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Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (American Music Series)

Franz Nicolay
3.78/5 (61 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people” are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, "Band People" gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry.

“Might be one of the least bacchanalian books ever published about the rock-and-roll life style, but also one of the most honest.”—Hua Hsu, The New Yorker

“What makes Band People so unlike most books about popular music is that it's actually about music, and not really anything else. Instead of projecting a meaning onto songs, it explains the craft of song creation; instead of lionizing the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, it describes how a life in rock 'n' roll can be realistically achieved. It's the difference between learning about a war from a general and learning about a war from a soldier.” —Chuck Klosterman, author of "Killing Yourself To Live" and "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs"

"Most books about musicians focus on the superstars that everybody knows. Franz Nicolay’s writing is so valuable because he cares about the other 99.9 percent of performers—the sidemen, the session musicians, the road dogs who make their living in the shadows. In Band People, Nicolay shows just how fascinating—and difficult, and rewarding, and important—the lives of these people can be.” —Steven Hyden, author of "Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me" and "Twilight of the Gods"

“Franz Nicolay brings together musician interviews, pop-music sociology studies, and social-psychology research to demystify the world of the workaday band member. Partly an oral history of the post-DIY musical present, partly a how-to manual for getting along with your bandmates and getting paid, Band People offers a thorough crash course in what it means to be a working musician in the pop and rock scenes.” —Sara Marcus, University of Notre Dame, author of "Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution"

“Festival catering is where working musicians knock out our water cooler talk. What drummer’s a dream on tour? What singer pays dirt? What bassist should never, ever drive? With Band People, Franz Nicolay has assembled festival catering’s fantasy roster, a wrecking crew of career players in astute conversation with one another on business and relationships and how those collide in music work. A fascinating guide to the labor and love of playing in a band, with invaluable insights for newbies and lifers alike.” —Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz and Sad13), author of "Cry Perfume"

"[Nicolay's] original research...makes for fun reading...and goes deep on a neglected population of musicians...A lively...peek at the artistry at the edge of the stage." —Kirkus

"Perceptive...shed[s] fascinating light on the complications of dedicating one’s life to another’s music...[T]hese profiles succeed in complicating the 'lone genius' narrative of artistic creation and raising provocative questions about how society values the production of music. It’s a captivating look at what it means to occupy the complicated space 'between a career and a calling.'”—Publishers Weekly
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
ISBN10:
1477323538
ISBN13:
9781477323533
kindle Asin:
B0CYYG9ZKQ

Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (American Music Series)

Franz Nicolay
3.78/5 (61 ratings)
Read Download
Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people” are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, "Band People" gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry.

“Might be one of the least bacchanalian books ever published about the rock-and-roll life style, but also one of the most honest.”—Hua Hsu, The New Yorker

“What makes Band People so unlike most books about popular music is that it's actually about music, and not really anything else. Instead of projecting a meaning onto songs, it explains the craft of song creation; instead of lionizing the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, it describes how a life in rock 'n' roll can be realistically achieved. It's the difference between learning about a war from a general and learning about a war from a soldier.” —Chuck Klosterman, author of "Killing Yourself To Live" and "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs"

"Most books about musicians focus on the superstars that everybody knows. Franz Nicolay’s writing is so valuable because he cares about the other 99.9 percent of performers—the sidemen, the session musicians, the road dogs who make their living in the shadows. In Band People, Nicolay shows just how fascinating—and difficult, and rewarding, and important—the lives of these people can be.” —Steven Hyden, author of "Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me" and "Twilight of the Gods"

“Franz Nicolay brings together musician interviews, pop-music sociology studies, and social-psychology research to demystify the world of the workaday band member. Partly an oral history of the post-DIY musical present, partly a how-to manual for getting along with your bandmates and getting paid, Band People offers a thorough crash course in what it means to be a working musician in the pop and rock scenes.” —Sara Marcus, University of Notre Dame, author of "Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution"

“Festival catering is where working musicians knock out our water cooler talk. What drummer’s a dream on tour? What singer pays dirt? What bassist should never, ever drive? With Band People, Franz Nicolay has assembled festival catering’s fantasy roster, a wrecking crew of career players in astute conversation with one another on business and relationships and how those collide in music work. A fascinating guide to the labor and love of playing in a band, with invaluable insights for newbies and lifers alike.” —Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz and Sad13), author of "Cry Perfume"

"[Nicolay's] original research...makes for fun reading...and goes deep on a neglected population of musicians...A lively...peek at the artistry at the edge of the stage." —Kirkus

"Perceptive...shed[s] fascinating light on the complications of dedicating one’s life to another’s music...[T]hese profiles succeed in complicating the 'lone genius' narrative of artistic creation and raising provocative questions about how society values the production of music. It’s a captivating look at what it means to occupy the complicated space 'between a career and a calling.'”—Publishers Weekly
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
ISBN10:
1477323538
ISBN13:
9781477323533
kindle Asin:
B0CYYG9ZKQ

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