New Music Seminar Recap

I’m not gonna lie.  I didn’t go to many panels at New Music Seminar this past week.  Most of my time was spent catching up with friends and acquaintances as well as meeting some interesting people for the first time.  After all, a lot of a conference happens outside of its panels…intros, cutting deals, making follow up meetings.  I had a great time meeting Lauren from Eventric, Bobby from My Bandstock, Aniq from Instinctiv, Karim form Indie Merch and Bernd from Guguchu as well as reconnecting with Aidan from Youphonics, Shannon and Jimmy from Flashfwd winning company Rockdex, and Bill from Headliner.fm (NOTE:  please check out at least one of the companies you’re not familiar with).

However, I must say that Martin Atkins was the most interesting music industry speaker I have ever seen.  He said f*** more times in his 18-minute talk than The Big Lebowski did in its entirety.  He went through his talk like a stand up comic shifting between touring insights and humorous anecdotes of how idiotic bands can be on the road.  On Twitter, I read about people asking how much drugs he was on, to which he responded, “sorry to be a pain – but i’ve been sober for 16+ years and its kind of important to me.”  I guess some people are so naturally energetic from their passions, which is refreshing and hopeful for us all.

The second best was surprisingly Jesse Malin.  I won’t deny that I’m not really a fan of his music, but I was so fascinated by his story.  Jesse reminded me of the musical version of Chris Cooper’s character in Adaptation.  Shifting between styles and trying to maintain a malleable, yet authentic musical identity by evolving away from the mainstream.

On the other hand, you can’t talk about the good without having some bad.  The most ridiculous quote award goes to Kelly Cutrone for comparing hip-hop and wine.  I’m a fan of absurd analogies, but that’s just ridiculous.

Overall, I’d say the seminar was a success.  Eccentric panelists.  Interesting attendees.  And all the Mountain Dew you can drink.  Dave, Tommy, Stephanie Jo, and the rest of the NMS staff did an excellent job.