ANVIL Frontman Lips On The Music Business - "You’re Not Going To Become A Millionaire Because It Costs Too Much"
January 23, 2010, 14 years ago
ANVIL frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow is featured in a new interview with The Austin Chronicle correspondent Raoul Hernandez . An excerpt is available below:
AC: On the new album, back-to-back songs 'Feed the Greed' and 'Big Business' address the music business. How is it now to be in the music business, "agents, managers, a record company?" How’s that treating you?
Lips: "As horrible as it always was [dissolves into laughter]. [Then, resigned] It’s always been the same. It’s a pound of flesh, no doubt about it. It’s all about co-dependency. They need you and you need them. It’s never just one-sided: 'Oh, we’re going to help you out.' They help themselves. It’s a business. That’s the way it is. They have no choice and you've got to deal with it. That’s the way it is."
AC: Strange to want something that in the end is going to be dysfunctional.
Lips: I’m not sure what you mean by that.
AC: Like you said, they need you and you need them, but the "music business" is already something of an oxymoron. It’s fucked up from the get-go.
Lips: "That’s right. What choice do you have? No one does anything for nothing. Every inch you pay for and it comes out of your hide. Realistically it’s all coming from you as the artist, but you’re giving up massive percentages to forge forward. That’s just the nature of it. No one’s going to do anything for you unless they're getting a piece. The potential of you getting very wealthy is certainly there, but not while you have a whole trainload of people to pay. You’re going to maintain and you’re going to keep the train going down the track, but you’re not going to become a millionaire because it costs too much [chuckles]. Just like anything, you sustain it and eventually you’ll get there, but immediate, it isn’t like that. It costs a lot of money to make money. It’s just the nature of business, and particularly the music business, which is even that much more exaggerated."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
Anvil's tour schedule is now as follows:
January
23 - House of Blues - New Orleans, LA24 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
25 - Emo's - Austin, TX
26 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
29 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO
30 - The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
31 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
February
2 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ3 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
4 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
5 - House of Blues - Los Angeles, CA
6 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
9 - Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA
11 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
12 - Studio Seven - Seattle, WA
13 - Venue TBA - Vancouver, BC
March
19 - The Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY20 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC