So, gestern Abend besuchte ich eine Show.
Haha friendly reader! That is indeed the German language, as you suspected! And, it is yet another ploy to make people click a ZFJ Blog link! See?? At the very least it made you curious? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows German, among many other things?? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows how to use Google searches with the best of em'??
So, last night I went to a Show. Actually, it was Friday night, and it was a hell of a time.
Also, letzten Monat gab es einige Treffen. Or, "Also, last month there were some meetings."
Last month there were some meetings involving concerned citizens about the health of the Western MA local music Scene". The fact that the subject comes up so often --and with so much vigor when it does come up-- tells me that many people in the area do in fact want more quality music, more exciting events to enjoy the music and, most importantly, to be part of something exciting. A loosely knit networking group called "A Scene United" was formed and two(?) meetings have been held so far about how to bring it "back". Shit, looking back there's been a lot of talk about "The Scene" overall in the last year or more. Craigslist (Western Mass) had a two/three week posting string with people from all angles chipping in their gripes, concerns, potential remedies and other opinions about all things "scene"...I've enjoyed a video rant or two on Facebook about the "scene" and I've been part of what seems like countless conversations --from varying perspectives-- about it.....Why, even this very blog had a post about it in the recent past! (see below)
(*Shameless plug for my own blog: In February Blog Archive, "Scene Queens and the 25 Minute Divide." Have a read, if you haven't already.)
(*A respectable plug for a fellow bloggers recent post: demetrioskanavaros.blogspot.com, "A Scene Diluted".)
Beachten Sie, wie ich bin nicht die Bereitstellung von Links?
(You guessed it! That's German for "Notice how I'm not providing links?")
I'll admit, my thoughts about the "scene" --and music in general-- have really evolved over the last year for a variety of reasons. Musically speaking, during the last year, Rob, myself and Rich have been laying low and just writing and recording our new album. We cut away most live shows, promotions and stress of promoting so we could focus on only the music of the album. It feels great....feels real. Without having to cater to the necessities of putting on a live event, it is easy to just "live" with the music you're writing and easier to identify what you have to bring out of yourself to pour into the music. We got detached from the concerns of the "Scene" along the way. But somewhere along the process of just being open, writing and allowing the music evolve the way it naturally does, I unfortunately began to arrive at the realization that I'm eventually going to have to help promote the record when it comes out. The time to "work" is coming.....but we're not quite there yet. Still, between our own music being created and the impending promotion efforts we intend to employ, hearing/reading peoples concerns over "The Scene", myself currently working with an awesome music venue for promotions and getting to know more area bands as a result, my mind was cast into an interesting thought vortex about the topic. Like, what exactly is a "Scene"?
But first, the meetings. The meetings, called "A Scene United", prompted Demetrios' aforementioned post and also caused me to think on things. They were something I thought very little of when I first heard of them although I appreciated the action being taken and the good intentions. Despite the good intentions, they seemed to project a perspective of bringing something "back" --like someone had died or moved far away?? --which I think is the wrong perspective. I didn't see what this type of meeting/group could do to build a music scene but Rich really wanted to check out the meeting to see what was going on, and I got curious to see what was going on as well. Rich, Rob and myself attended the meeting in order to get "informed" and chip in our two cents, if applicable. The meeting was hectic but simple and with good overall intentions. There were some bands represented, a couple venues represented and a recording studio. Various ideas were thrown out wildly on the topic of how to get more people out to original music shows. My contributions at the meeting were simple:
1) Bands should write "better" music --meaning, tune into what their heart is really telling them, go crazy or whatever else. Just get delusional and go "off the deep end" to create and bring forth the "quality" art inside of them. They should form a "Vision" for their music and think bigger than a particular local area. I don't care how much hype and promotion they may have going for them. If a bands music is redundant, overly "been-done", badly performed/recorded and uninspired, people just won't leave the house for it.
*(Explanation of my opinion: No, I am not judging people's music to be of quality or lacking quality. As if I have the right to based on my own opinions, preferences and perspectives??? I am simply relaying what I personally feel about most "original" area bands music and sentiments shared with me by many people who are very relevant to local music in my geographical area. Bands tend to focus on playing in the local area, putting "asses in the seats" and promoting themselves to an extent. The creation of art seems to take back seat to this over time for most area bands and as a result, many people feel that the majority of the local music available right now does not make them want to leave the house. I know, I know...dangerous ground getting into the subject of "quality" with regards to music.)*
But If there is "great" music available in a particular local area (insert your own definition of "great" music, please), and bands are excited to share it, then the particular local area may experience a thriving "Scene" while these bands exist and work. I think that the "particular local area" factor is only of limited importance to the driven, passionate and excited artist who is busy creating "quality" music as their first priority. I also think that this factor is very important to local venues and other local thinking entities, which is very understandable. Or, "Verständlich" if you prefer to read the word "understandable" in the German language.
