Lately I’ve been thinking

„Is joescholes.com today what I want it to be?“, is the question that keeps coming up on my mind. I’m not going to tell you what my answer is. Even asking the question tells me I have to change things.

Rewind

A slightly uneasy feeling was there last year already, when I posted the „Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album Polls 2010“. Don’t get me wrong: I was very pleased with the results. The number of visitors of the site trippled. But something wasn’t right. I’ll tell you what.

The early years
When I published the first posts at joescholes.com, my plan was simply to document the way to my next album – a record I was planning to make either with the Alpha Boys or solo as Joe Scholes. I soon started to add stories from my 30 years in Ska music and its cultural orbit. Already then it crept on me that blogging at times wasn’t helping me keep track of my work, but kept me from making music instead.

Keep On Moving

It had never been on my agenda to present the „World Of Ska“ in its entirety. But one of my jobs in real life is that of a journalist. The chance to write here what I wanted, combined with the possibilities of the Internet gave me a good shaking. I constantly came up with new ideas. Many of them had nothing to do with Joe Scholes.

One step forward …

Toolspotting

Let’s take one of the experiments at joescholes.com for example. It’s called  „Toolspotting“. As a fourteen year-old kid I would have given a lot to learn what equipment my heroes used on stage or in the studio. It might have saved me some bad bargains, too. In the usual musicians’ magazines you will hardly find any articles about Ska, Rocksteady or Early Reggae bands. The more I think about a photo show of bands on stage with pictures of their equipment and shopping links, the more I like the idea of „Toolspotting“. I definitely should follow up on the first episode, but not at joescholes.com.

Video Reports

The Video Reports were also a highlight. At least for me. Getting to talk extensively with great bands, receiving guestlist treatment and backstage beer, and testing myself as a reporter in front of the camera – there were many wonderful aspects to the reports. My good friend Gregor Pottmeier was kind enough to do all the fiddly editing work. It could have been perfect, but was simply misplaced on a personal website.

Polls

Another cool project were the „Best Album Polls“. The temptation to do them was just too strong. Partly because it was clear from the start that they would get me loads of traffic. As a side effect I got a good overview about what was happening in the Ska world. Plus: Getting in contact with mad Ska people is always a pleasure. But why these polls under the name Joe Scholes? That made no sense.

… Two steps backward

As time went by, these projects took more and more space. And what was left behind? You guessed it. The things that got me into blogging in the first place: the documentation of the work on the album (some progress had been made) and stories from the good old days with my former band The Braces.

The botton line

That’s why I decided to make a cut and stop publish general Ska stuff at joescholes.com. The original concept with some variations will be on again. There will be one last Giveaway for those who ordered my free newsletter. And just in case I feel the urge to publish some more general Ska stuff, I have acquired the domain reggae-steady-ska.com. I won’t get into full-bodied announcements of what this site will bring you. But rest assured: Once it’s ready to go, you’ll be the first to know.

Thanks for your time and attention. I really appreciate it.

Yours, Joe