When we made our end-of-year lists in 2021 we realized we missed out on a lot of good music. The idea started to track the 2022 releases by starting a site and writing about them, which we enthusiastically started with. Though not always finding the time, we had so much fun with this, that our love for music rekindled itself and burned brighter than ever.
Not so much for most others in New York. The bars and venues had reopened, bands were touring again without cancellations, but the crowd was missing. Though you couldn’t throw a dart at a calendar without hitting a date with a good show, the shows seemed to be held in mostly empty rooms. The longer 2022 passed, the more we realized this wasn’t due to the quality of the bands, there were other factors at play. We found ourselves asking questions like: ‘When the band books directly through a venue, who’s in charge of the marketing?’ and ‘Should local bands be paid when no one shows up?’.
We tried to hype up the shows around us. The friends whose talent we thought would get them far, whose passion made us want to listen to them talk for hours. We learned that not being directly involved, and being a glorified street team, wasn’t what was needed. What is needed is people who are happy to work on the sidelines and have the time and energy to put in the work.
In 2023, expect more drinkscussing of records, expect shows booked by Music Dies Here, and expect to find us in the cold holding a stack of flyers to convince you that yes, you should buy a ticket for that tour. We want to share that excitement and passion we see in the bands we love with you. Music Dies Here just wants to keep live music alive.
