What happened to Providence? May 27, 2010 Don't worry, Providence is still there... it's just that no one cares anymore. For almost 25 years, I played in the RI music scene and was a fierce advocate for local music. For the last 12 years, it was my mission to create a new kind of record label to inspire people and restore the RI music scene to it's former glory... during the 70s and 80s, Providence was a mandatory tour stop between New York and Boston, and was one of the most infamous scenes in the country. It could once again become the jewel of the east coast touring circuit. In a way, I still believe that. The problem lies not with the concept - in all my years working at this problem, I have seen many indications that my premise was correct. The problem doesn't lie with my methods or solution - by 2003 RattleHead was working with over 300 bands, 38 clubs, 15 radio stations, and averaging 54 shows/year. We managed to create a brand new community, one that had the potential to do anything. For 9 years we organized the Providence Invasion, the largest piece of performance art in the city's history. Each year, on the Thursday after Memorial Day, we filled street corners throughout Providence with local musicians playing acoustic music at noon. At it's height, the Invasion saw 37 bands and involved hundreds of performers and staff. So what happened, anyway? Two things. First, The Station Nightclub Fire. On February 20, 2003, The Station nightclub burned to the ground and killed 100 people. 100 people that were friends, family, musicians, music fans... and the backlash destroyed most of the music scene. Seven years later, those 300 bands are now 10. The 38 clubs are now one. We went from doing 54 shows/year to two. Then, none. The Invasion participation started falling as bands started dying off... and the last Invasion in 2009 only drew 5 performers; three of which canceled the evening before when they thought it might rain. (It really didn't) At first, I was content to sit things out for a bit. I realized that the Station fire was going to destroy the market. I was okay with all the "deadwood" being cleared, and instead focused on what was next - I began to plan the next version of RattleHead. I spent thousands of hours re-coding the entire RattleHead world with new technology. Our website had been online for almost ten years, and it was time to fundamentally restructure it all to take advantage of the latest technology. So while the music scene collapsed, I retreated and planned. Work began on Open Source Recording, the culmination of everything that had been in planning for years. It was a new kind of venue - a Public Recording Studio. It was going to revolutionize the way people experience local music, and we pulled out all the stops. Searching for a location began, and we eventually focused on a building in Providence, the Versailles Building. (The music connection was also appreciated.) By now, the project had grown almost out of control. It was an entire building with commercial rental properties, and a giant main room we were going to build our music venue in. We had blueprints, layouts, contractors, software, hardware, consultants, lawyers... hell, even the fire marshall loved it. It was going to be a membership-type of arrangement. You would be a member of the studio; your account was tied to a USB keychain that was used for your identification and admission, as well as storing audio on. You could literally attend a performance at OSR and leave that night with the audio from that show. The audio could also be sent to your private RSS account at your house, or synced with your iPhone, PlamPre, or Droid. We even figured out a way to have bands sell their recordings, and retain 100% of the profits. 100% royalties - suck on that Apple! The venue had the largest stage within 300 miles, and would allow us to present local music in ways that were simply impossible anywhere else. The entire venue was designed from top to bottom to be state-of-the-art and revolutionary, and set up to be the absolute best environment a musician could ever play in. We were going to use this venue as a tool to reboot the entire music scene and rebuild it from scratch, utilizing all the wisdom we had accumulated over the decades. Then, the banks crashed. I watched while every investor left the state. The banks completely washed their hands of our proposal. 504 funds, the SBA, angel investors, all dead ends. Some of it was Obama, some of it was Maddoff, some of it was the RI tax structure/business environment... but overall, the fact the RI is #49 in the country right now sealed its fate. No one is investing in commercial real estate. No one wants to give a local record label money to rebuild after the Station Fire. What's in the past, is in the past. All of them told me the same things: 1) wow, what a great idea and 2) this would've been easy 5-6 years ago. So maybe it was all the Nexxus' lousy timing that was at fault - it wouldn't be the only thing she destroyed in my life - but, in any case, the end has been reached. There are simply no other options, as I have exhausted them all. Now I find that I have to leave my home state to survive. There are no jobs, no music scene, nothing. Perhaps we are all victims of RattleHead's RI Rule #1: Nothing good will ever happen in RI until something good is allowed to happen in RI. And the way things are going, nothing will for a long, long time. I open the Providence Journal today and see stories about how real estate experts think the RI housing collapse is "permanent". And another story about how Democrats are itching to enact higher taxes, even a "millionaires tax". Hasn't enough money left the state? And now, so must I. The RattleHead website - after almost 2 million downloads - will sit dormant for now. DownCitySignal will go silent as well; there will still be some broadcasts hosted online, but not the millions of tracks we'd streamed to this date. (Why spend all that effort streaming bands that aren't even around anymore to fans that aren't even there?) If you have contracted DCS for streaming services, all that will continue... but the front of the site and general user access will be discontinued. If you have audio/video in our master library and wish to recover it, please email me directly with your request. I recorded a video with a more detailed final statement and footage in OSR, which will also be made available at your request. The entire account system has been purged. Two of RattleHead's former staff members have volunteered to explore other states for re-location, and see if they may provide a better home. They are doing this not only because they are absolutely awesome, but they are fleeing the scene as well. So it's entirely possible that RattleHead may re-open elsewhere and begin work on another music scene. Or it may sit static as a reference point for design work, and not be involved in music at all. I also have plans to use the Arecibo network and DownCitySignal in other projects - that may come to pass as well. But only time will tell. The RattleHead phone number will probably be changed sometime after June 1, but my email should remain active for some time longer. At all times, the current contact info will be posted on this page below. Any information at all regarding the Providence scene will be archived at this address. The Station Fire archive will be re-opened probably in time for the 2011 anniversary... it is an anniversary I am not soon to forget because, in hindsight, it cost me everything. As of this writing, I have no idea where I'm going to go. But I know that I have to. I enjoyed RattleHead being "the sound of Rhode Island" for many years, and some of my best friends are musicians I have worked and played with for all this time. I will miss you all greatly. It's not every day one gives up on a life mission. So long and thanks for all the fish. Last one out, turn out the lights. Farewell, -Sean Chief Ferret, RattleHead Records sean@rattlehead.com RattleHead Records PO Box 40066 Providence, RI 02940 (401)859-1312 [new!]