The Gate Is Wide, But The Minds Are Narrow...

[Satch_21]

I am in musical isolation...

Where I live nobody knows anything about good music...most of the people listen to punk...no i dont mean thats a bad thing...punk is cool to an extent but these people only listen to it because their told its cool...they listen to...ugh..dance music...and rap ( I do not like rap at all...attack me if you want to ) because it has "bad words" in it or something...jeez...it seems that the only people who know the goods are the ones who play guitar...well some of them, others play punk, which is cool when its played for the right reasons...not because it allows you to curse without yer mom getting mad at you...lol... I got a teacher who has played in a band for years...and hes as ignorant as the next guy...he hates Les Pauls ( too heavy and they only got one tone) to the point where he said if he had one he'd run over it in his car...same guy thinks Led Zeppelin was a one-hit wonder...that floored me...i wanted to punch his lights outs...and when i tell people what i listen to...they make fun of me...not that i give a ****, but if you listen to Bob Dylan, the doors and the grateful dead, instead of DMX, Good Charlotte or P Diddy (shudder) your a musical freak....and another thing (man im on a rant here) people know of good artists but only because of this one hit song that gets played...Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"...nobody knows about "Suicide Solution" or "Over the Mountain".....Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"....what about "Child in Time" or "Strange Kind of Woman" ?....I had one guy try and tell me that the intro riff to AC/DC 's "Hells Bells" and Metallica' s "Enter Sandman" (another example of people knowing of a band for one song) was the same thing....isolation...

So heres my question...whats the musical situation in your area ?

- Peace

[nobody]

Mine used to be better. Right now, there a lot of those punk kids, however, we do have bit of a classic rock culture in my town, so there a lot of cover bands and bands doing 'roots' music. I few years ago, we had a decetn scene with a lot of experimenting, which is what I prefer. All those folks up and moved on me, so I'm pretty much alone, stylistically speaking. I jam with a western band every now and then, but nobody really wants to take artistic risks and do something more 'out there' like I want to do.

[matb]

There's me and a bunch of kids into nu-metal.

Fun fun fun.

[Lenin]

there's the hardcore kids, i mostly ignore them, but for the most part the musical scene here is very wide open, looking for different sounds all the time, and is definately very appreciative of "older" sounding music.

[skyneverclaimed]

Everyone here thinsk they're better then everyone else.. so theres not that many friends among bands

[Sk8Jack12]

hey dont diss the punk bands.

sure all we play is power chords (i dont - i play the drums in my punk band. power chords r a disgrace)

sure the singers cant sing and all they sing are crappy lyrics about girlfriends

sure they have no talent (except for the drummers)

but hey in high school, being in a band gets u all the chicks. they dont have any idea how much we suck. i would start a better band of people with talent and play the guitar in it, but nobody here my age is any good. they all play power chords. so for right now i am just pimpin it playin the drums in a crappy punk band. but hey - i get all the chicks.

[BlueOrb]

same thing, a bunch of girls who think they are hardcore cuz they listen to avril lavigne, a bunch of guys who think they are rockers cuz they listent to nickeback, and alot of idiots who think they are hip cuz they listen to ludacris and nelly

[boyecho]

who cares if people don't know any led zeppelin songs or more from whoever did smoke on the water. Because i dont play attention to classic rock does it mean i'm not a true musician or i have a low appreciation for music? **** no it does not mean any of that. it just means i never paid much attention to classic rock. That doesn't mean i dont like good music. thats just completely subjective.

Now, i do agree with you about everyone only wanting to listen to popular music and bad techno... completely manufactured music has never hit my ears quite right...

as far as scenes. i consider myself somewhat lucky. I was in a highly experimental Instrumental band for a year, we had great shows. alot of people always showing up, and alot of people that had never seen us asking us questions about actually managing to not have a singer and still get shows, etc..

we have some blues. we have a ton of punk rock. but really talented melodic and sometimes some technical almost metal inspired punk. there are alot of great musicians around here doing what they love. there are hardcore kids. and some 'indie rock bands'. and me trying to make noise in a hole of a studio in an industrial park. i'll admit the scene has gotten worse over the past few years, but if you dig there are some great things happening.

the only problem is, alot of the venues are so stuck up you cant manage shows without having a 'press-kit'.

