it has occured to me randomly

• there will probably never be a proem documentary.
• my story is not that interesting.
• i may never play live in front of more than 300 people.
• if i did play for more than 500 people it would be time to stop being proem.
• large scale arena shows are stupid, as a performer and as a participant.
• my days as a musician are numbered in sales and listener stats and not both.
• artists with a cult following toil in obscurity until the day they die in obscurity.
• people find me cryptic and odd (like japanese advertising for american products) because i am. Contrary to my own opinion which is that you are all telepathic and abnormal.
• i should be used to the words “very creative, good job.” by now. they appeared in red pen at the top of every writing assignment i’ve ever done (usually followed by a big fat C-). but i’m not and i won’t. ever.
• there are only about 20 people reading this.

• monrobot

  2008-08-18

  A quick post from one of the 20 :)

  The internet has introduced me to so much music that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise, and I would put Proem’s body of work right up there with BoC, Autechre et al. in terms of real “finds”.

  I can’t emphasis enough how much tracks like ‘Place Gun to Head’, ‘A Permanent Solution’, ‘Ctimsells’ (amongst others) affect me on an emotional level.

  Please continue making extraordinary music.

  (And BTW, all tracks purchased legally through eMusic and/or iTunes!)

  Rick, Belfast N.Ireland

• J.

  2008-08-20

  It is the year 2029, modern music has all but been taken over by computer driven music. One of the leading electronic artists of the time states his main influence as being from an obscure artist by the name of ‘Proem’.
  That’s how I like to think of you.. a true pioneer & the shape of things to come ;)
  Maybe if you froze yourself and woke in 20 years you might just get the popularity you deserve !

• proem

  2008-08-20

  perhaps i should start the proem cryonics fund

• Adam

  2008-08-21

  Well I won’t sugarcoat it, you ain’t lyin’. You also ain’t alone :P …and I’m still listening to you ;)

• ages melt

  2008-08-23

  I’m supposed to graduate in may with a bsee. if this happens, it’ll be thanks, in part, to your music. the main reason I bought a sony mz-m200 was for n5md and among others. I also appreciate the 5 star graphic aesthetic sense, i.e. the cover to you shall have ever been or the cd print on a permanent solution, etc. these clean visuals augment the listening experience. I don’t hear noise in your music, the sound and placement of every element seems justifiably added to serve a purpose. sure, you have comparatively fewer fans than venetian snares, but I think Proem is among the biggest names in electronic genre minor labels. I shot an email over to Artificial Music Machine to see about that sampler #1. only 75 cdrs burned and it’s only available in 192 VBR on their site, but the nice fellow over there says he’ll encode the master .wavs to .flac. I’m curious to find what’s in the excerpt

• Bazarov

  2008-09-04

  I’ve been a drummer for 13 years, played in 8 different bands and the biggest crowd I ever played in front of was about 500 people. I absolutely hate playing live shows though. After the last song the rest of the band always blissfully jumps off stage congratulating themselves as they begin gleefully chatting with the crowd while I’m up on the drum riser by myself scrambling to disassemble my drum set in under five minutes so the next band can move their gear up.
  Meanwhile, 500 people are starring at me because the stage lights are still on. I’m already sweating like crazy from a 40 minute set; I have to schlep this awkwardly shaped drum gear up and down steps painted black, negotiate odd angles and hope to not trip over the myriad of supplementary obstacles strewn around the stage and fall on my teeth in front of everyone all while trying not to look nervous. …fun times.
  Two years ago I left the band scene entirely. Sold all my acoustic drum equipment, went completely digital. Bought myself an amazing electronic kit (Roland TD-20S V-Pro) and I’ve never been happier. Almost everyday for the last 2 years I’ve played along to Proem tracks; your syncopation has proven to be remarkably inspiring. I’ve become a better musician listening to you and for that I am grateful. So to hell with arenas, large venues, and legions of fans, at the end of the day your talent and your art are what’s most important, and you’re plenty covered on both those scores.

• pritchard

  2008-09-05

  I’d actually like to hear some of those rehersal sessions

  funny you should mention the live drumming thing i used to do that myself, as well as play guitars with drills and screw drivers and plunk around on the bass for a couple of garage bands back in the day.

  i cant imagine doing a live show with an actual band. that must suck.
  for me
  i have all my cables pre-tethered and plugged in. so i

  • drop the bag on the table
  • pop it open
  • pull the contents out
  • boot up from standby
  • plug in to mixer…
  • launch live
  • go

  makes it much easier
  ;)

  however, i'm boring as hell to watch unless you like watching a guy chain smoke.