Aaaand onto my second point I shared at the meeting:
2) After those bands in a particular local area have written open, honest, compelling and "quality" music that they love madly and are just burning to share it with the world, they will still have to bust their asses to promote it. Yep. Meaning, Arbeit ihre Ärsche aus.
Or, "work their asses off", in English. But sadly and truly despite the best intentions, most bands just don't do the work.
(Explanation of opinion #2: This applies only to bands who have music they are hoping to expose to people. So, music is written and loved, excitement for this accomplishment is brimming, shows are booked to perform/expose said music....people are talking.....now there is actual work needing to be done to promote the music and the forthcoming show(s). Most bands could do this well but don't just do much about it. Unfortunately not many things can replace hard work when you want results --in anything you're doing. It can be uncomfortable to reach out and spread the word but when you're really excited, it gets easier. So get excited.
All that said, nothing can help an original local music "scene" like really good music from excited, hard-working people in bands.
So, Move forward.
("Vorwärts", in German.)
On Monday at The Elevens, I attended a show featuring Giraffes? Giraffes! ("Giraffen? Giraffen!"), Home Body ("Startseite Körper") and Sylphid ("Sylphide"...I'm pretty surprised that there is a German translation for "Sylphid"!). Lot's of people attended. Lot's of people had fun. The bands went well together, performed thoughtful, well-played sets of music and obviously did some work to promote the show. While each band shared commonalities in that they only have two members, and also rely on heavy doses of electronics and effects to properly perpetuate their deeply textured music, these bands did not come off as redundant from set to set. Rather they demonstrated their unique musical styles with performances that enhanced those unique styles. I enjoyed quality music this night. I got rather drunk. I got a good memory. I was part of a flourishing "scene" on this night.
Also, as I mentioned waaaaaaaay earlier, on Friday I attended another great show, also at The Elevens. The show featured Saint Accident (my guitar player, Rob, is a member of this ensemble), Easthampton Savings Band, Burial At Sea, Sometimes and Jameson Lavo (of Trials and Tribulations). The bands on the show "made sense" together, they all played convincing, moody and engaging sets of music in their differing styles, and you could tell they put work into promoting the show as the club was full from start to finish. It seemed that the show had a feeling of excitement leading up to it and that people were generally buzzing about "music" things on this night. I enjoyed fresh and compelling music. I had many positive conversations. I got really drunk. I once again found myself enjoying being part of the "Scene".
Weird??? The missing "Scene" was present, alive and kicking, captured in small doses on the past Monday and Friday nights!! It seems that a vibrant music "scene" is simply a shared mindset, caused by quality music, excitement and actions taken to share it.
I was also glad to be part of a music scene a few years ago that included bands such as: Swillmerchants (my band/shameless plug), The Room (Demetrios' former band), Under Falling Skies, American Business Machines, Yucky Octopus, GBNE, Hot Black, Danny Pease and the Regulators and many others. A few of these bands are still releasing new music and performing etc... but I mention these bands in particular because we had a blast together. And we made great memories together. We wrote and performed music we were excited about and worked creatively and diligently to put on great live events. We were excited about what we were doing, promoted it, worked together and as a result, many people enjoyed the live events, parties, relationships, conversations, friendly-competitiveness and pleasant memories gained --however "foggy" at times.
A music "scene" always exists but our perceptions of it will always be relative to what we want out of it and what we contribute to it....seems likes a consistent theme is developing here?
In conclusion, finally. I can't really explain why I kept on with the German translations. It started as a ploy to get you to click...really. I can however explain that pointing fingers, blaming, networking groups, negativity, frustration, poor quality music and non-existent promotional efforts will not make a "good" local music "Scene". Not even the writings of world-famous bloggers Demetrios Kanavaros and Zero Fun John could perpetuate this. Quality music, hard work and excited people will make a vibrant local music "scene" and help to satisfy our desires to be part of more favorable memories.
Thankfully, I do feel some positive rumblings on this front as of late...
