CD Baby

I love the internet - people are starting to use it in creative new ways like CD Baby who provide sales, warehousing and distribution for independent musicians. It was set up by the wonderful Derek Sivers who has has now reached hero status in online music netlore. Here's an interview with Derek from 1999 and one recently from 2003. The traditional music industry model is crumbling and it's clever little companies like this who will win in the end.

On the subject of MP3s killing the music industry he says:"Think about this - Because of the hype about MP3, this "controversial" music format, there are more people listening to independent "unsigned" music in the last 9 months, than in the last 30 years combined! Isn't that amazing??"

World Famous in New Zealand
Apart from a few Radio 1 shows I never listened to much radio when I was living in the UK. Most of the stuff that gets played has me howling in pain. It seems much harder for independent artists to get their tunes played now that the world media is owned by Rupert Murdoch. The only way to 'make it big' in the music industry seems to be to sell your soul to a major label. Who will kindly help you spend your advance, then own your creative output for years while they 're-coup'. If they spent less on pushing international 'stars' then maybe more musicians could make a living.

With Chelfyn's track playing on national radio, I've been tuning in. While everyone in the UK was dreaming of making it as a popstar, it seems Kiwis were hanging out in garages and thrashing battered guitars. There is a thriving music scene here a million miles away from the media driven, manufactured pop tarts they push on MTV. New Zealand bands have been getting out and gigging, rather than selling out & lipsynching.

The world is starting to take notice. The UK press spent the summer drooling over The Datsuns, and The D4 from New Zealand with their raw garage rock but there's plenty more where they came from. There's some fantastic Dub & Reggae bands, standout New Zealand Hip hop, and the NZ Drum & Bass scene is already world renowned.

My favourite album right now is Inside the Dub Plates by Salmonella Dub, but I also like Goldenhorse, *Stellar, Bic Runga, Goodshirt, Rhombus, and The Brunettes.

You can buy CDs by New Zealand artists at Amplifier.co.nz or Real Groovy websites, and there's more on New Zealand bands here at Newzealandmusic.com, Bands.co.nz, Kiwimusic.co.nz, Music.net.nz

Worldwide airplay!

Chelfyn's track The Evil Plans of George W Bush IIIrd is taking on a life of it's own. It's still in the listeners Top 20 on the top rated show on Channel Z, and we're getting emails from all over the world asking where to buy it.

It seems not everyone supports Mr Bush in his invasion of Iraq, and a lot of the emails are from Florida. I wan't sure why and then I read Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. Michael Moore for President!

1984 or 2004?
A year ago today we started our new life in New Zealand after being trapped in Los Angeles, or 'Hell-A' as the late, great, Bill Hicks preferred to call it. It was only meant to be a one night stopover but we were stuck there for 5 days. It was an eerie time to be in the US, like being in 1950s B movie. I've never heard Americans speak so quietly.

The US news is starting to sound like something out of Max Headroom or Robocop. Who would want to live in a country where the food and breasts are plastic, children have to go to school in bullet proof vests, and money seems more important than human lives? My heart goes out to the families of the Twin Towers, paying the price of aggressive US foreign policy. Most Americans are decent, honest, people but their government is currently running amok. Orwell's 1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a manual.

It feels safe here in New Zealand. We have no Resources of Mass Attraction, are not strategically placed to grab as a military base and as Prime Minister Helen Clarke says - we don't interfere in world politics enough to have any enemies.

Radio Gaga
I've just heard my husband Chelfyn's track The Evil Plans of George W Bush IIIrd being played on national radio!

It's all thanks to Dodgy Sam, who I met at a Potato rave. He was wearing a kilt and a Marvin the Martian sporran - my favourite cartoon character. Sam marched into the Channel Z studios this week and demand they play a CD with 'Evil Plans' scribbled on it. They played it on the breakfast show, and people have been phoning in all day to request it!

On the airwaves it was like hearing it for the first time. My stomach lurched as I heard the first few notes and the rest of the world became a blur. I was crying and bouncing like a loon when it finished. I feel a deep sense of satisfaction and a party coming on...

Live Slow Die Old!
Does time speed up as you get older or is it a symptom of the internet age? No one tarries or bides time anymore. We're so addicted to instant messaging, coffee & credit, fast finance & food, that waiting has become a lost art.

Time is very precious. I never seemed to have enough of it when I lived in the UK. I worked through the heady dotcom days with the geeks and freaks and was featured in .Net as one of the first UK 'cybergrrls'. I ended up working far too many hours building corporate websites, and found a part time job as Editor of a European KM website which I now manage online from my New Zealand home.

Now I'm living on Kiwi time my motto is Live Slow, Die Old. It's taken me a year to chill out from the British pace of life. Maybe it's the sun (I'm sure it's the pot) but it's hard to rush things over here. Time passes more slowly in New Zealand - even the clocks sound more laid back. I think it's because a lot of Kiwis surf. Surfing forces you to be chilled as you can't rush the waves. All you can do is float on your board and wait.