As a New Yorker, there are tons of fun things to do in the fall. I try to keep myself busy with all the seasonal doings in and out of the city when the leaves begin to change and you have to bust out the leather jacket for those cooler nights. For me the fall brings an abundance of football, pumpkin beer, the return of cigar season, and sadly the wrap-up of festival season. Can you really believe 2014 beginning its end?? Seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for Gov Ball and now here we are.
October is upon us and so is the last on the big music events of the calendar year, CMJ Music Marathon. What I dub the SXSW of New York City, CMJ comes every October and brings thousands of artists on the rise playing all over the city it what really feels like a marathon by the end of the week. What I really love about CMJ that you don’t get with other music events here in the city, is that it’s just as much for the business side of the industry as it is for the fans who get to enjoy the music every night. Scouting, networking, drunken mingling all take place in various showcases thrown by established industry companies like ASCAP, BMG, local companies and more. Every year I’m always blown away by new bands that hit the stage in hopes of getting discovered by an agent or A&R rep in the audience.
Aside from the music, there are a ton of Q&A, panels, and other great networking events going on all week. I know most of you don’t work in the music industry and really wont be able to take off work to attend the 80+ industry-centric panels taking place at NYU’s Helen & Martin Kimmel Center. Fear not, I’ll be making sure to write about most of the ones I attend to fill you kids in on what’s going on in the business world of music.
Of course like every festival I spend countless hours doing my own scouting and listening myself on who I might want to make a note to catch during the week. Like every festival piece I’ve gone ahead and made a list to share with all you out there in Internetland on some acts I think you should make a note to put in your own CMJ schedule. I always try to note that these are just some quick pointers for you if you’re trying to navigate which showcase you should hit up, and there are tons of amazing bands that I’ll see throughout the week that I don’t have listed here. This time I’m going to have to make an exception, because honestly there are just too many fucking artists performing over five nights to try and make any kind of list. I could throw out some of the ones I’ve penciling into my schedule – Smoke Season, Canon Logic, Cold War Kids, Manican Party, Alexz Johnson, New Myths… my personal list is endless and honestly I MAY be able to catch 30% of it. Instead I thought about going to a pro for advice on this one, someone on the inside. Enter Matt McDonald.
I was also able to sit down with Matt, CMJ’s Showcase Director, to talk about this year’s festival and the best ways for all you music diehards to get the most out of the marathon!
P&W: What can music fans and professionals working in the industry expect to experience at CMJ this year?
Matt: It’ll be a lot of what you’ve grown to expect, On the show side it’s a lot of new up and coming acts, checking out old venues and new venues. The discovery factor is definitely still there. On the conference side we’re mixing it up a little bit, just in terms of not doing as many discussion panels. I mean we’ll still have plenty of that, but there’s more interactive activities, more Q&A’s.
P&W: I’ve always considered CMJ as a smaller, toned down version of SXSW in New York. Would you agree?
Matt: Yes and no. SXSW is just a totally different animal just in terms of so much going on. If you’re in Austin that week it’s inescapable. I think bands that are on the smaller, developing side can have difficulty getting people to see them. Here in New York there’s a million other things going on but it’s a little easier to stand out in a CMJ environment. While there is a lot going on all week, the focus is really more on the emerging acts. There are definitely some similarities between the conference and showcase schedules.
P&W: You started working with CMJ in 2005, how have you seen the marathon grow since then?
Matt: Definitely a growth in international participation, on both the industry and the article side. When I started it was maybe ten percent international on the artist’s side, and now it’s much closer to twenty percent. A few years ago we may have had seven Australian bands, and this year we have fifty. It’s always good to see people respond to the international acts because they’ve had success getting good press response but also getting agents, managers, or lawyers.
P&W: How many countries would you guess are being represented this year?
Matt: You know I haven’t done the final counting yet, but it’ll be twenty to twenty-five. It’s ranging from South Africa to Taiwan, to New Zealand and Switzerland.
P&W: What advice would you give someone who’s new to the city and really wants to experience all that CMJ has to offer.
Matt: There are two main areas where the bulk of the nighttime activities happen. During the day I’d recommend going to NYU Helen & Martin Kimmel Center where our panels and networking events will be taking place. For night events, make an agenda but don’t feel like to have to stay to it too closely, because there is so much going on. If you’re set on seeing a band on Mercury Lounge but they’re at capacity go around the corner to Cake Shop or Pianos a see what’s going on. I’d say pick one night and spend it all in the Lower East Side and hop around from club to club, and other night do Williamsburg.
P&W: I saw that The Living Room is re-opening in Williamsburg! That used to be one of my favorite LES venues before it closed down.
Matt: Yeah, it’s not open yet but it will be for the marathon. I saw the new one back in the beginning of summer, and it looks a lot different, but I’m excited to see what it’ll turn into. During CMJ they would always do all kinds of things, but I think they should be able to expand in what they offer. They should be able to branch out from the singer/songwriter world if they want to. I’m excited about it.
P&W: Looking back on last year what are some things that stuck out to you that went really well, or some thing that you thought could’ve been better?
Matt: I actually thought last year in terms of how things were run went really well. Overall shows were starting on time, crowds were evenly distributed- some years everyone’s only going to certain places. But last year every venue I managed to go to had a good-sized crowd and good energy. It’s really just about putting bands in the right places.
P&W: What advice would you give to bands playing this year for getting as much exposure as possible?
Matt: Do your homework; in terms of making sure who you want to come to your show on the industry or press side, that they’d be someone who would fit well with you. I think you can overdo it with the number of shows that you play. You’d hate to have ten shows, and the first few are great but then by the third night you’ve got no one left to see you. I think there’s a fine line where you can do enough to build momentum. Three shows in one day can be tough.
Article by: Tom Shackleford
