DANKO JONES - "To This Day Hollywood Has Kept The Myth Going That The Record Biz Is A Mountain Of Cash Erupting Like A Mount Pinatubo"
January 20, 2013, 11 years ago
Toronto rocker DANKO JONES recently launched a column at Canada's Huffington Post. Following is an excerpt from his latest article:
Want To Learn About The Music Biz? Don't Watch "This Is 40"
Playing in a rock band is a fun way to make a living if you can somehow manage to avoid the traps that the 89 per cent fall prey to. Getting snared by either contractual fine print, bloated egos, or predictable substance abuse is par for the course. It's no secret the music biz has a tendency to attract the most base of characters and on top of having talent a band has to have an immense amount of shrewdness to navigate these pitfalls.
How our band has managed to remain above the scum water for 17 years can be credited to a learned combination of stubbornness, cocksureness and an aversion to narcotics. Being able to write a song or two that some people dig doesn't hurt either. But no matter how long we manage to stay in the game, people still have hackneyed ideas of what the music biz is all about. Whether it's my elderly neighbour who thinks every tour that I embark on is a relentless Dionysian orgy, or an old friend who thinks I take a limousine to the grocery store, decades of industry myth-building that has left these farcical impressions on people.
Before the advent of downloading and filesharing, the argument could be made for the constant slapstick depiction of the music industry; my favourite caricature being the Michael Des Barres -- fronted SCUM OF THE EARTH on WKRP In Cincinnati even though it was actually Des Barres' real-life band, DETECTIVE, playing the music.
However, in a post-internet world most of these "old school" music industry people have been Darwin Awarded out of existence. Yet still to this day Hollywood has kept the myth going that the record biz is a mountain of cash, erupting like a Mount Pinatubo where instead of lava, gold coins flow endlessly towards musicians.
Take Judd Apatow's latest movie, This Is 40, a relatively easy-to-digest "rom-com" about an aging couple fitted with all the usual cinematic devices -- father issues, wise-beyond-their-years children, sexy temptress etc. etc. It's a quaint, charming, coming-of-middle-age story that, aside from its weak patched-together plot resolutions, makes for a nice date flick. The only problem is that in Paul Rudd's "Pete" character, an ex-Sony Music employee turned indie label owner, I am asked to suspend an amount of disbelief equal to the amount of money that apparently flows so endlessly from his ex-Sony Music employee pockets when it comes to the movie's depiction of the music business.
Click here for the complete article
Danko Jones recetly announced European tour dates for May in support of their new album, Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue. Their scehdule is available below:
May
2 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof3 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
4 - Dresden, Germany - Reithalle
5 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
7 - Nürnberg, Germany - Hirsch
8 - Linz, Germany - Posthof
9 - Dornbirn, Austria - Conrad Sohm
10 - Milan, Italy - Factory (Area 3)
11 - San Alberto, Italy - Maximum Festival VI
12 - Marseille, France - Le Moulin
14 - Barcelona, Spain - Music Hall Barcelona
15 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Arena
16 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club
17 - Lisbon, Portugal - TMN Ao Vivo
18 - Santiago de Compostela, Spain - Sala Capitol
19 - Gijon, Spain - Sala Acapulco
More dates will be announced soon.
On March 6th, Danish bashers VOLBEAT's North American tour featuring support from Danko Jones will begin in Dallas, TX. The current itinerary includes the following appearances:
March
6 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom7 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
9 - San Antonio, TX - Freeman Coliseum
10 - El Paso, TX - Speaking Rock Entertainment Center
11 - Lubbock, TX - Lonestar Pavilion
12 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
14 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues at Mandalay Bay
15 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
16 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
17 - Reno, NV - Knitting Factory
19 - Boise, ID - Revolution Center
20 - Missoula, MT - The Wilma Theater
22 - Seattle, WA - Showbox At The Market
23 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
24 - Calgary, AB - MacEwen Hall
25 - Prince George, BC - CN Centre
27 - Dawson Creek, BC - EnCana Events Centre
28 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Centre
29 - Medicine Hat, AB - Cypress Center
30 - Regina, SA - Brandt Centre
April
1 - Saskatoon, SA - Credit Union Center2 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
3 - Minneapolis, MN - Mill City Nights
5 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
6 - Ft. Wayne, IN - Piere's
7 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy
9 - New York, NY - Best Buy Theatre
10 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head
11 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
Danko Jones released their latest effort, Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue, on October 9th, 2012. The video for the first single from the album, ‘Just A Beautiful Day’, was directed by the Diamond Bros and filmed in New York City in September. It can be seen below:
