"I shouldn't be wasting all of my time in these basement bars with this rock and roll band."

Damian at the PACKED, Triple Nickel Fourth Anniversary Party.

"You are wasting your life away at the bar. Your shows are not that cool, and the triple nickel is boring. You are afraid to do more with yourself" -Anonymous

I received these fine words in the form of an anonymous message sent through the bowels of Myspace via the TRUTH BOX application.

I laughed when i read the above message. I have come so far in this great charade of life and have people ridicule the choices I have made. I LOVE what i am doing, and as i wrote in my Article in The Independent, Nothing feels better than a packed room and knowing that I am responsible for it.

It has been about 8 months since i have received this message and as I looked upon it today, it was not with laughter or humor, but sadness. Here is a person who thinks i can do great things, but sees me wasting my time at a dive bar I call HOME.


I wish no disrespect to the people who did the job before me, but When i first took over the bookings and promotions of the Triple Nickel Tavern, it was an absolute shithole. I came in HUNGRY and ready to buckle down and work my ass off and that's what i did.

For the first year I had to beg and plead with musicians to come and play at our little venue. I was constantly on the computer, listening to and emailing bands. I went out and found the bands that i loved and admired and brought them to Colorado Springs. It was hard work, but no where near the hard work that came once i got these bands into town. The hardest part was getting the crowds...

Colorado Springs is a notorious town for having a music scene that people do not support. People do not want to leave the comfort of their homes and Xboxs to venture out into the great unknown for adventures and live music. They visit their chain restaurants and comfortable chain bars. They venture very little off the beaten path. They have very little imagination or thirst for adventure and because of this, the town suffers greatly because of it.

It may seem easy. Sit at the computer and write a few emails, post a few bulletins online. The Reality is, I had to bust my ass to attract more and more of these people and get them into our little bar that could. Sure I didn't do anything to drastic and crazy. I mostly did what other did before me in the days before Social Networking. I got out there and Flyered and networked. I went to shows. I met new people and spent countless hours talking and talking to people. I bought and consumed many, many beers. It was hard work and even some of my closest friends chose not to support me and my efforts, choosing instead to sit at home and watch countless hours of MTV Reality Television. Through it all, and against all odds, I prevailed.

Our bar just celebrated its Fourth Anniversary to a PACKED house! In a time of economic uncertainty, we had one of the most successful years in the bar's history. I can't take all of the credit of course. It was a group effort and we all pitched it. I booked the bands. The people started coming. The Bartenders took care of the patrons and guests. JJ, the owner, built a new stage. Joel (Aka Ski) set up a new sound system (that JJ bought.) and as a result, we've created the best sounding, small venue in town. Most bands tell us we are now their FAVORITE place to play in town!!! A far cry from the time i spent on my knees....

We ALL worked hard to get the bar to where it is now, and not with out my help of booking the shows, and getting the people to acknowledge what we are doing. The Nickel may not be the premier bar downtown, but we're at a point now, that even on show nights we can pack the fucking house with ease, a super rarity before I took over.

The person who wrote to me telling me that i am "...Afraid to do more with myself," Might not see how great an accomplishment that packing that place can be. I'm the backstage guy. I'm the man behind the curtain making the magic happen. Its a very unrewarding job for most, but not for me. I've sought my reward and claimed it.

I have so many more GREAT people in my life now. If not for the nickel, I wouldn't have met my last three girlfriends, and I'm sure the next unlucky girl i will have met there as well. I would not know my last two roommates, had it not been for the Nickel. I would not have found the roads i am currently navigating... I wouldn't have become this current incarnation of Damian.

Less than two weeks from now, I'll be hitting the road with one of my all time favorite bands, DRAG THE RIVER. I'll be their Merch Bitch/Roadie/Driver on this next adventure and I've never been more excited. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be going out on the road with Drag, i would have laughed and wished dreamily at the prospect.... Now here i am about to embark on a killer trip, with some great guys. They're not only my friends, but my brothers in arms. I STILL can't believe it.....

