Not to take away from this forum but Goner records has a great forum... and a cool website. and a great place to order amazing records. Pigmeat said:

Lets not forget what a useful forum this is for picking up on new sounds... I personaly read alot more of the forum than I post on... Just to get some juicy bands to pick up... I don't think theirs another forum on the web thats as good fer that!

kopper said:

Sumiji said:

Hey Kopper,
You know I would love to see more discussion on this network just because I hate searchin through the webfor countless hours looking for garage shit. I believe I recall a while ago someone mentioned about doing record reviews for GP. I think that a would be great for non stop discussion. Will that ever happen?

Well, there are a couple of ways we can do this, Sumiji. We can set up a separate group for record reviews, then there'd be one place to go to read what people are saying about any particular release (and anyone could review anything they wanted). OR people can just post the reviews in the blog section of their pages... there are a lot of "review blogs" on the Web, why not have some here on the Hideout?

Dude definitely I feel we should open a group for all to chime in. I'll definitely contribute. Whatll yall think blog or group?

Lets not forget what a useful forum this is for picking up on new sounds... I personaly read alot more of the forum than I post on... Just to get some juicy bands to pick up... I don't think theirs another forum on the web thats as good fer that!

Sumiji said:

Hey Kopper,
You know I would love to see more discussion on this network just because I hate searchin through the webfor countless hours looking for garage shit. I believe I recall a while ago someone mentioned about doing record reviews for GP. I think that a would be great for non stop discussion. Will that ever happen?

Well, there are a couple of ways we can do this, Sumiji. We can set up a separate group for record reviews, then there'd be one place to go to read what people are saying about any particular release (and anyone could review anything they wanted). OR people can just post the reviews in the blog section of their pages... there are a lot of "review blogs" on the Web, why not have some here on the Hideout?

The Branded said:

WOW that seemed to rattle a few cages.

Hahahaha, yeah! If you wanna get the ball rolling. PICK A FIGHT. YOU'RE ALL POOPOO HEADS. Discuss!

Yeah, Branded folk, when you really think about it this is THEE place to be if you want to congregate with like-minded folk. By no means am I saying that you shouldn't go and check out other forums; I occasionally look at 'em to see what interesting things folks may be saying. Most have a handful of members that suffer from a lower participation rate than was cited about The Hideout, and harbor a great deal of animosity toward one individual regarding the perceived demise of the beloved old forum. Of course we all know that the old forum was actually supercharged into the real community that we find ourselves in at this very moment! Old style forums don't work anymore. Oh, I know there are a handful of folk reading this that will say "forums were good enough for my dad, and they're good enough for me!" But, they aren't; especially if you have administered a self-hosted forum. SPAM up the arse!! Spambots from countries you've never heard of bombarding your forum everyday... even if you have it set to "must be approved by administrator", they still sign-up, and you have to delete them. But, I digress. The Internet model is now Social Networks like this; and they are where it's at! Just ask Facebook - the largest growing internet site in the world; over 150 Million users. Why do Social Networks work? Not only can I come to The Hideout and see practically everything I need: discussions, videos, new music, show dates (well... don't need those; I'm a curmudgeon), release dates, podcasts, etc., but I don't even have to come here to get it; it comes to me by way of RSS Feeds!! I see every general forum topic and blog post right from the comfort of my Google Reader. It comes to me to read at my leisure, just as the podcasts that I subscribe to come to me only to be consumed when I want to! BRILLIANT!! Anyway, I've gone too long. I hate to type; thus my lack in participation. I'll finish without completing my thought. Maybe that'll give me something else to post about. So I'll finish with a suggestion: Go to all the forums you can find and tell them to get hip and go to where the real action is... The Hideout, baby!

Hey Kopper,
You know I would love to see more discussion on this network just because I hate searchin through the webfor countless hours looking for garage shit. I believe I recall a while ago someone mentioned about doing record reviews for GP. I think that a would be great for non stop discussion. Will that ever happen?

Vagabonds said:

It would be interesting to have a general section here that wasn't exactly all to do with music or the scene.

