No, I’m not talking about the Stone Temple Pilots. Not that there is anything wrong with that STP, but I’m here to talk about the song by the name of STP by a bad ass band from long beach called Sublime. Of course you’ve heard What I Got, Santeria, Wrong Way, etc, but STP is a song that many folks never heard, and that is a tragedy.
This particular STP actually stands for “Secret Tweaker Pad”. The song basically creates a colorful audio illustration of the Sublime lifestyle in the late 80s/early 90s hanging out in their secret hideout where they would pass the time with fun activities such as crossword puzzles, tattoos, and of course copious amounts of methamphetamine.
Of course, I am not endorsing drug use, especially the kind that makes you prone to breaking into your neighbors house and stealing his DVD player, but I am most certainly glorifying this awesome song. Here is the video (sorry about the delay in the beginning, it was the only version I could find that allows embedding):
Like 90s punk rock? Like 2000s punk rock? Well you’re in luck, because Rancid is teaming up with Rise Against to create yet another amazing tour for this summer. Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath is a long-time devout fan of Rancid, so he is understandably quite excited about the upcoming gigs.
“Without them paving the way for us, who knows where we would be”, McIlrath told Billboard. “It’s something we never saw happening; it was kind of like a fantasy idea, and I can’t believe it all came together to happen.”
Come to think of it, it only makes sense that fans of Rancid would be fans of Rise against, and vice versa. After all, if you’re browsing through the “R” cds at Best Buy or the “R” bands on iTunes, you’re bound to come across both bands.
The tour will kick off June 4th in Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum. Check out Rancid’s MySpace for more tour details.
Okay, maybe he delivered a beat down to Rihanna not too long ago, and he supposedly leaked nude pictures of her on the internet, and he also got pretty crazy one time on an episode of Punk’d….
“I ain’t a monster”, Brown told the world via YouTube/Justin.tv. Check out his full cyber address here:
All of this from a young man who is not even old enough to buy himself a beer here in the United States. The 20 year old singer is currently in the studio working on his new album which is due out some time towards the end of this summer.
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny the fact that Twitter is taking the social networking world by storm. If you’re an independent band trying to build your following and online presence, there is no excuse not to take advantage of this rapidly growing free resource.
Not too long ago I talked about how Mark Hoppus is using Twitter to stay directly connected to his fan base. Although it obviously won’t be as easy to gain thousands of followers as it would be if you were a member of Blink 182, you can still get a lot out of Twitter.
Also acknowledging the importance of Twitter for musicians is one of the Twitter co-founders himself, Biz Stone. Recently Biz was kind enough to elaborate on the ower of Twitter for independent artists in this article: 5 Twitter Tips for Bands.
Of course, Twitter is just a piece of the puzzle. In today’s indie music climate, there are tons of promotional vehicles like Twitter and also millions of other artists out there trying to utilize them. Being consistent and offering value to your fans (both new and old) will ensure your music gets the attention it deserves, both online and off.