And its all because I've "wasted [MY] life away at the bar."

I may not get paid cash for all the work I've done in this town, but The Nickel has given me more than I ever could have wished for.

I don't want people to think I am selling myself short. You don't rush a stew. You have to let it sit and simmer and cook to deliciousness. I'm taking it slow and easy and soaking in the sights, sounds and smells. Its not about the destination, its about the journey. I will sit back and enjoy this wild and crazy ride that I'm on and when the time comes, I'll head off on my next great adventure.


So to the person who wrote the above statement, I want you to know, I'm HAPPY. I'm not wasting away. I've accomplished more than i could have imagined. I appreciate that you think i can do more, and I can, and I will, but for now I'm going to keep hanging out in the Dive bar, booking "boring" shows and entertaining the small mass of loyal patrons to our bar. I am going to keep enriching this town. I am going to keep plugging away. One day, I will move on to greatness, and one day you'll tell someone, "I knew him when."

Attainable Goals.

Let me start off by saying, I adored the film, JULIE & JULIA, the 2009 film based on Blogger Julie Powell's journey through Julie Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie set herself a goal of completing all 524 recipes from Julie Child's cook book in 365 days. The film was based on the books, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously By Julie Powell and My Life in France By Julia Child

It was oddly inspirational to me, the hapless 28 year old male who often yearns for something creative to sink his teeth into. Only to find myself without the the time motivation, or more importantly, the organization.

The film's main character talks to her mother about how setting short, simple and attainable goals is good for your life and being. In looking for the exact quote, i could not find it for the life of me, but i did come across this quote from Tony Hawk that mostly fits:

"My best advice is to set small, attainable goals for yourself. Don’t think of the big picture all the time, because you’re just going to end up being disappointed the whole way there. You’ll be so fixated on the challenges that you won’t step back and realize you’re already there."

In the last few weeks i have watched this film a few more times and each time i feel myself yearning to do something of the sort in my own life. Create my own short and attainable goals. I thought of going through the Top 250 films on IMDB.COM and writing about each and every one. I had once started the dubious project of watching every film on the list in one year, this was about 5 years ago, and made it far, but found myself burnt out on high class, amazing films that zap your brain and soul. I regressed into watching much more Hollywood filth and schlock afterwards.

Still, during my unfinished goal, I did happen to find many, many amazing films and directors that i never ever would have found without this amazing resource and goal. Its still a goal of mine to watch all 250 films, but the list is an ever changing affair and i am quite proud to have seen at least 125 of these films, if not more. I would stop and count them all... but that can wait for another day.

So I've been debating what small and attainable goals for me to reach this year and what they should be. I've come up with two, very similar, simple goals for this upcoming year.

First. I'm going to use this blog and write one blog a week every week for 2010. That's 52 blogs. 52 writings. Each one with at least 500 words. Lets face it, I'm very verbose so chances are each post will venture into the thousand-plus wordcount. I will have no set theme, just one Blog entry a week. Each one a slice of my brain. I will try to refrain from postings about my boring days and keep these posting as interesting as possible.

Secondly. I'm going to begin working with Vanessa Speckman and her wonderful zine, Lubricated Magazine (fan Lubricated on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lubricated-Zine/166831369538). After a few back and forth emails about various plans and ideas we have, we both came to the conclusion that we just need to get off our asses and start working on the blog. Just start working and stop fucking talking!

For the zine, I am setting the same goal i have set for myself here with this blog. I will write 52 pieces for her blog. One a week for one year.


I've been itching to do a zine again in these last few weeks/years/entire life, but starting a zine is an incredibly large pain in the ass with very little rewards. It is lots and lots of hours sweating and pouring yourself into a project that very people will read and even less will appreciate. I think i have found a partner in Vanessa, whom is on the same page about what we want to do. I'm lucky in this because I very much need someone to help energize me and motivate me to actually do the work and not surf the internet for another three hours.

