Today I wrote an email to a friend, "I'm beginning to see so many egos around here that I can't see my own!" That was meant as a joke but was actually a response to writing an email earlier to a musician who was wrongly bagging on another band, claiming they had egos and their music was horrid. Yesterday I wrote another email where a band was pointing out that another band's music was 'simplistic.' My response was, "So is the Rolling Stones music. And they're all bazillionaires!" Let me just say that I don't care what genre the music is, for the most part I write positive remarks about the actual music I hear. As for egos? They're everywhere... Why am I bringing this up? Well I think there is confusion about me as some expert savior of Indie music or Hard Rock, or Blue Grass... or whatever scene. I'm not. Read on...
_________,
I know you were teasing about picking on _________,
and I know you don't believe in my idea of a fun
________ cd to promote _______ and bands, and I still
believe in your music, but let me clarify: My purpose
with the website is to network with folks to support
as an artist who might in turn support me. Since my
friend and agent was killed I have been trying my
hardest to build a fanbase. As a side to that I am
helping to build an entire music scene. I am a writer
writing about music, and I am no expert. In the end, I
want to sell books so I can work as an artist. I'm not
some savior of the music scene of great music. I am
helping the entire music scene, art scene, theatre
scene, film scene, chalk scene, whatever scene of good
music, bad music, multi-genres of music, kid bands, old
bands, black bands, white bands, Christian bands,
Hellfire and brimstone bands...
If I want to begin a career as a novelist I need to
build a fan base and literally sell thousands of
books. I chose to network with artists... I write
positive reviews of them all, even ______...
Each band needs positive promotional material. And I
hate to say it but there is a genre for _______ classic
rock style of American _______ music... That guy _______ is
super connected, good at what he does at the guitar,
and _______ ....and is well connected himself to a
scene. These are people with similar dreams to your
own. Doesn't make them better than you, or worse, or
anything. Just another artist who is trying to make it
as an artist on some level.
I have always had obstacles in my life, people who say
I can't write or I can't do this or that. But I always
ignore and forge ahead.
If I want to pick on people and be selective, then all
the people who criticized __________ that first time I
listened at ________, well I would have been dumb to
listen to them... it's too easy to criticize what we
don't like and don't believe in. But we're all just
people with dreams. When I do seem critical it is
because I try to help bands fine tune themselves so
they become better. Not to kick them down.
I would say that personally, there are maybe three
bands I have heard that I really love locally. So
where does that leave me? Do I bash on everyone else
when I can't even play a lick of anything? So I find
something I like in every band. It is really
refreshing. Because I used to be so critical. It's
nice to just be supportive. If people are critical of
me for that and it causes them to not buy my books,
then that's fine, I won't write for the music scene at
all. It's just an experiment anyways.
As for egos, there are huge egos in your band too.
Except for you and _______, you guys said hello right
away. ________ and the _______ hardly ever say hi and it
took them a long time to even stoop to my level to say
hello. They reek of huge music egos, but do I ever say
anything? No. _______ ego is fake, so is ________. (clarify:
such egos are for show)
I broke through their shells quickly and they are just
people to me... no better than the Night Crawlers,
Norfolk, or Korn (insert any band name). Just people.
And they are nicer to
me than _______ and the ___________.
I know who I am and the value of me. The value is
high, the kindness factor is high, and just because I
support everyone doesn't dilute the thematic and
multi-layered structure of my own artwork (novels) that I
know many people can't do. With your point of view maybe
I shouldn't talk to anyone because they can't do what I
do as an artist (novelist) on my level. Can you?
But I'm not going to be like that. That would be
egotistical and ignores the fact that rock and roll is
a show of 3, 4, or 5 people showing off what they can
or can't do very well. So I am happy to say I like
music from the cheesy soundtrack of Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer to Mozart, Norfolk, Wilco, U2, the
Night Crawlers, and the bum on 19th who plays beatles
songs, and more...