Und einen Teil der günstigeren Erinnerungen.
"And to be part of more favorable memories."
That's the whole point.
~ZFJ
Showing posts with label western ma music scene. Show all posts
Showing posts with label western ma music scene. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The "left" side of the scene and how to be a "Northampton Band"
I live in such a great little town called Northampton, MA. In case you don't know about "us", check this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northampton,_Massachusetts
Truly, I love Northampton. It’s a great little town with great restaurants, plenty of active music venues, a sense of community and interesting, cool, fashionable, forward thinking and cultured people. Then town is welcoming and looks cool, is usually fun destination and, has a lot of musicians that live here. It doesn't currently have a lot of great music though. While traveling through Craigslist today at work like you were, I came across a post in the “Musicians” community reading something to the effect of “are The Fantasies the best band from Northampton?” Of course I’m going to read that. While their song was pretty cool and catchy, they sounded exactly like I thought they would. It’s not a bad thing to have a “brand”, even if it’s a town. Meaning, I see their name, hear the song, I feel their submliminal sentiment that they are a “Northampton band”, I agree and think, “yeah. It all adds up.”
Problem is, you want it to move you. I want it to move me. C’mon anybody, everybody…would somebody do something new and exciting please? Would you make us want to leave our fucking houses for you please?? You know what I mean…come on! Just fly off the fucking handle for a minute! Don’t be scared or try to fit "the Mold"…anyway, I’m not ripping on The Fantasies because, again, their song is cool and I like how they come out on CL with some assertiveness and shit. Hopefully Northampton can see more of this type of stuff in the near future. I admit, I want to be blown away by a band. I want to be so impressed at how nasty they are that my blood boils. For now, out here in Northampton , it’s just primarily scattered, status quo and self indulgent music, in my opinion, rather than anything really that compelling or on fire.
We have scores of the “amazing” musician types out here forming random bands, playing The Elevens and The Basement…maybe playing at The Ironhorse? Oh yeah, another thing, people can stop trashing IHEG. You most likely don’t really know what you’re talking about. Their shows are exciting and if you just stop fucking whining for a minute about Eric S and just work with the guy things end up pretty cool)? …I digress. The “Northampton Bands” have witty, ironic names. The musicians dress trendy, they have quirky, clever banter, they may watch films many people have never heard of, they may listen to music within un-admitted parameters of “culture” and/or parameters of obscurity. They also do listen to really good music. I love it. I really prefer this environment and it’s “living” nature. But so much is missing…The overall sincerity, the overall authenticity? Sure we want to belong and be “cool”. We want to be accepted but the world awaits your music!...wait a second…WOW! The new Strokes album is really good…second listen in progress. Many people out here would not admit to liking The Strokes for example. They’re (The Strokes) too mainstream to be “cool” out here regardless of how good their music is. Anyway, I digress once again. Thankfully a very small number of bands and/or artists around here actually have some manner of vision and something real to say. Just not enough of them.
I hate to generalize but many of us either overtly or covertly acknowledge and know what a “Northampton Band” is. It’s a folky-indie-ironic-shoegazing-musical-collaboration-with-a few-moderately-to-well-known-local-musicians-with trendy-clothes-often-exchanging-instruments-on-stage-and also-using-vintage-instruments-while-playing-technically-good-music-that-often-times-I-like-and-more-often-times-I-don’t-but-they-won’t-even-be-a fucking-band-in-six-months-so-who-cares-but-then-they-come-back-with-another-mixture-of-musicians-destined-to-be perceived as yet, another “Northampton Band”. Or they just sound like a revival of something that has been done and is being done to death. Lame.
I’m not trashing the many great people I’ve met in my time of residing here–some of whom are in “Northampton Bands”–I love them. I’m talking about the closed up people hiding behind their pretense and faking it. Out here we are on the “left side” of the “scene” where things are all love and kindness, not really though. Here, things are perceived as “amazing” and we have a notable wealth of “amazing” and talented musicians –maybe we do? We just don’t have an “amazing” amount of real artists right now. And nobody sticks to their guns. And nobody tries. And nobody cares but we still walk around as if we’re some enchanted artists who are just flowing in our art…but no, not really. We’re just trying to be accepted and everybody’s doing it so…forget about when the going gets tough. We don’t even come out of the bubble because we know it could get tough. Our friends will still come out for a few weeks more, but in fewer numbers soon…they’ll get bored like we do. We quit and just hype the next collaboration for a few months to feel fulfilled and alive. But we never had to stop. If we really mean what we are projecting we could drop the pretense just create, and stand by it. I admit, I just want to be moved by music. Bjork once said “Unless you feel like you would die without it you’re faking it.” Clear?
