Art by Ivy Hollivana: https://1833.fm/existential-little-interviews-vol-45-ivy-hollivana/
In case you don’t know who I am, my name is Liz. I’m in my mid-20’s and I am the co-founder and “Head Bitch in Charge” of SPF420. Call SPF420 what you will – an online music venue, an art gallery – it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve had experiences of a lifetime with SPF420, experiences that call for blood, sweat, tears, and sometimes even getting turned on. I have seen my favorite artists and my best friends dance on camera and play songs that they want their fans to hear – I’ve had screaming phonecalls and technical difficulties occur, but one of the most important parts about SPF420 is the soundcheck.
Soundcheck is my favorite part of SPF420 – it is my personal time with the artist and we work hands-on with them in order their audio routed to SPF420 properly. Some people could only dream of the time I get to spend with the artists we book. I consider myself very lucky to be in a private (chat)room with people like Skylar Spence, Tjani, Ryan Hemsworth, and all the members of the talented and lengthy roster we have hosted at SPF420. We shoot the shit and we work hard. I make it very clear to all the artists that the SPF420 soundcheck can take 10 minutes or 10 hours, depending on how their equipment wants to communicate with our equipment. 10 hours is no understatement, I once was in a room with Magic Fades for about 8 hours, alongside 5+ people, attempting to troubleshoot their audio, for what was seen as the first major SPF420 show we ever had. I’ve set alarms for 7AM to work with artists across the world solely for their convenience. I have done soundchecks at the grocery store. There are no limitations on my availability for SPF420.
SPF420 is a time-consuming job, or maybe I just think about it a bit too much. Sometimes, my mind wanders down the rabbit hole. As a result, I developed a low-key joke amongst the SPF420 crew about soundcheck being the equivalent of intercourse. Yes, sex. Fucking. Making Love.
I’ve had to step away from the computer at times because of how frustrating this can be. At times, I will ball into the fetal position and cry for 5 minutes before getting immediately back to work. It’s like, “Come on, you’re so close. Make me cum, please.” Other times, it’s within the snap of a finger and the artist gets the audio working, instant orgasm.
It isn’t just about that initial climax – it’s also important that they keep the momentum going. You know that saying, “it’s not the size of the boat, it’s the motion of the ocean”? If you can keep that motion (or the BPM bumping) and my head bopping just while doing Soundcheck with me, I know that you know how to please your partner. I’ve had artists play their albums 6 months in advance for me during soundcheck – tell me that artist doesn’t know how to make love. The downside to this, is that I’ve had experiences with artists where they only soundcheck for LITERALLY 1 minute! A one-minute-musician, such a bummer. It made me question their sex life. Sorry, pal. If you don’t have time for soundcheck, do you have time to fuck? Or, are you too busy fucking that you don’t have much time to soundcheck? Both are crafts of their own, and both deserve an equal amount of love.
Once the sound is configured, most artists we work with give us a pretty nice session, 15-30 minutes. Enough time for us to get in the groove, and wrap it up. In my mind, we definitely go to third base. I think they probably feel accomplished too, because doing soundcheck over the internet is a real bitch.
I love every single artist that we work with, but here’s a little secret: we want to go to third base with you. Every. Time. Make it exciting for us and we will make it exciting right back at you. Be sure to follow SPF420 on Twitter or Facebook for future shows!
