Barenaked Ladies urging fans to participate in music, video-making
Last Updated: Thursday, September 14, 2006 | 12:17 PM ET
CBC Arts
The Barenaked Ladies are urging their fans to get involved in their music, asking them to remix tunes, create T-shirts and participate in a music video.
The Toronto group just reverted to its independent roots, having reached the end of its contract with Warner Music. Members say they are ready to experiment with new ways of reaching out to their fans through cyberspace.
"The main thing is just shifting the focus to the fan and letting them decide how they want to consume the music," said songwriter and guitarist Ed Robertson.
Barenaked Ladies' frontman Stephen Page performs in a concert.
(Canadian Press)
The band has conceived a contest in which fans can remix five of the band's numbers any way they want.
It has resulted in interpretations that vary from country to reggae to waltz.
"We're getting these ridiculous disco versions of our songs," said Robertson. "There's a lot people that are really good."
The band will re-package five of the best remixes in one CD, with proceeds going to charity.
The band has a new 13-song CD out, but had too many tracks for it and didn't want to toss the ones that didn't make the CD.
The 16 songs that didn't make it will be sold online. Consumers can download the songs, buy a deluxe CD package or get a USB stick containing all 29 songs.
"People will not often even listen to a record anymore. They might download the songs and just listen to it on shuffle with all your other music or a bunch of other bands they like," said Robertson.
That's not the end of the fan interaction. The band is also asking fans to download the song Wind It Up from the MySpace website and to film themselves playing along. Top performances will be mixed together for the actual video.
Those with artistic aspirations can also enter a T-shirt design competition, with the winner receiving more than $1,000 in prizes.
Robertson said the band — composed of himself, frontman Steven Page, bass player Jim Creeggan, drummer Tyler Stewart and keyboardist Kevin Hearn — feels "liberated" by its independent status.
"It's a [bad] time for record labels, it's a great time to be a musician. You can reach out to your fans directly."
With files from the Canadian Press
