Confessions of a Music Addict

Music’s an addiction.

For all the screeches and scratches in the South African scene, the struggles and fights for a rung that isn’t at the top, surely our attendance is the love of a drug. We witness our compatriots and enemies slip through the cracks of financial despair, some vanishing forever whilst others reemerge just to slip again ‘cause the rehab of reality never worked. Calling it an “industry” doesn’t make it one, doesn’t erase the dreamers and the dealers wanting to get high and sell highs, the stars of the stage working their 9hr day jobs.

But the big picture can’t be felt that well. It’s the small one that throbs the blood, quickens the heart (so that it’s here-comes-the-heart-attack-again) and explodes the brain, overdosing into evidence for elevated self or selves to look up to. We get high, sometimes so fucking high, but when we come down its distance amplified, that void that questions not sanity but the absence of it. Never again, never again, NEVER FUCKING AGAIN!

…but then we hear a song that so excites that we swallow it, a pill for our faith, as transparent as tears but as powerful as a god.

The difference between an amphetamine and music is that one is dependence whilst the other is sharing…an addiction by choice.

I choose Music.

Best Free Websites & Hosting for Bands

WordPress.com is an amazing service and the best i’ve ever encountered!

It’s perfect for a band and costs nothing. Within minutes it can be live and within an hour complete. Just look at www.wickedrock.wordpress.com to see what it’s capable of. You can RSS fees, polls, Twitter etc. Add-ons keep on being added. And it’s super quick. Add You Tube and My Space videos takes seconds. You can also add meta tags for each article as you post it.

They do have a paying service that allows mp3 hosting. Costs about R140 for the year plus you get more features. You can then purchase a url such as www.band.co.za and apply it to your wordpress site. Much cheaper than conventional hosting. And uptime has been 100%. There Support answers the same day. Once, for me, it was within 5 minutes.

Best software i’ve come across in my life!

A simpler method without the add-ons is www.iamspace.com. That allows mp3s for free.

Either way, you can have your free website up within one hour doing it yourself. Seriously.

Doubt you’ll need help with iamspace but if you want to know how to add some of the things i have on my WordPress pages, just yell and i’ll help.

BIG BEAT MUSIC FESTIVAL (PMB)

BIG BEAT MUSIC FESTIVAL
AT MOUNTAIN VIEW (NEAR PMB)
SUNDAY, APRIL 26
11 BANDS PLUS FUN FOR FAMILIES
www.bigbeatmusicevents.wordpress.com

The BIG BEAT MUSIC FESTIVAL shouts out to KZN from the Bishopstowe on Sunday, April 26 2009. The 11 band, one day line-up boasts something for everyone, from the young to the young at heart, from acoustic to pop and rock.

Headliner, STEALING LOVE JONES, fresh from the television screen and radio charts, will perform an intimate, unplugged set. The HAIRY LEGGED LENTIL EATERS will pound out psychedelic folk whilst the SPLAYED FERRETS will remind you what was best from yesteryear. Diversely talented, HABIT TO, will mix progressive, rock and jazz influences into soft delight. For the youth, there’s local, rising stars, THE RANKS and TRACING SUNDAY. THE RYAN CALDER BAND, well known for their Hexagon Theatre performances, is another great band on the line-up. They’re also joined by the rich vocals of the HINDS BROTHERS and MONGOOSE, Durban’s magical CATLIKE THIEVES and PAN LATINO’s heartfelt rhythms. 

STEALING LOVE JONES

1000 (gates open)
1100 – Mongoose
1200 – Pan Latino
1300 – Hinds Brothers
1400 – Ryan Calder Band
1500 – The Ranks
1600 – Tracing Sunday
1700 – Catlike Thieves
1800 – Habit To
1900 – Stealing Love Jones
2000 – Hairy Legged Lentil Eaters
2100 – Sprayed Ferrets 

The festival furthers Big Beat Productions’ belief in South African talent. Having catered concerts for stars such as Freshlyground and Prime Circle, the Pietermaritzburg based company wanted to give some of that glam to local bands. This will be a top notch show featuring great lighting and sound shot from a 42 square meter stage. 

“The Mountain View Entertainment Centre is the perfect venue,” says Kevin Liddell, the owner of Big Beat. “It set in an amazingly, beautiful countryside. It’s hard to believe that the city is just 10km away. And it’s a great place to bring the family for the day. There’s a pool, slides, playground and quad bikes. The restaurant is affordable and I dare anyone to finish the giant, mountain burger. There’s also a fully stocked bar for the adults.”

The Mountain View Entertainment Centre is in Bishopstowe, 10km east of Pietermaritzburg and just off the N3, 75km from Durban. You will find the map and much more at www.bigbeatmusicevents.wordpress.com. Tickets are only R60. Kids under 12 get in free. Gates open at 10am with bands running from 11am to 10pm. It’s the Sunday before a public holiday – come have some fun.

You can direct enquiries to Lara at admin@bigbeat.co.za or 033 394 4426.

Press release courtesy of Wicked Rock.