Without BLISS (Originally posted September)

As most of you probably know, Bliss is closing. Although Travis originally planned to stay open until the end of the month, the closing was unfortunately hastened. It’s my understanding that tomorrow (Tues, 29th) will be the last night.

I, and I am sure most of the music community here, feel a mixture of genuine sadness and frustration. Bliss is most known for being a live venue of course and over the past five years or so countless acts must have graced, or disgraced, its bouncy stage. There has been more than just live bands though: DJs, themed parties, spoken word, plays, stand up, charity events, open mic – all have used the venue in the name of entertainment, nurturing their talent along the way. Regardless of who we listened to or what we liked, we’ve probably spent countless long lost hours there, blissful or not.

From a musician’s point of view, Bliss had its fair share of kinks that were never ironed out – some being the aforementioned bouncy stage, the awkward space, and sound issues. Yet, whether we realized it then or now in hindsight, Bliss was a real gem. Mainly, it has been one of the few venues that have genuinely supported the music scene. As a foreign musician, it was definitely one of the few where you knew what to expect. We weren’t messed around at Bliss; we were welcomed, respected, and usually satisfied. In retrospect, we probably felt more at "home” performing there than anywhere else.

Sadly, there was very little fanfare for Bliss’ last Saturday night. In contrast, when Roxy Vibe closed, which basically moved on rather than closed, we were treated to a ballyhoo. It seems the good guys really missed out. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say we are extremely grateful to Barry and Travis for the work they have done – it is obviously quite a challenge to make such a business model sustainable.

After losing Tone 56, we now find we are without Bliss. It’s a sorry state of affairs, one that has dealt the music scene a large blow. Let’s hope the void can be filled by someone worthy and as true to the spirit as Robert (Tone 56), Barry, and Travis were.

Space Funk Lands in Tainan

Start Time:
Saturday, 17 October 2009 at 21:10
End Time:
Sunday, 18 October 2009 at 01:10
Location:
TIN PAN ALLEY
Street:
台南市北區北門路二段#28 sec. 2 Bei Men Rd. Directly across from Tainan Park on Beiman
Town/City:
Tainan, Taiwan
View Map
Description

Friends & Music Lovers

Catch Space Funk bring their Electrofunk to Tainan for the first time. We sure are looking forward this...

Claire Juan - vocals
Justin Lewis (pan Africana) -bass
Kyle Bajcer (New HKHC) - drums
Viba (the old one) - keyboard

+ special guest appearances

La Musica

Well as you might be hearing, I have uploaded the tune La Musica on the side widget. This is the original 7 min version. A more condensed 5 min version should be completed this summer.

Studio Time on Saturday

Space funk have their first studio on Saturday. After several recommendations, we have chosen Brad’s FHM studio in the heart of Taipei. Our first session will be a brief four hours, which I know will fly by faster than you can say let’s play it again.

With a great deal of our work already recorded on Reason, the main objective for this first session will be to lay as much drum and bass as possible. I’m even slightly optimistic we might be able lay down four tracks, but it could be just the one or two.

We currently have a body of work of twelve songs, so choosing, or agreeing, on what songs to record can be quite a dilemma. These songs have certainly been earmarked though: Mad Hatter, SexLoveGames, I’m Still Here (Ode to Heidi), Brothers and Sisters, Get on Down to the Groove, The Lick, and Free; Lamusica could even make a comeback.

Looking at those 8, a good feeling album is not far off.

Midweek Space Funk A-Z

A – is for Aliang, the lovely person booking bands at Sappho. Will be there later to deliver posters and go over some details.
A – is also for Ariel Hyatt. You’re being a great help. Thanks.
A – is also for Alice’s Tears, the excellent band that will share the stage with us on June 20, Sappho.

B – is for beer in the bass amp – an habitual trick of one of our members.
B – is also for Bliss. I think I’ll swing by tonight for the open jam after the visit to Sappho.
B – is also for Bubble Bomb Records.

C – is for Claire, the girl behind the mic and Craig (Ferguson) the man behind the lens. You can check out his excellent work at www.craigfergusonimages.com/
C – is also for coffee. Does this count as a vice?

D – is for dynamics; not only musically but also personalities.

E – is for Electronica, which sits suitably next to..
F – Funk.
F – is also for festivals, fans, friends, and fun. The more the merrier.

G – is for gigs. Bliss, Sappho, Tone 56, Light Lounge coming up.
G – is also for Gary O’Connor of UK beat fame.
G – is also for Greggo (say no more).
G – is also for Gary (Bryne) who is often found at the mixing desk.

H - is for hard work; it is taking plenty of that.
H – is also for human rights, the primary cause we support.

I – is for I’m Still Here, a personal favorite and many others by the looks of things.
I – is for internet, which is making it a lot easier to be in a band than 20 years ago.

J – is for Jessica who gives incredible support.

K – is for kinship with all the other musicians on the scene.
K – is also for Korg – as in the X50.

L – is for love – the more the merrier.

M – is for management, mayhem and madness, Moshe and Moshang.
M – is for Mac and Danielle who have to circumnavigate schedules with us.
M – is also for midi controllers. Mainly, the BCF Behringer.

N – is for the NX-T sampler

O – if for obstacles- one by one.

P – is for Production
P – is also for practice at Player.
P – is also for Perpetual Motion.

Q – is for quirkiness.

R – is for Reason, Subtractor, Combinator, Spiders, and crew.
R- is also for rhythm.

S – is for studio and the plans we are making for our first recordings this Saturday.
S – is also for silence, those important gaps between notes.

T – is for Taiwan and its good people.

U –is for Underworld, the band and the venue.

V –is for the coveted V-synth XT. Where art thou?
V – is also for video, which should happen some time in the summer.

W –is for The Wall. It’s about time we played there.

X –is for xylophone – not.

Y –is for Youtube.

Z - is for zzzzzz. All this business needs plenty of rest.

(pics: Craig Ferguson)

Space Funk Consolidates Contacts into One Database

I’m using an application called Fan Reach to consolidate our friends and fans of Space Funk from Facebook, MySpace, and our own mailing list into one database.

The application enables us to communicate with all our contacts from one place. It also sorts contacts demographically according to the information available on each particular site of the contact. This means you won’t receive emails from us about our show in Taipei if you are in Canada. If, heaven forbid, we start to merchandise pantyhose, you will not learn about the latest special offers if you are a man.

Apart from the convenience of handling all our contacts with one application, the main reason for this move was inspired by seeing several friends have their accounts deleted. I would like to have control of our contacts, rather than allow Facebook to do so.

If you have connected with us with one of these social networking sites, you will probably receive an email form our server asking you to verify our connection. By doing so, you will not only receive the latest info and updates, but also special offers exclusive to members. Although there is a clear and simple choice of unsubscribing, we promise we will not be flooding your inbox with constant messages (maybe one or two a month).

Blogging

Blogging, Facebooking, Myspacing, Twittering - each with its niche, each with its demands, each with its potential. As they vie for competition, this jury is still out determining whether they make life more convenient, or are a waste of cyberspace and time.