So rather than start my own zine and fight for the same very small audience that we will both cater to, I'll combine my forces and move to help make Lubricated a new powerhouse tour de force that i know it will be.


I use to write constantly on my livejournal and Myspace pages, but I have since fallen off the wagon. I believe that setting this small attainable goals of writing two pieces a week are very, very attainable, yet push me JUST enough.

One piece for each blog is of course is the minimum. If I write 200 blogs this year, then GREAT, even better! I should note that writing 2 blogs in one week, will NOT exclude me from writing the next week., but will rather be bonus.

I will also add, that at least for my personal writings, I plan on at the very least going back and writing a few backlogged blogs for this year. So by my account, after this one is published, I owe the world 3 more for January.

I'm still not sure what to do with my writings that are sure to overlap. I work in the music industry. Many of my friends are involved with the industry in some way or another. My upcoming tour with Drag The River will warrant many blogs, but do these blogs go to the Lubricated Zine? Or stay here as my own? I think I will keep my Lubricated work mostly focused on Interviews and profiles, "Journalism" work. My personal blog will focus more on me and my adventures.

I also have lots of advice for bands and other promoters as well, not sure where that will fall when those pieces are written... Perhaps I will post them in both? I don't know how that will work in my self-written rules..

And as readers, I won't be able to do this without you. Please, send me comments, ideas, suggestions and topics to write about. I should also note that my Lubricated work will not be just about music. I want to branch out and interview other people as well. Comic artists have my eye right now, since i am a rather large fan of the online comics communities. I have many other ideas for interviews and pieces as well for Lubricated. I also have a few ideas and tricks up my sleeve that i do not plan to unveil until I can actually get them accomplished.

Before i leave you, I would also like to highly recommend Julie & Julia. Its a chick flick of sorts, but it is no love story. Instead it is the story of two women who set goals for themselves and came out changed people in the end, and for Julia Child, Change the world! Its the story of growth and gain, and while its about two women, it should be universal for anyone with an open mind, and a yearning to better yourself. It doesn't hurt that its a damned sweet and cute little film. I absolutely adored it.

Will i change the world with these projects? More than likely NOT. I have no clue what i will get out of it. When i started the bookings and promotions at the Triple Nickel, i never could have imagined how it changed my life and opened me up for all kinds of amazing opportunities. Who knows where these roads i am embarking on shall lead. Maybe no where, but i doubt that. This is a good solid, small move. I can't wait to look back in a year and see the end results.

I only hope you all are willing to come along with me on this journey.

One posting down. 51 left to go.
-Damian
1/24/10

Lost and Found.

Do you remember the popular Point and Click Adventure games produced by Lucas Arts in the Early 90's? It was their bread and butter for a long while. Games such as Maniac Mansion, Mokey Island and Sam and Max. Simple games where the characters simply go around collecting objects in which that can use further in the gameplay to solve puzzles and essentially beat the game. If games such as these were still mass produced I would still consider myself a gamer. These games would consume hours upon hours of my time and I would scour level after level searching for those few components to finally allow me to WIN.

Perhaps these games attributed further to my obsession as a collector, or perhaps the collector was in me all along. Looking at my mother and father and their pack-rat traits, i would say it simply appeased the collector already buried within my genetic code.

Now 15 or so years after playing these games and obsessing over them so much i find that i still to this day follow their guidelines, but in a far more universal sense. While at present I am working to shed myself of earthly good and possessions I am working to further capture ideas and philosophies to further help me win this game called life. I'm no longer pulling the gum off of the floor and sticking it in my pocket for further use in the game, but rather the experience of pulling that gum off the floor.

Sometimes we keep these ideas and experiences to ourselves. further saving them for some deep dark day or sometimes we pass them along to someone who really needs them. Sometimes in life we are but conduits for these ideas to reach other people.

