Hello! I’ve just registered because someone mailed me a link to this discussion. I would like to say a few words on piracy. I hope guys from Twisted will read my comment and become just a bit less angry about filesharing. Just a bit

I live in Latvia. Anyone knows such country? The problem is that we can only buy Britney Spears in our music shops and most lives are the same pop-stuff. Psy parties are rare and deep underground. So it was a piracy that introduced me to the beautiful world of psytrance, psybient and so on. Thanks to pirates I know Twisted music. And it is piracy that made me love Your music, buy two albums and want to buy more in near future.

Of course my two orders means nothing to overall situation, but I think I’m not the only one. Sorry for pirating, but otherwise I would never know Simon, Raj, Ott and others.

Wow - this thread has taken quite a few twists and turns since it started!  I have been rehearsing for the roundhouse show all week, and so directing my frustrations to my poor tortured musicians   We never did manage a full run through without mistakes… but there is an old saying: “Bad final rehearsal - Great show!!’

Anyway, i’d like to chime in on a few of the ideas that are floating around this thread:
Let’s start with Benji’s point about the internet… he of course was being slightly tongue-in-cheek and it probably got taken too seriously, but it amuses the misanthrope in me that one of the greatest resources in the last 25 years (the internet) that is totally anarchic and unregulated in many places (a great thing, in my book) shows us that when supposedly intelligent and wealthy (compared to places with no internet) humans are left to police themselves, ....it basically descends into wanking and stealing the collapse of the music industry and the film industry… the rise of mediocrity and banality, and the sense of entitlement to enjoy people’s work for free…
I’ve read the posts about “it’s not stealing” and we all know it’s more complicated than that, but we are clearly enriching our lives with other people’s hard work and creativity.
I went to Dubai recently, where the internet is monitored and government controlled - it was an extremely dull experience, (and extremely frustrating if you want to look pictures of naked ladies ) with many sites i went to producing an error message : “THIS SITE IS BLOCKED”  and i wholeheartedly agree with Benji’s point that we do NOT want governments and politicians “protecting” us from ourselves… but that is indeed what may end up happening if pornography, illegal filesharing, and spam continue to be the largest use of the bandwidth…
Enough about the downloading of music - the debate can go on forever, or at least until our hard drives are bursting at the seams with ever more disposable tunes we don’t even listen to…. obviously there are positive and negative aspects…. i kinda liked the model of “patron’s of the arts”, where a rich benefactor (for example the church) would pay a talented artist (such as michelangelo) to do large commissions like the sistine chapel…. but this also has negative aspects, such as the artist then having to paint something religious, and not allowed free reign to express the full madness of their imagination…

Ok, next:

lawnome - 29 October 2009 06:13 AM

I am pissed off at so many people getting pissed off. :p
I am pissed off @ “creative” types who havn`t created a marketing strategy.

Well…. Piss Off, then!  LOL… I’m only joking… but as i understand your point, you expect us not only to make the best music we can, but also be some kind of marketing guru/advertising executives? Ewwww…. how utterly satanic! I really do not want to hear a new album by a marketing man… i refer you to Bill Hicks….

lawnome - 29 October 2009 06:13 AM

Where are all the Twisted Records Music Videos? Where are all the desktop backgrounds? OSX/Windows 7/vista themes?

I am a graphic designer / web designer / amateur musician.

Exactly! Well said lawnome!  We are waiting for your submissions… please spend all your available time working on this! And is it ok if everyone can download them for free? hehe
Actually some people DO make videos for twisted stuff - there’s plenty on youtube… some better than others…. i like the younger brother one with the girl and the doll….

flavius - 28 October 2009 09:35 PM

my theory is that the declining psytrance scene is in some way connected to the decline in hallucinogen (esp LSD) use since the small boom in the late 90’s. this is further exemplified by the commercial success of acts like ....

