“Alright ya bastard!”

“Hello ya arsehole!”

Dave Harper is dead.

Typing those words just feels wrong. Typing those words means it’s real and he’s actually dead. Typing those words means that this searing grief we are feeling is hurting so bad because Dave Harper wasn’t larger than life, he was made of flesh, flesh that failed him, flesh that failed us and now the glorious contrary bastard is dead.

This isn’t how he wanted to die, he told us on many occasions he wanted to be bummed to death by a pack of rabid dogs and to prove that he was capable of change, one of the last messages from him declares,

“I‘m hoping to be the first full gay to top himself by steering a canal boat up his own arse”

Dave Harper is dead and people will never experience his tenderness again or his graphic, side splitting offensiveness again. Dave Harper has been decked, KO’d, he hasn’t beaten the count, he hasn’t been saved by the bell and death has defeated him, not on a contested split decision, it’s smashed him flush on the chin seconds before he was about to be crowned champion and now he’s out cold.

There’s a moment in boxing history, the sport that Dave loved so much, that highlights the knife edge between heroic glory and abject defeat. Herol Bomber Graham had absolutely outclassed Julian Jackson for four rounds, before the punch of the century knocked Herol unconscious before he hit the canvas.

Dave watched that moment again and again. He watched tear ups, he watched bore draws, he watched far better boxers and far less skilled boxers win world titles, but he kept coming back to that punch. Proof that life in the ring and out of it wasn’t fair, it was cruel and brutal and no matter how good you were, how hard you worked, how much you prepared, the perfect punch could take it all away and leave you on the deck, hope in tatters, glory snatched away and your life and career reduced to the question what if?

What if Dave Harper hadn’t died?

He’d have fought on, fought on to open his new venue, fought on to provide opportunities to people who most need them. Fought on to provide refuge to society’s most vulnerable. Fought on in the face of thieves stealing what he would’ve given them if they’d just walked in through the front door and asked for it. He’d have fought for funding, fought for audiences, fought for everything that is good and proper about existence in the face of bigotry, privilege and indifference he’d have fought with class, he’d have mixed it up, he’d have been quick on his feet and ducked and dived and…

WALLOP!

Dave Harper is dead. Seconds before being crowned the world champion of Sunderland, the punch of the century hasn’t just knocked the daft cunt on his arse, it’s killed him.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is on the front page of the Sunderland Echo and suddenly those who made life so fucking difficult for him are blowing smoke up his corpse’s arse.

Dave Harper is dead because opening a venue in the City he loved took it’s toll on his body. He scrapped for every quid when other more privileged people were given thousands. That takes it’s toll, can make a person bitter, can make them want to give up the face of such obvious unfairness.

Not Dave Harper, he fought until he was punch drunk and then he kept on fighting. He’s out on his feet but he’s still throwing punches.

Dave Harper has just died and already people are saying his legend will live on in his venue.

He should be alive to be at the opening. He should be able to enjoy that night. His wife and son should be able to watch him have his moment as the wonderful living human he was.

Opening a venue that provides opportunities for the most vulnerable in society should not cost a man his life.

Yes he was an awkward bastard, yes he called you all out on your bullshit but that shouldn’t mean he’s had to die for you to realise that what he was doing was vital and should be supported.

Dave Harper is dead and the funding tap, so often rusted tight when he went to use it will suddenly flow freely.

Dave Harper is dead and now you see him for what he always was. A selfless individual trying to make a positive difference.

Dave Harper is dead and too many of you are talking about yourselves.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead which means we’ve all received the last picture of a Sunderland musicians face grafted onto a porn star doing something unspeakable.

Dave Harper is dead which means we won’t have to make sure we are in a place without kids being able to overhear our conversations with him.

Dave Harper is dead and it is our collective responsibility to make sure that his vision isn’t sanitised.

Dave Harper was many things to many people but at his core Dave Harper was a youth worker. Dave knew that the people who most need help are also the most self destructive. Dave knew that for most people just walking through the door was a battle and that to help those who need it the most, you have to go out and drag them through the door. Dave passionately believed that the arts and culture and great food and enjoying the finer things in life should be the right of everyone and that kids raised on Findus Crispy Pancakes should be enabled to grow up and become adults who eat at El Buli and can make their kids a home cooked meal made from scratch with fresh nutritious ingredients.

Dave wanted us all to live like a Tory but vote Labour.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

It doesn’t look right on the page, it doesn’t feel right in the heart and it has our guts knotted and we are bent double gasping for air after an expertly executed punch to the liver.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

Dave Harper is dead.

What a fucking cruel world.

How unbelievably unfair.

