Plans for the near future 2011/12

Well, at the moment I wonder about Coast's plans for the rest of this year and what's more for 2012.
Mongo recently left the band, the band is looking for a replacement. Only one gig for the end of 2011 has been announced. No further announcements so far, it's a bit like an empty space...
Are there plans for a new album, are there plans for a tour and I don't mean all those festival gigs like this year in Denmark ? No news about items like the planned fanclub, merchandising, all those things we lately discussed here in the forum.
Don't get me wrong but at the moment there's a huge lack of informations. Here in Germany many many fans waited for some gigs in Germany but nothing happened except for one festival gig in Bonfeld. The fans instead get bad messages about bandmembers leaving the band. No moaning but I've got the feeling and I fear that people lose interest in Coast.
Matthias.

Hi Matthias how you doing?Well you haven't quite taken the words out of my mouth but you and I are thinking along the same lines.It would seem the band have gone to ground of late,I know they had to sack Mongo and to loose such a big character from a band is hard to get over as clearly Mongo was very popular with the fans however.Surely at times like this when for whatever reason the band are not on the road and their profile is dropping would it not pay to communicate more with their fan base.Music fans can be a fickle bunch as well we all know and if you can't as a band keep your fans interest you will loose a percentage of them because another band will come along.The band have put in a huge amount of work which I have appreciated and supported as much as I can,I hope to be able to see the guys in December,(subject to my own bands commitments)and I really want to see them succeed however I think Coast need to up their P.R,give the fans news of whatever they are up to as much as they can.The fans have invested time and money into the band and they would like to know how the guys are doing,remember for many of the fans who have known the group from or near the beginning they feel because they know them they are like friends and friends like to know how their friends are!Clearly this is my own personal view but it seems that I am not alone so come on Paul,I know its not easy to give gig dates etc when its still in the planning stage and you dont know who the new drummer is going to be cos you are still auditioning for one but there other things that perhaps you,Iain and the guys could let us in on,it does keep the old Coast pot boiling.I know I have none of the experience that you have in trying to launch yourself or a band up there to become famous and I can only imagine how hard it must be and you probably dont want people like me or Matthias seemingly moaning at you guys but please remember its people like us who fork out a lot of money to come to see you all and will do again once you have some gigs sorted.We just want to know whats happening and that you guys despite the set backs that can or have happened you guys are OK and still going to be making progress as a band and still produing that brilliant Coast music.Thank you.Drew

trug wrote:... keep the old Coast pot boiling...

Thanks Drew, that's what I mean...

trug wrote:Surely at times like this when for whatever reason the band are not on the road and their profile is dropping would it not pay to communicate more with their fan base.Music fans can be a fickle bunch as well we all know and if you can't as a band keep your fans interest you will loose a percentage of them because another band will come along.

Quite right, Trug. I'm afraid that that's what happened to me and Runrig. I've been appalled by their continuing failure to communicate in any way with their fans and as far as I'm concerned they're now history. Mind you, that decision was helped by the fact that I thought their last album was pretty awful, but their refusal to recognise that the band/fan relationship is a two-way thing was the final straw. It wasn't always like that.....

DT

OK.No Response.Why?You guys know we are asking for next to nothing and yet still,there is nothing you can throw us?Fair enough,then dont look to us for support to your next gig.Good bye to everyone whom Roz n I have met here,(we are excluding no one from our friends list)maybe we shall meet at other sites,other bands or other pubs n curry house's!Sadly,Drew n Roz(Its the price you pay for rock an roll I guess?...........?Only if you want too!!.........Yeah whatever!!)

Hi Trug et al,

Ok, hands-up....I take some blame for the lack of "news" feeding onto here this year....I'll compose a proper "thoughts of the nation" type reply as soon as I get chance but the bottom line is that I haven't had the time available.

The band's "backroom" is still run on a voluntary basis as the band tread that fine financial line between being able to employ an entourage of people versus people giving up there spare time to help get to that next level.

I have foregone a family holiday this year to help out the band - I'm not looking for a medal or some kond of accolade for such sacrifices but hearing negative feedback about the news side of things when we've all been busting a gut on other aspects is a little disappointing.

As I say, I put my hands up to taking my eye off the news feed ball of late. I'm aiming to address that by starting a weekly 'blog' on here. Hopefully that will plug some of the communication gaps that people have picked up on.