I just hope some more of us "amazing" musicians get something going that is just super-hot in any way–any genre-and then just stand by it for awhile. Extend your vision past Northampton MA. Show the Eastern Seaboard your music, show the USA, show the world and stop thinking of your music in terms of “Northampton”. I think it’s sad that, in the “new" music industry we are in the midst of, more people don’t realize the massive opportunities that exist, we don't realize that it is a "level playing field" for the open, honest, passionate and “on fire” songwriters and bands. But first you’ll need to get past the haze of comfort that sleeps with you here and reach out past your friends opinions. I, for one, would love to hear it if you do.
~ZFJ
Truly, I love Northampton. It’s a great little town with great restaurants, plenty of active music venues, a sense of community and interesting, cool, fashionable, forward thinking and cultured people. Then town is welcoming and looks cool, is usually fun destination and, has a lot of musicians that live here. It doesn't currently have a lot of great music though. While traveling through Craigslist today at work like you were, I came across a post in the “Musicians” community reading something to the effect of “are The Fantasies the best band from Northampton?” Of course I’m going to read that. While their song was pretty cool and catchy, they sounded exactly like I thought they would. It’s not a bad thing to have a “brand”, even if it’s a town. Meaning, I see their name, hear the song, I feel their submliminal sentiment that they are a “Northampton band”, I agree and think, “yeah. It all adds up.”
Problem is, you want it to move you. I want it to move me. C’mon anybody, everybody…would somebody do something new and exciting please? Would you make us want to leave our fucking houses for you please?? You know what I mean…come on! Just fly off the fucking handle for a minute! Don’t be scared or try to fit "the Mold"…anyway, I’m not ripping on The Fantasies because, again, their song is cool and I like how they come out on CL with some assertiveness and shit. Hopefully Northampton can see more of this type of stuff in the near future. I admit, I want to be blown away by a band. I want to be so impressed at how nasty they are that my blood boils. For now, out here in Northampton , it’s just primarily scattered, status quo and self indulgent music, in my opinion, rather than anything really that compelling or on fire.
We have scores of the “amazing” musician types out here forming random bands, playing The Elevens and The Basement…maybe playing at The Ironhorse? Oh yeah, another thing, people can stop trashing IHEG. You most likely don’t really know what you’re talking about. Their shows are exciting and if you just stop fucking whining for a minute about Eric S and just work with the guy things end up pretty cool)? …I digress. The “Northampton Bands” have witty, ironic names. The musicians dress trendy, they have quirky, clever banter, they may watch films many people have never heard of, they may listen to music within un-admitted parameters of “culture” and/or parameters of obscurity. They also do listen to really good music. I love it. I really prefer this environment and it’s “living” nature. But so much is missing…The overall sincerity, the overall authenticity? Sure we want to belong and be “cool”. We want to be accepted but the world awaits your music!...wait a second…WOW! The new Strokes album is really good…second listen in progress. Many people out here would not admit to liking The Strokes for example. They’re (The Strokes) too mainstream to be “cool” out here regardless of how good their music is. Anyway, I digress once again. Thankfully a very small number of bands and/or artists around here actually have some manner of vision and something real to say. Just not enough of them.
I hate to generalize but many of us either overtly or covertly acknowledge and know what a “Northampton Band” is. It’s a folky-indie-ironic-shoegazing-musical-collaboration-with-a few-moderately-to-well-known-local-musicians-with trendy-clothes-often-exchanging-instruments-on-stage-and also-using-vintage-instruments-while-playing-technically-good-music-that-often-times-I-like-and-more-often-times-I-don’t-but-they-won’t-even-be-a fucking-band-in-six-months-so-who-cares-but-then-they-come-back-with-another-mixture-of-musicians-destined-to-be perceived as yet, another “Northampton Band”. Or they just sound like a revival of something that has been done and is being done to death. Lame.
