Zach Condon cracked a joke during Beirut's showcase last night. It was something like: "You can tell we've been playing a lot of bar mitzvahs in Albuquerque ..."
The crowd laughed. I laughed under my breath. It's true Zach was spotted at a Pajama Men secret show a few weeks ago, but other than that he's a rarity in Burque town. When the schedule for SXSW came out and Beirut was the only band from Albuquerque picked for a showcase, their was an air of "why did he even claim Albuquerque ... he's not from here."
OK. True. He doesn't currently live in Albuquerque, but he still claims Albuquerque (and Santa town, sometimes) as his hometown, what's wrong with being proud about it? We can't have it both ways, Burque. We bitch when a band hits it big and don't even hint its New Mexico heritage, but then when one of our own starts to make it (after moving away) but remains a proud Nuevo Mexicano, we bitch and moan.
Which is it? Represent the 505 for life or move and you're dead to us?
I really hope it's the latter.

representin da 505 por vida!!!!

I think people are conflicted over this one. On the one hand, yes, everyone wants people to represent Albuq. for life. But then, when people move away and claim us, it's sort of like a slap in the face, as if they're saying, "yes, we claim 505, but we moved on to bigger and better things." I can understand that the pressure to relocate once a band blows up is huge; it's hard to get a lot of exposure when you're in Albuquerque. I don't know, I say if ex-Albuquerqueans want to claim it still, then let 'em. The more a city gets associated with good bands, the better it is for that city as far as I'm concerned.

if i'm correct, zack condon lived in albuquerque for about 5 or 6 months. he grew up in santa fe, worked at a frame shop for a while, tried to go to unm, dropped out and moved to brooklyn shortly there after. so... take that for what it's worth.

quote:

Which is it? Represent the 505 for life or move and you're dead to us?
I really hope it's the latter.

I'm confused ... you hope they move away and become dead to us? That doesn't seem right.

quote:

Originally posted by GonzoGirl:
we bitch and moan.
Which is it? Represent the 505 for life or move and you're dead to us?
I really hope it's the latter.

Maybe this Beirut guy is just too overhyped?
I mean c'mon Amy, how many times have you written about him already? Is he a relative or just a close friend?

quote:

Originally posted by GonzoGirl:
We can't have it both ways, Burque.

Yes, we can. I'm having it both ways RIGHT NOW and I don't feel the least bit bad about it. Try and stop me! I might come up with a third way to have it.

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We bitch when a band hits it big and don't even hint its New Mexico heritage, but then when one of our own starts to make it (after moving away) but remains a proud Nuevo Mexicano, we bitch and moan. Which is it?

It's whichever one involves bitching, clearly. We also bitch when a band doesn't make it, and when a band stays in town. I often bitch about bands that have never even been within 1000 miles of here. Sometimes, late at night, I bitch about bands that don't even exist.

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We bitch when a band hits it big and don't even hint its New Mexico heritage, but then when one of our own starts to make it (after moving away) but remains a proud Nuevo Mexicano, we bitch and moan. Which is it?

Wait, I had to do this one again: You mean we bitch about the only two bands that fit those descriptions?

It is so hard for a local to say or hear anything about Beirut and/or Shins without coming off as something other jealousy or ass-kissing (in my case, both are true). Besides bitching, our great traditions include hidden agendas and not trusting each other. I don't think we are alone in that though; I'll bet Seattle had a lot of shit to talk post-Nirvana, and I KNOW that Austin has mixed feelings about SXSW to say the least. I'm thinking objective journalism is impossible on this subject, or at least it's impossible to get people to believe it.

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Originally posted by SquawkJockey: I'm confused ... you hope they move away and become dead to us? That doesn't seem right.

I mean the former ... former, right? Oi. More coffee before posts is a must.

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Originally posted by queenkiller :Maybe this Beirut guy is just too overhyped?
I mean c'mon Amy, how many times have you written about him already? Is he a relative or just a close friend?

And as to you, queenkiller. He is neither a close friend nor relative—if he were, I wouldn’t report on him. It’s called journalist ethics. Yes, it does exist and yes, I try to practice it. Shame on you for your accusations.
But, you may be right on the hype. I find it interesting to track his career because I interviewed him last year at SXSW before Beirut exploded on the internet. Since then, he’s gotten a lot of national attention and created a buzz in the music community. I happen to think Beirut will only get more popular, but it’s also possible they’ll fizzle out and die quietly. Remember, not all hype is bad hype.