I have to say i kind of agree… it was an acid-fuelled scene, and we made music to be psychedelic because of the deeply profound experiences we had under the influence of hallucinogens… Huge, Life-affecting, Scary, Beautiful, Orgasmic, Confusing, Incomprehensible, Ineffable experiences, intensified by everyone being on the same drug, until it peaked during those moments of electric synergy that zapped through the dancefloor like lightning, everyone telepathic, transcendant, and really united in state of ‘mind-expansion’... Nothing else achieves that in quite the same way as hearing certain tunes over a great soundsystem with everyone on the dancefloor having a psychedelic experience, not just a drug experience….  “E”, although amazing, doesn’t deliver the same potential…

2can - 29 October 2009 02:11 AM

Dear Shpongle-lovers! - Most of you have blogs, you can link to this forum topic at your blogs. You can describe the situation there, you can put the link for that .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) in your blogs.

I’m sure this would help! That’s what i just did - and I hope my blog-mates would react.

I was wondering if anyone had noticed that link, and so i checked today…. People have donated!! Thanks so much for your kindness, we really appreciate it…. It shows that people do want to their bit and help in any way they can… I wrote to everybody who donated personally, and hopefully made you smile…. it was my birthday yesterday, so it was a nice surprise to see that 8 people have donated a total of

Happy Birthday, Simon!
And good luck with the shows, have a very happy party time.

And I’m eagerly waiting my cd every day .

Aleph Zero - 25 October 2009 02:21 PM

Also more interesting reading about the subject:
A very interesting article by Robert Rich about being a non-commercial artist in the Internet age: http://robertrich.com/1000-true-fans-an-answer/

Hey Shahar that is indeed a very interesting article, so i wanted to post the link again!
Thanks for that
x x x

Hallucinogen - 29 October 2009 11:32 PM

it was my birthday yesterday

Happy belated birthday, mate and good luck with the shows!

Happy Birthday…Wish I could be there for the shows. Best of luck!

Unfortunately it’s the way the music industry has turned out. Not enough people want to listen to shpongle (the excuse usually being that it’s too “weird”), coupled with the death of the LSD scene along with piracy being the main way of getting music…

It’s a clusterfuck. The more creative musicians—I believe the Twisted folk count—tend not to have the same business sense as the ones signed to major record labels. Kanye West can make millions of dollars by rapping poorly over some cheesy Daft Punk song, but Twisted can’t find a leg to stand on. I sound like an asshole saying it, but i would rather Twisted be in rough times than have the music compromised and hacked to bits by record executives.

Funny side bit: my dad is 54, an ex-hippie and loves Shpongle. He was sat at his computer last week, having a toke in the dark and watching the iTunes visualizer for Shpongle songs.

Here’s hoping you guys can hold it out until at least Younger Brother 3!

digitalex - 20 October 2009 06:05 AM

Did I miss the party? ha!

Hallucinogen - 19 October 2009 06:25 PM

Thanks digital alex, but Twisted DO offer a way to donate… and you know what? you’ll even get a CD sent thu the post, with artwork by storm thorgerson, and text that we spent time writing, and generally pouring our heart and souls into….!!!

 

No shit? Can’t wait to get mine

Look, my point is not that Twisted are asking too much for a cd. Not at all. If anything, you’d be justified asking more, given the quality of most modern music (and artwork).

could not agree more. Most of the work simon and raj have worked on over their long twisted careers take pride of place in my CD collection (and vinyl collection when i had space for it). I may not be vocal on these forums but i am a dedicated, CD buying, concert going twisted fan. I earn money, and i gladly help where i can. In fact, it kind of saddens me to see the CDs going so cheaply at some of the events, but i guess after reading simon’s thoughts and concerns with the current financial climate its easy to see why.

I’m sure simon and the rest of the twisted family don’t want to feel like a charity case - after all their works should easily be able to support them financially - but on the other hand, in my case shpongle, dub trees, hallucinogen, younger brother, 1200mics, yeti, etc… their music has shaped who i am, and continues to define me on a day-to-day basis. For twisted, or any of these projects to die purely down to financial troubles would, without a doubt, be a very very very sad day.

i remember when eat static went through a similar phase, i’m not sure how they, or rather he, struggled through it. However, i’m sure some support from the fans that are willing to dig their hands in to their pockets would be more than welcome, especially if it means they may get another 60minutes of audio bliss in a year or few.

