Maximalize Yourself
One-man bands and the bad ideas they spawn.
By Audra Schroeder, 1:08PM, Wed. May 21, 2008
This past Sunday's New York Times magazine featured an interesting story on the rise of the one-man band, spotlighting Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Panda Bear, and Dallasite Annie Clark (St. Vincent). Writer John Wray hones in on the need to minimalize (or, as Clark put it, "Maximalize yourself") in the current indie rock culture, and Pallett had an especially unique take on it:
“Drummers ruin bands,” he said simply, as if the fact were common knowledge. “There are probably about 10 people in indie rock who know how to play the drums. If you’re in a mediocre band, just fire the drummer, and chances are you’ll have the best band in the world.”
He goes on to give the best line in the piece to Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, who he describes as the "drummer who fired himself."
Speaking of which, a friend sent along this video of a new and, sadly, real Sharper Image product.
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One-man bands, Final Fantasy, Panda Bear, St. Vincent
