From now on (I say that now, but who knows if I’ll change my mind again) I’ll be releasing music under the name “The Anywhere People.” I’ll explain the name some other time maybe.
Using a new band name is a chance for a fresh start in some ways. I’ll always have a back catalog of music with all my alter-egos and their many varied sounds and looks. And I can keep writing songs for those characters whenever I want to. But I don’t want to have to do that. I want to free myself up to write whatever kind of song I want to write, because the conceit of an Oulipo-style limitation (such as a specific genre, sound, and character, all set in advance as the boundaries within which a work exists) worked for me for a while but now it feels like a leash. Doing Dim Jim songs or Bramble Childress songs is fine, but the mentality wore itself out in the sense that I would think “I need to write the next Dim Jim record” or something, and then if I couldn’t come up with good Dim Jim songs, I wouldn’t write anything at all.
So the “band” is just a name at this point, under which I will put stuff out in digital (e.g. streaming, CDs) and analog (e.g. cassette, 7” record) formats. But I also will book using this name. This’ll simplify things so I can attempt to function more like a normal musician/band.
I kind of want it to actually be a band, but a loose one, meaning that participation isn’t limited to a strict lineup of people. It’s always The Anywhere People, but the lineup can shrink or expand depending on who’s around at the time of a particular recording or show or string of shows.
The other thing that I’d like to do that would make the band somewhat unique is to include non-musicians as members, and expand the boundaries of what a band even is a little. I mean, a “band” is just a group of people. Why not add some jugglers or mimes or people dressed up like aliens or people in gorilla suits or people who can run cameras and edit film or whatever and include them as members of the band too, and bring them all up on stage for no good reason other than a good time?
Anyway, this album called No Time by The Anywhere People is out now. You can go stream it or buy a digital “copy” on Bandcamp, and if you would like, I’ll make you a CD of it; more on that later too.
And if you’ve ever visited this website, you may notice that I changed up the look a little. That’s just in case if anyone tries to read anything, it won’t be so hard on the eyes. I lament the loss of my beloved ‘90s Geocities look, but then I cross myself and let it go.