24/11/2023
Amidst the many reasons for me to be thankful, this year has presented some new opportunities that I’d like to recognize with specific gratitude. It’s been an eventful year so it’s a really long post.
Chronologically and spiritually, The Jackson Inn started this leg of the journey. I miss it; the people, the flags, the cigarette machine in the corner, the hot ass stage lights. A lot of us were confused by the weird new covid landscape, reeling from our favorite venues closing, and Freddie & Eva gave us a port in the storm. I met a lot of you through the JI and I’m grateful for all of the memories
A couple weeks before the final Jackson Inn show (which honestly deserves it’s own recap cuz that was really awesome), Yejoon had suggested live-streaming our Monday night Dirt Bagel Fist practice and brought over some cameras and a whole computer rig. We streamed to Twitch and it /literally changed the trajectory of my life/
We didn’t have a real plan, or at least I didn’t. You can tell by watching the first couple episodes - we’re really figuring it out. Yejoon, Jamie, James, and I were the inner circle, but we expanded almost immediately cuz its pretty hard to play and produce a show (as we’ve learned)
At some point, I co-opted (Koh-opted) Monday nights from Dirt Bagel Fist. I feel bad about that, and DBF was a casualty of Koh Show Live (or of my insistence for a weekly ongoing time commitment that requires all of the band members). We just kept booking more bands, and now here we are 40 weeks in and we’ve had 65 different artists on the show (plus some double and triple appearances)
NONE OF THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT A HUGE GROUP EFFORT
The whole reason we’re able to do this is because a bunch of people have pitched in their time and gear and expertise. The basement, through the combined efforts of MEGA, Mothman Properties, S T R V M V N, and Dirt Bagel Fist, became a really cool space before we even thought about cameras and lighting
Alex and Andrew (Mothman) built the first layer with the recording computer and drum kit (and an amp and a bunch of drum stuff); Phil, Tyler, Allan, and Chris (MEGA) put in some serious hours with sound treatment and wiring, plus Tyler donated a ton of materials; Phil has singlehandedly contributed the most gear that makes stuff sound really good (preamps, mics, monitors), plus a lot of time logged making things sound even better; Pete and Kyle (STRVWMVN) have their really great amps/cabs here for folks to use (and Paul’s cool, too); Matt has some rack gear that I never returned, so we’ll count that as a donation for now, but really Matt has been instrumental in my involvement in this community and my understanding of music/music community in general (oh, and also drums, I have some of your drums, too), plus Brian has an amp here from Sparkbird days; Zachary's UA is awesome and the patch bay’s are clutch (even though they wonked our sound for a couple of weeks before I figured out the problem - but that’s also user error), plus the monitor station that I gifted you many years back gets lots of action; Yejoon has amps and cabs and interfaces here, and Jamie has a bass cab (and James brought a banjo!); and to bring it back to the Jackson Inn, there’s a bunch of gear that’s worked its way into the basement that once belonged to Phil, Mark, and Pete, finding new life on Koh Show Live
Behind the cameras, Joseph showed up first. He and I (and Jamie) had talked about “the next step” a couple of times, like how to become more involved with music outside of playing (open a venue? We threw around a lot of ideas), and when The Livestream started (before it was Koh Show Live), he was there. Ever since, he’s been camera operator 1 with the gimbal and also set up a huge chunk of the video switching system we use (plus the cool animations we use!)
Chris (my roommate and bandmate) was already in. The abundance of patience he has for all of these aforementioned bands that play here is saintly, and he’s put up with a lot of my general nonsense. He’s earned executive veto power and yet still keeps this train rolling. How many of you would do this every Monday? How many of you would allow this in your home every Monday? Yeah. Plus, the Malone-zone is becoming legendary. He’s the face for a reason
Mike (Harry) joined and instantly leveled up our production. Hands down the most experienced of all of us, he’s wildly creative and has solved so many of our problems. Dreamhead TV has been around way longer than Koh Show and YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE SUBSCRIBED AND FOLLOWING HIM. Great with cameras and lighting and graphics
Corey's band Penny Death was the first guest to play KSL, so that’s cool in itself. He also produced a series of shorts (licensed and distributed by Memory Corp) that we ran during intermission. Those are gold. Then someone gave him a camera and he went all ViceTV with it, and we haven’t looked back. Also, where’s Memorysaur?
Cait also showed up as a guest on the show before joining the crew. What a huge addition! Her work with reels and behind the scenes footage gives depth and context to the entire project, and she’s an excellent producer/camera operator/personality. Her reels get WAY more views than the show. It’s almost incomparable. Plus she made the official clapper (that we should start using as an actual sync, note to everyone)
Albert is fine.
Just kidding, Albert’s the man. I have the JI (Devo) to thank for this connection, but we also have a mutual friend who had told us both years before that “we had to meet”. I feel like I’ve known him across several lives, and he would be a cool guy to just have in the room…except he’s also multitalented and gets awesome shots behind the lens, plus all the computer stuff he knows. Yet another big plus
If there’s not already a wikipedia page for Melissa, its imminent. She needs no introduction. Whether its hosting KSL, drafting important KSL documents, connecting KSL to the community via her extensive and well organized Gingerfox network, or bringing the hot chocolate, she comes correct
For the KSL audio, we use Logic. Myke came by one day to hang, he checked out the setup, and after he looks it over I asked him if he can engineer for a set I was playing the next week. This dude not only crushes the mix but he’s like, “I don’t ever really use Logic,” which as a variable is a big one. It’s great to have his ears and expertise on audio. From a personal sustainability perspective, I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without him
Julia is an organizational powerhouse, pushing KSL forward on several fronts. Naturally talented as a camera switcher, she also created and maintains the website, kohshow.live, and has been instrumental in the structural organization of the show as an entity. Plus she always bakes something awesome
A couple months in we all realized that there’s a ton of records that needs to be kept if we want to credit everyone and know the song titles, how’s your bass player’s name spelled? That kinda stuff. Another performer turned crew, Beth has taken on this role, helping us keep the show professional and accurate
Scheduling the show and managing the correspondence with the artists can be relentless, and James keeps those wheels greased. There are a bunch of guidelines and expectations that allow the show to run smoothly (plus logistical stuff, like “this is where the bathroom is”) and James usually takes care of that, plus he’s the “day-of fixer”
The pace of the show is generally set by Jamie, who’s in charge of camera switching/live editing. All of the cool cuts to show you a guitar solo or a drum fill? They’re picked on the fly, and Jamie is usually at the helm. He and Joey have a cool brother-brain-bond that gets us a lot of great footage
I left some people out! I know I did. Sorry!
As far as the show itself, it would take me a week to write out all of the awesome stuff we’ve accomplished and to talk about how cool we all are and how much fun we have. Watch the show, or better yet, watch the behind the scenes reels to get a better glimpse into the production side
I love that we’re all volunteers. The common goal of supporting original music in our town has gotten us this far, and I’m excited to see where it takes us. Thank you to all of the bands and artists who’ve played and to all of the fans who’ve tuned in, we couldn’t have done this without you
-Mike
