Hopefully this will get to a few of you. I know facebook’s not really bothered about ing messages on these days…
This page/site is doing well. Very well. I’m staggered with how many emails I get asking for bands to be featured, albums reviewed, interviews to be done and so on. It’s been incredible, especially given that it’s pretty much just little ol’ me with some help from Sean when he’s not working/studying.
However, it’s just getting too much. I have to start putting a cap on what I’m doing with the site. It earns me zero money (in fact it costs me a few bob every month to keep it up), so I can’t justify spending so much time on it when I have three kids who deserve that time more. If it was an income-earning project then things could be different, but it’s not. My family don’t benefit from me doing this (aside from my eldest getting to meet some really cool people – Charlotte Wessels, I’m looking at you!) – in fact the reverse is true.
Doing an interview means being out of the house, after spending 30-60 minutes researching the band so I’m asking decent questions. Editing the interview means 30-60 minutes with Audacity before it’s posted. A gig review can take me half an hour or so to type up. Going through and ing photos is a similar task. Even those short 100-word reviews are at least quarter of an hour – often longer!
It all adds up to time I should be spending with my wife and children.
I have a couple of outstanding time-consuming commitments to get through which will be honoured (interviews and gig reviews). After that, it’ll be more ad-hoc. Posts which I can fit in around my lunch at work, for instance. Genuine spare time when I’d not be with the kids anyway.
I love this page and I’m humbled to have had so many people on compliments and ask for coverage. It gives me a buzz when I see a review quoted somewhere, or a band spreading the news that they made “Band of the Day”.
But family comes first.
All I ask is, if you do send in details of your band or whatever, please don’t be upset if I don’t feature you. It’s nothing personal. I don’t think you’re crap, don’t give up!
I’m still here – I just need to spend more time teaching my kids how to rock :)
