And BTW, her album is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time, so I’m pretty certain the quality didn’t suffer an ounce for the process.

much love, tenley

i never listened to the Throwing Muses despite being surrounded by indie kids recommending them growing up and sort of being an indie kid myself at the time…no idea why but there it is

then, many years later, i saw you mentioned in a list of “musicians who twitter” a while ago and signed up. can’t say i’ve been paying too much attention but i sort of register the odd tweet.

then, today, i kind of read this article (you can see a vagueness theme developing here maybe) and now it’s a little bit in my head to actually become one of those random small number of followers. not saying i will now but it’s now a definite possibility.

i suppose the simplest way of saying this is that the mere fact you talked to me at some stage like a human being while being demonstrably one yourself is kind of enough to get me interested, after literally twenty years of ignoring your music though being aware of its existence, in actually hearing some of it or maybe giving you some cash at some stage.

so, i’ve no idea what the moral there is but having read your thing i think this will all work out for you because even writing something like that (particularly having already been involved in the music biz) puts you ahead of 99% of the industry in my book so i’d like to genuinely wish you all the best with this and hope it goes well

there ends my garbled contribution…

Your position is indeed a conundrum. The current violently changing world of music marketing could work in your favor, but you may need a crystal ball to discern how exactly to make it work best for you. The chips are still flying — both an opportunity and an annoyance.

I think it’s brilliant, and not a little hilarious, that Billy is teaching music marketing at Loyola. This is akin to John Waters getting kicked out of film school, then, years later, successful, being asked to lecture at Harvard. Billy is brilliant, and an asset as well as an ally. If anyone can find the pulse of this strange marketing world, he can.

After the Bright Yellow Gun debacle that you told me about (to point to just one example), where WB didn’t just fail to promote your product, but actively cockblocked it, I can’t see how you would ever feel comfortable working for The Man again.

The ideal of music speaking for itself and getting to the masses on its own merit is a pretty one, but, sadly, unrealistic. Marketing is such a huge part of any publishing industry: writing, music, film, etc. How many people have I introduced to your music who say, “Who is this? My god, it’s fantastic! I’ve never heard anything like it. Just what I’m looking for!” Such awareness comes via marketing, obviously, though I do my best to word-of-mouth you to anyone who will listen. Can’t reach everyone though, try as I might.

Myface and Spacebook = good. Radio play = better. Distribution and being well-stocked in brick-and-mortar shops seems key. How does one accomplish all this? Fuck if I know. I’m just a consumer.

CASH is, of course, a radical and thoroughly interesting new approach. I look forward to watching its evolution and ts tweaking to bring it to its full potential.

To close: I’m TERRIBLY glad you’re so prolific after all these years, and it’s exhilarating to follow your own artistic evolution — always fresh and always quality. You really are a national treasure, you know.

Let’s talk more over tiny quiches at d’Or.

xoxo, Todd P.