Syracuse Ska Forum

Danny mentioned this band before, and I was curious what the fuss was about (but disappointed that their website was under construction.)

Well, there still isn't anything up at hotknives.net, but they signed up for myspace last week and posted two songs.

Good stuff, says I. Give it a listen, yes?

(and if you like what you hear, tell them - Rex Banner and I wanna see a billion "come to WNY" comments on their profile!)

I love The Hotknives and would love to see them anywhere in the US at all, but I'm painfully aware how unlikely that is. Pama International booked a US tour, which I tried to hook into, but they had to cancel it, because it was too expensive to get the proper work permits. Has it not occurred to anyone there might be a very good reason why European bands rarely tour the US? That's the primary reason.

Heck, I can't even get some of the Canadian bands down for the same reason. I've seriously looked into The Kingpins (now Lo & the Magnetics) and Subb before, both with no success.

I've seen The Dead Pets half a dozen times in Rochester, and they're a punk band from the UK. No label support, no huge fanbase at home.

They simply work their asses off, on stage and planning their tours. (and they probably sleep on a lot of floors )

From the comments the Hotknives are leaving, it sounds like they're giving it a shot. It'll take a lot of preparation.

And a lot of support stateside.

I doubt they'll get anything together for a while, but who knows? I hope they have the will and work ethic to make it happen, and I wish them the best of luck.

I'm not talking about fan support. That's an entirely different issue. I'm talking about a $1200 work permit and a lot of paperwork that comes with it that's usually prepared by expensive attorneys. I've lost count of how many bands have asked me to pay for that $1200 work permit. Simpler said then done.

It's a Catch-22 (the book, not the band ) situation - "We can't afford to go there because nobody talks about seeing us, and nobody talks about seeing us 'cause we can't afford to go there."

And it's unreasonable to expect someone to do that level of investment with zero encouragement.

Well, I'll just tell them this dude Twitch in Rochester NY would be happy to pick up the cost of the $1200 work permit and a decent guarentee too. I'm glad to pass that along.

Touchy subject, huh?

We'll see how it shakes down.

It's not a touchy subject. But as a promoter, I'm surprised you still don't get it. The Hotknives are a complete unknown in America, but equivalent in the UK to a band like The Pietasters is here. They get pretty decent guarantees in Europe. Pama International is almost as big as The Hotknives over there, but probably better known here, since Asian Man Records released one of their albums in America (all Hotknives albums are hard-to-find imports here).

Pama International booked an American tour supporting The Pietasters and Big D last October. Most bands on support at that level get $100 a night, but maybe Pama was getting a little more. But the work permits in their case came to $2500 (sorry, I don't know why they cost more than for Canadians). And there is no justifiable way to go back and significantly bump up their support pay. So, simply put, the math simply doesn't work.

Incidentally, Canadian bands are usually quite surprised how much less money they make in America. But it's simple to understand: the drinking age in Ontario is 19 and in Quebec is 18. That means college shows legally move a TON of alcohol, which is highly profitable for the venues. In Europe, it's even more stark, because while the legal drinking age is 16, that's generally not enforced. So all ages shows in Europe are pretty much legal drinking shows too. Crazy, but true.

As a promoter, I know better than to book based on anecdotal evidence of interest. It just doesn't prove much, honestly. A decent promoter knows their market and what will work in it. I've booked a ton of bands kids have never heard of before the show, that worked out great on every level. I prefer bands that seriously try to promote themselves before the show (Not On Track was awesome on that level, for example), but I know better than to count on that (promises are cheap).

I pass on 95% of the bands that ask me for shows, because they're being unreasonable in what they're asking. I'm tired of bands that want $150 and more and that think they're being helpful by suggesting I pair them with the top local bands (and who they routinely suggest should be willing to open for them for free). I'm open to any reasonable offer. But "reasonable" is always the operative word.

They're looking into an American label to distribute their next album. Set that up, work the myspace angle, ratchet down their expectations and it'd be a miracle if they got here in 2008.

But I plan to be around for a while, so why not dream big?



What did they do?

Or they can just tell customs that they're here on holiday. Plenty of bands have done that before to avoid filling out all that nasty paper work.

They guys of The Hotknives seem reasonable enough. They realize that it's going to cost a lot of money, and that they probably won't break even on their first few trips to the U.S. It seems that they want to start building a basic audience in some of the more major cities along the east coast, and then move on from there.

I don't see them coming to Central or Western New York any time soon. But I think that a city like NYC would be do-able.

It also helps that they're fine with sleeping in motels and riding in a van. I'm getting the impression that they're very humble guys, dispite how popular they are in the UK right now.