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The Evening Muse is something else. A quick glance to the inside would potentially confuse a passerby, because that quick glance wouldn’t give you much. It might miss over the human-focused paintings lacing the walls, the scene, complete with a purple guitar, built into the stage and the absolute talent the Muse can attract, which is exactly what it did last Saturday night when it hosted Anna Bullard, Billy Sugarfix and the Houstons.
Charlotte’s Anna Bullard, who set up the show, opened first. Her minimalist performance gently eased listeners into what was otherwise a loud and energetic show. She looked Her slow, sad melodies contrasted well with Billy Sugarfix’s somewhat bizarre and catchy indie pop and the Houstons’ raw, honest and loud performance. Her honest and earnest lyrics
The performance, however, was clouded by lyrics that didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the song and occasionally forcing syllables in spaces where they didn’t fit. It was unfortunate, because the details she added into songs; “Sing Real Pretty” details a woman who meets a man who’s already taken and how she noticed him anyhow. The song itself illustrated a difficult and bittersweet scenario, but lyrics such as “a personal concert just for me” and “we danced the night away” were so generic and overused they stained what was an otherwise honest and beautiful song. However, the guitar melodies in and of themselves were consistently beautiful.
Carrboro’s Billy Sugarfix, following Bullard for their second out-of-town show, was nothing short of unique and memorable. If for no other reason, the group included oboe player Wendy Spitzer, viola player Justin Blatt and double bass player Doug Vuncannon, instantly setting them apart from other groups. They were joined by Billy McCormick, “Billy Sugarfix,” on guitar and vocals, as well as fellow vocalist Sara Zaleta.
However, that wasn’t all that made them memorable. They were catchy, they were quirky and they sang and the way their songs were written, played and sung stood so far away from the box it was hard to compare them to other indie artists. Their songs spanned a wide range of different scenes, made poignant and haunting by the little details the group included in the lyrics that made them realistic and believable. Some of their better songs included “Out Like a Lamb,” a religious ballad which, by the way, brought Spitzer’s playing ability into some well-deserved limelight, and “All the King’s Horses,” a sad, heartbreaking song that punned all of your childhood nursery rhymes. If you wanted something less serious, they offered that to the audience that night, too, with “Take a Shower.”
The evening ended with a return to the Muse by the Houstons. The Houstons – Justin Faircloth on drums and keyboard simultaneously and Matt Faircloth on guitar – drowned out their set with strong, meaningful melodies. The brothers hovered older songs, including the unreleased “Fallen Leaves.” If you want thoughtful, introspective melodies or introspective, thoughtful angry music that you can relate to, these men are for you.
The highlight of their set inclued a self-proclaimed “angry” song about leaving Charlotte to come back home later on. The song was highly relatable for anyone who grew up in Charlotte, or even just in the state. It was one of many songs, though, that highlighted the down-to-earth lyrical talent fellow Charlotteans can produce.
The only major downside to their set was how loud they were played, which was beyond their control anyway. Their music literally vibrated through the Muse, making it difficult to focus on the quality of their songwriting and playing.
What made the show itself special went beyond interesting lyrics, melodies or even a range of artists. It was that when the artists took the stage, they looked like they were truly happy to be there, at home in their own skin on stage. Justin Faircloth went so far as to step down in the audience mid-set to ask the audience how they were, encouraging members to sit in the first few rows to keep it close, while McCormick tried to entice audience members into checking out music with a free download, complete with candy on the card. Zaleta grinned from ear to ear and glowed between Sugarfix’s songs, and Bullard comfortably situated herself in the audience with other audience members to watch the other two sets.
The Evening Muse constantly plays shows by local and indie artists, and their website, including their schedule, can be found at www.theeveningmuse.com. Each of the artists that played can be found on Myspace, as well.
In the music video for Lady Gaga’s hit single “Bad Romance,” the pop diva vamps across several nightmarish tableaux wearing a variety of barely there lingerie get-ups. The flashy clip caused a sensation when it debuted in November and has racked up 85 million views on YouTube.
But perhaps its most striking aspect is the unabashed product placement, conspicuous visual shout-outs to Nemiroff vodka, Nintendo Wii, Burberry and other brands.
Back in the proverbial day, say, the Woodstock era, punk rock’s ‘70s heyday, the slacker-era ‘90s a song was a song and a jingle was a jingle and rarely the twain did meet. But now, with CD sales in free fall and opportunities for radio or television airplay increasingly rare, the rules governing the interplay between pop music and advertising are being rewritten.
It’s no longer possible to “sell out” at least, not within a certain time-cherished understanding of the term. Rockers, rappers and up-and-coming pop titans of all stripes are licensing music and image as an integral part of brand-building, which largely has usurped selling music and concert tickets as many musicians’ professional end goal.
Consider Chris Brown’s smash hit “Forever,” which cracked the Top 10 in seven countries in 2008 (before his career-derailing assault on Rihanna) and went double platinum. At the start of the song’s video, Brown is shown sliding a piece of gum into his mouth before heading out for a night on the town. On “Forever’s” chorus, he croons: “’Cause we only got one night / Double your pleasure, double your fun.” Turns out the song was commissioned by Wrigley to promote, you guessed it, Doublemint gum. Three months after releasing the single, the chewing gum conglomerate aired its “reveal”: a TV commercial version of “Forever” featuring Brown singing about gum and dancing with a pack of Doublemint.
The spot generated outcry among music purists, but marketers greeted the spots with awe. “When the reveal happened, some people got upset,” recalled Steve Stoute, founder of the firm Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging. “But the number of spins went up and Doublemint went up in awareness.”