I know messageboards are good places for a good old fashioned rant (been there, done that, got the t-shirt!) but if anyone has any concerns about what is going on with any aspect of the band/fan interaction side of things then the best initial way to raise this (in my opinion) would be to send an email to me (martin@coastrock.co.uk) - It's often easier to find time to react to emails than to remember to login to the messageboard on a regular basis, but, as I say, I aim to do something about that by starting this weekly blog idea.

Talking of which....any suggestions for what to call this blog? "Bloggy Trousers"?! "Trousers Titbits"?!

Cheers for now,
Martin

atislay wrote:Well, at the moment I wonder about Coast's plans for the rest of this year and what's more for 2012.
Mongo recently left the band, the band is looking for a replacement. Only one gig for the end of 2011 has been announced. No further announcements so far, it's a bit like an empty space...
Are there plans for a new album, are there plans for a tour and I don't mean all those festival gigs like this year in Denmark ? No news about items like the planned fanclub, merchandising, all those things we lately discussed here in the forum.
Don't get me wrong but at the moment there's a huge lack of informations. Here in Germany many many fans waited for some gigs in Germany but nothing happened except for one festival gig in Bonfeld. The fans instead get bad messages about bandmembers leaving the band. No moaning but I've got the feeling and I fear that people lose interest in Coast.
Matthias.

Hi Matthias,

I hope my Blog idea will help to plug these gaps. Quite often "no news" means that there are delecate negotiations going on in the background which, even if we just allude to them on here could jeopardise a deal here or a deal there.

Germany is very much on the radar as far as gigs are concerned but there's a chain of events that need to happen before they can be announced. I know it's human nature to assume "no news = bad news" but in the case of COAST I would look at it the opposite way, as frustrating as that probably sounds.

Anyway, gotta dash....will aim to start my weekly blog next week.

Cheers,
Martin

Chris De Burgh's only UK fan's blog.......

I don't know if I am a lone voice here, but this is something that doesn't bother me too much. My only concerns are always wanting to know if my holidays will clash with a Coast gig, I couldn't bear to go away if the boys were coming back up to Scotland!!

Linda wrote:Chris De Burgh's only UK fan's blog.......

Ha ha ! Like it.... will add it to the shortlist :-)

Admin wrote:

Talking of which....any suggestions for what to call this blog? "Bloggy Trousers"?! "Trousers Titbits"?!

Pebbles from the Coast? Chuck the odd stone in our pool and wait for the ripples to return!

Anything to do with "Trousers" could well result in the wrong sort of impression from a "Google" search!!

Linda wrote:Chris De Burgh's only UK fan's blog.......

linda you forget i like cdeb as well

I think people tend to forget that the band need to have their down time/family time/holiday time and they all hold down jobs as well.......

I know for me this year has been quite tough with not being well, applying for catering tenders, being offered (what appeared to be) a very lucrative job prospect to only have it withdrawn within 24 hours and the list of time consuming and stressful situations has almost brought me to my knees with tiredness. Plus having to cancel both my holidays this year due to work commitments......not that I'm moaning or anything...........just agreeing in a rather long winded and Trouser like fashion, that the Coast volunteers to have their own lives as well and at time to time if it seems that we have all gone quiet, it's because stuff tends to get in the way of a very enjoyable way of supporting Coast.

Rant over :-)

It was never my intention to affront someone, don't read between the lines...
It's only a question of the public image and thats not a personal thing !
Like trug wrote, the PR.
And by the way, I was not talking about me, I was talking about the people who depend on the informations they get only from the website or the forums and the feedback I got from them. For exemple, those fans who saw Coast only in Bonfeld, they are watching the website and they've just got the informations that bandmembers leaving the band.

