how has the proliferation of phone cameras changed your approach to live performance?
gordon the fan modine: hasn’t really. but I do feel a sense that scotty is available more-so now.
corin tucker: I’m much more conscious of the fact that everything is being recorded. no unrecorded original material can just be messed around with onstage, which I really really miss.
stephin the magnetic fields: they’re just another aspect of the unpleasantness of playing live.
hannah grass widow: it’s definitely a big deal. there’s the show itself and then there’s the mediated show—the photos and tweets and blogs and facebook response etc. it really bothers me when people are on their phones while we’re playing even if they are tweeting or texting something positive. I would love for people to be present with us and for us all to share an experience. when phones are out at our show, it kind of sends me a message that this moment isn’t worth that person being completely there for. They’ll re-hash it later when they post to their flickr or tumblr or twitter or whatever. I like it when I feel like everyone is in the moment and really enjoying it without feeling the need to broadcast with their avatar.
bridget st john: I haven’t thought much about it – they have no bearing on how I prepare for a gig.
daniel handler: remember when there were signs up saying they’d eject you if you took a picture? that seems fainting-couch quaint.
michael white: I’d rather deal with them than the cigarette smoke that was part and parcel of going to a gig in 1992.
stephen the real tuesday weld: never leave a dressing room without a jacket.
jennifer o’connor: they haven’t. it is sometimes annoying, but what can you do?
matt lorelei: our performances are usually too loud to capture on camera phones. also, I try to ensure that laundry day and gig day do not align.
james dump/yo la tengo: your style’s gotta be tight all the time in 2012.
tim dagger: I loved bringing my throwaway cameras to gigs in the ’90s and getting the photos developed…phone cameras just aren’t the same.
joe pines / foxgloves: I am glad that people have filmed one or two of the pines’ performances for posterity. the other half of the pines may not agree.
shaun brilldream: if you want to watch a gig through the lens of a camera phone, you are an idiot.
allen clapp: made me want to lose 10 pounds! enrolled in bikram yoga classes. done.
fran cannane: it is dreadful but one has to ignore it. even when I am at a concert there is a temptation to film/photograph instead of just enjoying.
andrew eggs/talk it: I’m definitely thinking harder about my stage attire. no more shorts.
pete paphides: I don’t use them, but it doesn’t bother me if other people do.
gail cf: it makes me want to knock people’s phones out of their hands. also: if you are looking after a child/animal, look at the child/animal every once in a while instead of your stupid phone.