From: kevin lane keller, kevinlanekeller@hotmail.com Subject: we are the world ... Date: 2/24/2002 3:11:46 PM To: seance@lists.no-fi.com Is this mike one? Is this mike on? Getting used to a different forum ... Thanks for all the nice notes -- Mark (although I am not sure I should let this out ... you have no idea what a big Mitch Easter fan I am!!), Greg (not to worry, I like issues to be out in the open and am comfortable with a somewhat-but-not-a-lot-higher profile), Denise (talk about funding ? if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had any vision, they would figure out ways to create infrastructure so that more "niche" bands could survive so they may actually have people to induct in 25 years ... but that's not where they are at), Nancy (I hear you -- with a six year old daughter with autism, I have no trouble keeping perspective about what really matters, but I also think Denise nailed it in her follow-up about why things like The Church can matter too), and Paige (who was nice enough to say nice things when she didn't know I was listening!). I have said it before and I'll say it again, a world without The Church would be a scary place ? so I am glad to have done my part as you have too. At the risk of over-staying my welcome, here is another Womb post where I properly introduce myself and go on and on and on and on ?. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OK ? bear with me ? this is a little long and probably more than you need/want to know ? and may or may not be of interest ? but I figure if I am popping in here and there, it would be polite to at least introduce myself and let you know where I am coming from ? If you "google" me (I guess we can make it a verb ?), you can follow my tracks ? but the short story is that I am a marketing professor at the business school at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA. I have taught several other places, including the Stanford Business School where I was the head of the marketing group. I have written a textbook on strategic brand management and have consulted for most top marketing companies on something or another - Intel, Levi's, Starbucks, Disney, Ford, Procter & Gamble, MTV, and Unilever to name a few. One kind soul on that list provided me much of what became the source for The Church funding. So how did I get together with the band? I have been a fan since hearing "Almost With You" on college radio in grad school back in '83. Saw them open for Echo in mid '80's and saw them play Selinas in Sydney in '91 when I was down there as part of a 9 month sabbatical. Fast forward to '98. I was living in NH but headed out to the Bay Area on business. As luck would have it, I saw the band play The Edge in Palo Alto on the HOB tour and absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed it. It had just been so long, they were so good, and I really thought I wasn't going to see them again. As luck would have it again, my annual one-week trip to Sydney coincided with the second leg of the tour down there, so I flew down to Melbourne to catch The Forum show. I parked right up front, and it was amazing again. I had contacted Brian Smith to track down a ticket, and he was kind enough to bring me back stage to hang out, although that's pretty much all I did. Now the third part of the "three-continent hat trick." I decided that I wanted to catch the tour-ending show in London. Helluva trip and it would be 3 days before Christmas. Managed to make it work. (My advice, ask your spouse to come along and you can't lose ? either she comes or she feels good enough about the whole endeavor to let you go ? helps if she/he is understanding and with my wife, Punam, I am really lucky in that regard.) Another great show capped off with an end-of-tour celebration that I host with the mother-of-all-bar-tabs. I finally get a chance to talk to the guys. One thing leads to another ? and I decide to help out as both a benefactor and as a marketing consultant. Details on that are provided in a post on the "Hotel Womb vs. Seance" thread in The Feast section (a non-debate, by the way, that I hope has been put to rest). I have been involved now for the past 3 years, and it has really been a treat. I have been on tour and been able to hang out in the studio in Sweden and NYC. I actually videotaped them as they wrote two songs in the studio that have not and may not be released - an incredibly fascinating process. They are very clever, have loads of integrity and are just amazingly talented. It's been a ton of fun. I wish I could help out more directly with the marketing than I do, but it's tough to find the time, and the music business requires lots of specialized knowledge. But things are better now than they have been and are moving in the right direction too, and I am happy about that. The whole experience has been a series of coincidences and things that you would never have predicted ? but that's life on the rock-and-roll hayride we call The Church. On that note, what's cooking for 2002??? Short answer ? a whole lot. Lots of tour dates all over the place (sorry again about Southern U.S guys?). Promotional appearances to coincide in at least some of the larger U.S. cities. Lots of press and a surprising amount of radio play (although still not enough). Possible release of a second single with some juicy b-sides and alternative mixes and re-mixes - maybe even enough of the latter for a separate special release. Basement shows in Sydney last November were professionally videoed with 5 cameras and look and sound great in my opinion - a possible DVD release there at some point??? Recording a new album in September and October for most likely a late year 2003 release. The boys are absolutely at the top of their game, and it will be great to get them back in the studio. Sorry for all the detail ? but now that we are all friends ? hope you can make it to Boston for a little end-of-tour party to celebrate our good fortune and all that makes life worthwhile and toast the band and each other. But we'll be talking between now and then ? KLK/KK _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com