The Merlin Show

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Merlin talks with San Francisco indie rocker John Vanderslice about life as an independent musician — the siren song of advance money, the ascendance of the MP3 blog, and how to try and craft a long career in the face of “sleazy merchants.” (Note: Contains PG-13 language)

Note: This is the first segment of a 3-part interview with JV; don’t miss part two and part three

Show notes

• John’s website is JohnVanderslice.com
• John’s studio in San Francisco is Tiny Telephone
• Here is archive.org’s copy of the old Tiny Telephone MP3 page (Oct. 2000). R.I.P.
• JV’s 12/15/1999 post on the “Bill Gates Must Die” media prank
• Some of the bands mentioned in the interview: Spoon, All-Time Quarterback, Beulah, Of Montreal, Bright Eyes, Sunny Day Real Estate, Death Cab for Cutie
• Re: Spoon’s excellent, post-Elektra single - “Gracefully executed and cathartic, The Agony of Laffitte is possibly the best double-cross retaliation single in the history of rock, so effective that it’s difficult to want to hear the villainized Laffitte’s side of the story.”
• MP3 blogs JV mentioned liking:
  • largehearted boy
  • brooklynvegan
  • gorilla vs. bear
• john vanderslice: mass suicide mp3s - JV posts mp3s of his entire first album at 96, 192, and 256k (see @ 00:12:48)
• vanderslice journals - Dianna’s beautiful hand-painted journal covers
• John Vanderslice / Barsuk Records