OK, so we are well in to the silly season, Christmas parties taking over the pubs and bars and shoppers attacking the town like crazy. We've been bit scattered for the past few weeks. I was once again on tour with Sliotar and Qra had to pop over to Poland to try to fix some of his on going back problems. But next week we'll be all back in action again. As much as I love playing in Sliotar, I do miss making lots of noise with Qra and Sebastian;-)
Now back to the silly season. It has been an interesting week in Ireland to say the least... The covernment announced the new budget, and I'm not sure if I should say much about it here... But I'm sure we'll write songs about it for years to come. Dublin has already turned in to that mental place, that it always does before Christmas. Being a musician this time of the year is filled with mixed emotions. Of course you enjoy the family time, all the food and celebrations. But as musicians don't get payed for holidays (yep you heard me right!) it also means lost gigs and no pay. I know I am lucky as I have regular concerts with Sliotar and being at this for year I am much more prepared for it now, but I do remember many a rough Christmas. And even this Christmas I am sure there are many musician out there who just can't wait to get over the holidays and back to work, so they can pay their rents. I am not trying play the worlds smallest violin here, or get some sympathy. Instead I am just once again trying to bring in little bit of reality to those of you who are dreaming about making a living from music. It can and will be tough, but that is the price that you need to be willing to pay for doing something you love for living. Summer holidays? Well you better work it around the festival season. You know, I do hear it so often people say to me, oh it must be great doing what you love for living... And it is, but if I would tell you the price you pay, well you might think twice. Then again, it is not the only job with antisocial hours out there;-). The other side of the coin is that many of us are having tough time as it is, due to the most ridiculous recession of our life time, created by creed and stupidity, so why not give it a go?
And now for something completely different;-) YouTube introduced some changes during the week. We all know and hate how Facebook throws changes up with out asking or telling any one about them. But YouTube made their site much more “Social” if I may use the word. The really cool thing about the new site is that you can change over to the new profile, and if you don't like it, change back. Now there's a nobel idea for facebook. But yeah, I messed around a bit with it, and it was pretty easy to get your basic profile up. Also unlike on Facebook, you can actually change your page name. I am really lookin to spend some time on the design side of the things. I got a good feeling about this one and when I get to the bottom of it, I will share with you more details. You can also keep an eye on how I get along at JPKALLIO.COM's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JPKallio I must say here also that if you don't have your band up on YouTube yet, get on it! It really is a great tool.
Oh yeah and a quick update. We were supposed to perform at the Pint on 17th of December, but the show was canceled. Instead we'll be there on 14th of January with some great bands. The confirmet acts on the night so far are:
My mind races
Nuke the fridge
Dave's Last Rave
24 Broken Amps
Them Apples
JPKALLIO.COM
But more on that closer to it:-)
Have a great week and we'll be back for more next week.
J.P.
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