Trading ’spaces
Why your MySpace page isn’t nearly as cool as Pinback’s
by Jed Gottlieb
So they just came out with this new thing that’s pretty awesome. The local bands are all about it—not just the cool ones, but all of ’em. It’s called MySpace. Heard of it? No? Oh, man, it’s all about that six degrees of separation shit and how the whole world’s connected through technology and the democratization of art and how our generation doesn’t need fucking radio or MTV or any of that shit to get our music out.
OK, while all of that is true (sorta) and, yes, MySpace is (kinda) mind blowing, we need to back up a minute.
First, MySpace was reportedly designed by super nerds who could have cured cancer if their dream hadn’t been bringing people (and stalkers) together online. So why are so many bands’ pages either really boring or look like a 9-year-old designed them on a Speak & Spell?
And if it’s all about individuality and creativity, then why do all these bands’ fans (read: mostly young women) look so alike (read: mostly slightly blurry camera-phone pics of young women with puckered lips slathered in a dozen tubes’ worth of cheap lip gloss)? Surely, there’s more to MySpace than this.
Determined to prove that San Diego’s music community is being all it can be, CityBeat went looking for local bands with cool, creative pages. It wasn’t easy—there’s a lot of great music but little innovation—however, we did find some hidden treasures.
The logical starting point in a search for inventiveness seemed to be Pinback’s page. With many locals aspiring to be Pinback, they need to also aspire to the near perfection of the band’s MySpace page. And it’s not that difficult. Simply follow Pinback’s template.
1. SPRUCE IT UP: Swap the dull gray background for a more distinctive color, sprinkle the page with cool, non-distractive images and ditch the standard band photo (the black-and-white glossy of your band standing in front of brick wall with the bassist squatting menacingly isn’t doing it).
2. USE IT ALL: Fully load the music player (and add some video if possible) and occasionally rotate in new songs. Feel free to ignore comments such as this post: “I had boo as my song, gahhh. Funny though, I was listening to Penelope earlier today and thought to myself, ‘This song should be on the myspace!’ We clearly have a psychic connection,”
3. INTERACT WITH FANS ON YOUR TERMS: Update the blog regularly, but not obsessively (see Step 2 in reference to comments from fans about not blogging enough).
4. OWN IT: Remember, MySpace is your public face. Make it reflect your own super-special uniqueness. If funny, be really funny. If you rock out, rock out hard.
For some excellent examples of the four-step plan at work, CityBeat dredged the bowels of cyberspace, proving you don’t need to be Pinback to pimp your page.
New Loser Studio follows the steps to a T. The page is painted in a blend of lime and army green with a Ron Burgundy-chic photo. The music player has different appropriate images to go with each song. And the blog screams MySpace phenom. Sample exerpt: “I would like to talk to you today about a plague which is destroying our fine country. The taking of naps. Everyday across the U.S. naps are taken and never returned.... The ‘liberal elite media’ would have you believe that the taking of naps is as American as apple pie, a Fourth of July bbq, or perhaps destroying a small town’s economic infastructure [sic] by opening a Wal-Mart.”
Just as New Loser’s page reflects its audience (note: not a single person has commented on New Loser’s blog, so we’re using a loose definition of “audience”), Project Brutality carefully caters to its fans. Arriving at Brutality’s page, guests are greeted by a pulsating, inverted pentagram, an earful of death metal and a cursor transformed into a Crucifix. The cursor actually looks like a plus sign, but the point is made: These guys are demonic.
The whole site (like the band’s music) is, at best, headache-inflicting. At worst, it could kick off a lifetime of seizures. But it clearly follows Pinback’s template—especially Step 4’s ethos of staying true to one’s self. Even Brutality’s friends’ comments fit perfectly: “omg, u guys SUCK! … wtf. im serious p.s, im joking and... IM THE COBRA COMMANDER!”
While most local bands don’t reach the heights of New Loser Studio and Project Brutality, there are plenty of pages that show promise. Robot Crew has cool art and a freaky welcome song; Rookie Card is redefining the art of blogging; and Kill Me Tomorrow’s page is a beautiful disaster. Yes, San Diego MySpace music fans have a long way to go, but when placed next to Weezer or Billy Corgan’s boring pages, we’ll take New Loser any day.
