mistakes. We are honest.

Louis Tomlinson has also talked about how impressive and “Remarkable” his own fans devotion is, and how endlessly grateful he is for it. Louis has discussed how he’s built up a special relationship with his fans and often credits his success as being a constant “Teamwork” between him and the fans working together, even saying that they deserve managerial, promotion jobs. Niall Horan from One Direction constantly looks out for the safety of his fans as they queue to see him perform, and he even regularly shares photos of letters which he’s handwritten for fans, personally updating them on what he’s been up to. Liam Payne from 1D always remembers to acknowledge special band anniversaries that the fans get involved with, and Zayn Malik frequently shares examples of fan art that his fans have drawn of him. The members of the band which people idolise, equally love and appreciate their fans in return and form a family-like unit together, and it’s lovely.

People have picked up on this and even said that society should be built in a similar way as a fandom; supportive, passionate and communal. A lovely article was written by Aarabelle Sicardi, in which she describes fashion designer Rei Kawakubo as her own Harry Styles. She rightly notes that “Loving people makes you brave.” And that “Fandom is a pure version of this. It’s an ideal receptacle of feelings because you ask for nothing personal in return… fandom gave me bravery and friendship.” She admits that you can often find yourself needing to “Defend” your fandom love, and that people may dismiss the thing you love but the thing you love will never dismiss you. She discusses similar points which I have made that “Fandom lives in every industry if you know where to look…teen girls are always attacked for their fandom regardless: music fandom to outsiders looks uncool, unhinged or wasteful. You might see teen girls crying and holding signs or collecting memorabilia and think it’s too much for something so trivial. But it’s not.” Sicardi quotes Harry’s fans as they describe how he was a gateway to finding their queer community and affirming their own identity, saying that “His existence in the world made them more comfortable with their own…Teen girls are criticized for loving the wrong things and loving them in weird and unproductive ways. But the criticisms couldn’t be more off base. They love things with a brilliance and curiosity that makes them better for it…Teen girls push themselves to learn how to code so they can build beautiful fan-pages and online communities… It helps them build worlds out of their imaginings.” Through writing about One Direction, myself and many other fans have also learnt more about putting forward an argument, gathering information, formatting essays and questioning things. Sicardi ends her article by saying that loving things makes fans smarter and braver, and I agree.

These are all beautiful, empowering things, but for me, being so engaged in a fandom can also mean that I do live inside my head quite a lot, but it’s mostly very nice in there, and I think everyone does that. Everyone imagines things. Everyone enjoys the things they enjoy. Admittedly I probably think that obsessing over famous boys is worse than it actually is. In reality I’ve now learnt that it’s not that bad at all. Yes, loving One Direction, Larry Stylinson and Fionn Whitehead can cause some problems – what if no man in real life can live up to them? What if Larry or ‘Larries’ have set unrealistic expectations of relationships? What if I’m more invested in their wellbeing than my own, and those around me? What if I spend so much time on them that I am ignorant to real world problems? What if their rich and privileged lifestyles have made me greedy and selfish? What if their success being born from luck on a talent show has made me lazy and less ambitious? What if their enormous success at the same age as me has made me value my own progress less? What if their physical beauty and that of the people around them has made me doubt and criticise my own? However, perhaps me thinking that loving a boy band or an actor is damaging and could cause all these issues, is the actual problem. Perhaps the obsession itself is not the problem, but my attitude towards it, an attitude influenced by media shame. Maybe me thinking it’s a problem is the only problem.

In reality, it is fun, and educational, and cultural to discover an actor or a singer. To appreciate a person’s talent and hard work, to notice their good qualities, to learn things from them and from their art, to unashamedly be passionate about something, to meet new people through that shared interest and then learn more things from them. All of that is a positive, and rewarding, and beautiful thing. I just have to keep thinking that until I no longer need to remind myself.

Perhaps this whole essay is my way of justifying to myself that it is ok for me to be obsessed with Fionn Whitehead and One Direction. Of course it is. Life is too short and dramatic to worry about things that you don’t really need to worry about. Life is too short and dramatic to deny yourself what you enjoy. Life is too short and dramatic to be over influenced by other people and their opinions. Life is too short and dramatic to not be proud of who you are and what makes you happy.