I'm getting off the topic which sparked this idea. I found myself on my day off sitting in a neighborhood coffee shop which boasts unlimited refills on some mighty fine coffee. Sitting there enjoying my 6th cup of coffee, I read a passage of my book which i know is not for me. I read it and savor it. I roll it over in my mind. I begin to think of a friend in a situation which is metaphorically similar to the one examined in the book. The passage is about fear, and how fear can strip us down to our core, and what kills us is US, responding to the fear. Loosing our whits and panicking. I thought of my friend and their panic.

I sat there lost in thought simply watching the world pass by sipping my coffee, drinking in these thoughts created by the incredible scenes of life. Its odd to say, but reading this book, i know it is not for me. Its not mine to keep. Its not really for me to enjoy, but I am simply suppose to read this part, this chapter and pass it along to whom needs it most, whom it might help out.

While thinking these thoughts i find that They are not alone, that there is a fear that i have yet to faced and continue to ignore. After reading this passage today and thinking of the plight of my friend, I understand that I too and to face my fear and do something i have not wanted to do... In the end it might hurt, but I shall learn from this experience and file it away with the others for usage another day...

I've found that the universe often puts objects and people in our paths to help us along when we most need them. I've found that they are right there in front of us, but often we are too stubborn to look or listen, or worse. To ignorant and angry to pick these things up and put them in our pockets for future usage. We loose the game of life because we can not or are unwilling to see the experiences left for us.

Just simple silly ideas from an over-caffeinated boy, but interesting how answers can hit us when we're not even sure that we have questions....

Essay I wrote in the Colorado Springs Independent's "Naked City Article"

So. I'm in the Independent yet AGAIN. This time, its an Essay I wrote about Colorado Springs and its Arts/Music scene. It was truly and honor to be asked to write this essay and I'm kind of happy with it. I usually write Thousands of words to discuss and idea and i was very limited with the 350 word limitation they gave me here, but i think i got some points across. I'm happy with the result and yadda yadda yadda...

Check out the entire article, of which i am a part of here: http://www.csindy.com/colorado/naked-city/Content?oid=1433733

and my specific essay here:
http://www.csindy.com/colorado/damian-burford/Content?oid=1433736

There is a photo of me too, i had a photographer following me around all night and THIS is the photo he chose? Not the best, but it works....

Best description of me EVER!!!

"you charm the pants right off me, it's like I am talking to an innocent 8 year old half the time, charles bukowski 1/4 of the time, and the rest is some mix to be determined by blood work"

Needed to save this somewhere. Why not here.

Myspace Is DEAD! Ideas on the Future of Music Promotion.

Once again I wrote too much about a simple idea.

Here are the cliff notes:
1. Myspace is dead.
2. How do we gainfully promote music?
3. Bands need flyer more!
4. The Economy of FREE SHOWS.
4. We're making a Triple Nickel Music Compilation of upcoming artists.
5. Damian writes too much.





If you're a myspace user like i have been for the past five years, you've probably noticed the same thing i have.

Its DEAD. Well not entirely dead....

The musicians are still alive and well and using myspace to "network." What i think these Networkers have failed to realize is that WE have effectively killed Myspace.

We posted10-15 bulletins. We added everyone, their mother and their dogs. We spammed the hell out of their comments page. We bugged them mercilessly. We Networkers, We promoters, we egotistical assholes thinking people cared so much to read the same bulletin 20 times, we lazy sons of bitches.... We killed Myspace. People went on to more personal avenues of social networking, and created a new juggernaut FACEBOOK. Facebook decided not to allow bands to add and add and add 1000 people a day. They did not give us the wide range of freedom to bug the living shit out of our friends.. Facebook got it right! I love facebook. I don't get 100 friend adds a week from bands who, "Thought you'd like our music! Check us out! Comment! We comment back!!" So the masses fled.... And who can blame them?