3/29/06
by Jed Gottlieb
So they just came out with this new thing that’s pretty awesome. The local bands are all about it—not just the cool ones, but all of ’em. It’s called MySpace. Heard of it? No? Oh, man, it’s all about that six degrees of separation shit and how the whole world’s connected through technology and the democratization of art and how our generation doesn’t need fucking radio or MTV or any of that shit to get our music out.
OK, while all of that is true (sorta) and, yes, MySpace is (kinda) mind blowing, we need to back up a minute.
First, MySpace was reportedly designed by super nerds who could have cured cancer if their dream hadn’t been bringing people (and stalkers) together online. So why are so many bands’ pages either really boring or look like a 9-year-old designed them on a Speak & Spell?
And if it’s all about individuality and creativity, then why do all these bands’ fans (read: mostly young women) look so alike (read: mostly slightly blurry camera-phone pics of young women with puckered lips slathered in a dozen tubes’ worth of cheap lip gloss)? Surely, there’s more to MySpace than this.
Determined to prove that San Diego’s music community is being all it can be, CityBeat went looking for local bands with cool, creative pages. It wasn’t easy—there’s a lot of great music but little innovation—however, we did find some hidden treasures.
The logical starting point in a search for inventiveness seemed to be Pinback’s page. With many locals aspiring to be Pinback, they need to also aspire to the near perfection of the band’s MySpace page. And it’s not that difficult. Simply follow Pinback’s template.
1. SPRUCE IT UP: Swap the dull gray background for a more distinctive color, sprinkle the page with cool, non-distractive images and ditch the standard band photo (the black-and-white glossy of your band standing in front of brick wall with the bassist squatting menacingly isn’t doing it).
2. USE IT ALL: Fully load the music player (and add some video if possible) and occasionally rotate in new songs. Feel free to ignore comments such as this post: “I had boo as my song, gahhh. Funny though, I was listening to Penelope earlier today and thought to myself, ‘This song should be on the myspace!’ We clearly have a psychic connection,”
3. INTERACT WITH FANS ON YOUR TERMS: Update the blog regularly, but not obsessively (see Step 2 in reference to comments from fans about not blogging enough).
4. OWN IT: Remember, MySpace is your public face. Make it reflect your own super-special uniqueness. If funny, be really funny. If you rock out, rock out hard.
For some excellent examples of the four-step plan at work, CityBeat dredged the bowels of cyberspace, proving you don’t need to be Pinback to pimp your page.
New Loser Studio follows the steps to a T. The page is painted in a blend of lime and army green with a Ron Burgundy-chic photo. The music player has different appropriate images to go with each song. And the blog screams MySpace phenom. Sample exerpt: “I would like to talk to you today about a plague which is destroying our fine country. The taking of naps. Everyday across the U.S. naps are taken and never returned.... The ‘liberal elite media’ would have you believe that the taking of naps is as American as apple pie, a Fourth of July bbq, or perhaps destroying a small town’s economic infastructure [sic] by opening a Wal-Mart.”
Just as New Loser’s page reflects its audience (note: not a single person has commented on New Loser’s blog, so we’re using a loose definition of “audience”), Project Brutality carefully caters to its fans. Arriving at Brutality’s page, guests are greeted by a pulsating, inverted pentagram, an earful of death metal and a cursor transformed into a Crucifix. The cursor actually looks like a plus sign, but the point is made: These guys are demonic.
The whole site (like the band’s music) is, at best, headache-inflicting. At worst, it could kick off a lifetime of seizures. But it clearly follows Pinback’s template—especially Step 4’s ethos of staying true to one’s self. Even Brutality’s friends’ comments fit perfectly: “omg, u guys SUCK! … wtf. im serious p.s, im joking and... IM THE COBRA COMMANDER!”
While most local bands don’t reach the heights of New Loser Studio and Project Brutality, there are plenty of pages that show promise. Robot Crew has cool art and a freaky welcome song; Rookie Card is redefining the art of blogging; and Kill Me Tomorrow’s page is a beautiful disaster. Yes, San Diego MySpace music fans have a long way to go, but when placed next to Weezer or Billy Corgan’s boring pages, we’ll take New Loser any day.
3/29/06
posted by idtics at 7:18 PM
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