Just like a little area to post some funny threads or something like that would get people talking more

I really dig this idea ....the "Talkin' Trash" group does cover much of this ground already, but I wish it was on the "main" forum page with the General and Self-promotion sections as to get more o' the kids usin' it

It would be interesting to have a general section here that wasn't exactly all to do with music or the scene.

Just like a little area to post some funny threads or something like that would get people talking more

WOW that seemed to rattle a few cages. Something actually worth reading on the forum ;-) But hey Kopper dont get me wrong I'm not bitchin about the Hideout, I think its a great idea, all I was wondering was where did everybody go from the old GP forum, but you have answered my question. And yes come to think of it, it did get pretty quiet in the last year. I only really use the forum here and ocassionlly the podcast, so it does seem a bit slow when the same posts have been up for days without any response, guess we shall see, hopefully it will pick up........

Michael Kaiser and I have been a lot more diligent in keeping unwanted people out of this network. The way we look at it, this is our own private club, basically because it was set up for fans of the site/podcast or whatever. You don't HAVE to have a "favorite GaragePunk Podcast" to be accepted in, but there has to be something about your profile responses on your membership application that gives us a clue that you HAVE a clue about this kind of music. Otherwise, there are plenty of other networks out there you can join to find friends or promote your alt-rock band. And I've been managing websites long enough to be able to spot a spammer or con artist from a mile away, so as long as we keep the membership area locked down, there won't be any spam problems here. And if anyone ever notices anything suspicious going on (like a phishing scheme or spammy comments), don't hesitate to let one of us know.

And no, I wouldn't want to force anyone to do anything if they join. That would have a really negative impact, I'm afraid, and would probably backfire. Think about it. No one wants to be told what to do. And I wouldn't want someone telling me, "Hey, you need to start participating in the forum or your membership privileges will be revoked." I don't mind people joining and not posting in the forum, but then again I try to encourage everyone that joins the Hideout to at least post some music, or videos, join and participate in some groups, use their blogs or do SOMETHING. There are quite a few profiles, though, where the person hasn't done ANYTHING since signing on, which really makes me wonder why they joined in the first place. And as the network owner/admin, the only option I have to get rid of unwanted people is to BAN them from the network. You can't just delete or remove them. You BAN them. That seems awfully harsh, and is something I've complained to Ning about before. I should be able to just delete deadbeats off the member list without issuing them an outright BANNING. Know what I mean?

SarahJayne said:

What kills most social networking sites after a while are the fuckin' spammers! And I'm not just talking about 'free naked pics of Beyonce' spam, but self centered assholes who have to post the same ad for their Ebay auctions, bands show, radio shows, etc. etc. over and over and over again : (. Come on now, thats just RUDE.

Once all the message boards and personal comments pages becoming dumping grounds for such impersonal ads, the convo pretty much dies. This has happened to a LOT of sites I've joined over the years : (.

So with that said, I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet, and that there's a special promo section which deters ads from popping up everywhere else.

I really like this site and hope it'll continue to grow : ).

If I'm not mistaken, spammin' or constant-anti-spam-vigilance was a major factor in shuttin' down the original GaragePunk forum... *knocks on wood that don't happen here*

kopper said:

Of the 2,300+ members here, 637 have used the forum. I think that's pretty good. Not as good as I'd like, true (it'd be nicer if it was around half and half), but I'd say it's more than a handful.

By "handful" I meant regular posters...but yeah I guess ~25% participation is still decent...any way to set it up so that people who never post after a predetermined time have their profile closed/locked? That might work to "force" things a bit, lol.

What kills most social networking sites after a while are the fuckin' spammers! And I'm not just talking about 'free naked pics of Beyonce' spam, but self centered assholes who have to post the same ad for their Ebay auctions, bands show, radio shows, etc. etc. over and over and over again : (. Come on now, thats just RUDE. Once all the message boards and personal comments pages becoming dumping grounds for such impersonal ads, the convo pretty much dies. This has happened to a LOT of sites I've joined over the years : (. So with that said, I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet, and that there's a special promo section which deters ads from popping up everywhere else. I really like this site and hope it'll continue to grow : ).

Wipeout! said:

One last thought on this issue:

Does it bother anyone else that there are thousands registered on the Hideout, but only a handful of forum posters?