I’m not trashing the many great people I’ve met in my time of residing here–some of whom are in “Northampton Bands”–I love them. I’m talking about the closed up people hiding behind their pretense and faking it. Out here we are on the “left side” of the “scene” where things are all love and kindness, not really though. Here, things are perceived as “amazing” and we have a notable wealth of “amazing” and talented musicians –maybe we do? We just don’t have an “amazing” amount of real artists right now. And nobody sticks to their guns. And nobody tries. And nobody cares but we still walk around as if we’re some enchanted artists who are just flowing in our art…but no, not really. We’re just trying to be accepted and everybody’s doing it so…forget about when the going gets tough. We don’t even come out of the bubble because we know it could get tough. Our friends will still come out for a few weeks more, but in fewer numbers soon…they’ll get bored like we do. We quit and just hype the next collaboration for a few months to feel fulfilled and alive. But we never had to stop. If we really mean what we are projecting we could drop the pretense just create, and stand by it. I admit, I just want to be moved by music. Bjork once said “Unless you feel like you would die without it you’re faking it.” Clear?
I just hope some more of us "amazing" musicians get something going that is just super-hot in any way–any genre-and then just stand by it for awhile. Extend your vision past Northampton MA. Show the Eastern Seaboard your music, show the USA, show the world and stop thinking of your music in terms of “Northampton”. I think it’s sad that, in the “new" music industry we are in the midst of, more people don’t realize the massive opportunities that exist, we don't realize that it is a "level playing field" for the open, honest, passionate and “on fire” songwriters and bands. But first you’ll need to get past the haze of comfort that sleeps with you here and reach out past your friends opinions. I, for one, would love to hear it if you do.
~ZFJ
Thursday, February 17, 2011
scene Queens and the 25 minute divide
Soooo...I've heard quite a few comments & rumblings about "scene" recently and let's face it; we don't currently have a strong unity of bands, musicians, fans and artists all working together and supporting each other's causese right now. This includes the "Northampton" scene and the "Springfield" scenes (funny to me because the people who potentially comprise these respective demographic areas only live 25 minutes down the highway from each other but are worlds apart otherwise) ...but, let me digress into a time when there was a common vibe among musicians, bands, fans, etc that an awesome "scene" exisited.
A few years ago, my band realized that we were about to start performing our music live but there wasn't really a scene/market for our music that we knew of. Noho was primarily indie/folk music at the time and Springfield was metal/Nu-metal/Hip Hop/DJ . So, we decided to create something. To do our part, we booked our own shows and asked the hottest bands around (in our opinion)at the time (Under Falling Skies, The Room, America Business Machines, Yucky Octopus etc) and we knew we had to be electric when playing on a bill with these bands because they all really brought it live, had solid followings and were "competitive" enough. We would watch each others sets to check out the live portion and to "size up" the competition, we'd drink together and fans of the different bands came to know and appreciate the different band's styles. Bottom line is that we all did this together and many people got involved in the social awareness that makes up a "scene". We all appreciated the other band's efforts/music/people even if it wasn't totally our thing. We still nurtured a very mutual feeling of unity while doing what WE all do.
These days? Not so much. In Noho we have a wealth of talented musicians -most with no vision for what they're actually doing. I've often felt and stated that "musicians come to Northampton to die", meaning they want to write something and play it for people who will embrace it and reassure tham how "amazing" they are. Extending yourself to the world can be tough...I could be wrong but I can't seem to find bands who have much vision past playing ten times a month @ venues in Noho, EHamp and -if you're really ambitious- Amherst. Very few go even venture out and perform regionally (i.e. CT, NYC, RI, VT, Eastern MA...). So, when you have a band and they play 6 times a month in the same area your fans will eventually not come out to see you. They'll just catch you next week when you're playing at a venue one block away from the last one you just played at. Nothing exclusive there. It's just very comfortable and easy to form a band, book a show (everyone out here is a show "promoter" it seems) and get your friends out for 6 months -if you last that long. Bands come and go. Musicians give up or whatever, they form a "new" band with the usual suspects and...nobody gives a shit because it's usually a reincarnation of something someone just did. Just my take. In Noho, things are stale -save for some isolated shows/events that make everything worthwhile again.