Oh, if you read this Simon, you should read up on Benn Jordan. He’s a musician (The Flashbulb) from Chicago who runs his own record label. Faced with immense piracy, he started uploading his own music to private trackers and included a READ THIS HTML file that explained his motivations and appealed to the pirate to click through to his site and make a paypal donation of whatever they thought the music was worth. He made a significant profit with this method.

Benn: The thing RIAA is scared of is that their billion dollar backbone can no longer shelter people from exploring music themselves. Their business plan had evolved into telling the world what they will want to listen to and buy, and now they’ll have to actually compete with talented artists again. As the people regain control of the market, music will be judged by it’s content again and will be subjected to its own Darwinism. It is a very interesting time for the music industry… and since my entire life is devoted to making music, bring it on. I hope that this situation with my new record proves to other labels and artists that giving people exactly what they want is the smartest way to conduct any business.

Shpongling - 30 October 2009 03:08 AM

Oh, if you read this Simon, you should read up on Benn Jordan. He’s a musician (The Flashbulb) from Chicago who runs his own record label. Faced with immense piracy, he started uploading his own music to private trackers and included a READ THIS HTML file that explained his motivations and appealed to the pirate to click through to his site and make a paypal donation of whatever they thought the music was worth. He made a significant profit with this method.

Benn: The thing RIAA is scared of is that their billion dollar backbone can no longer shelter people from exploring music themselves. Their business plan had evolved into telling the world what they will want to listen to and buy, and now they’ll have to actually compete with talented artists again. As the people regain control of the market, music will be judged by it’s content again and will be subjected to its own Darwinism. It is a very interesting time for the music industry… and since my entire life is devoted to making music, bring it on. I hope that this situation with my new record proves to other labels and artists that giving people exactly what they want is the smartest way to conduct any business.

Benn Jordan is an amazing musician! I really enjoyed ‘Soundtrack to a vacant life’. I was in a car and we were on vacation in Ireland, driving through the Irish countryside, every second of the album perfectly matched with what was happening outside! Amazing. When the album ended, we arrived at our location. Great times.

Anyway, good luck tomorrow (and the day after tomorrow) at the Roundhouse, Simon! I wish I could be there. :( I would love to see you in Belgium with the live band!
Ow, and happy birthday!

Now i’ll wait until the album and dvd are in my letter box…

Greets, Daan

just made myself and Twisted happy, ordered the CD, DVD and a shirt….

Simon you’re the best 

Simon happy birthday and wish you all the best…

Warning: A Rambling - The Tower of Babel

Crisco Wizards, Eating Mushrooms, Making Music, Folding Back Time into Orgami Dragons Which Wisper Smoke

metabolize your juices - slow your life flow - slam a finger into the strings - and let your heart go - DNA in the music - ghosts in the machine - the spirit of technology - the spirit of the in between - between man and electronic - working toward the mnemonic - building a new story - building a memory - new cultures - forming in the petri dish - new cure for boredom - evolved reason to exist - let your heart flow

I miss Bill Hicks. He showed me how to love jesus lol.  He inspired me to want to embed the past in myself, and create great works, so the past can live on in the future, the bits and pieces which cry out to live again, not so lost, finding a home again, through bearing witness to his grand form built of words, celluloid and binary, timeless muses, inspiring a lineage of expanded possibilities.
He is very missed.

Don’t worry Simon, I’m not selling you diet coke

But I am selling you Psilocybin, Amanita muscaria, Ergot, Mescaline, Psychotria (Ayahuasca)
Christmas is coming, shortest days, the rebirth… I can feel the innefible mysteries around the bend, with snow on the ground and a crisp cold stasis setting in; the trees glisten with frost and complain that not all their leaves have fallen yet; we wait for that warm time of family, friends and well being to embrace us. Keeping our spirits warm on these cold days. We look back from the suffering of humanity to the perfect innocence of awe and joy when we open our gifts of symbolic youth. We feel the appending rise of the spring around the corner and after the sun in the sky has become so tired in it’s cycle it barely gives us 10 hours of light and in some areas of the world a three day night… the sun returns to us and the days get longer and growth will be upon us once again.

