Hometown Heroes

F.A.Q.

What is Hometown Heroes?

Hometown Heroes is not a band. It is a music blog which accompanies a monthly column at soundcheckmagazine.com. The world of indie music is vast, overwhelming and totally muddled. In the constant, obsessive search for new music, it is sometimes easier to divide and conquer, as it were. And what better way to divide than using good old fashioned geography? Each blog will focus on the music community of a different city, and will include downloadable or streaming mp3s from some of my favorite musical acts from that city.

How do you select which bands are featured on your site?

Well, I start with bands I already know and love from the area, then I spend two weeks researching other music in the area. I ask locals. I ask the bands I already know. I check the roster of local labels. I'll even post an ad on craigslist, if I have to. However I find them, I only look for two weeks, which means a lot of bands are going to get left behind. So...if your band isn't featured on your hometown blog, don't take it personally. It's not necessarily a slight against your music; I just couldn't get to you on time. But hey! That's what blog comments are for!

What order are the bands in?

Random order. I pretty much post them in the order that I thought of them or discovered them.

So it's pretty unbiased?

No way. C'mon, hippie, this isn't the Peace, Love and Sunshine Club. Everybody's biased. I post what I like, and only what I like. If you have a problem with who's featured and who isn't, go make your own damn music blog. I guarantee you, it'll be biased, too.

Wow, you're a bitch.

Actually, according to a button my sister gave me, I'm a bitch covered bitch with a creamy bitch filling.

So why are you doing this?

Because, silly rabbit, I love music. A lot. And when I find something I like, I want to share it with the world.

Why are you using MySpace instead of your own actual website?

Well, MySpace is a music whore; I'm a music whore--it's a match made in heaven, really. Plus, it's much easier to network with all the bands and their fans this way. Smarter, not harder; that's what I always say.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

I want to work for a really cool record label. Preferably doing A&R, but really, any part of the helping-good-music-get-heard process would be great.

Enough about you; let's talk about me! How can I get my band (or my friend's band) featured?

Easy. Just send me an email with a link to your music and the town you are from. If I like you and feature your hometown, I'll add you to the blog.

Can I request which city you do next?

Sure! But chances are good that I'm not really going to listen to you. As it is, I already have a whole list of cities I'd like to do, so I'm going to get to them first.

So, which cities are you planning on doing next?

Weeeelllll...here's a tentative schedule (and by "tentative" I mean "subject to change based on my whim and the unpredictability of the future"):

Oct/Nov '06 - Austin Dec/Jan '06 - Toronto Feb/Mar '07 - Reykjavik Apr/May '07 - Chicago Jun/Jul '07 - Montreal Aug/Sept '07 - Amsterdam Oct/Nov '07 - Philly Dec '07/Jan '08 - Vancouver/Victoria Feb/Mar '08 - Copenhagen Apr/May '08 - Portland Jun/Jul '08 - Dublin Aug/Sept '08 - Oslo Oct/Nov '08 - Minneapolis Dec '08/Jan '09 - Glasgow Feb/Mar '09 - Helsinki Apr/May '09 - Dallas/Denton Jun/Jul '09 - Manchester/Liverpool Aug/Sept '09 - Stockholm Oct/Nov '09 - Boston Dec '09/Jan '10 - Cardiff

Are you going to do New York, L.A. and London?

Only if I run out of cities. I could easily spend the better part of the year featuring Williamsburg, Brooklyn alone, so trying to feature bands from any of those cities would kind of be like sending one person out to harvest all the rice on the planet by themselves. Ain't gonna happen. Although actually, now that I mention it, doing Williamsburg is a very tempting idea. Hmmm...

How often are you going to update the blog?

The goal is to do one a month. However, I have a real job, and another quasi job, and a social life and hobbies. So we'll see if that actually happens.

Can we please stop doing this stupid-ass F.A.Q. now?

I thought you'd never ask!