Jordan Baker Pastepunk
What is your name and band/label/etc?
Pastepunk.com – (RIP 11/2012)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2012? (In order 1-5)
- White Lung – Sorry
- Make Do and Mend – Everything You Ever Loved
- Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
- Strife – Witness A Rebirth
- Hot Water Music – Exister
What band did you discover in 2012 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
WHITE LUNG was new to me... the guitar riffing and sticky, snarling style of the melodic vocals took me totally surprise. They reminded me a bit of early BAD RELIGION with songs between 1-2 minutes and not a pause for anything that was a waste of time. Short. Fast. Loud. And memorable. Can't argue with that.
How will you remember 2012? (In terms of music)
Tough question. I will be in somewhat muted agony for while in deciding to end Pastepunk after more than 14 years of it being a significant part of my teenage and adult life, and my identity. I will think of 2012 as the year that when my priorities of a being a good father and husband, as well as achieving my goals in my professional career finally overwhelmed the energy and spirit that kept my dear hobby ticking. More direct to the question – I will recall 2012 as being the year that streaming music services won me over; when I used Rdio for more hours each day than iTunes, and for the bizarre fact that somehow Ronnie Radke became some kind of mystical music figure. I don't get it, and I'm glad that I won't be thinking about it any further.
What can we look forward to from you in 2013?
A whole lot of nuthin', though I am keeping the @pastepunk twitter account active and I will still be talking about music through that format. I'm done procreating, and I also encourage bands and labels to get their trademark issues in order before releasing music!
What records are you looking forward to most in 2013?
Bad Religion, Transit, Shai Hulud, Light Years, Plow United, and if a boy can dream, a new Ignite record.
Fundraising sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have made a strong impact on the ability of artists to release music. Do you think this approach is a trend, or will it continue to shape how artists produce their material?
There are so many variables that come into play when determining whether a Kickstarter makes sense for a band or other entity, and I think one of the largest barriers to it is that it only works if the cause worth supporting already has an established wellspring of support to tap. So for Saves The Day, I can see it working, for an obscure paper zine project that wants to reissue a CD put out in the mid '90s to all of 1200 kids in Midwest? Maybe not so much. I don't see the availability of such a funding model going away, but it just continuing to have a limited role in the overall production of music-related projects.
