Other people still see the creation or music as a healthy and positive thing... I need to remember this.
Some things that kill a conversation:
People don't want to know the depth of the rot in the industry and they don't want to know about all the heartbreak I have witnessed as people who have worked like mad, driven, creatures and sacrificed so much "made it" only to have all that work and time stolen from them because the record companies could make a few more dollars if they "adjusted the lineup" in the band even if it meant replacing founding members.
People don't want to hear that "popular music" is all still horribly broken and that almost everything about it is basically a lie. A magic trick that has been growing in size and scale year after year and that they are the patsy. We used to laugh about The Monkeys... They seem honest now... like quaint folksy media pioneers, at least they were funny and they got Jimmy Hendix open for them and had Tim Buckley on their show singing Song To The Siren as if to whisper..."Hey kids, here is the REAL stuff... don't tell your folks!"
No one wants to think about the fact that their favorite singer may not be able to sing that well... or that they don't need to have the talent any more, real time pitch correction makes it possible to give the modestly talented a live mic if you are feeling brave.
Its not A good move to mention that many music acts are only partially responsible for their own sound... talented producers often shape them dramatically into the finished product you eventually hear.
Here is a social tip, Since most musical acts are not that original and can be traced back to someone they where trying to emulate... don't ever point this out to the person who likes that band, they will hate you for it, even if you honestly think they might enjoy the music of the first band... I mean, clearly their heroes were fans of the earlier band... why wouldn't they want to check them out? : P
Never talk about how making music is "serious" for you. People don't want to think of music that way. It is supposed to be fun and joyous even though most rock is about alienation and anger, somehow making it is supposed to be about having a good time... weird. I know very few musicians who are "happy" most are poor as crap and are wishing for something better... I guess thats all part of the illusion (lie).
All of this leads me to the point of this post...
Even though you would imagine I would be pretty good at it... This is why I don't want to play Rock Band with you when you ask,
It's a lie.
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5 comments:
Here's another reason why it might not be fun for you to play Rock Band.... that's like a few friends saying to me "Hey, we're getting together Friday night to design some web sites and marketing materials! It'll be awesome! You are so good at it, you HAVE to join us!" Umm... no thanks. Your "fun" activity is my job and therefore not something I can or want to engage in recreationally in my off hours.
Yeah,
I guess its tough to explain to people but being in bands stopped being fun a LONG time ago... (honestly it was never really "fun") the rejection mixed with empty praise, people wanting to be close to you for no reason other than they perceive you as somehow "cool" but then you discover that they don't actually "get" your music at all... Ugh.
Most people don't really "listen" to music anyway... you know all the jokes about people not knowing what famous songs are about, well try being a lyricist and vocalist for as long as I have and I can tell you it gets pretty disheartening because its absolutely true.
Thats why I have songs about people not listening to the lyrics of songs... its a test. hehe.
Then there is the whole aspect of the business which sucks... and then there is the the part about having to work with other musicians... some of whom have drank the kool-aid and think the lie is real... ugh.
The success I have had is cool... and I have to remind myself that I have gotten so much further than 99% of most musicians through luck, some talent, and perservirance... but its hard to enjoy when it has been such a struggle and the reward is so small.
You only get a shot at the big prize if you do a lot of things I was not willing to do, and its sad that there cant be more layers of success. I think about out the people who have worked as hard as I did but were not quite as lucky I have been and got NOTHING from it.
There are so many of them, Mainly because the industry is structured to funnel all the resources and attention at a handful of artists in order to make a few very greedy people disgustingly rich.
The internet was gonna change all that right? still waiting... well lets fire up rock band in the mean time and make those above mentioned people even MORE money! Yay!
Notice any purely independent artist licensed on Rock Band? hmmmmm. Unfortunately they probably could not afford to get their tracks formatted to work with the game if that information was available and the game company would never risk taking the time on an unknown song... thus they are effectively shut out.
Awesome.
I get how you feel about Rock Band. If someone made a mathematician simulator in which you randomly waved a fake piece of chalk around a fake chalkboard and it showed you solving complex differential equations, and people claimed that they were now great mathematicians, I wouldn't be pleased.
You know, its not that people have fun pretending to be "Rock Stars". Its that the game perpetuates the myths that surround the industry.
The vast majority of musicians that got to be "Famous" did it in such a way that very few of us would "enjoy". And as time goes by the business of it consolidates into an even more streamlined money making machine that focuses like a laser on what is marketable. Leaving less and less room for "art" and musicianship.
Most of the unique newer bands you and I are likely to listen to will never have a chance at mass appeal like they may have had 15 years ago. They simply won't get exposed.
So as you are playing Rock Band, I think it should have all the crap in it... like a club owner that tells you that you have to pay him to play on a Saturday night! Or competeing aginst other local bands that have huge followings mainly because they supply drugs to underage kids that come to their shows. Should you do the same to get popular too? Here is a good one, how about a level were you get a new manager who doesn't "get" that you are an emotive "found sound" industrial/darkwave/rock band with a vocalist who belts out the songs in a booming yet brooding male voice and he books you at a huge outdoor concert in Arkansas opening up for Molly Hatchet!
Is that to hard to program? : )
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