Now I include myself in this. I posted 2-4 bulletins a day on myspace. Most of my life long myspace "friends" deleted me. They didn't care about the shows i was promoting and did not want to hear about it every single day. What they did want was a place where you could spend all day doing pointless little surveys on which character from Little House on the Praire you are. (I'm Little Laura! Who'da Thunk?)

So the users of myspace have left by the troves, they've ran away from Myspace to other avenues of Social Networking or just stopped period so they could commit more time to World of Warcraft of X-Box Live....

And I can't blame them. I use myspace now just to book and promote shows. That's it. I would have abandoned the website along with everyone, (anyone remember the mass exodus of Friendster? Anyone even remember Friendster?) but its the easiest place for me to "connect" with the other musicians. Where i can get the most visability at the moment. So I stay. It use to take me an hour to read half a day of bulletins. Now it takes about 10 minutes. The majority of the bulletins? Bands promoting shows.

So here I am, I have an amazing summer of shows coming up at the Triple Nickel (http://www.myspace.com/555nickel or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Triple-Nickel-Tavern/77734541596) and I was at a loss of how to promote them adiquately. Even before the mass exodus of Myspace, I was contemplating on how to reach those people who no longer use myspace or were ignoring the massive amounts of bulletins being posted. Facebook has their invite system which is descent enough, but it doesn't allow for the visibility one could obtain from posting a bulletin or blog. So How do we do it? How do we promote these shows?

I come from the "Old School" of show promoting. Back in the day when bands and promoters had to actually leave their house with these things called FLYERS (or Fliers depending on how you feel like spelling it.) These FLY-ERS would promote music with attractive illustrations/photos that would catch the eye and make you LOOK at it, and it would also have information such as the Venue, The bands playing the show, The date and time and the cost! Wow! What a novel, antiquated Idea!

As the years went by and Myspace grew to be the behemoth that it was Flyers went the way of the dodo, or the Cassette (which some labels are trying to bring back...). Bands simply did not take the time to hit the streets and meet people and put these flyers in the hands of unsuspecting music patrons.

I'll also blame the venues. The Soda Jerk fellas who have done some great, great, great things in the town of Colorado Springs, took it upon itself to start up street teams and their own brand of promotion. All Great and well, but the musicians and bands in this town got fat and lazy and stopped making their own flyers. They left it up to the Venues and the Promoters to advertise their shows and to do the work for them while they once again sat in front of their TV's or couches or whatever it is bands do other than Flyer. I do it too, or as much as i can. I DO all the work, instead of the bands. It should be the other way around.

There are only a few bands out there who take the time and care and EFFORT into Flyering. I won't name any names, but of these bands that do this small amount of legwork i have found that THESE BANDS, the ones who take it upon themselves to Flyer and promote their shows, tend to have the BEST SHOWS of any of the bands in town!!!

(A Topic for another day, some of the bands/venues who do make flyer and posters.... They look like fucking dog shit. Make them look GOOD. Simple is the best way to go.. Again. This is a topic for another day.)

This is something that should be self evident. The simple idea of PROMOTING YOURSELVES!!! Any musician can download a friend adder for myspace and have it do all the work for them, but if you think of how many musicans are doing this... HOW DO YOU SET YOURSELF APART? HOW DO YOU STAND OUT AMONGST THE CROWD?

GOING TO SHOWS. FLYERING. NETWORKING.

You'd be surprise how many people simply do not grasp this concept. These are where the bands with larger followings come from. I see the Jack Trades guys out at shows. I see the Stab Crew kids out at shows (not to mention throwing some KILLER parties..) Go to any show in Manitou and its packed with Musicians from the area! Its the most simple thing i can tell people, and something i take seriously. If you band wants a show at the Triple Nickel Tavern, COME TO SHOWS AT THE TRIPLE NICKEL. We're not trying to build a scene here, We're trying to build a COMMUNITY. That's what I'm striving to do, and that's what many other folks out there are working on.

