Is That All There Is?
By Billy Druid
"Scarlet Symphony needs your voice.
"www.sandiegomusicawards.com
"Scarlet Symphony is nominated for Best Alternative
in the San Diego Music Awards.
"Being that it is decided upon through email ballots, we really need all of your voices in this. And please tell your friends and family about this nomination,
for it is open to all to vote in all areas.
"Josh and Zach's Afro Funk groove band ¡SOCIETY!
is also nominated for Best World Artist.
"We need your votes!
"KISSES."
But
why? Really. Will you jump for joy and shout, "whoopee, we're the
best!" (and believe it too) if you do end up receiving
this most
prestigious award?
Is that the best a rock and roll band today can aspire for, to win a popularity contest? Is that why you sweat, create, and sacrifice?
If you do win, odds are that however many of your fans there are that helped you receive your award, there will be just as many haters grumbling, "they're not the best, that's bullshit."
And if you aren't completely wrapped up in your own hype, there might even be another band that you feel in your heart is more deserved of the title of "San Diego's Best Alternative Band".
Ultimately, no one's opinion of your art will be swayed by something as trivial or superficial as the San Diego Music Awards. They're either with you or against you already.
I'd like to see two rivals for the title recommending to their fans they vote for the other.
I think this would be the only honorable and respectable way to conduct yourself in such a ridiculous pissing contest.
Like if Arab On Radar and The Locust were both up for the same Grammy, do you think either of those bands would be grovelling for public approval?
I doubt it. Each band would be endorsing the other band, if not lampooning the event entirely all together.
And just what is "alternative music", anyhow?
Like, "new wave" before it, and "grunge", alternative is a label concocted by a marketing department at some record label to help people who don't really understand music market a music product to the proper demographic.
There is no such thing as alternative.
Winning the title of "best alternative" is essentially comparable to being dubbed, "best snipe-hunter".
Instead, you should relish in the energy of the creative bond you share.
Be content with the confidence to recognize that you are talented and are blessed with the gift of song, and the knowledge that those songs will be your mark on history after you're long dead and gone.
Your focus as a formidable rock and roll band should be on what you want to deliver. Let the frat-rock icons of MTV culture water down their significance with the pursuit of fodder for their egos.
These music awards ceremonies aren't brought forth by people in bands.
They are ceremonial hoopla concieved by the parasitic entity known as the music industry.
They exist to generate revenue for people who want to make a profit off of you, no matter how big of a heart full of love for music the master of ceremonies may have. Now ask yourself, are you creators, or are you competitors?
Sincerely,
Billy Druid
Is that the best a rock and roll band today can aspire for, to win a popularity contest? Is that why you sweat, create, and sacrifice?
If you do win, odds are that however many of your fans there are that helped you receive your award, there will be just as many haters grumbling, "they're not the best, that's bullshit."
And if you aren't completely wrapped up in your own hype, there might even be another band that you feel in your heart is more deserved of the title of "San Diego's Best Alternative Band".
Ultimately, no one's opinion of your art will be swayed by something as trivial or superficial as the San Diego Music Awards. They're either with you or against you already.
I'd like to see two rivals for the title recommending to their fans they vote for the other.
I think this would be the only honorable and respectable way to conduct yourself in such a ridiculous pissing contest.
Like if Arab On Radar and The Locust were both up for the same Grammy, do you think either of those bands would be grovelling for public approval?
I doubt it. Each band would be endorsing the other band, if not lampooning the event entirely all together.
And just what is "alternative music", anyhow?
Like, "new wave" before it, and "grunge", alternative is a label concocted by a marketing department at some record label to help people who don't really understand music market a music product to the proper demographic.
There is no such thing as alternative.
Winning the title of "best alternative" is essentially comparable to being dubbed, "best snipe-hunter".
Instead, you should relish in the energy of the creative bond you share.
Be content with the confidence to recognize that you are talented and are blessed with the gift of song, and the knowledge that those songs will be your mark on history after you're long dead and gone.
Your focus as a formidable rock and roll band should be on what you want to deliver. Let the frat-rock icons of MTV culture water down their significance with the pursuit of fodder for their egos.
These music awards ceremonies aren't brought forth by people in bands.
They are ceremonial hoopla concieved by the parasitic entity known as the music industry.
They exist to generate revenue for people who want to make a profit off of you, no matter how big of a heart full of love for music the master of ceremonies may have. Now ask yourself, are you creators, or are you competitors?
Sincerely,
Billy Druid