Stoute, who was behind “Forever,” also is responsible for Justin Timberlake’s “I’m Lovin’ It” spots for McDonald’s as well as Beyonce’s endorsement deal for Tommy Hilfiger’s True Star perfume and the career game plan to treat Lady Gaga “like a brand” in her own right.
“Using entertainment assets to introduce products is a platform that needed to get exploited,” said Stoute, a former executive vice president of Interscope Records. “The lines needed to be blurred. When done correctly, there’s consumer acceptance.”
Stoute said his marketing company gets several calls a week from “major artists” in pursuit of their own “Forever.” It’s not selling out, he argues, if there’s an authentic relationship between the music and the product being hawked.
“Marketing isn’t successful if the consumer feels he or she is being sold something,” Stoute said.
Mariah Carey’s most recent CD, “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,” was accompanied by a 34-page mini-magazine bearing the R&B diva’s image and emblazoned with an Elle magazine logo. It’s a co-production between Carey’s label Island Def Jam Music Group and Elle that features such brands as Angel Champagne, Elizabeth Arden and the Bahamas Board of Tourism intermingled with lighter-than-air Mariah-based editorial featurettes: “VIP access to her sexy love life,” “Fantasy: the five-time Grammy winner goes behind the scenes of her new drama.”
Carey pointed out she is personally or commercially invested in everything advertised.
“Angel Champagne, I guess I’m part owner. The Bahamas, we have a house down there,” Carey explained, between bites of caviar at the Polo Lounge. “It all has to do with things that are organic to me. And honestly? I’m a big kid. I thought it would be cute.”
Island Def Jam is exploring similar branded CD booklet deals for artists including Kanye West, Rihanna and Bon Jovi.
It all makes The Who’s rollicking 1967 concept album “The Who Sell Out” which featured faux commercials and cover art depicting band members shilling for deodorant and baked beans appear prescient. (In further irony, The Who’s epochal 1965 single “My Generation” is currently featured in a commercial for Flo TV).
Scott Lipps, owner and founder of the New York modeling agency One Management, recalls a time not long ago when indie rock acts would sooner pack in their skinny jeans than appear in fashion ads. But now, Lipps has augmented the success of his agency (which represents such A-list glamazons as Bar Refaeli and Claudia Schiffer) with its offshoot One (M), dedicated to help place rock and pop stars in precisely such commercial environments. Among them: Alison Mosshart of the Kills and Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, who were featured in ads for the fashion line J. Lindeberg, and the New York pop-rock band the Virgins, who were photographed for a Tommy Hilfiger campaign.
“People’s views on endorsements, doing magazine stuff any way to reach fans it’s all changed. It’s not taboo anymore,” Lipps said.
Lipps, formerly drummer for ‘80s rock group Black Cherry, remains attentive to the alliance of brand and band.
“I’m never going to ask a very cool band to do business with a brand that they would never associate with,” said Lipps. “It’s about finding that right fit.”
After the rock quartet OK Go broke into mainstream consciousness with the homemade video for its 2006 single “Here It Goes Again” (featuring the band members performing a synchronized routine on exercise treadmills), they were bombarded with offers to re-create the sequence for TV commercials. The group developed what frontman Damian Kulash calls OK Go’s “hell-no criterion”: “If it’s a product we feel is demeaning or that cannibalizes the meaning or artistry of our song,” he explained.
Still, the band has remained receptive to overtures from corporate America. Last year, the musicians appeared in print ads and billboards for Banana Republic its spring fashion line campaign that also included such artists as Liz Phair, Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba and Sara Bareilles attired in natty suits, playing their instruments. “The recording industry has so entirely bottomed out, advertising is one of the only distribution methods that still works,” Kulash said after returning from Japan, where he did a photo shoot for the fashion brand Uniqlo.
“The music side has a deep ambivalence. It’s a pretty major paradigm shift that requires a rethinking of how we see what we do.”
He added: “I wish we never had to get in bed with that stuff. It doesn’t feel particularly good to wear the marketing hat. But our record label isn’t paying to put up billboards across the country.”
Fashion designer John Varvatos faced a similar reluctance when he approached Ryan Adams about appearing in print ads and billboards for his streetwise clothing line in 2005. But after convincing the alt-country singer-songwriter that there would be “nothing fakey about him appearing in the clothes,” Varvatos went on to land Iggy Pop, members of Velvet Revolver and Cheap Trick, Perry Ferrell of Jane’s Addiction and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry for subsequent ads.
Varvatos said attitudes toward commodifying stardom have changed.
“I was besieged by people wanting to hook up with us,” Varvatos said. “There are a lot of people coming after us now. It’s almost the opposite problem now. We have to filter out.”
The designer was quick to dispel the notion, however, that the performers in his ads were selling out their images in return for some hefty payday. “We don’t pay the artists much of anything,” Varvatos added. “They’ve got to really want to do this.”
Katie Vogel certainly has no regrets over her decision to star in Sprite’s online series “Green Eyed World,” a digital marketing push that aired last year. The series used YouTube clips, social networking interfaces and the promotion of soda to help the London native launch her career; she brandishes a Sprite-green guitar in the clips and at times people around her are seen quenching their thirst with a certain lemon-lime-flavored refreshment. Asked if she was concerned that the association with the brand might limit her career prospects, Vogel, who now goes by the professional moniker Katie V., insisted there were no downsides.
“My music, it’s being heard,” Vogel said. “Even if one person says, ‘She’s the Sprite singer,’ they’ve heard my music. So I’m happy either way.”
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