[angel-and-the-antelope-blog]

Are Your Mistakes Holding You Prisoner? How To Break Free With Jonah Matranga

I caught up with the charismatic singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jonah Matranga, frontman of legendary band Far.

The first time I met Jonah, was at one of his onlinedrawing gigs, he literally picked me up and swung me around, ending it off with a bear hug. That’s what I call connecting with your audience.

Jonah’s been named as a key influence by a number of bands, including My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro and Blink-182. In this interview you’ll hear how he navigated some of the scariest moments of his life. And he describes a unique way to break free from the negative grip of mistakes….

Overcoming Fear

Angel: Jonah, I’ve seen you perform in some really intimate settings, where the audience are almost sat on your lap, and I’ve seen you perform at the other end of the scale in huge venues. What strikes me is you always look relaxed, confident and happy, but is that how you’re feeling underneath, or do you ever get nervous before a gig?

Jonah: I was singing at a benefit for Chi [Bassist for the Deftones, who was in a bad car accident and tragically died sometime later]. It was a big crowd, and we hadn’t rehearsed at all. In fact, one of the songs we were singing, we’d never done together. No practice, no sound check, no nothing. So there was a whole lot of opportunity for major screw-ups. On top of that, my voice was feeling weird, definitely not at 100%. The only thing I’ve ever done in those situations is simply take a breath and go.

Jonah Matranga by Brian Krijgsman

Angel: Can you remember an occasion when things went wrong for you? How did you deal with the situation and what did you learn from it?

Jonah: I really think that seeing things as going ‘wrong’ or ‘right’, or not seeing things as wrong or right at all, is the most important choice. When I think of the scariest moments of my life, they range from finding out I was going to be a dad, to mistaking a friend of mine for her sister and then lying to try and cover it up when I was embarrassed, to bands splitting up, to my voice breaking, to arguments I wish I’d never had. All of those moments had within them moments of denial, moments of fear and anger, and ultimately, surrender and moving through.

I still fail and make mistakes and get let down all the time, of course. I guess I’ve just really come to see that stuff as inevitable, and therefore not ‘bad’ or ‘good’, but rather more like the wind or the sun or something. Those things exist, but how I react to them is the only thing I get to control. It helps me stay in the moment and not get whisked away by fears or worries. One of my favorite axioms ever is also one of my favorite pop choruses ever: ‘Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away’. Genius.

Angel: Can you remember a time when you learned an important lesson about developing your musical talent?

Jonah: I remember very clearly knowing that I had to figure out for myself whether I sucked or not. I knew I couldn’t trust my friends or family or whatever to tell me. I thought a lot about that in high school. When I came out of that pensive period, I knew that I wasn’t Prince or Dylan or anything, but I also knew that I had something worth offering, some sort of spark. That let me make stuff without getting too stung when people didn’t like it, or too dizzy when they did.

Illustration by Joel Millerchip

Angel: Has there ever been a time when you had doubts about your skill and did that ever stop you from seizing an opportunity?

Jonah: I’m sure I wrestle with doubtful whispers all the time, I think that’s what stops all of us from doing so much. That said, I really did figure out at a young age that I thought I had something to give, and that has remained solid for me over the years.

Angel: Did you ever seek out any technical advice to help improve your skills?

Jonah: I had normal guitar lessons early on, I’m not sure how much those helped, but I remember them being pretty fun. I had traditional vocal training at university, that definitely helped me learn to breathe, learn about my head voice and chest voice, basic things that have helped in different ways. Beyond that, it was really just hearing noises I liked, whether on a U2 record or in my head, and trying really hard to make them.

Jonah Matranga by Jacqui Sadler

Enjoy connecting with your audience

Angel: You have a very loyal and committed fan base, how did you go about attracting fans in the early days?

Jonah: It’s always been about the little things. Make the postcard, write the letter, meet the gaze. Just show up. And of course, give everything when I play. I really just always try to remember what I loved about seeing other performances, meeting other performers. I try to give that, pass that along.

Angel: Have you observed things that other bands or musicians get wrong when it comes to attracting an audience?

