“I feel that the last two thousand years have been wonderful, but we're now at a point where [ . . . ] we need to find a formal space equal to the possibilities we have in this time.”

This quote is from Anthony Braxton, a composer, performer and professor of music.  Unlike Mr. Braxton’s projects, Team Sleep is a pop band, so the significance of this quote applies not only to the form of our music, but how we interact with the people who like our band.  So, I’ll revise him a bit to suit my needs, “The last thirty-odd years have been great, but I’ve got a recording studio, film studio, photo studio and publishing house on my lap so why should I put out a CD, employ a manager or a record label?”  With this in mind, we’ve separated ourselves from any management company we’ve been associate with.  Furthermore, we don’t owe a record company anything and we have no need to commit to one at this time (nevertheless, I feel it necessary give a shout out to my homegirl Esther).  So, who is left?  The band and the people who like our music. (I should also include our friend Emmanuel Arvelo, who is helping us with the web stuff [although the band has designed and is running the site we (I) have no idea what we’re (I’m) doing and we couldn’t do it without him]).  We will not be able to do any extensive touring in the near future, so this website will be the way for us to interact.  As I wrote, the band is designing and running this site, it will remain a work in progress, and we will (probably) welcome criticism which we deem constructive.   

 

The reason I like the quote above so much is that speaks to the changes that are going on now in how we make music and what we do with it.  I’m not going to assume that records will be relevant 2010. I don’t know how we’ll be interacting with people who like our band two years from now and that is the most exciting and inspiring thing in the world.  Hopefully Team Sleep will be able to make a small contribution to music and the way bands operate. 

Soon we will be adding more songs and videos to download, we’ll have a Q and A forum, and we have blogs and video blogs from band members.  We’ll also find a way to offer free downloads without having to go through iTunes

We hope you like our site.

22 February 2008