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It is so hard for a local to say or hear anything about Beirut and/or Shins without coming off as something other jealousy or ass-kissing (in my case, both are true)

It doesn't have to be either if you don't know them personally, and I don't.

Did you know Xhibit is from here, too? Lived here all his life, went to West Mesa. True story. He claims Cali. Ingrate.

Everyone should shout out to New Mexico that can. Even musicians who never lived here should get 505 tattoos Then maybe the rest of us will get some spillover love.

I'm mostly kidding. I think the Beruit thing was just confusion. I saw their name on the roster and thought "Really? I've never seen them? Was I missing something?"

Either way, there are a couple of actual Burque bands unofficially doing their thing out there, too, right Amy?

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Originally posted by boomhead:
Either way, there are a couple of actual Burque bands unofficially doing their thing out there, too, right Amy?

Yeah. The Dirty Novels played on Wednesday night at something called the Red Gorrilla Music Fest (I think), one of many not SXSW music festivals going on downtown at the same time. I'm really impressed by all the free music events around here. You don't need a wristband or badge to see some awesome music in Austin during South by.
Hit By A Bus is around playing a few day parties, and I just saw Fast Heart Mart doing what they do best--playing music, grassroots style. There they were playing outside the Driskil as I made my way to the night bus at 2 am this morning. They're a hard working duo.
Freddie Prince, Jr. went to La Cueva, and no love. What's with that?

Who cares, bands will come and bands will go. How many people actually saw the 3 (or how ever many) shows he did play here before moving to Brooklyn? Thousands of bands move to LA, NY, Portland, etc.....

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Originally posted by DaveFame:
Who cares, bands will come and bands will go. How many people actually saw the 3 (or how ever many) shows he did play here before moving to Brooklyn? Thousands of bands move to LA, NY, Portland, etc.....

one of those 3 shows he actually opened for us.

I have no problem with some great band claiming they are from Albuquerque and drawing some attention here but Beruit just sucks ass!!!

Why can't they say they're from Taos or something?

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I made my way to the night bus at 2 am this morning

A night bus. There's something I'd like to see in Albuquerque on the weekend.

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A night bus. There's something I'd like to see in Albuquerque on the weekend.

true dat

quote:

Originally posted by GonzoGirl:
...awesome music in Austin during South by...

FYI

One is allowed to refer to this event as South By, only if you have lived in Austin/Travis County for fourteen months or more. Other wise it's South By SouthWest

FACT!

Thug Life!
thats my Comment!
its THUG LIFE!

but if my band were to make it, I would still live here! I would talk about burque! I would live it, breath it! and probably be burried here!

Just got home from South By*, and just for clarity's sake, we played two unofficial gigs, both were at midnight-ish. One was on Spill on 6th, the other was on Congress, two miles from downtown. I saw Soular--lawd I love Soular--play that Red Gorilla Showcase and I know Old Man Shattered played the Texas Rockfest (same one we played, different night). But, back to the original topic...

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...and I KNOW that Austin has mixed feelings about SXSW to say the least.

Allie (Hyperfest) told me that she was walking westward to a restaurant late one night when some chick noticed she was wearing a SXSW badge. The girl told her "you know, people would like you a lot better if you weren't wearing that badge."

!! Wha?! I mean, I somewhat agree that South By has become a "corporate pig", as the TX Rockfest dude put it, but that was such a middle-schooler thing to say to someone. But yeah, I get the feeling that with all the popular signed acts that are playing this thing, it's losing it's popularity with some, but gaining more with others.

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I'm really impressed by all the free music events around here.

I was very impressed by this too. It's almost like there's TOO MUCH to do! I think downtown Austin alone has twice as many venues as the entire state of NM.


*I'll call it whatever the hell I wanna. I'm too lazy to say the extra two syllables.

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Originally posted by gio:
Just got home from South By*...

*I'll call it whatever the hell I wanna. I'm too lazy to say the extra two syllables.

Ha!

You know, people (in Austin) would like you a lot better if you weren't using that term!


(and for the record, you and your band are some of the most Un-Lazy individuals I have seen playing music in this South Western (see, not that hard to say) town that i have encountered in a long, long time. Y'all are far from lazy.

Fact!

(nice try though...)