As Ithaca prepare to take their final bow, guitarist Sam Chetan-Welsh looks back on their decade of destruction and the lessons they’ve learned along the way – from the power of community to embracing outside influence…
My band, Ithaca, are breaking up. Not acrimoniously – we’re ending because we’re satisfied with what we’ve done and it’s time to move on. With our final headline show approaching this weekend, I’ve been reflecting on what we’ve learned from our 12 years as a band, so here are my tips for success – and a manifesto for how any band can feel satisfied with what they do...
It’s a deeply challenging time for the arts. Slashed budgets, post-COVID malaise, warped incentives to appease tyrannical algorithms... every condition seems to be working against making challenging and courageous art. But giving up is not the answer. Don’t play it safe, pander or dial it back. Transgress. Elicit real feeling. In the current context, what have you got to lose?
Since our very first show we have been confrontational, because we knew our very identities were perceived by some as an offence. It’s why we look people directly in the eye when we play. It’s why we’ve been forthright in what we care about and taken a lot of shit for it.
Pushing boundaries is not just valuable for its own sake – every time we took a risk it paid off. The most implausible thing we’ve ever done (touring around Europe with Big Thief) only happened because our intentions and outlook resonated as much as our music.
There is a temptation to respond to the current highly-challenging environment by retrenching to individualism. If I can make all my own music at home, why bother splitting profits in a band? This is a myth – ignore it!
When we started we had no money, no contacts in the scene and no idea what we were doing. We survived our first five years by working in collective: supporting DIY promoters, pooling resources with other bands, offering floor space to sleep on. Punks know exactly what I’m talking about – it’s mutual aid but make it greebo.
Sharing resources is what will allow you to do the most exciting, grass-touching parts of being in a band like touring, and collaboration will give you feedback to help make your art better, making success more likely. Read more about the Soulquarians, the Elephant 6 and more local heroes like my friends at Decolonise Fest and form a collective today!
In a world of ever-encroaching AI slop, standing out is essential. This will never happen if you draw from a narrow pool of influences. We were as inspired by Yes, New Edition and Bollywood soundtracks as we were Gojira. We thought about the pre-Raphaelites, giallo cinema and post-colonial theory. We did a peacock chair album cover! And we were a better band for it.
But don’t take our word for it, ask a recent game-changing band like Loathe who their influences are, and they are just as likely to cite Keyshia Cole as they are Meshuggah. Or ask Rolo Tomassi about William Basinski. This isn’t a coincidence – you only know and love these bands because they have intentionally nurtured a rich creative toolbox.
My main reflection from 12 years of band life is that I spent way too many precious moments comparing our band to others, or griping about the industry. This was time I’ll never get back. I was not present in the moment, and therefore, as thinker adrienne maree brown puts it, I was not ‘satisfiable’. Life is remarkably short, band life doubly so. I urge you to define success on your own terms. Notice the small joys and the big ones will follow. Then, who knows, you might just make it!
Ithaca will play their final show on February 8 at the O2 Academy Islington in London. Get your tickets now.
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