One of the All Time Worst Things about music is the moment when a once good band starts bitching about being famous (hello, Bloc Party!). Bitching about how tough it is to enjoy being paid for something they once happily did for free. About how difficult it is to be adored, travel the world and generally get to live without any semblance of responsibility. It’s not hard to see why that kind of attitude might grate on 99% of people. Way to alienate your audience guys.
But sometimes I feel sorry for these bands. I know, I know, but hear me out. Imagine never getting to chill with your best buds (you hate all your bandmates by now), never playing the music you love to the people that you love (your audience are knuckleheads), and never seeing your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/kids for more than 2 minutes of the year. You’d miss all those things, because those things are the best things in the world. Plus, you’ve nothing to write about anymore, other than how shit everything is, because tour is boring and everything you thought you ever wanted is like having no friends at school, but with less stuff to do. You forget why you started in the first place and just want to run back to Hastings to take the dog for a walk with your dad just to experience something real. God, being in a successful band stinks.
But in between those two extremes there is that short period of complete bliss where each day your dreams come true that little bit harder than the day before. You’re just hanging with everyone you (still) like and instead of being in Harrow you’re in New York, or Paris, or Berlin, or L.A. We’re talking total dreams-can-come-true “look at me, parents, I FUCKING TOLD YOU!” euphoria.
Looking at the photos of Robin Silas, the drummer in Male Bonding, I get that feeling. That warm fuzzy feeling of potential being realised, mixed in with the odd moment of (sub)urban ennui that keeps your heart close to home but your head in the clouds.
Below is a selection of photos from Male Bonding’s first year as a band, kind of like a Year In The Life Of… type thing.
New Year’s Day
Akiko, Dalston
Ayler, Camberwell
Gatwick Airport, 6am
Cassie Ramone, Ali Koehler, Kickball Katy, Glasgow
Video Collection, New York
Flea Market, Berkley
Jake, Greenpoint
Greenpoint
James and Denny, Homerton
Paul crowdsurfing at his club night, London
Tunnel, Devon
River, Devon
Conan and Cherise, Stoke Newington
Archway, London
This is the first selection of photos from what will be a monthly photo blog from the band.