My newest musical addiction is the back catalog of Amanda Palmer, having been introduced to her music first by her book and then by two amazing concerts last March. Her songwriting, both lyrical and musical, is meaningful, powerful, and so intelligent I am hooked. Before going solo she was part of a duo in Boston called the Dresden Dolls and were labelled "cabaret punk." Sadly, I missed seeing them live (like a lot of things during my married years.) Last week Amanda Palmer tweeted about a rare Dresden Dolls gig to be played in Brooklyn as part of a vinyl record release of DD material. I wanted to go, but realized it was too much of a trip for me to make, and besides, I had to teach my Saturday lessons. Sigh.
Here's where the "We are the media" piece comes in. Fans tweeted back to Palmer about wanting to see the show live on the Internet, and she agreed it would be good. She scrambled, interactively with her fans, to set up a live stream feed to her website (not as easy as it seems it might be.) Magically at 6:00 last night, as my allergy filled head tried to remain still to avoid exploding, it aired live from Brooklyn. I didn't miss the show after all! Almost better than being there as there were no crowds, no driving, and I could hear the sound much better. The set was fantastic with both Palmer and Brian Viglione playing with high intensity and power. What a treat to see!
As soon as the show was over, Palmer tweeted to her fans asking if the webcast quality was ok. The best part of this process is that there were no media middlemen -- no one representing the record company, radio station, Internet channel, or any other commercial source. No advertising. The deal was done between artist and fans, and it was perfect. Product to market. No advertising. No gimmicks. No nothing - except amazing live music video delivered to my ipad. Just fabulous!
As I've written about before, Palmer is the one who really proved that going straight to fans via the Internet is the way to go for the future of art (and, of course, other things.) She uses Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and her website to communicate directly to fans of her work, and the interplay between fan and artist is fun and informative. It is still to be seen how a visual artist can use the same platform to engage patrons, and I am not sure that it can work as well. For music, though, it is fantastic.
The quote "Don't they know that we are the media?" comes from Amanda's song "Map of Tasmania," a song that references female body hair (of all things!) and the changing role of media in a performing artist's way of reaching their audience. She's proven that authors, artists, singers, inventors ARE the media and don't necessarily need to have big company promotion as long as they can reach the audiences that want to support them.
I just love Amanda Palmer's attitude and style of performance. She wore a full length slip as a dress, revealing her pregnant belly and realistically, unashamed pregnant body. I am so inspired by her own comfort with her own body and self. And her passion for her music. Go Amanda, Go Internet, Go new media.
What will you make today? Who is going to see it? Cheers.