And in these natural cycles of life and death, we celebrate with wine and bread… and acid, dmt, and mushrooms…

breaking down the self and the ego, as the sun breaks down; to build itself up again.
returning to the innocence of creation, the eyes of a new born baby in awe of this awakening, open to everything, experiencing the light and love and warmth of those who protect it, who nurture it, who give it meaning as it begins to give meaning to itself,
rebuilding the ego to play with the natural,
recreating the entirety of the universe,
to feel the music
the harmony
pulsing beacon of hope in the middle of cold static nature

we celebrate for many reasons

but this celebration is focused
it is ancient
we have been remaking ourselves for millennia

what about the microcosm; the inner-space

when will we explore ourselves
as a society
like every cell in the body independently evolving; all together
like every human on the plant
every star going nova at the same time, releasing it’s full potential into the universe
a single electron making use of its infinite function of possibilities

we can be the stars, we can evolve

if there is one thing I have learned from psychedelics
is that all these old poetics, all these old stories,
have influenced our reality so much

why can’t the new rising sun, give way to a new rising existence, a new joy,
a new realization, a new awareness about where we are going

consulting with the goddess will never be easier when we respect the hallucinogenic eye drops

The music fan has the most deleterious effect on the music they want to represent. They can bring good music down to the worst music in the blink of an eye.
love fnord

I am sorry if I have not been a good fan
how can I be of service?

~Nome Nomerson

Hallucinogen - 29 October 2009 11:32 PM

flavius - 28 October 2009 09:35 PM

my theory is that the declining psytrance scene is in some way connected to the decline in hallucinogen (esp LSD) use since the small boom in the late 90’s. this is further exemplified by the commercial success of acts like ....

I have to say i kind of agree… it was an acid-fuelled scene, and we made music to be psychedelic because of the deeply profound experiences we had under the influence of hallucinogens… Huge, Life-affecting, Scary, Beautiful, Orgasmic, Confusing, Incomprehensible, Ineffable experiences, intensified by everyone being on the same drug, until it peaked during those moments of electric synergy that zapped through the dancefloor like lightning, everyone telepathic, transcendant, and really united in state of ‘mind-expansion’... Nothing else achieves that in quite the same way as hearing certain tunes over a great soundsystem with everyone on the dancefloor having a psychedelic experience, not just a drug experience….  “E”, although amazing, doesn’t deliver the same potential…

Interesting. I had always assumed that at any psychedelic type of concert (especially at the festivals…), there was just tons of everything floating around. Its shames me to see that kind of attitude though. Instead of taking drugs to enjoy the music, its listening to music to enjoy the drug. I’ve gone to plenty of psytrance events dead fucking sober and still had the time of my life. And its not even like I didn’t feel that spiritual connection to everyone else on the dancefloor. I’ll agree with you about E, its definitely more of a “people” drug than a spiritual one, but I think it still goes very well with psy stuff. Sadly, this drug seems to be on its own decline, people all over the world are finding it harder and harder to get acutal E. Maybe this will lead to a decline in trance? Hopefully not…

On an unrelated note, happy (belated) birthday!

Happy Birthday SImon!!!

Wow

i find it really sad and disheartening that a label as old and respected as Twisted is strugling like this and the fact that it might vanish just beggers belief

i went to the twisted party @ SE1 which was so rammed you couldnt move and stood outside for hours at the roundhosue with hundreds of other people trrying to get in but didnt

so with this kind of visable support its strange that this label would be in danger of going belly up

The times they are a changing so relying on CD’s to make money is long gone and an adapt or die strategy has to be done

Im sure a “Save twisted ” party could be cobbled together with a 100th of the funds used at the roundhouse with your artists donating their time to save the label they love and i gaurantee you a sell out crowd as EVERYONE loves the music you guys make

I really and truely believe this is all very fixable just need to go about making money in a diffrent way than before

But Simon ( and the rest of the twisted crew ) take solace in the fact that youre doing somthing that you love and people love it

hang tough , did you hear there is a recession on the go

peace