Co-No Media Kings
ANNOUNCING! THE PERPETUAL MOTION ROADSHOW!
- Jim Munroe -
Putting together an indie press touring circuit wasn't something I'd planned to do. Consciously, anyway. But it's been in the making for the last four book tours I've done, and it really started to gel when I was in the US in November promoting Everyone In Silico. The shows were close enough so that the drives between cities weren't ordeals. My tourmates had great acts, and we were able to pool audiences and travel costs. And the people who organized the shows usually did it well, and enjoyed themselves. So when I got home from the tour in November, I was so stoked that I did the unthinkable -- immediately started organizing another one. But not for me.
There's already a lot of touring going on -- vans full of zinesters, people driving their weirdo movies from city to city, mobile political projects -- basically people taking the band model and applying it to their kind of art. As inspiring as this is, it struck me that we were all reinventing the wheel each tour, and though it is certainly possible, planning an ambitious tour is a huge logistical challenge for all but the more organizationally inclined. So I decided that since it'd be a while before I'd get to hit the road again, there was no reason why like-minded people shouldn't use the same route.
PROPAGATING THE NETWORK THAT ALLOWS INDIE CULTURE TO EXIST
So, after a bit of tinkering, an indie press tour circuit was established: The Perpetual Motion Roadshow. Once a month in April, May and June, a crew of three performers from different genres and cities will be performing in the same venues in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Chicago. I've called the new website for the Roadshow, thinking of ".net" as "network" since the only way I've been able to tour as extensively as I have is through the support of this mailing list -- a network of people excited by indie culture.
And what happens with the Roadshow beyond June has a lot to do with how much excitement there is for this project. It could just be a three month thing, but if enough people go to the shows, fill out the online questionnaires to take their show on the road or to be Roadshow agents in their cities, it could continue indefinitely. It could even be the first of several circuits -- a west coast loop, for instance, would be pretty easy to set up. Could we develop an indie culture infrastructure that runs on volunteer power instead of corporate money? Let's see!
THE GRAND EXPERIMENT HAS ALREADY BEGUN...
Last night, the first 7-cities-in-7-days tour kicked off with the Brooklyn show. You can hear how it's going by listening to the Pay Phone Tour Diaries, updated daily at nomediakings.net. Each night, Marc Ngui will be doing the voices and the sound effects from his illegal comics, Charlie-Girl Anders will be genre-busting, gender-fucking and singing, and Corey Frost will be talking compellingly about ethics & plums. (Well, hopefully. You'll have to listen to his Diary to get the full story.) Today they'll be in Cleveland, tomorrow Cincinnati, and Chicago on Thursday. If you're in those cities, check the site for venues and posters.
This Friday, they'll be rolling into Toronto, presuming Marc has an easier time getting into his own country than he did getting into America. It will also be the launch for my CD-ROM zine Novel Amusements and I'll be showing short vids between the acts. The Phonemes, purveyors of the soft revolution, will be making music of a live variety, while DJ m@b will be spinning recorded music.
Friday, April 18, 8pm. Clinton's Tavern (693 Bloor Street W., Toronto). $5, but with the PMR guarantee: NO BORING READINGS OR YOUR MONEY BACK.
nomediakings.net
nomediakings.org
novelamusements.org
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