Jonah: I don’t know about ‘wrong’, truly. All I know is that I’ve seen a lot of people, whether they’ve had more success than me or less, I’ve seen them lose that light in their eyes, that thing that started them on their way. That 14-year old air-guitar madness that drives us. I think when a band or a person loses that, whether they ‘attract fans’ or not, they’ve lost what makes any of it matter. That aside, I just think that bands worry too much about having millions of fans rather than really appreciating 10. They get managers and agents and focus on getting in front of the most faces possible, as opposed to just having fun and doing it themselves. Honestly, that manager strategy might attract more fans sometimes, but I just don’t think it’s much fun.

Illustration by Joel Millerchip

Money Management

Angel: Did you ever experience a turning point in your career when it came to understanding money and how it works?

Jonah: Yeah. When I found out that I was gonna be a dad. I remember going to the guys in my band Far and saying that either we’d have to start making more money somehow, or it’d have to just be a weekend thing or whatever. I had no desire to be a starving artist with a kid. Then we got signed, and while it wasn’t a ton of money, it was enough to get through and keep going.

Angel: A lot of bands, and creatives, tell us that they’ve had to pack it all in because of poor money management. What have you found to be the most important things to spend money on?

Jonah: The most important thing to spend money on is the making of the music, and the facilitation of making that available to people. So, simple quality recording, simple professional packaging, a good website. More important than anything is to keep everything else cheap, to keep the pressure on making money as low as possible, so you can just focus on making things that feel pure to you.

Jonah Matranga by Joel Millerchip

Angel: Today it’s common to hear about bands giving away their music for free, and you introduced a sliding scale when it came to people purchasing your music. What areas of a bands creative work do you think they should be focusing on and adding extra value in order to make money?

Jonah: I think it’s about asserting the value of art. And I think it’s about making art that’s worth it. I don’t at all like the idea of getting music for free when you buy a frappuccino or whatever. Now, if I make a song I love, and I decide I want to give everyone a free cup of coffee when they buy the song, that’s more reasonable in a way, as long as the focus stays on the art. Really, I like just making something I love, setting a fair price range for it, and seeing who wants it. The sliding scale was about making that transaction more interactive and human, and also ensuring that someone who wants the music doesn’t get deprived of it for lack of money. It’s been really fun.

Angel: You’ve self published a lot of your music or used independent record labels. What are your recommendations to emerging artists?

Jonah: Do as much of it yourself as possible. Record yourself, make the package yourself, put the CD in the envelope yourself, build the website yourself, lick the stamp yourself, go to the post office yourself, sell it at the merch table at the show yourself. Not only does all of that save money initially, it connects you directly to the sale of your art, which I’ve found to be so important and scary and satisfying.

The power of the Internet

Angel: How important do you think the Internet is in the creative industries going forward?

Jonah: Pretty much immeasurably important. It has so much potential for so many things that matter so much to art. That said, it’s of no importance whatsoever, because making stuff is still making stuff, and selling it is still selling it, and saying hi is still saying hi.

Jonah Matranga Artwork

Angel: Did you devise a strategy or have a rough plan of how the Internet could work for you?

Jonah: No strategy, just curiosity and ideas. That heart/question mark thing I made up, that I draw all the time, one of the things that’s about is being in love (heart) with ideas (question mark). I’ve used the internet to stay in touch with people around the world, to make my ideas available to people in ways that feel personal and interesting to me.

Angel: What do you think is the most important thing a band can do to have a strong online presence?

Jonah: Be curious about whatever comes along, but always maintain your own website. Use all of the MyBook FaceSpace TwitTube stuff to invite people back into your world, where some big company isn’t making money off of the art you’re making, or at least if they are, you’re getting some of it in a legitimate way. Making your own website is owning your house; counting on Facebook or anywhere else is renting from a slumlord that will evict you at the drop of a hat, in a building that could become vacant and uninhabitable just because another building becomes trendy. Remember MySpace selling for $700,000,000 years ago? Remember Friendster? That will happen again and again. Build your own world, and invite people in. It’s fun.

For news about Jonah’s creative projects click here

Over to you

Jonah said “It’s always been about the little things. Make the postcard, write the letter, meet the gaze. Just show up”. So how can you make your interactions with your audience more personal? Interact with your audience and be available to answer questions and post them on your blog to share with others who will benefit from your answer. Jonah said “…bands worry too much about having millions of fans rather than really appreciating 10”. So start appreciating the fans you have right now and make them feel special, that’s a great way to attract more.

A special thanks goes out to

Mister Millerchip

Brian Krijgsman Vinka As Kairu