Fuck the scene. Communities work together, support each other and a ton of other adjectives I'm too lazy to describe! We all know what a community is. I'm not interested in building a scene, or as i like to think of it, a "Seen".

I've gotten off topic here. I blame the massive amounts of coffee flowing in my veins. So let me get back to my point.

I'm working on building a community and working on ways to better promote the incredible music coming to the Triple Nickel. I often write in my newsletters about how "Great" the shows we have coming up are, and I MEAN IT. We book the absolute BEST shows here in town and we get very little credit for it, but we keep toiling away. We know that the work and foundations we're building now will outlast any scene we have. So what if the shows are small. They're made of hard work and great quality.

How do we continue to get so many GREAT bands coming through? Word of mouth! Our reputation is spreading amongst touring bands as a great place to play with a great, dedicated crowd. Its spreading... and its growing... I'm getting to the point where I'm turning great bands away now simply because we have too much going on.

So Myspace is dead. How do we get the words out to the masses again? We're going to turn back the clock. I'm going to get better about making flyers and posting flyers for shows, but that's simply not going to cut it. If you're Joe Smith who has never been to the Triple Nickel, and maybe never HEARD of it or the bands we have coming through, How do we get your attention?

FREE MUSIC.

It came as a culmination of reading an article called "Free! Why 0.00 Is The Future of Business" (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free) and reading Virgil Dickerson's blogs about Suburban Home Records and his giveaways of many of his artists upcoming records via the internet.

We've been doing mostly Free shows for a while now, with the idea that if the Music is FREE, you'd be much more inclined to come out to watch it and buy more booze. We've found that the more you like the band, the more booze you tend to buy! Booze sales are the key.

How do we get away with so many FREE shows? Let's look at the retail world:

Let's take Target as an example. Remember that new HOT DVD you bought on Sale the other day at Target? It cost you $13.99 or something like that, on the day it came out. Well guess what, Target is actually LOSING MONEY on that item. Why do they do this? They hope you'll come in while you're there buying that new HOT DVD, you'll browse and remember, "Hey! I need some new underwear! Mine all have Skidmark Stains!" You buy the DVD, Underwear and Milk. The milk and underwear have 15% mark ups and they're making back the money (and then some) that they lost on the DVD. Make any sense? It doesn't? Well fuck you too, then! I've been working retail for 12 years... This is old hat to me.

We've been using this model at the Nickel for some time now. Hoping that the Low, Low, Low priced shows (and the Low Low Priced PBR at $5.50 a Pitcher or $2 for a Pint. Shameless plug.) will bring you in and get you to buy that extra shot of Jager, or that Lemon Drop shot you and you're girlfriends love so much. And from there we pay the bands a percentage of the bar. Some nights this works amazingly well, and on slow nights... Well you get the idea. The Nickel is not necessarily a live music destination, and we're trying to break that mold, but as it is, we're the great decider. If you band has pull, you'll know it at the Triple Nickel.

One problem I have run into with this model, is that people think if the shows are FREE then the bands must be terrible or not worth the time to pay attention to. These same people ignore the bulletins and postings and ignore the shows altogether. Their close mindedness is their loss, but how do we attract these people? That's the question I ponder every night as i lie in bed drifting of to sleep... Well sometimes i think about He-Man and The Masters of The universe, or DragonBall Z or porn or Ponies. I love ponies.

So I'm going to attempt a new experiment and take things back a few years....

I'm working on putting together a music Compilation. It will be a FREE D.I.Y. Comp that will feature a number of the bands coming through to The Triple Nickel this summer. I plan on making about 150 of these on CDRs and passing them out at Record Stores, the skate parks, Shows, Tupperware parties, wherever music fans may be.

It astounds me that more bands and Venues are NOT doing this, They are NOT giving away CDS. They've allowed themselves to become lazy and expect the internet to do the work for them, but its so SIMPLE.

