Mikl Moose

It doesn’t matter where you are, you’ve probably seen most of these issues in your own scene if you’re an active part of it. “This band’s selling out. They think they’re hot shit since they went on one tour. They act like they’re the best, blah blah blah.” That’s just one of many issues I see between bands today. Hey, you left a cd in my car from that band that traveled through. “Shoot that piece of shit.” Really? They gave us free cds just because we were the only ones who showed up, and they’re actually really good. “Shoot that piece of shit.” Well that’s the problem. You’ve shown a complete lack of respect for them, and so now I have no respect for you (as a band), and that is the issue we’re facing. Bands don’t want to respect each other’s craft. No, you don’t do things the way I do, and I wouldn’t classify you as the same genre or sub-genre as me, but the real question is, is it working for you?

This all comes back to my earlier post about creating a music scene. That post caused a bit of ruckus within our own local scene, because of difference of opinion, misunderstanding, etc. But the key that it all came down to is that we ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER. It really is that simple. Local bands need to respect each other instead of bickering and talking shit all the time. Tell me, is what you’re telling me right now about this other band making them look bad, or is the fact that you’re saying this stuff to me making you look bad? (Not to mention how our scene must look to other bands traveling through, versus how it needs to look for other bands to want to stop here on their way through).

Local band records an album and goes on tour. It’s quite a tour for a local band, though small compared to national acts. They come back and are seriously driven about getting the local music scene going. They get with other bands, local radio, set up multiple concerts, and pretty much revive live music in the area. Is that not the dream, or the goal? Making it big, getting signed, whatever you think your dreams are, isn’t that what we’re all working towards? Now you want to tell me that these semi-successful guys are “full of themselves” and “think they’re better than everyone else?” Sounds to me like they’ve earned it. I’m not justifying shitty behavior on their part, but I haven’t witnessed such behavior either, and I am a part of the local scene. I haven’t been playing with any local bands lately, but I’m pretty active on keeping silent tabs on most of them and going to as many shows as I can.

Bands, we need to put aside our differences and work together to keep our music scene active and positive. This can only help everyone out in the end. No two bands on earth are competing against each other; that’s what makes music great- you can like any and as many bands as you… like.

Promoters; You have a key part to play in all of this. Your job is to promote– to bring bands in and to bring people to shows. No, Facebook doesn’t count. If you’re not out on the streets passing out flyers, selling/handing out tickets, getting people to want to come to a show, then guess what? You’re not a f**king promoter! Just like not every 12-year-old with a laptop and a pirated copy of FruityLoops is a producer, you too have a standard to uphold. If you rely on the band themselves to do all the work, then you better not expect a dime, seeing as you’re not doing your job (and let’s not kid ourselves, I’ve yet to see any indication of professional promotion in this town other than what’s being done by highly proactive bands themselves). You have the ability and opportunity to make the scene even better than it is every day; what are you doing about it?

Venues; Where to even begin… I will start by saying that it’s good we finally have one venue dedicated to live music. It’s even better that one band member has taken it upon himself to be the producer and promoter of almost every show you put on; I hope he’s getting paid decently (because without him, you’d have no shows, and your bar would be just as empty as it was 8 months ago when you were blaming your dj and bartender for literally no one showing up on a weekend night).

All I hear every day is bitching and shit-talking, he-said/she-said blah blah blah. There are a fair amount of us who are sick of it. I’m holding every single band member in this region, as well as every venue manager and owner, every promoter, literally every person involved with the music scene responsible for this music scene. This isn’t 7th grade any more. Let’s grow up, get along, support each other, respect each other, and make each experience a good one, if not for ourselves then for the sake of our fans.