If you've noticed that my last few blog posts have more been a random outpouring of opinion than an update on my life, or the band - that's pretty much because everything is just ticking over at the moment. We are booking shows, writing and rehearsing and have a few things in the pipeline that will all be cool when they happen.

If you like my band at all and you have a little time to spare then please consider signing up to our street-team at www.thelifers.co.uk - the reason I ask is that it's what I'm gonna write about in this post.

Ok, not specifically about The Lifers (although good chance for a plug though right?) and more about the community that I want it to become. I am personally a member of a couple of street-teams and they are rubbish. They consist of the odd email every now and then, usually when the band head out on tour in the US - useless for me here in the UK. What I really want from a street-team, or any community that I become part of, is to be involved and inspired as often as possible. I want to get to know the other people and let them know me. I want to be engaged and given a sense that I am a valued member of the group. That is what I want our street-team and fanbase to become in the future - a community.

If I'm not wearing a plain t-shirt, then the odds are pretty high that it has a band's name and logo across the chest. I like displaying the bands that I love to people around me - it's like a uniform, it tells people something about me without a word being spoken. I am far more likely be proud of wearing a band that engages with their fans on a regular basis, that is answerable to them (to an extent) and is always looking for ways to communicate with them beyond shows and tours.

I think that some bands forget this and are worse-off for it. We have met people who started off fans and are now just friends of ours. This is a only ever a good thing. When you are fan of a band, you believe in them and you don't want them to let you down - it's a responsibility on the band members to have the honesty and integrity to do their best not to let those fans down. I think the idea of "selling out" is an odd concept and pretty out-dated in the ever-changing music industry (if it was ever relevant in the first place) - I don't care of the band do and advert for a product, as long as they can justify why they did it and communicate that to their fans, if the fans demand to know.

Let's try an example - product placement in the recent Fall Out Boy videos. I noticed it was pretty heavy advertising in a couple of the videos (a phone company and a brand of deodorant) but when I checked their website, one of the band members explained that their label wouldn't give them the money to make the video they wanted to make and advertising was the only way they could fund it. You can argue the creative validity of being forced to put something into your video just to pay for it, but as long as I understood why they made the choice and was able to hear it from the band themselves, I felt more included and glad that they had acknowledged it when someone asked.

What I'm trying to say is that, as a fan, I understand the responsibility that comes with putting yourself out there and what is owed to the people who respond in a positive way to what you do - I have no idea whether in my life I'll be able to live up to the standards I have set for those bands that I love, but I promise to try my best and that's all I can do right now. If you see me failing, then call me on it - don't let me off easy.

Catch you all later,

Max.