April 22, 2009

Struck up a lovely conversation with a lovely dude who was a member of a lovely Australian band the other day. I demanded to know where said band’s new material was, and prodded him for information on why they’d been so inactive, much to their fan’s dismay.

He explained that everyone was enthused about writing and touring- bar their singer/front man- and that without the full commitment of every member of the band, any progress was essentially frozen. It made me think about the delicate blend of circumstance that must occur for a band to evolve successfully and how difficult it must be to have every member excited, talented, available, healthy, un-incarcerated and coherent enough to tour and record.

Most importantly though, I couldn’t help but muse at how many bands rely so completely and utterly on their front man that the remaining members are often essentially puppets bending to their every whim. So few bands seem to have lost a singer and continued their career unabated. Vocalists often lend such an inimitable presence to a band that having someone else step in is usually an epic downer for the band and the fan base alike. Speaking of epic downers, have you seen the new promo shots of Billy Joe Armstrong? Sack your stylist, dude.