Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad

Author:Michael Azerrad [AZERRAD, MICHAEL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Music / Genres & Styles - Rock, Music / Genres & Styles - Punk, Music / History & Criticism, Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians
ISBN: 9780316247184
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2012-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Bert, Moore, and Ranaldo in particular were all avid consumers of rock magazines, books, and documentaries. They’d studied the mistakes everyone from Chuck Berry to Neil Young had made and weren’t about to repeat them if they could help it. But Moore was deeply uninterested in the business end, leaving it to Gordon and Ranaldo. Ranaldo was the de facto tour manager, holding the cash, advancing the shows, and arranging places to stay. But no one in the band was expert in music business negotiations. “The business aspect was really hairball back then,” says Bert. “They would sign anything.” Bert says the band got in a legal hassle after signing the contract for Kill Yr. Idols with Zensor, only to get a call from Rough Trade’s lawyers, pointing out that they had already signed another contract giving Rough Trade the same rights.

Fortunately, the band was savvy about a lot of other extramusical matters. Moore had begun publishing a fanzine called Killer in 1983, interviewing Ian MacKaye in the first issue; Killer #2 featured Gordon on the cover and pieces on Black Flag, Minutemen, DNA, and Flipper. It was an excellent way to network and to plug his friends’ bands: connections were made, small IOU’s accumulated; it was a way in to the flourishing post-hardcore community. Moore sent a copy of Killer to Jimmy Johnson, who had just started a hardcore fanzine called Forced Exposure, and struck up a correspondence with Johnson and his outspoken, musically omnivorous partner Byron Coley. It would prove to be an invaluable connection.

Sonic Youth recognized two things: One, that without substantial radio airplay, press was the main promotional outlet for underground bands, and two, that underground music fans paid particular attention to music criticism. The band also knew a thing or two about critics. “One thing Sonic Youth always did, almost to a gross point, was that they always knew who the hot journalists were and they always became really close,” says Bert. “You’d go to a party and Kim would know who the Village Voice writer was in the corner of the room and she’d make sure she went over there. They were really good at schmoozing in every respect. They always made sure they met as many popular, famous people as they could, whether it be the art world or the music world. They were always really good at that—they always knew who to meet, who to know.”

Bert recalls when former Branca musician Tim Sommer began to make a name for himself with the legendary WNYU hardcore radio program Noise the Show. “He was starting to be a big deal and they were best friends with him,” Bert says, “and all of a sudden two years later they wouldn’t give him the time of day.” Bert also points to Moore’s connection to Forced Exposure, which soon became perhaps the most influential zine in America. “He totally got himself in there,” says Bert, “and we got on the cover.”

The Forced Exposure connection later paid off

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