Local bands

[Jaguär]

I think there are lots of possibilities in the DC area but it's just so difficult and competitive, not to mention that so many of them tend to fit into niche markets.
 
 One example that has been left out is Phaser. They have fans all around the world who really love them and are dying for them to tour their countries but, alas, that is not to be. At least, not at this time. It just takes way too much money and their international label had decided that they just weren't the band to continue investing in.
 
 I would also keep an ear out for Meredith Bragg.
 
 Alcian Blue and, to some extent, Ceremony (ex Skywave) are doing quite well in the worldwide Shoegaze community but, again, that's a very niche market. An extention of that is A Place To Bury Strangers which is Oliver Ackerman's (ex-Skywave) band but it took him moving to NYC to get that going. I would definitely say their star is slowly moving upwards too and probably much faster than any of the others that I've mentioned previously.
 
 If you really wanted to hear a lot of DC and Baltimore area bands on the radio, you should listen to 3wk.com as they have always been very supportive of our local scene yet they are not a local station to us.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by Jaguär:
 One example that has been left out is Phaser.

yes, i agree, great band ... but i'm not sure they'll ever "take off", know what i mean?

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
   

Originally posted by Jaguär:
 One example that has been left out is Phaser.

yes, i agree, great band ... but i'm not sure they'll ever "take off", know what i mean? [/b]

Yes, unfortunately, I do.
 
 I have very good reason to think they think so too although they haven't fully given up. I recently tried to get them a gig but they refused to do so as of now. Not that they won't consider it in the future but just couldn't get them to do so now. The good thing is, don't dismiss them completely as they all still have their irons in the fire in some way.

[HoyaSaxa03]

i forgot about trans am ... they're still around, right?
 
 i guess their hey-day has passed though

[kurosawa-b/w]

How about Supersystem? Do they still live in DC? And haven't they achieved some measure of success? Not as big as Q and Not U, but they seem to be known outside of DC.
 
 I also really like Nethers. Their sound could attract attention from the indie set. If they picked up a support slot on a tour, they could get signed.

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
  i forgot about trans am ... they're still around, right?
 
 i guess their hey-day has passed though

Oh, yeah. Good call!
 
 Another one of those 3wk.com bands whom I didn't realize were from DC until several years after I had heard them played so much on the radio. They've always played tons of local music such as Beauty Pill, Convocation Of..., Microphones, The Apes, The Make-Up, The Evens, Decahedron, Black Eyes, Phaser, French Toast, Trans-Am, Fatales, The Walkmen, French Kicks, Dead Meadow, Will Oldham (can we still include him?), Meredith Bragg, The Medications, Cex, Cass McCombs, Supersystem, Bob Mould (hey, he's local now!), Deep Dish, Ted Leo, Weird War, along with a few others I know I'm forgetting.
 
 If they get some decent new material out soon, possibly Fatales.
 
 What about Decibully? Are they local?
 
 And then there are French Kicks (whom I personally can't stand) and The Walkmen who maybe are both excluded considering they've already sort of 'made it'. Depends on your parameters for this topic. Either way, they too, if they get some new worthwhile material out, could be snapped up by some major and pushed even further up the music chain.
 
 Dead Meadow has picked up quite a few new fans worldwide with their change in direction and latest release. I wouldn't count them out yet by any means. In fact, I kind of think that if they keep going in their new direction and don't lose any steam, they would probably be the band I'd end up selecting in a DC area band bet.

[Fico]

Not sure if putting the French Kicks and Walkmen in the list is appropriate as they "made it" while based outside of DC, in NYC. They are NY band pretty much. I mean, none of us Cedars members for example are DC natives, yet we are a DC band. Shouldn't the same be applied to FK and the Walkmen?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Sure, if you live in Milwaukee.
 
 And I'd hardly say getting a headlining gig at Velvet Lounge is "making it".
 
 

Originally posted by Jaguär:
 
 
 What about Decibully? Are they local?
 
 

[thirsty moore]

Trans Am don't make the type of music that "makes it."  Now, The Mistletones...

[boweswana]

"And I'd hardly say getting a headlining gig at Velvet Lounge is "making it".
 
 Obviously you have never been to the VIP area where the headliners get massages and cocaine smoothies.

[pangolin22]

Hi, this is the manager for the Fargo band The Cedars. I don't want to be rude, I just came here via referrer logs and I wanted to say, I think the name you are proposing is a bit similar and might cause confusion for both of us. They are an original roots rock group that is quite established around this area and have had their songs played on several radio stations around the country. According to this link: http://www.music-law.com/bandname.html you might be banned from selling CDs in this area if you were to hit it big with your new name. I have found references to cases where the two names were less similar than "Cedars" and "The Cedars" and there were still legal difficulties so I'm not sure "the" is a sufficient difference.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

It would appear the stolen-namer's have became the name-stealee's, or something like that.

[LostSoul]

Fico, wasn't Fargo your number 1 targeted market?  Better stop playing music altogether...

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

As I told Fico in the "rename our band thread", phrases are in, one word names are out. They need some stupid nonsensical multi-word phrase like "Stand Up, Get Down" or "Bad Sushi, Good Head."

[pangolin22]

Yeah yeah I know Fargo could drop off the planet and nobody would care, I'm just saying if you're going to want them to change their band name now that's not really going to work.