Springfield scene. Shit. I hear of Nu-metal bands putting a few hundred people in Max Cap now and then...cover bands doing decently and random other acts (not Nu-Metal, Metal or Cover) putting on good shows/events. Truthfully, Maximum Capacity seems to be the only venue anyone even mentions in the "Springfield" scene. It's just that people aren't thinking. It's not just about writing a few songs, thinking you're God and then booking shows in your local area every 3-6 weeks. Your fans will get burned out. We need to be aware of what we're giving. Why do people want to spend their money and time to come to our show? What's in it for them? Plan an event rather than just play a set of music. Get bands together that can have a cross-over effect and fans of respective bands may get into the other bands. Bands out there should change their self serving attitudes and actually promote the WHOLE show rather than just their set. Working together is the only way to begin a scene that will: be fun, expose more people to more quality music, get venues, publications and people of influence outside of our immediate area to take notice -thus providing real opportunities for driven/creative musicians who are serious about their careers to "get somewhere"...bands, fans, venues and anyone with an interest of creating this social awareness known as a "scene" just need to drop all the pretense and delusions like yesterday. Maybe stand in the crowd as a band plays that you don't like but do respect? Maybe go to a show that isn't totally your thing? Maybe stop talking shit abut bands that are relatively successful in what they're doing and learn from them? Maybe get so competitive and be clever about it rather than hoard your fan base? Whatever, all I'm saying is that I am hearing a lot and getting the sense that MANY people are ready to enjoy this kind of thing again. Things will need to change before this will happen. Smarten up mother fuckers!!
~ZFJ
A few years ago, my band realized that we were about to start performing our music live but there wasn't really a scene/market for our music that we knew of. Noho was primarily indie/folk music at the time and Springfield was metal/Nu-metal/Hip Hop/DJ . So, we decided to create something. To do our part, we booked our own shows and asked the hottest bands around (in our opinion)at the time (Under Falling Skies, The Room, America Business Machines, Yucky Octopus etc) and we knew we had to be electric when playing on a bill with these bands because they all really brought it live, had solid followings and were "competitive" enough. We would watch each others sets to check out the live portion and to "size up" the competition, we'd drink together and fans of the different bands came to know and appreciate the different band's styles. Bottom line is that we all did this together and many people got involved in the social awareness that makes up a "scene". We all appreciated the other band's efforts/music/people even if it wasn't totally our thing. We still nurtured a very mutual feeling of unity while doing what WE all do.
These days? Not so much. In Noho we have a wealth of talented musicians -most with no vision for what they're actually doing. I've often felt and stated that "musicians come to Northampton to die", meaning they want to write something and play it for people who will embrace it and reassure tham how "amazing" they are. Extending yourself to the world can be tough...I could be wrong but I can't seem to find bands who have much vision past playing ten times a month @ venues in Noho, EHamp and -if you're really ambitious- Amherst. Very few go even venture out and perform regionally (i.e. CT, NYC, RI, VT, Eastern MA...). So, when you have a band and they play 6 times a month in the same area your fans will eventually not come out to see you. They'll just catch you next week when you're playing at a venue one block away from the last one you just played at. Nothing exclusive there. It's just very comfortable and easy to form a band, book a show (everyone out here is a show "promoter" it seems) and get your friends out for 6 months -if you last that long. Bands come and go. Musicians give up or whatever, they form a "new" band with the usual suspects and...nobody gives a shit because it's usually a reincarnation of something someone just did. Just my take. In Noho, things are stale -save for some isolated shows/events that make everything worthwhile again.
Springfield scene. Shit. I hear of Nu-metal bands putting a few hundred people in Max Cap now and then...cover bands doing decently and random other acts (not Nu-Metal, Metal or Cover) putting on good shows/events. Truthfully, Maximum Capacity seems to be the only venue anyone even mentions in the "Springfield" scene. It's just that people aren't thinking. It's not just about writing a few songs, thinking you're God and then booking shows in your local area every 3-6 weeks. Your fans will get burned out. We need to be aware of what we're giving. Why do people want to spend their money and time to come to our show? What's in it for them? Plan an event rather than just play a set of music. Get bands together that can have a cross-over effect and fans of respective bands may get into the other bands. Bands out there should change their self serving attitudes and actually promote the WHOLE show rather than just their set. Working together is the only way to begin a scene that will: be fun, expose more people to more quality music, get venues, publications and people of influence outside of our immediate area to take notice -thus providing real opportunities for driven/creative musicians who are serious about their careers to "get somewhere"...bands, fans, venues and anyone with an interest of creating this social awareness known as a "scene" just need to drop all the pretense and delusions like yesterday. Maybe stand in the crowd as a band plays that you don't like but do respect? Maybe go to a show that isn't totally your thing? Maybe stop talking shit abut bands that are relatively successful in what they're doing and learn from them? Maybe get so competitive and be clever about it rather than hoard your fan base? Whatever, all I'm saying is that I am hearing a lot and getting the sense that MANY people are ready to enjoy this kind of thing again. Things will need to change before this will happen. Smarten up mother fuckers!!