Trousers, thank you, a blog is a great thing.
Looking forward to it !
And by the way, thanks for the newsletter

OK hands up,had a good rant there on Wednesday morning,fueled by a long stressful day and a lot of wine however I will make no apology for it cos in essence and now being stone cold sober i still agree with what I said then.One thing I would like to make clear though is that I am not moaning about the efforts of anybody who is helping the band in an unpaid capacity,as a volunteer in my own personal life I know what its like to put in a lot of time with little or no recognition.However my rant if you like was at the management of the band as much as at the band if you like.I do understand that they have lives off stage and all the commitments of their everyday life and all the things that go with it.What I was asking for though wasn't a day by day hour by hour whats happening to you now thing.What I am asking for and I dont think its too much is the odd bulletin about how things are going with the band,possible future projects etc.Now this may be too much to ask but as various members of the band find time to write on Facebook would it be too much to ask if they could commit the odd line or two on here?Not all of Coast's fan base use Facebook and also it would keep this site ticking over.Personally I dont think this is being negative,being negative is ignoring the people who support you,but whom you expect to come to your gigs!

I may be wrong on this one, but do the band not have a paid promotions company working for them??? If someone is being paid to promote a band then surely part of that should be updating...but I don't know the ins and outs of promotion, so I may be wrong on that front.

Maybe having people with free time to set up an official fanclub would be the way to go?? I doubt the band have made their millions yet, so surely this could be a voluntary post until there was money to pay someone to do it?? I am quite sure there are more than enough people willing to kickstart a fanclub.

I think there needs to be some really positive news thrown into the public arena now, to help the masses get over the latest traumas.

Thanks Linda !!!
That's exactly what I suggested some months ago...

I have felt since the time of the second album launch that Coast were on the knife edge of progression or regression, if you like that make or break stage. Everyone who has followed them from the start or just after so excited that the band were on the cusp, a great album and launch but still that one thing missing. The finances to climb that final hurdle where the band can go full time and employ someone to get the band " out there "and keep them there. Several do deserve medals for their efforts like Trousers ( quite frankly a herculean effort ) and the Celtys and a few others. But the band arrived in my opinion at that stage where they need the finance to fund a hard working PR and internet foot soldier to keep the fire burning. We can all give our opinions about effort and time but in this internet driven world we live in, information is everything, fans, want and demand information. Coast in my opinion now face the gut wrenching full face of the wind of tough decisions. I dont see this task being the managers his time is already well spent. Maybe the fan club idea with merchandise could help generate some of those finances.

I dont need to be kept up to date myself as long as I know as soon as others when gigs are going to be played so enough time can be given to organising trips. But what I do hate is the whole " I know something but I can't tell you " thing. I want to be positive and will continue to support Coast who I think could well become the best band of all time, and those who have given themselves so wholly to the cause.

This party is a long way from being over and I think its soon going to become a whole lot bigger, Keep the faith peeps gird up your loins, once more into the breech

trug wrote:OK hands up,had a good rant there on Wednesday morning,fueled by a long stressful day and a lot of wine however I will make no apology for it cos in essence and now being stone cold sober i still agree with what I said then.One thing I would like to make clear though is that I am not moaning about the efforts of anybody who is helping the band in an unpaid capacity,as a volunteer in my own personal life I know what its like to put in a lot of time with little or no recognition.However my rant if you like was at the management of the band as much as at the band if you like.I do understand that they have lives off stage and all the commitments of their everyday life and all the things that go with it.What I was asking for though wasn't a day by day hour by hour whats happening to you now thing.What I am asking for and I dont think its too much is the odd bulletin about how things are going with the band,possible future projects etc.Now this may be too much to ask but as various members of the band find time to write on Facebook would it be too much to ask if they could commit the odd line or two on here?Not all of Coast's fan base use Facebook and also it would keep this site ticking over.Personally I dont think this is being negative,being negative is ignoring the people who support you,but whom you expect to come to your gigs!

Hi Trug - I think we're madly agreeing with each other, in that it would be good to see more regular news snippets on here. h eonly difference is that I'd have probably phrased the feedback differently, but that's a personal preference thing.
So, philisophically, let's agree to agree :-)
Cheers,
Martin

atislay wrote:It was never my intention to affront someone, don't read between the lines...

I didn't say that any perceived affrontary was intentional, so I think that's us even on the "don't read between the lines" score.... (I said that with my tongue-in-my-cheek so just a bit of banter, nothing personal )

atislay wrote:
It's only a question of the public image and thats not a personal thing !
Like trug wrote, the PR.

Yep, I can see how perception and reality can appear differently.

atislay wrote:
And by the way, I was not talking about me, I was talking about the people who depend on the informations they get only from the website or the forums and the feedback I got from them. For exemple, those fans who saw Coast only in Bonfeld, they are watching the website and they've just got the informations that bandmembers leaving the band.

