March 8th 04, 12:34 PM
NY Times
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March 8, 2004
The Unorthodox System: First Build a Fan Base, Then Record an Album
By CHRIS NELSON
Plenty of up-and-coming bands make names for themselves with concert
tours before they ever receive radio airplay. But few play 140 dates a
year to audiences as big as 20,000 without having even a record to
sell.
Particle, a Los Angeles band that plays disco-flavored, instrumental
jam music, has done just that, building a devoted following strictly
on live shows.
The group's unlikely accomplishment will come to an end later this
month, three and a half years after its first gig, when the four-piece
group releases its first disc, "Launchpad," on the independent Or
Music label.
Much of Particle's success, said Andrew Warren, the information
manager for a concert Web site, Jambase.com, comes from the
late-late-night scene that has grown in recent years around jam bands,
which play a brand of improvisational rock that often blends elements
of psychedelia, roots music and jazz.
When large jam bands play arenas, their shows end typically by 11 p.m.
But groups like Particle book club gigs to piggyback on those
concerts, catering to fans who want to keep dancing.
The band also attracted a "Particle People" following through the
Grateful Dead and Phish model of allowing people to tape their
concerts and share them with others over the Internet.
By December 2001, the group had garnered enough supporters to land a
show at the Knitting Factory club in New York.
"It was our first time to the state, let alone city, of New York,"
said Steve Molitz, Particle's keyboard player. "When we pulled in, and
there was a line around the block and the show was sold out for our
first time ever in town, we knew something was going on."
That Particle did not even have a demo CD to sell on tour is
particularly unusual because today's technology makes it easy to
produce a high-quality home recording on the cheap.
The band's rigorous road schedule and invitations to play festivals
like Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kept
them out of the recording studio, Mr. Molitz said.
They canceled recording sessions three times to play concerts.
At last June's Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tenn., the band's
pulsing beats attracted 20,000 for a set that did not start until 4
a.m. and then lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, according to Particle's
manager, Jonathan Shank.
The band plans to put out its second album more quickly than the first
- they already have studio time booked, Mr. Molitz said.
Of course, Particle fans have heard that before.
__________________________________________________ _______________
__________________________________________________ _______________
March 8, 2004
The Unorthodox System: First Build a Fan Base, Then Record an Album
By CHRIS NELSON
Plenty of up-and-coming bands make names for themselves with concert
tours before they ever receive radio airplay. But few play 140 dates a
year to audiences as big as 20,000 without having even a record to
sell.
Particle, a Los Angeles band that plays disco-flavored, instrumental
jam music, has done just that, building a devoted following strictly
on live shows.
The group's unlikely accomplishment will come to an end later this
month, three and a half years after its first gig, when the four-piece
group releases its first disc, "Launchpad," on the independent Or
Music label.
Much of Particle's success, said Andrew Warren, the information
manager for a concert Web site, Jambase.com, comes from the
late-late-night scene that has grown in recent years around jam bands,
which play a brand of improvisational rock that often blends elements
of psychedelia, roots music and jazz.
When large jam bands play arenas, their shows end typically by 11 p.m.
But groups like Particle book club gigs to piggyback on those
concerts, catering to fans who want to keep dancing.
The band also attracted a "Particle People" following through the
Grateful Dead and Phish model of allowing people to tape their
concerts and share them with others over the Internet.
By December 2001, the group had garnered enough supporters to land a
show at the Knitting Factory club in New York.
"It was our first time to the state, let alone city, of New York,"
said Steve Molitz, Particle's keyboard player. "When we pulled in, and
there was a line around the block and the show was sold out for our
first time ever in town, we knew something was going on."
That Particle did not even have a demo CD to sell on tour is
particularly unusual because today's technology makes it easy to
produce a high-quality home recording on the cheap.
The band's rigorous road schedule and invitations to play festivals
like Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kept
them out of the recording studio, Mr. Molitz said.
They canceled recording sessions three times to play concerts.
At last June's Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tenn., the band's
pulsing beats attracted 20,000 for a set that did not start until 4
a.m. and then lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, according to Particle's
manager, Jonathan Shank.
The band plans to put out its second album more quickly than the first
- they already have studio time booked, Mr. Molitz said.
Of course, Particle fans have heard that before.
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