Don’t sanitise his memory. Don’t make him more palatable to the establishment. Don’t miss out the offensive turns of phrase and filthy monologues which could simultaneously split your sides open and make you question your morality.

Dave Harper is dead and for many that makes him easier to deal with and that’s not what he would’ve wanted.

Dave Harper is dead and that’s one less working class man who is alive and championing the working class.

Don’t let them make his ghost middle class, don’t let them make his legacy middle class. It’s already started. Dave Harper is dead and the self aggrandising culture sector are trying to claim him as one of their own and he’s not even buried yet and already he’s spinning in his grave.

Dave Harper professional drummer.

Dave Harper speedboat owner.

Dave Harper son.

Dave Harper husband.

Dave Harper altruist.

Dave Harper friend.

Dave Harper dead.

• 3kW PA System

• SQ5 Desk & Digital Stagebox & Snake

• DSP Controlled Monitors

• Comprehensive microphone and DI selection

• Do you want your small capacity (50-200) show to sound amazing and be mixed by a time served professional who can communicate effectively and make sure your gig or event runs as smoothly as possible?

• Do you want the technology to be discreet and the audience to be blown away?

• Email ross@immediateaudio.co.uk for a competitive quote

Sitting still makes my head spin.

A talk (US) or chat (UK) show should be a wonderful experience for bands & artists but often isn’t. It seems amazing that shows which showcase live music (sadly such a rare thing on television these days) should inadvertently do so much to increase the chances of a poor performance being captured, but they do.

The usual working day for one of these shows goes like this:

6-8 hours before the recording – Crew set up backline & instruments. (Often the backline will be hired in, will be not quite what was requested or will not be in great working order.)

4-6 hours before the recording – Band will arrive and will settle into dressing rooms and then be called to do 2-3 run passes of the track allowing their monitor mix to be set & for the broadcast mix to be pulled together.

3-4 hours before the recording – Band & crew will kill time in a dressing room that contains no forms of entertainment.

30 minutes before recording – Hair & make up will be done

15 minutes before recording – Someone from the TV show will appear, they will be wearing a headset & carrying a clipboard. They will announce “15 minutes till recording”. Crew will go & do final instrument tunings

5 minutes before recording – Headset Clipboard comes back & walks band to the studio floor. They will be introduced, get into position & then reintroduced for the recording so it looks like the whole talk/chat show was seamless as live take, rather than being a smoke & mirrors job.

Recording time – The band will do a take of the song & they & their team will immediately have to decide if the take is good enough for broadcast or if they will (if allowed) try for a second take.

This is pretty much the way of all shows all around the world & it is the reason why if your favourite band has done a good talk/chat show performance it was down to as much luck as judgement.

Now here is how I think things can be improved.

1 – Stop designing schedules based on worst case scenarios. Stop adding so much dead time into a day. If something does go wrong, make it part of the show, stop making every show a bland illusion of professionalism. Celebrate the differences of each artist, band & crew.

2 – TV & production companies are worth millions & spend hundreds of thousands on utter wasteful bollocks. Buy a few sets of world class backline and maintain it to be in perfect working order.

3 – Put some sources of entertainment in the dressing rooms or create a fun room. Xbox, dartboard, pool table, pinball, table football, air hockey etc etc. Ease the nerves, add the fun & get a better performance.

4 – Get a room and put an electric drum kit, some guitar & bass Pods, keys & a vocal mixer in it. Allow the band & artist to warm up before the recording. I can think of few things less conducive to a good music performance than to have the band & artist sit around bored for 4+ hours and then have them be rushed to their instruments and be told to be brilliant in one take.

5 – Factor in multiple takes. Tell the audience the band will play the song 3 times back to back & then get the artist rep/management/label to pick the best one. Even better record 3 different songs as a mini gig. Broadcast one & put the rest online, do more with an 8+ hour day than get one ropey to average performance.

6 – Do something different! You all have the same format of a few guests & then a single song. Use the band, make them part of the show. Musicians are some of the most spontaneous & fun people I know, every night they feed off an audience & produce flashes of brilliance. Many actors on the other hand need other people’s words, multiple takes & the full might of Hollywood to appear interesting. Give more screen time to musicians, talk to them as well as letting them play.

I cannot get you an opening set or support slot at a James Bay concert. It is very impressive that you have used rudimentary Google skills to find me & email/tweet/Facebook message me with a few days until the show you wish to play. Sadly I am unable to help because the live music industry is slightly more organised & thinks on a longer term basis than you.

