Ah, shit. Here we are again. By leaps and bounds, it feels like we’ve really gone places as a community this year. Or did we just go through a lot together? You know, developing a healthy amount of trauma-bound solidarity with one another as the world spun continuously apart? Probably both.
This year reminded us of the year we first went on tour. It was playing drums with a band called Thom Simon – the tour lasted a month and a half, going from the Oregon coast to somewhere in the south, most likely Lawrence, Kansas before it snaked it’s way back. It was the most amount of effort we’ve probably ever put into anything, and certainly one of the most rewarding things we’ll ever have done with our lives – but not for the reasons you might think.
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At the end of the road, we were very tired, and had developed the natural passive-aggressive vibes that result from lack of space. We didn’t hate each other, but we were now familiar with each others buttons and how to press them, whether we meant to or not. However, as we sipped our last pre-show beers, we said to each other without hesitation, and with full conviction, that if we worked hard enough, we could probably do this year-round.
That was when we decided to change up our strategies for the better – yes, we could continue to play our everloving tits off, but we’d risk oversaturating, not to mention total fatigue. Curating our shows and our approach to booking became an art after that, allowing us to play bigger and better shows with bands like Space Face, Survival Guide, and more. Oh, and before you ask what the hell were going on about, it’s that exact thing:
Sometimes less is more, and working smarter can replace working harder.
The results can be worth it – we need to curate our approach at Fecking Bahamas the same way, but don’t panic. We’ll still respond to your emails and stuff, we’re still homies – however, we might do something like publishing bi-monthly when it comes to normal coverage. We just have too many deadlines to keep track of. Remember, we do this shit for free, and for the most part, we is one person, me. You can see my name at the top if it makes you feel better – regardless, we want to talk about music all the time, but we need to make this work for us while staying true to the blog, and more importantly, you.
There are days that this community, somehow, is the only thing that makes sense to us. That we have any pride in. The fact that you continue to allow us to occupy this space in ‘music journalism’ is a personal honor. So when we have full-time jobs and bills and mortgages and marriages and stuff, all of which directly compete for our attention, it’s hard when you have friends and people you’ve idolized half your life reaching out. So in 2024, we’re gonna make some time for bigger projects, see what works, and perhaps, what doesn’t.
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Man, was I too drunk for that Eugeners piece or what? Anyway – what could we possibly be working on that needs more time? Doesn’t take us, like, an hour to write something? Yes, mostly – but we’re so glad you asked. The following is a list of things that take a lot more time and effort than the average article, and we really want to get them off the ground.
– The forever stalled East Coast // Midwest and South // Southwest compilations. These are easy peasy to put together, but constant emails and release timelines stack up every day, distracting us from our own deadlines. These will likely be our first priority in the beginning of the year, because they’re the most rewarding for everyone involved.
– Fecking Bahamas Merch – Nikk’s limited print-up of those Math Rock Sucks tee’s put us on the map in a way that cannot be overstated. We’re not sure if we can get the OG design reprinted but we have other plans in the meantime that we think ought to fit nicely, including sunglasses that make you look like that hunk Juan Godfrid.
– Literally two separate books, possibly even more. We had one collection piece going, another particularly sweet collection of exclusive interviews, and Nikk had a big thing going on as well but times have been tough, and it’s been over a year since we were able to work on them.
– Oh, and the fecking World of Math: we haven’t been able to code for it for years, to be honest, and it’s not corrupt, just very sensitive. But don’t lose hope – after much ado, we are using Unreal Engine 5 to recreate it in a slightly different, and hopefully more exciting context :)
We’re not even sure that’s it. We’re crazy like that. We are predicting a lot more Focus pieces and interviews done over Zoom as well, because the human connection is so much better, not to mention easier/faster to get out. Nothings set in stone but if you’re reading about it here, just know we’ve been putting a lot of thought into it, and that we appreciate you so, so much. And it’s not the holidays. We are finishing up the Top 50 Math Rock Releases of 2023 (while leaving room of course) and it’s just such a trove of intense, fun, and occasional even meaningful music. We can’t wait to share it, and once again celebrate the criminal amount of talent possessed by the weirdos of math rock, prog, and beyond.