Brooks on Books: So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star by Jacob Slichter

This is one of the best books about the music industry I've read, a fascinating and addictive insider's look at what happens when you become a "rock star." If you don't recognize the name "Jacob Slichter," well, that's kind of the point. He's the drummer for Semisonic, which is apparently more than semi-retired after achieving some fame in the nineties. He's not famous, but he's a hell of a writer, and perhaps his status gives him the courage to be so honest in his book.

Slichter guides you through the entire journey of a prominent rock band, from the early gigs to the eventual boot from the record label. Along the way, he includes all sorts of telling details and anecdotes.

The book is fascinating because on one hand, Slichter's self-effacing style and the quality of his memoirs deglamorize the whole lifestyle. His humility and perspective make him a likable storyteller and a perfect guide through a complicated world which most of us will never know. Yet Slichter also details how he goes from an inexperienced stage performer worrying about anxiety attacks to a jaded veteran of the road who obsesses over sales and airplay numbers, then gets to a point where commercial troubles affect his enjoyment of the overall musical process. He never seems like a jerk, especially since we're reading his own self-aware take on it, but clearly something happens to him.

Don't get me wrong, though, because this is not a sordid saga of a nice guy getting chewed up by the music biz and becoming a complete a-hole on his way to a hard fall. No, Slichter clearly retains some perspective not just when he writes the book, but during Semisonic's peak. At the conclusion of a book that frustrates you by exposing how inane the industry is, he reminds you what it's all about for him: the joy of connecting with an audience through performance. The fact that he makes that connection and what it means to him so palpable while also clarifying the ridiculousness of the business end is what makes the book such a winner.

Well, that and the humor and the great stories about topics like playing on late night TV, killing time on the tour bus before a festival performance, slanting answers in interviews to bolster the band's image/cred, slyly interjecting comments in the mixing stage to increase your instrument's presence without appearing to...I could go on and on. It's hard to imagine many aspects of the "rock star" life that Slichter leaves out, though he is notably reserved about his personal life.

I say this autobiography is frustrating because so much of it points out how tough it is for Semisonic to thrive and how so many factors out of a band's control can cut it off at the knees. There's the sheer amount of money a record label shells out to promote a group (The running account of Semisonic's "recoupable debt" it would owe MCA is hilarious and telling). There is the office politics and industry politics that cripple a company or alter the perception of the company to the point where other people in the biz use it to frame all their dealings with the band. There is the dilemma of modern radio, where an act that doesn't fit neatly into one narrow format (or is pereceived not to) can't get vital airplay.

The record industry is in big trouble, as is radio, even more so now than when "So You Wanna Be" was published in 2004. I don't wish job losses on anybody. But it's impossible to read this and not think about how screwed up the music business is and how difficult it is to want to support such a an inefficient, unjust system.

So, yes, Jacob Slichter's memoir is a frustrating book in that regard, but it's ultimately a positive one due to his writing and his retention of his passion for music. More importantly, it's entertaining, revealing, and funny, and I recommend it whether you remember Semisonic, you only remember their big hit "Closing Time," or you have no idea who these guys are. You just have to like music.