I wish there was less importance given to the profiles and more to participation, be it in the forums or our growing collection of music, videos & blogs...I mean, is it still that cool to just go hog-wild signing up fer social networks then never actually "socializing" at the site??!!??

Unfortunately I think I already know the answer to this...

Of the 2,300+ members here, 637 have used the forum. I think that's pretty good. Not as good as I'd like, true (it'd be nicer if it was around half and half), but I'd say it's more than a handful.

One last thought on this issue:

Does it bother anyone else that there are thousands registered on the Hideout, but only a handful of forum posters?

I wish there was less importance given to the profiles and more to participation, be it in the forums or our growing collection of music, videos & blogs...I mean, is it still that cool to just go hog-wild signing up fer social networks then never actually "socializing" at the site??!!??

Unfortunately I think I already know the answer to this...

Wipeout! said:

My point in all this jibberish is while I'm well aware of the depth and true scope of this site, do you think that the term "garagepunk" (so narrow as it can be interpreted) maybe leading folks who have broader taste to not post here more? (dunno just a random thought)

Maybe. It's hard to say, really. Obviously we all love all kinds of music, not just "garage-punk," and I think you can see that from looking over the discussions in this forum, even. And if people actually listen to our podcasts they'll realize it's not all that narrowly defined, either, and then that will hopefully lead them here. So it may scare some people off, but not a lot of them.

Point well taken, Kopper.
I just get the impression that the garagepunk world is shrinking...like I said, I live in the South and there ain't shit to talk about, garagepunk-wise, in my neck o' the woods. (One of the main reasons I'm franticly tryin' to get my band together!)

I'm on MySpace and here, but I refuse to join Facebook (for reasons I don't care to get into here), so I have no clue as to the discussions on that site.

On a complete aside, when I was younger my tastes in music were very broad, but during the college years I "found" garagepunk and all the related genres and pretty much wrote off most music outside of those boundaries. Well recently I've found myself going back to my younger-years outlook and diggin' on loads of music that don't fit into the greater garagepunk realm. My point in all this jibberish is while I'm well aware of the depth and true scope of this site, do you think that the term "garagepunk" (so narrow as it can be interpreted) may be leading folks who have broader taste to not post here more? (dunno just a random thought)

Oh, I disagree. I think there's plenty TO talk about... but there are too many places to talk about it! You spread people too thin and that's what happens. Look at Facebook, for example. Lots of groups and pages on there where you can talk about music. THIS kind of music. It's tough to compete against that. And I can't blame people for logging on Facebook all the time... it's a great site with a lot of cool features. BUT you still can't upload songs there. There's nowhere to go if you have a video you want to upload (not embed one from YouBoob). Those are areas where the Hideout blows Facebook out of the water, but how do you get people to realize that? I know Myspace offers some of that, but again, it's a lot more limited than it is here. Not to mention Myspace still sucks, no matter how much they try to improve it. I don't have the time and energy I once had to continually try to promote this site anymore like I did 5+ years ago, so I really need to rely on word of mouth and other people promoting it by telling their friends about it and stuff. But yeah, there are a lot of great new bands, labels, plus festivals and shows happening everywhere all the time, so I don't think it's dead by any means. Wipeout! said:

My only complaint with this board is that we had to lose all the great threads (with oodles of info) from the original GP forums...and if Kopper is working on bringing those threads back on this particular site...fuckin' fantastic!

No one has really taken a stab at my question though, so I will:
There's nothing worth talkin' about currently in the greater garagepunk world....I blame it on Estrus (lol)
That goes double in my neck o' the woods ...Dixie that is.

My only complaint with this board is that we had to lose all the great threads (with oodles of info) from the original GP forums...and if Kopper is working on bringing those threads back on this particular site...fuckin' fantastic! No one has really taken a stab at my question though, so I will: There's nothing worth talkin' about currently in the greater garagepunk world....I blame it on Estrus (lol) That goes double in my neck o' the woods ...Dixie that is.

