There’s a reason that the expression “starving artist” stays with us. Being creative is expensive! I know my closet ain’t full of Gap Jeans, y’all ( in fact every pair of jeans I own right now has a hole in them), but I have, as Virginia Woolf called it, “ A Room Of My Own”, a studio space filled with lots of pricey musical equipment where I can make the noise that brings the boys.
In fact most everyone I know who’s in a band is in a similar situation. We cut corners everywhere else because it seems that this pursuit is in a way like having a kid; you put your own needs behind that of the bands, especially monetarily. Kim Deal knows what I mean. When I met her at the Bowery Ballroom a few years back before a Breeders Show (she was just walking around on the floor like everyone else, cup in hand) and told her that I wanted to be like her when I grow up, she said, “That’s great! Just remember: no boyfriends, no kids.”
The Honorable Kim Deal and Her Indispensable Advice
What’s more is that even after spending tons of cash on equipment, promotion, devotion and commotion, you have to sell blood (or other bodily fluids) to raise cash to actually put out a record. Or make T shirts. Or buy a six pack of beer that doesn’t have the word “Ice” in it.
That’s why we were all ecstatic when Bands On A Budget, “Your One Stop Merch Shop” decided to open an office right here on Mattison Avenue in downtown Asbury Park. Bret Morgan and Dan Croak decided to use their years of expertise on all sides of the industry to create a place where musicians could have all their needs met without getting hosed by some greedy insider. And believe me, the landscape of DIY is littered with predators ready to take more than their fair share, so these guys are a real endowment to the AP community.
BOAB’s Expert Coordinator Nina Shows Off Custom Guitar Picks, Just One Of The Fab Merch Options Available at BOAB
From personal experience I can assure you that this is the go to place for custom packages on band needs like album pressing, drop card issue, T-shirts, stickers, and pretty much any physical accoutrements you need to get every man, woman, and child wearing your name and listening to your record. What’s more is that the fellas also host notable area artists and musicians with exhibitions and live shows right in their homey hard-wood floor storefront.
Sensational Area Photographer Mike McLaughlin Exhibits At BOAB
Tomorrow they’re featuring live performances from rock groups Peal, La Violencia, and The Sun The Moon The Stars. ( A fun fact about Peal is that the group’s frontman Rob Blake has worked with Jack Endino, a producer best known for working on a little album called “Bleach”, from a little band known as Nirvana).
If you need a little guidance in your life, concerning band merch that is (they’re not miracle workers so don’t bring up your divorce or persistent skin condition, dudes), then visit Bret and Dan and they’ll take care of you. They’re honest guys with a great thing going and in today’s music industry, good people like them are important to have in your community. And hit up that show tomorrow, Friday, April 8th at 7:30 PM —it’s a killer way to kick off the weekend, guaranteed.
XOXO
Ang