You can buy a spindle of 100 CDRs at Costco (or the evil Sam's Club) for about $20 bucks. With the advancement of Cd burning technology it only takes moments to burn a CD (unless you have my 6 year old computer...) and BAM! Make a paper case, cool atractive photo / illustration on the front. On the back, songs, Website and upcoming shows. Staple or Tape to close the DIY case and BAM! Done! This website: http://www.papercdcase.com will help you do ALL the work.


Its sooo fucking EASY and CHEAP, and NO ONE IS DOING THIS. This very simple idea is how you can reach those NOT using myspace, those people NOT regularly going to shows! This is your gateway to a growing fanbase and Musicians are not using this very simple, DIY model.

So fuck it. So we're going to do it, instead. I'm going to pay for this project out of my own pockets (I do not get regularly "paid" for my show promoting, instead i mostly give the money I would make to the musicians or pump it back into promoting). We'll make 100 to start with, with the bands coming through in June and July and if things go well, We'll make 100 more or so to continue promoting throughout the summer. If all goes well, I should actually MAKE money off these shows for once! Woo hoo! Horray!

Its a Win-Win-Win for everyone! This is a great promotional tool not only for the BAR but for the bands involved. Again, the idea is that we give these Cds out to people. They throw them in their CD players in their car, they listen, they LIKE, they come to shows. The shows are FREE (well the majority of them anyways) and they buy lots of BOOZE and they like the bands so much they buy merchandise from the bands! Hopefully they enjoy their experience at the bar so much, they come back on a Tuesday night and enjoy a few more libations, or perhaps they go check out The show down the way at the Rocket Room the next weekend.

Maybe they don't have a babysitter the night That awesome band from the comp plays. They go see them down the street at the other bar, or drive to Pueblo to see them the next night. Maybe they buy their cd from Amazon instead, and tell their friends!!

This isn't about building up business for any one place, this is about building a community! Hopefully if this does well, we can talk the local bands into doing something like this every few months for ALL the venues and ALL the bands, not just The Nickel and the bands on this compilation. Its a way to expand the community and our movement. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Hopefully you've read all of this over caffeinated diatribe. I'd REALLY like you're input, ideas, and suggestions. Not just on this project, but on ALL aspects of promoting and community building. The community can not be built by just a few of us, but ALL of us and its important that we all work together to make this town actually worth a damn, and i know we can all do this.

I'll try to keep you people updated on this experiment and how it goes and when and where you can find it. I would love to have the first batch done and OUT this weekend in time for the Burlesque show Friday night (May 29th), but I'm going to be realistic and assume we'll have it ready to go by June 13th. Hopefully We'll be at the Pike's Peak Derby Dames Bout passing them out, and after wards at the Triple Nickel that night with the amazing ROOSTERD!, RJ FLETCHER, and 4H Royalty. I'll keep you posted via here, myspace and facebook!!

Also. Local bands, If you are interested in becoming a part of this complitation, contact me ASAP. I'll require one Mp3 that you think best represents your band. Not all bands will make it on this comp, but I'll try my hardest to make it so. If you are interested email me at: damian(dot)burford(at)gmail(dot)com or Myspace me at: http://www.myspace.com/iamdamian

Take care, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.


------------EDIT-------------

I just posted this in two blogs and two bulletins... On myspace... So i Guess its not TOTALLY dead....

Damian's Advice on Interviewing People.

So a few days ago a friend of mine asked me for advice about doing interviews. She wanted to interview one of her favorite Musicians coming through her area and wanted my advice about how to do an interview. Thinking about it, I have no clue if i answered her questions, but this is the advice i came up with for her.


Hopefully it all makes sense as I've only eaten is toast and I probably had too much coffee... you be the judge. Let me know if any of you have any more questions, respond in the comments or email me at: damian(dot)burford(at)gmail(dot)com.

Maybe I'll respond with more from our exercises and what not.