Yep, that's a very good point too.

atislay wrote:
Trousers, thank you, a blog is a great thing.
Looking forward to it !
And by the way, thanks for the newsletter

Thank you kind sir. I have my moments of inspiration

Linda wrote:I may be wrong on this one, but do the band not have a paid promotions company working for them??? If someone is being paid to promote a band then surely part of that should be updating...but I don't know the ins and outs of promotion, so I may be wrong on that front.

I'm not sure if the PR side of things is being done on a commercial basis or not. That may be sensitive information but I'll find out and see if any info can be shared on that one.

Linda wrote:
Maybe having people with free time to set up an official fanclub would be the way to go?? I doubt the band have made their millions yet, so surely this could be a voluntary post until there was money to pay someone to do it?? I am quite sure there are more than enough people willing to kickstart a fanclub.

That sounds like we have a volunteer Linda...?! Yes, a proper fan club has always been on the radar but, due to the intense "heads down" nature of how 2011 has panned out, it never quite made it to the top of the "to do" pile. So, yes, if there are people out there who would be willing to run it then I'm sure Iain and the band would welcome a discussion on how that could be made to work. It's a positive suggestion like this which can actually build up a head of momentum. I've always been an advocate of "fan clubs" being run "by fans on behalf of fans" rather than it simply being a PR driven vehicle for the band. Others may disagree with that philosophy of course!

Linda wrote:
I think there needs to be some really positive news thrown into the public arena now, to help the masses get over the latest traumas.

Totally agree, and that will start happening as soon as next week. My unoffical "job" used to be trickle feeding snippets of info out through the COAST website newspage but every drop of my 'spare' time since the spring has been devoted to tour planning and management which, believe me, is a time consuming task :-) BUT....I don't want to use that as an excuse for taking one's eye off the website/news ball. It just happens to be the way things panned out.

Onwards and upwards!

tiz wrote:I have felt since the time of the second album launch that Coast were on the knife edge of progression or regression, if you like that make or break stage. Everyone who has followed them from the start or just after so excited that the band were on the cusp, a great album and launch but still that one thing missing. The finances to climb that final hurdle where the band can go full time and employ someone to get the band " out there "and keep them there. Several do deserve medals for their efforts like Trousers ( quite frankly a herculean effort ) and the Celtys and a few others. But the band arrived in my opinion at that stage where they need the finance to fund a hard working PR and internet foot soldier to keep the fire burning. We can all give our opinions about effort and time but in this internet driven world we live in, information is everything, fans, want and demand information. Coast in my opinion now face the gut wrenching full face of the wind of tough decisions. I dont see this task being the managers his time is already well spent. Maybe the fan club idea with merchandise could help generate some of those finances.

I dont need to be kept up to date myself as long as I know as soon as others when gigs are going to be played so enough time can be given to organising trips. But what I do hate is the whole " I know something but I can't tell you " thing. I want to be positive and will continue to support Coast who I think could well become the best band of all time, and those who have given themselves so wholly to the cause.

This party is a long way from being over and I think its soon going to become a whole lot bigger, Keep the faith peeps gird up your loins, once more into the breech

Hi Tiz - great post. Summarises where things are quite nicely. I'm going to highlight this thread to the guys to hopefully kick-start things on the information "supply and demand" side of things, refreshing and expanding merchandise, etc

As I say, I know these things are already on "ye olde radar" but once everyone's had a break from the spring and summer toils I'm sure we'll see some movement on these things sooner rather than later.

Well this whole conversation has taken a much better turn now,some good posting going on and i notice there are now more people logging on now than for a long time so I guess that's good too.Keep up the good work Trousers,as my mum used to say "you will get your reward in heaven"

I'm more than willing to give my time to help run a fan club/whatever else needs doing. You know how to contact me.

A fan club type thingy is something that we have discussed at great length with Trousers, Paulers and Chris on more than one occasion and for one reason or another it hasn't quite got to fruition.

Will float the idea again at our next curry evening :-)

trug wrote:Well this whole conversation has taken a much better turn now,some good posting going on and i notice there are now more people logging on now than for a long time so I guess that's good too.Keep up the good work Trousers,as my mum used to say "you will get your reward in heaven"

"Heaven" as in the gay nightclub in London....?