The way to get a support slot is to get either a manager, a booking agent or more likely both. If you are good enough these things will naturally happen and soon enough your management & booking agent will be talking to another artist’s management & booking agent and will land you a support gig or tour. If you have landed poor management they may go down the murky path of buying a support slot.

This has been the way since the music industry began & will continue to be for the foreseeable future & no matter how many emails or messages you send me, I will be unable to help. Sorry about that.

Many young musicians seem to think that landing a support slot with an artist they love will be a life changing moment but unless you are opening for the right artist & with the right team behind you, you’ll achieve nothing. Say you land the slot & 2000 people in the audience love you, what then? You have no product to sell them, no strategy to build on this sudden adulation & no team to advise how to repeat this success.

Always remember it’s the music business not the business music. It’s right there in the name, music always comes first.

The best bit of equipment you can buy for any tour is another day in the rehearsal studio.

What follows is some advice & a few tips for fans. First let me state loudly & clearly that I love fans. Without fans there would be no music industry. We need you, we like you, hell some of you even become genuine friends that we stay in touch with outside of music. So don’t take this advice the wrong way, I’m just offering some insight into how to not annoy the bands and artists you like.

 

1. Don’t take it personally if you are not instantly recognised by the artist or crew. Hundreds of shows per year x thousands of audience members = a lot of faces to remember. We aren’t being rude if we ask you to refresh our memory, just most likely suffering the effects of sleep deprivation, jet lag & hunger.
2. Don’t be offended if we are in a rush & can’t instantly stop to chat. Our schedules are usually crazy & there are loads of things that can go wrong when we are on the road. If we say we are in a hurry, we aren’t lying. Most bands and artists love spending time with fans but as they get more successful that time is eaten away by ever larger promo schedules & longer more technically demanding sound checks. Understand that us rushing past you outside a venue isn’t being rude to you personally, it’s us making sure that the show is as good as possible for the thousands of other people attending. FYI if you want to meet bands & spend time with them, 6pm – 8pm is the dead time that most artists hate and will be found killing time in pubs, video arcades & other time wasting places near the venue. That’s a good time to say hello and catchup.
3. Most artists I know love receiving gifts from fans as long as they are small & not weird. By all means pour your heart & soul into something creative but why not keep that for you as a reminder of how inspired you were? If every successful artist kept and hung up every painting of themselves that they were given by a fan, their house would look like the set of a terrifying horror film. At a tired low ebb after a long journey, there can be something quite harrowing about stepping off a tour bus & having an abstract or photo-realistic picture of yourself thrust under your nose. Whereas key rings, soft toys, mugs, local sweets & chocolate will always raise a smile & be welcomed.
4. An important point but one often ignored by many people. When a band & crew are on the road we are basically homeless. The tour bus & the hotels we stay in become our home. I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys a bunch of strangers (no matter how friendly) standing outside their house. It’s pretty much the same for us with regards the bus & the hotel. They are places of sanctuary for us, a home away from home & the easiest way to piss off an artist you love is to pester them by constantly hanging around a hotel or the bus. (I know this for a fact as I once had an awful encounter with Steven Malkmus from Pavement. The young fan me thought he was a dick, the older me now realises that I was a dick & he reacted quite calmly given the circumstances).
5. Don’t be upset if your request for a song dedication is politely declined. If a band or artist followed every request each show would consist of approximately 50 birthday shout outs, 15 engagement announcements, 10 anniversary commendations & at least 5 marriage proposals. All of the music that was planned would have to be cancelled just to accommodate the fan requests. Sorry in advance for not making your special moment more special.
6. Your ticket gets you entry to the show & hopefully you’ll have been entertained and have memories that will last anywhere between until you get pissed in the pub afterwards to a lifetime. Your ticket does not guarantee you a souvenir, a personal meeting or allow you to be rude to me, my crew or the band/artists. I print 10 set lists a night so sorry that you can’t all have one. We sometimes have a very tight schedule so have to dash off after the show. We aren’t being rude, we are just making sure the thousands of people the following night enjoy as good a show as the one you saw.
7. From the artists leaving the stage it will take anywhere between 60-90 minutes before the tour party is ready to leave the venue. People need showers, industry folk need to swan around being important, friends & family need to spend brief time with their loved ones when they are in town & we may need to eat & drink. We aren’t being rude keeping you waiting, we are just getting shit done.
8. Don’t be a dick!
9. Be nice. Everyone responds better to nice behaviour.

The better a city, festival or venue is, the less time you will have to spend in it.

I appear to have neglected this blog due to the massive workload that has resulted in James Bay becoming a bit of a big deal.

 

I shall endeavour to write more and give the handful of you who have ever checked this site something to peruse.