suburban home records makes a please to save the company
A Letter from Vigirl Dickerson, owner and founder of the local label:
Dear Friends,
I’m writing this letter today out of necessity. For all those that know me, I am not the type of person that enjoys discussing the day-to-day finances of my business, so please know that I would not be approaching you if it was not due to a dire situation.
As the retail music industry continues to go through hard times, we have just been informed this week that our biggest record distributor will be sending us a substantial retail return. This is the second return in two months, and they total $40,000. Without getting into specifics, this means that we will not be expecting a payment for quite some time.
For an independent business like mine, this could prove to be the end of Suburban Home if we don’t do something about it. Imagine if your household did not receive any income for three months.
To get to the point, we need your help. We need to raise $20,000 over the next month and a half, or Suburban Home could be forced to close. This means that if 400 of you can find it in your hearts to each spend around $50 on our compact discs, t-shirts, and zines,(we are always adding new merch and records to our site) this would be enough to get us through this hard time. Also, there will be a series of benefit shows to save Suburban Home, and I want to thank all the bands that have already agreed to donate their time and talent.
The future of Suburban Home Records is bright if we can get through this. We have so many great releases planned in the near future including new records by The Gamits, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Stereotyperider, Mike Park, Laymen Terms, Adventures of Jet, and others. Our distributed labels(Negative Progression, Fastmusic, Double Zero, Law of Inertia, Goodfellow, Attention Deficit Disorder, Dying Wish, Soda Jerk, Status, and Grey Flight) will also be releasing new independent music throughout the year, and I would hate to see this be the end of our relationship together.
In closing, if you could find it in your hearts to help us out, we will be forever in your service.
On behalf of everyone at Suburban Home Records and myself,
Your friend through music,
Virgil Dickerson
www.suburbanhomerecords.com
club onyx promoter ends his charity work
This just in from Joseph, the man that had a goth club plan that didn’t get the support to sustain Club Onyx:
It is with rather mixed emotions that I announce that Club Onyx will be having its final night on February 7th, 2004. In its place will be opening a new club, called Club 314. Club 314 will have a pretty different look, and will have a totally different weekly lineup than what Club Onyx had. The good news (for some of you) is that Club 314 will still offer a goth-oriented night (Wednesdays), and that Saturdays will stay somewhat similar in spirit as well. More information can be found very soon at www.club314.com.
Despite what some people might say or think, I always from the beginning wanted two things from Onyx: financial success, and to be underground-oriented. Unfortunately, while the second has been largely true, the first goal has never really been met. Yes, we got by, yes, the bills got paid, but that was always about the extent of it. There just hasn’t been the level of support from the gothic/underground scene that we needed to make this club thrive. I think I know now why there are few, if any, full-time “goth” clubs in the country, and why most cities are lucky to have even a regular goth-oriented weeknight. I’m not looking to place blame or point fingers…I’m sure there are many reasons why Onyx has had the level of business it’s had over the years — some no doubt my fault, others beyond my control.
Unfortunately, after four years of really trying my best, I am simply no longer willing to “just get by” and to have mediocre attendance numbers each week. My charity work is done, so to speak. I tried everything I could think of, but in the end, the support just hasn’t been sufficient. My employees are scraping to get by, as am I, and that’s just no longer acceptable to me. I hope people can respect that.
So, I will keep this letter brief, but you can look for some marketing and e-mail announcements from Club 314 very soon. They will have more detail about the new lineup and what to expect. In the meantime, I’ll be out every Friday and Saturday as usual, and I hope that all of you will make some effort to come down and spend some time with us in these last few weeks of Club Onyx.
Thanks to all for your support over the years, and I hope our paths continue to cross down the road.
All the best,
Joseph
Club Onyx
The New South Park Tavern Takes Over 60 South (01.15.04)
More changes are taking place on Broadway in the Baker neighborhood. Skylark moved from its more dive-y abode, Hi Dive took over Quixotes, bring art, rock, and movies to the area. Now 60 South has changed ownership and the sign outside that now says – The South Park Tavern.
Although the gay community lost a venue, owner Mike Mastro plans to bring more live music to the area. He’s also renovating the interior and creating a game room with pool and new pinball machines. One thing he hasn’t changed is the Friday Lipgloss night of brit pop, indie, and soul spun into a frenzy by Tyler Jacobson and Michael Trundle. And if you’re looking to get buzzed on a budget, hit their happy hour that goes every day – 2 for 1 wine, well, and beer – from 11:00am – 1:00pm; 4:30pm – 6:30pm; and 10:00pm – midnight.
www.beatport.com is live and online (01.08.04)
Our local dance community heads, Mile High House, are in the final testing phase of their online music store, offering up thousands of underground record labels along with local artists.
“This site is not just for DJs, its for everyone,” say Hoch of MHH. You can start by getting registered online. Then start on your search for your favorite tracks or discover new ones. The site is also designed to support all the latest music toys. “Got a new I-pod? Fill it up with tracks from Beatport. Got a new minidisc player that plays MP3s? You should fill up those miniature CDs with tracks from Beatport.”
In the realm of spending dollars in your own backyard, they would have to feature music from their own collective and other local DJs and producers, including new and even unreleased tracks. So here’s a chance to get ahead of what will be going down on the dance floors in clubs across the state.
Hoch adds, “The best part of it is that the whole operation is based here in paradise, aka Denver Colorado baby.”
From Big Sales Numbers to a New Mini iPod – Apple is Rockin’ (01.08.04)
It’s been 20 years since I saw these vans driving around my hometown, with this rainbow colored, bitten Apple logo. Before Jobs and Wozniak turned the computer industry upside down with the Macintosh, no one knew where Cupertino was. They still may not, but you can’t deny that Steve has done a bang up job of turning his baby around, and since the introduction of the iPod and iMusic, people beyond the Mac user have been eating up Apple’s digital music toys.
Apple celebrated two decades of innovation during their announcement of over two million iPods and over 30 million iTunes songs sold at this year’s Macworld in San Francisco, along with the introduction of a new smaller, less expensive version, the iPod Mini. The existing iPod now has a 15GB model, offering customers 50% more storage for $299, while the new iPod mini offers 4GB of storage, or 1,000 songs for $249. Some of those songs could also include tracks users can create on Apple’s new music creation software, GarageBand, for use on the Mac. See this week’s Band Buzz for more information on this product.
The mini iPod’s size was compared to the size of a business card, which is typically 2” x 3”, a dimension that can easily strap to your arm. A belt clip and earbud headphones built with five times the power of standard headphones come with the unit. Accessories include the iPod mini dock to make syncing easier, the arm strap, remote, and higher end headphones. It also comes in five different colors – silver, gold, green, pink and blue, and will be available in February.
Buzz Band Stories this week:
— PRTTI Industry Event
— Book Your Own Fucking Life
Do you have some news about your music or your band that you would like everyone to know about? Email us at bands@kaffeinebuzz.com!!
