There are two types of DIY music — that which is done by choice and that which is done by necessity. It’s all very well to display your fiercely independent spirit when everyone is clamouring to hear you, less so when you’ve received a thousand rejection slips.
So what about The Schema? Their schtick is that they have been formed to self-release a record in order to write about the experience in a newspaper article. This might lead you to believe that they are doing it by choice. On the other hand, the man behind it is Rhodri Marsden, whose last record — burdened with cover photography by yours truly — sold poorly.
On his myspace, Marsden catalogues the costs of producing the record, making a website, designing the “sleeve”, and arranging for a video to be made. He doesn’t catalogue the mental traumas but I’m sure there are plenty.
What really comes across though is how the music world has changed over the last ten years: DIY used to mean posting your 7″ record to a few fanzines. Now it involves prostituting yourself on thousands mp3 websites, searching for a long tail.
The song itself is pretty good in a catchy, soft rock way. The video, though, is great.
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Neil, my name is Rhodri. We’ve got drunk together in bad pubs. But on your blog, you refer to me as Marsden. I don’t know whether I like this or not, but it’s very Scott.
Calling someone by their surname is a bit like writing about oneself in the third person: pretentious but charming.