So interviews, eh?

Well I really have no formal training outside of intro to Journalism class i took in high school and a the High School Tv Station I worked for, for one semester in school, back in Louisiana.

I simply read, and read, and read, and read interviews. Interviews with anyone and everyone. I always gravitated more towards reading interviews. Why? Who knows. I enjoy good conversations, maybe that's why. Maybe its because I was/am a weird little kid who instead of imaginary friends, I would sit around and interview my future rockstar self and I learned inevitably how to ask the questions for the answers i wanted to get.

My biggest piece of advice is to READ interviews. Find what you like, and what you don't like.

Me I HATE email interviews with Question- Answer. Question - Answer. Anyone can do that. Anyone can come up with questions... How do you make it flow? How do you make it entertaining? I of course have failed at this a number of times, but still, its what i try to do.

To prep for an interview I sit down and i try to read and read and read about the subject. I'll read pages and pages and pages of interviews, articles, reviews, videos, ect and as I'm reading other questions come up. I write them down. I also look for questions NOT getting asked.

I look at it this way. There are hundreds of interviews with musicians, artists, ect online. Anyone can do an interview with The Gaslight anthem and ask about Bruce Springsteen and his influence, and the problem is, it seems that that is what EVERY ONE is doing. Every single article is about that. Can you find another route? Another Spin? What questions are NOT being asked of these guys? What's going to make your interview different than the hundreds of other circulating the internet.

I've found that if i am a HUGE fan of a band/musician, the worse the interview, usually if i am detatched and unaware of the interviewie, I generally feel more free to ask questions, and in the same regard if i obsess over a band, I know everything, so it leaves me BLANK and not sure what to ask and the interviews are usually stale.

So usually the more detached I am, the better it goes, because its mostly FRESH for me. still new to the brain. So it kind of goes against everything i said before. haha. I did an interview with a the band, THE ERGS. It wasn't planned, but i met the guys before the show and I fell in love with them, and then they played and i knew i had to do it. I had to interview these guys. Little did i know then that they would go on to be the flag carriers of the new Pop-punk movement, I just really liked them and what they were doing. So i took what i knew from reading their myspace page and checking out their blogs, and from watching their set and jotted down a few questions, I think 10, and with the help of a few beers (It seems i do better the looser i am. same with dates. haha) and did a GREAT interview. The last time i saw them they talked about how it was one of the best interviews they had ever done. So there you go.

But it is not just you. Its also them. The more receptive the interviewee is to being interviewed, the better the interview. So i found that talking to the interviewee before the show, and chatting it up, letting them get a feel for you and vise versa can help. Small talk, bullshitting, showing you know who they are and their past works, and to a lesser extent, kissing their ass a little, will help immensely getting them to open up.

But its really all just trial an error. I look back at my first couple of years of interviews and they're ok. Not great. I see where i should have asked this question, or done this or done that. All you can really do is DO IT.

And the more fun the better, but its not just on you, its on them.

So how about an exercise? Interview Me.

This interview i did with Damian Willcox of Dorkboy Comics was done at the last minute via Email. You wouldn't know it by its tone, i had been emailing this guy back in forth for months before i did this "interview." We were "friends" so i could anticipate his answers and i tried to make the questions FLOW from one another to illustrate a conversation that wasn't really happening. check it out:

http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt78/dammitdamian/mh2/?action=view¤t=mostlyharmless2-11.jpg

http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt78/dammitdamian/mh2/?action=view¤t=mostlyharmless2-12.jpg

http://s599.photobucket.com/albums/tt78/dammitdamian/mh2/?action=view¤t=mostlyharmless2-13.jpg

So why not break your cherry interviewing me in this way. We know each other and we have a nice friendly smart ass rapor. Lets go with that. Ask me a few questions, i don't care about what. I'll write you back in about a year or two and haha we'll work on some stuff. If you're not interested in that? That's ok too. It was just an idea.