People always forget that the last year or so of the old forums was a real downer. The number of posts and hits to that forum had dropped drastically over the course of about six months to where there were only a hundred or so regulars. That was when the social networking thing was really taking off and everyone swarmed over to Myspace, leaving little time to spend on other sites/forums. So, trying to stay one step ahead of the game, I created this, "our" very own social network (that includes many of the same bells and whistles you get on any other social networking site, including the ability to upload MP3s *AND* video), and what happened? People bitched up a storm about it! True, there were a lot of design flaws and bugs early on but most of that has been worked out. The look is a hundred times better, cleaner, with better streamlined organization, etc. and discussions in the forum (the one you're reading right now) are actually threaded and linear like they should be with a quote option and everything (I fought long and hard to get Ning to fix that). The only thing I haven't been able to get them to do (yet) is figure out a way to integrate all of the members/posts from an old phpBB message board into this network, but that might be just around the corner, too... who knows? Bottom line is this forum is just fine IF PEOPLE USE IT. It's obviously only as good as the people that post here. So if you'd like to see more action, become more active yourself (by posting more often). There are still a lot of people that won't join this site because they've got some bug up their ass about it. In fact, I just asked Mickster of Off the Hip Records in Australia if he'd ever thought of adding a page here for his label, ya know, to help promote it and stuff, and ya know what he told me? "I miss the old site, and i liked the way it worked; simple, yet effective." So because "he liked the old site" he has decided not to even give his label a presence here AT ALL? That doesn't make any sense to me. You would think a person that runs a RECORD LABEL would want to promote that label any way they can, ESPECIALLY on a site where you have potential customers. But, whatever, far be it from me to tell him how to run his business. If ALL you're looking for is a forum, then you ONLY NEED TO VISIT THE FORUM here on the Hideout. There, that's simple, isn't it? How difficult is it for people to realize it takes five minutes to set up a "simple yet effective" profile for themselves and start using this thing? Wipeout! said:

Ya think that this board/site is so quiet cuz no one's talkin' or that there's nothing worth talkin' about?

This site is the second coming of the original GaragePunk.com forums (which was way more active, but a huge headache for webmaster Kopper), btw, which I really pine for nowadays....oh the memories...

Fuzzmeister said:

Apologies if I'm teaching Grandma to suck eggs here, but you guys do know about the "new" version of the old Garagepunk forum don't you?
http://garagepunk.proboards100.com/index.cgi It's only got 270 members so far. A lot that are members also joined the Hideout and of course the Hideout has a few thousand members now, so it may be that the Hideout has become the forum of choice after all. A lot of "refugees" from the old Garagepunk forum also joined the G45 forum http://finerecordingstudio.com/g45central/ but that is mostly geared towards collectors of original 45s and may not be as interesting to those who can't afford to buy the originals, have broader tastes or who like to hear about current bands.

Yeah I am a member of the 'new' garagepunk forum, but it never really seemed to catch on, not enough members with a few rare postings now and again, I never really check it much anymore. I am into the G45 forum, but I gave up collecting original records a while back in favour of guitars/amps and current bands records. I was thinking more of a forum for newer bands, clubs, labels etc, just to keep up of when bands are touring, new releases etc, so far myspace seems to be the best for that kinda info. I do miss the old GP forum, simple and loads of up-to-date info. Oh well, sigh! Maybe the hideout will get better in time.

Apologies if I'm teaching Grandma to suck eggs here, but you guys do know about the "new" version of the old Garagepunk forum don't you? http://garagepunk.proboards100.com/index.cgi It's only got 270 members so far. A lot that are members also joined the Hideout and of course the Hideout has a few thousand members now, so it may be that the Hideout has become the forum of choice after all. A lot of "refugees" from the old Garagepunk forum also joined the G45 forum http://finerecordingstudio.com/g45central/ but that is mostly geared towards collectors of original 45s and may not be as interesting to those who can't afford to buy the originals, have broader tastes or who like to hear about current bands.

Ya think that this board/site is so quiet cuz no one's talkin' or that there's nothing worth talkin' about?

This site is the second coming of the original GaragePunk.com forums (which was way more active, but a huge headache for webmaster Kopper), btw, which I really pine for nowadays....oh the memories...

Fuzzmeister said:

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Hey thanks fuzzmeister thats a great site, cheers.