~ZFJ
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Speculation of a scene, pretense and delusions, oh what a wonderful time!
I approached Saturday with some optimism. I left with MORE optimism...
but not in the normal, comforting sense. I had a conversation the night before with a good friend and former bandmate in regards to the show Saturday. He said it seemed like a lot of people were coming out, many even had a sense that it may be the start of a new "scene". Everybody talks about "the scene is dead..." or "music sucks around here now...". Not really, it's just hard to find an enjoyable event sometimes. Anyway, I foolishly agreed with my friend about the feeling of something being started anew. Wrong about the scene, right about something starting.
My singer booked the show a few months ago and set the lineup with the owner of the venue, who by the way, puts any club owner to shame with his promotional efforts and genuine advocacy for original bands. Fast forward to the show: one band showed up early, set up all their stuff and basically tried to dictate the lineup putting our back to the wall to clarify things with the other band who was bitching about going last. Don, the owner, told us the actual lineup and then the band going last started sulking and bitching through the bar. When I told the guitar player that they would have to go last and he says to me "Oh, that kind of sucks. We told everyone we were playing at 10 and they were going to watch our set and then leave..." Wow...WOW. Perhaps I just heard it wrong?? What the fuck is that??? The other band demanded the slot right before my band and they deserved it because they were the other band on the bill with us the whole time. They played their music. They broke down their gear and then, none of them were seen in the bar during our set. As if they are really something??? It's ok, a couple hundred other people decided to stay in the room to watch our set. My band's never been anything but cool to this crew but they sure like to talk shit about my band for some reason. It is endlessly flattering when you're a relatively big target. Shit like that doesn't nurture a scene. It destroys it. The fucking self serving, self consumed and delusional musicians that have such tiny visions for themselves they can't even see beyond their own recognition or praise seeking. I'd love to see musicians out supporting each others shows, saying decent things, not being jealous when other bands get success but rather using it to fuel their fire...it's nearly impossible to succeed alone.
Something DID get started after Saturday. A few key people are on fire again and that means some fucking good things are going to happen. So, people, get together. Drop your storylines, issues and what you think you know and we all may get the vibes we want again.
This is the first post for the new blog: zero fun John.
but not in the normal, comforting sense. I had a conversation the night before with a good friend and former bandmate in regards to the show Saturday. He said it seemed like a lot of people were coming out, many even had a sense that it may be the start of a new "scene". Everybody talks about "the scene is dead..." or "music sucks around here now...". Not really, it's just hard to find an enjoyable event sometimes. Anyway, I foolishly agreed with my friend about the feeling of something being started anew. Wrong about the scene, right about something starting.
My singer booked the show a few months ago and set the lineup with the owner of the venue, who by the way, puts any club owner to shame with his promotional efforts and genuine advocacy for original bands. Fast forward to the show: one band showed up early, set up all their stuff and basically tried to dictate the lineup putting our back to the wall to clarify things with the other band who was bitching about going last. Don, the owner, told us the actual lineup and then the band going last started sulking and bitching through the bar. When I told the guitar player that they would have to go last and he says to me "Oh, that kind of sucks. We told everyone we were playing at 10 and they were going to watch our set and then leave..." Wow...WOW. Perhaps I just heard it wrong?? What the fuck is that??? The other band demanded the slot right before my band and they deserved it because they were the other band on the bill with us the whole time. They played their music. They broke down their gear and then, none of them were seen in the bar during our set. As if they are really something??? It's ok, a couple hundred other people decided to stay in the room to watch our set. My band's never been anything but cool to this crew but they sure like to talk shit about my band for some reason. It is endlessly flattering when you're a relatively big target. Shit like that doesn't nurture a scene. It destroys it. The fucking self serving, self consumed and delusional musicians that have such tiny visions for themselves they can't even see beyond their own recognition or praise seeking. I'd love to see musicians out supporting each others shows, saying decent things, not being jealous when other bands get success but rather using it to fuel their fire...it's nearly impossible to succeed alone.
Something DID get started after Saturday. A few key people are on fire again and that means some fucking good things are going to happen. So, people, get together. Drop your storylines, issues and what you think you know and we all may get the vibes we want again.
This is the first post for the new blog: zero fun John.
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