And he probably manages bands
One of the things about the internet and why it is interesting is that it makes it easier for a band to find fans. At least, that's the theory.
I've been doing a lot of reading about technology and what it means for the novel as a medium of storytelling. Surprisingly, nobody has written off the novel (no academic, anyway. Jeff Bezos sure as shit doesn't think the novel should be sticking around, all 'it's the story, not the story's container' and shit. Which is rubbish, and one day I will tell you exactly why that is rubbish, but it boils down to this: The container influences the meaning. Change containers and you change meanings. This is not a new ability of the novel; it's always been able to do this. But nobody seems to take advantage of it, or at least not as many people take advantage of it as they could). As a result of all this research, however, the internet has inevitably become something that I must face and discuss and possibly even research. How the technology has altered not just the presentation of the novel, but the process of creating the novel--and who can go where and do what. It becomes possible for people to find niches and stick to them. That's fascinating stuff, and I've seen it work (by the way, have you checked out The Old Guard's EP yet? Did I mention it is free?
Which brings me to Amanda Palmer. Specifically the whole Who Killed Amanda Palmer album, which I watched today (because you can watch the album rather than just listen to it, which is in itself curiously compelling). The long and short of it is that the music is not something I would have even given a second glance to if not for the following chain of events:
1. I follow Neil Gaiman's blog posts, and he (at one point) mentions doing the short stories in the Who Killed Amanda Palmer? book, which is the first time I hear about Amanda Palmer. I think: gee, that's neat, but whatever.
2. I start following Gaiman on Twitter, because I signed up for Twitter to follow Shaq and just kind of went wild following people I knew. At some point in between this and the next event, Gaiman mentions off-handedly that he and Amanda Palmer are dating. I wonder "where have I heard that name before?" and dismiss it.
3. I realize that Amanda Palmer's twittering back-and-forths with Gaiman are usually hilarious. I start following her too, just to keep up with things. As a result, I read a bunch of articles (linked through either her or Neil Gaiman's twitter accounts) on the sort of music she plays and the sort of operation she's managed to grow. I am impressed, and after reading one such article today...
4. I actually listen to the goddamned album. Surprisingly (pleasantly so) it is fucking awesome. Especially the faster-paced songs, but that is just because I am generally in a happy mood and the slower, more melancholy songs (while really, really good examples of melancholy songs) don't catch my fancy quite as much. Now, of course, I want to own the album. Chances are that when I go back home for Christmas, I will purchase this album.
So it's a slow burn (the whole process took about a year, but from Twitter-inception to Album-listening it was only a few months), but it works. And it's worked in a big way for Palmer, who can now pull together impromptu concerts and get-togethers over Twitter that can (and do) net her a fair amount of coin for a night's work.
Well anyway I found that interesting. The whole internet fame thing fascinates me, and what fascinates me more is that music has finally caught up with what cartoonists have known for years (well, not newspaper cartoonists, for the most part): namely, that you can do what you like to do, creatively speaking, as long as you can find enough people who listen to you. And given the massive nature of our culture--and the fact that you can find people interested in damn near anything on the internet if you're willing to put in the time and effort--you can pull it off.
Which is fascinating, like I said. The sort of thing that makes me excited to not just be studying literature, but to also be studying the whole postmodern cultural landscape. As far as periods of time go, this one is a pretty goddamned interesting one to be alive for.
I've been doing a lot of reading about technology and what it means for the novel as a medium of storytelling. Surprisingly, nobody has written off the novel (no academic, anyway. Jeff Bezos sure as shit doesn't think the novel should be sticking around, all 'it's the story, not the story's container' and shit. Which is rubbish, and one day I will tell you exactly why that is rubbish, but it boils down to this: The container influences the meaning. Change containers and you change meanings. This is not a new ability of the novel; it's always been able to do this. But nobody seems to take advantage of it, or at least not as many people take advantage of it as they could). As a result of all this research, however, the internet has inevitably become something that I must face and discuss and possibly even research. How the technology has altered not just the presentation of the novel, but the process of creating the novel--and who can go where and do what. It becomes possible for people to find niches and stick to them. That's fascinating stuff, and I've seen it work (by the way, have you checked out The Old Guard's EP yet? Did I mention it is free?
Which brings me to Amanda Palmer. Specifically the whole Who Killed Amanda Palmer album, which I watched today (because you can watch the album rather than just listen to it, which is in itself curiously compelling). The long and short of it is that the music is not something I would have even given a second glance to if not for the following chain of events:
1. I follow Neil Gaiman's blog posts, and he (at one point) mentions doing the short stories in the Who Killed Amanda Palmer? book, which is the first time I hear about Amanda Palmer. I think: gee, that's neat, but whatever.
2. I start following Gaiman on Twitter, because I signed up for Twitter to follow Shaq and just kind of went wild following people I knew. At some point in between this and the next event, Gaiman mentions off-handedly that he and Amanda Palmer are dating. I wonder "where have I heard that name before?" and dismiss it.
3. I realize that Amanda Palmer's twittering back-and-forths with Gaiman are usually hilarious. I start following her too, just to keep up with things. As a result, I read a bunch of articles (linked through either her or Neil Gaiman's twitter accounts) on the sort of music she plays and the sort of operation she's managed to grow. I am impressed, and after reading one such article today...
4. I actually listen to the goddamned album. Surprisingly (pleasantly so) it is fucking awesome. Especially the faster-paced songs, but that is just because I am generally in a happy mood and the slower, more melancholy songs (while really, really good examples of melancholy songs) don't catch my fancy quite as much. Now, of course, I want to own the album. Chances are that when I go back home for Christmas, I will purchase this album.
So it's a slow burn (the whole process took about a year, but from Twitter-inception to Album-listening it was only a few months), but it works. And it's worked in a big way for Palmer, who can now pull together impromptu concerts and get-togethers over Twitter that can (and do) net her a fair amount of coin for a night's work.
Well anyway I found that interesting. The whole internet fame thing fascinates me, and what fascinates me more is that music has finally caught up with what cartoonists have known for years (well, not newspaper cartoonists, for the most part): namely, that you can do what you like to do, creatively speaking, as long as you can find enough people who listen to you. And given the massive nature of our culture--and the fact that you can find people interested in damn near anything on the internet if you're willing to put in the time and effort--you can pull it off.
Which is fascinating, like I said. The sort of thing that makes me excited to not just be studying literature, but to also be studying the whole postmodern cultural landscape. As far as periods of time go, this one is a pretty goddamned interesting one to be alive for.