NME
New York, I love you…
28.10.2009The CMJ is North America’s premier music industry showcasing event. For five days in late October, delegates from all over the world congregate in New York to discuss, pontificate, listen, drink, and occasionally sleep. Team Skibunny are over to play live and DJ as one of the acts chosen to showcase. Here then, we present their day by day account of the 2009 CMJ.
Day One - Tuesday
Day one is a travel day, so we hot-foot it direct from Belfast to NYC (same flight as General Fiasco and Jimmy from Tiler!!! I love that guy!) and upon arrival head off to artist registration straight from our apartment on 3rd street. Turns out you delegate just past Washington Square Park (as seen in the film Kids). We pass CBGBs (now a clothes and record shop) and one of our favourite bars, 200 Orchard. That evening we catch Lovvers playing, and have drinks with friends old and new (including Feddi from Casiokids, over with his other band The Megaphonic Thrift).
Day Two - Wednesday
Day two in New York City, and after some much needed sleep we’re up ‘n’ at ‘em early. We head to the conference centre to meet Angela from Music From Ireland. She’s been giving away our CDs and flyers at their booth and generally helping us push the Skibunny show. We get to meet Matt McDonald who basically runs CMJ. He looks pretty calm considering how busy he his. After some amazing Mexican food, we head up to the artist’s lounge where Mark & Nick get free haircuts. Then it’s off to Arlene’s Grocery for the Canadian showcase, including free poutine - chips, gravy and cheese - mmmmmmmmm! The SXSW “meet and greet” is a rather fancy affair in a winery, then we walk downtown to meet Matt, the drummer from Holy F**k, who is kindly lending us a load of drum stuff. He also shows us the fire station from Ghostbusters!
Later, we go to The Suffolk to see Megaphonic Thrift, but first we get to see a US band called International Espionage, who we all agree are the best band we have seen in ages! We’re playing the same venue tomorrow night, can’t wait!
Day Three - Thursday
Finally it’s SHOW DAY! Our official CMJ showcase is at The Suffolk, a really cool arts space with lots of interesting rooms and galleries.
We’re playing the main room and as showtime approaches we are pleased to see some friendly faces in the audience, including Phil (Lo-Fidelity Allstars), Graham (guitarist on the last Dave Gahan album) and Matt (Holy F**k). Like SXSW, these kind of showcases are always high-pressure situations, you don’t get to soundcheck, you have just 15 minutes from the moment the band before you finishes, to clear their stuff off the stage, set your stuff up, and hope to god the local inhouse soundman actually gives a crap. Luckily for us, he does! A small drum kit problem means we have to play a very stripped down version of Aah Ooh, which ends up sounding so lovely that we will definitely do that again, and overall good times are had by both band and audience. Nice!
Afterwards, we head to an awesome bar called The Marshall Stack, for a well-earned beer and food, then it’s over to the Bowery Poetry Club for the Irish showcase, where we catch Super Extra Bonus Party. They sound amazing, and have great visuals, just what the doctor ordered.
Finally we head to our local, the 6th Ward, for a nightcap. After last night, the bar staff seem surprised to see us leave after just one drink, but hey, it’s been a very long day 
Day Four - Friday
Day 4 in NYC is a very productive one. During the course of the day we attend several panel events between us, including “Music In Film & Television” and “Why Your Live Show Sucks!” (must’ve wandered into the wrong room there!) In the afternoon we attend our first ever “gifting lounge”, which basically means you turn up and they give you free stuff! Everybody loves free stuff! This one was run by Onitsuka Tiger and after some press shots, we all left with a new pair of lovely trainers, cool hats, little japanese toys and other cool stuff. Great!
Around 7pm we go to Housing Works Bookstore, a really fantastic place run by a charity that provides housing for homeless people with Aids and HIV. We’re here to see a reading from a book called “Our Noise“, the story of Merge Records, and as well as the author, we hear readings from Mac & Laura from Merge Records (and awesome US band Superchunk.) They also play some songs by Superchunk, Magnetic Fields and Spoon. It’s a really really great event, and so we buy the book and get it signed, allowing us the opportunity to meet Mac & Laura!
Then it’s time to head over the bridge to Brooklyn, where we’re DJing at The Bell House. The Polyvinyl showcase is going on so we get to see a bunch of bands including the awesome band Headlights and one of the CMJ picks of 2009, Japandroids. We’re DJing after Bryan from The National who is a lovely chap, playing lots of joy division records and generally having a good time. Suddenly its 2am and time to jump in a cab back to the lower east side, where the night ends at 200 orchard, Andy Rourke from the smiths is spinning, and the irish whiskey tastes good.
Day Five & Six- Saturday & Sunday
As our time in NYC draws to a close once more, we try to pack as much as possible into the last couple of days. We walk around a lot, we do a fair bit of shopping, we DJ again at 200 Orchard, and we see Where The Wild Things Are at the cinema! It’s been such a great trip, and we have really enjoyed playing, DJing, making new friends and catching up with old friends. And so until the next time, a big thanks to all involved including everyone at The Suffolk, The Sixth Ward, 200 Orchard, Matt Schulz, Angela Dorgan, Skippy, and anyone else we may have forgotten in our current heavily jetlagged state. Can’t wait to see you all again soon!
Skibunny xox
Skibunny thanks the Scottish Arts Council for their support for this event