My Bipolar Journal – Episode 175
February 5, 2008
Sometimes I forget why I started doing all this in the first place. I always loved singing and started out as a part of a band, then another band. Things weren’t as satisfying though until I started getting myself involved in the business. Why did I start Chicks Rockfest and start getting to know local musicians? It was a very selfish reason. I wanted to find cool bands to listen to. I was tired of not being able to go on the radio and find something new. No matter how much I have ever loved a band, the search for something new was a carved in stone part of my soul.
Now, since then, my reasons have evolved and become slightly less selfish because I found a genuine and true love for the music business and saw where there were needs that were lacking, how cynical buyers, venues, fans and bands had become and that if anything was going to change that mentality, that I had to change my mentality.
In doing that though, I lost sight of just sitting down and exploring and listening to bands completely and thoroughly and finding things for myself. Sure, I take my days off and go to other cities to see bands live. Sure, I have found bands every week, but just sitting down in my day and going through bands who submit friend requests (which didn’t even exist when I started this) or paying attention to anything other than the fact that they were interested in what I was doing became lower on the totem pole.
The club is a very busy business (well, in the time consuming sense), tour managing keeps me out and discovering, but only to what is right there in front of me, I rely on my friends to discover things first and then tell me about them and that’s not what I started doing any of this for.
Another thing I’ve set myself away from is recently is the quieter aspect of music. The actual songwriters who don’t necessarily write things that make me bounce up and down and actually make me sit down and listen. I’ve definitely done a disservice to myself in this aspect. I think maybe my brain just wasn’t ready to relax in its music part. Simplicity just wasn’t good enough for me.
Not that I’m disappointed. I’m very, very happy with where my life has taken me and my career and going out and discovering new things, but I need to take it back to the simplicities for a while as well. Turn off the TV, click on random bands in my friends list and sit back and just listen.
Now, in doing this, it can be very frustrating. Anyone can be a band now. It takes literally nothing to record your own music, be it shitty or great. Filtering through this ocean of oyster shells, it takes forever to find that one fucking pearl, but when you do, it’s so much more gratifying.
At the same time it’s hard for me because to me live shows are where it’s at. Something I may listen to hear may not win me over nearly as much as a live performance ever could, but I know I’ve found something when I hear it and can’t wait to see a live show. Some of these bands are things that I can hear would be passable. They would be able to find fans fairly easily and slip through life on a music career if done properly.
A conversation I was having with someone yesterday is that there are plenty of good bands out there, but there are a lot of bands that are missing “songs”. All of their songs sound pretty much the same as the last and there’s nothing that sets them apart from each other. In my opinion, every band needs a minimum of that “one” song that they can’t wait to hear. The encore piece, the one that everyone is on pins and needles anticipating and if they don’t hear it, they scream for it.
Everyone gets on me for watching American Idol because it is so industry and about a style of music that most of my friends in particular don’t find enjoyable for one reason or another. I believe that everything that I can learn is a lesson, including something like this show. For one thing, I find it strangely ironic that no matter what I actually think, I can almost always guarantee that it’s going to be what Simon Cowell thinks as well. Does he always need to be as mean and pointed as he is? Of course, and for two reasons. One, that is what they pay him to do, but two (and I believe this is the most important one), some people need to be told to stop filling our oceans with empty oysters so that people can go out once again and be impressed by our pearls. The show also fine tunes you to hearing things that you don’t necessarily notice just going out to see a band in their entirety and why you shouldn’t maybe look so incredibly stupid on stage and what you’re doing to make it that way.
There are three things in life that any reputable music scout of any sort should look for, be it buyer, label, management, scout or fan. 1) You should be good. Actually good. To the point even that I don’t even care if you sound like everyone else as long as you can pull it off. It’s hard enough to just find people that can do it anymore, let alone try to go off and be completely different. I’ve found that the term “experimental” generally means that you’re trying to get away with doing something most people won’t like and when they don’t like it, you can pass it off as art. 2) You should be able to get other people interested in you. In other words, be able to pull a crowd at some point in your first year of music endeavors. It doesn’t have to be a billion people or what not, just true fans that genuinely enjoy your music. 3) You can’t be a dick. You just can’t. This is a business of favors. No matter how much money you’re making or not making at it. You’re not a rock star because you can draw over 100 people… only in your hometown. You’re not a headliner because you’re playing last. You’re not important because you’ve slept with over 50 women or men (although you’re probably quite satisfied). As hard as it is, you can’t take everything so personally. Which I know, is counteractive to being a musician in the first place.
Now you can get away with not having one of these, but not two. You can be a mediocre band, but draw people and be cool to work with. You can not necessarily draw a lot of people, but be good and easy to work with. You can even draw a lot of people, be good and kind of be a dick, but you need at least two all the time. If you can find a band that’s all three, those are the ones that are going to really make the impression on you, your heart and your hometown’s opinion of independent bands.
So, here I sit, filtering through pages of bands that I haven’t listened to before, doing your homework for you, once again and hoping upon hope that you’ll open up your mind just a little and take a listen to something new. Become a fan of something other than what you’ve already heard. I’ve broadened my listening spectrum and these are the bands I would give a second or third listen to. Also, to warn you, I’m going through my Chicks Rockfest bands, so there’s a lot of chick bands in here, if not all of them. These are bands I’ve just listened to today as a result of my own individual discoveries. No one else has had any influence in these opinions, although there is a long list of great bands that could go on that list as well. I want to start doing this more. I wish you all would to. I’ll listen to your bands if you listen to mine. Deal?
Myspace.com/Quincycoleman
Myspace.com/Lovespirals
Myspace.com/merit
Myspace.com/iridesense
Myspace.com/lizkelly
Myspace.com/abbytravis
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