[wihaga83]

i don't care for all pop mainstream s h i t ..... i just play my blues and classic rock realm.

any pop mainstream is just a s h i t !!

[blindreaper]

Originally posted by Satch_21
I am in musical isolation...

Where I live nobody knows anything about good music...most of the people listen to punk...no i dont mean thats a bad thing...punk is cool to an extent but these people only listen to it because their told its cool...they listen to...ugh..dance music...and rap ( I do not like rap at all...attack me if you want to ) because it has "bad words" in it or something...jeez...it seems that the only people who know the goods are the ones who play guitar...well some of them


same way where i live, its so annoying. everyone listens to rap and hip-hop and crap. all they sing about is drugs, running from the cops or going to jail.

[j_stashko]

Originally posted by Satch_21
I am in musical isolation...

Where I live nobody knows anything about good music...most of the people listen to punk...no i dont mean thats a bad thing...punk is cool to an extent but these people only listen to it because their told its cool...they listen to...ugh..dance music...and rap ( I do not like rap at all...attack me if you want to ) because it has "bad words" in it or something...jeez...it seems that the only people who know the goods are the ones who play guitar...well some of them, others play punk, which is cool when its played for the right reasons...not because it allows you to curse without yer mom getting mad at you...lol... I got a teacher who has played in a band for years...and hes as ignorant as the next guy...he hates Les Pauls ( too heavy and they only got one tone) to the point where he said if he had one he'd run over it in his car...same guy thinks Led Zeppelin was a one-hit wonder...that floored me...i wanted to punch his lights outs...and when i tell people what i listen to...they make fun of me...not that i give a ****, but if you listen to Bob Dylan, the doors and the grateful dead, instead of DMX, Good Charlotte or P Diddy (shudder) your a musical freak....and another thing (man im on a rant here) people know of good artists but only because of this one hit song that gets played...Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"...nobody knows about "Suicide Solution" or "Over the Mountain".....Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"....what about "Child in Time" or "Strange Kind of Woman" ?....I had one guy try and tell me that the intro riff to AC/DC 's "Hells Bells" and Metallica' s "Enter Sandman" (another example of people knowing of a band for one song) was the same thing....isolation...

So heres my question...whats the musical situation in your area ?

- Peace

Dude that is the exact situation I am in, like so very close to what goes on in my town. People here are such idiots, they listen to total **** music, it is a discrace, they don't even consider listening to other music, well most people, they have no idea about any music outside of the mainstream. I listen mostly to metal so it is a bit different, but I still love the bands you listed and listen to them on a regular basis. People think all metal is die die kill kill satan satan and cookie monster vocals, but I listen to melodic metal and tons of the old stuff. All the kids at my school wanna hear is metallica, and only like master of puppets and enter sandman, the mainstream songs, every time I bring my guitar to school and my other band members come they say, play metallica, so I am just like playing old metallica off the first album and they are like, I never heard that before, I am like learn your music bitch, you have to almost force them to listen to some good music and then force them again, then the are like, this stuff rules! We play songs that people have never heard and they are like, that was cool and they ask what it is, then we introduce them to new music.

[Surferosad]

Ok, this rant may be an exercise in pointing out the bloody obvious, but... Here it goes: most people listen to crap. Most people have been listening to **** since the dawn of the recording age. Even before that, the most popular operas and concerts were basically... Crap. J.S. Bach was forgotten for more than a century. Ditto for Mozart. For every Beatles records, there have been thousands of Petula Clarks, Cliff Richards and Partridge Families or worse. Like in any artistic endeavour, there are those who do it mostly for the money and fame (usually producing crap), and there are those who do it mostly because they need to express themselves (sometimes creating decent stuff). And don't forget that some of your good music may be my crap and vice versa! So stop your whining and go express yourself. Hopefully, you'll do something good (if the record company lets you) and people with taste might remember you after you kick the bucket.

[spaceship]

dont you guys find it the least bit ironic that you're all complaining about "narrow minds" while dismissing any type of music thats not your personal favorite? dont get me wrong, i abhor whats in the mainstream as much as anyone, but i keep my mind open to new things. im not one of those rock purists who closed the book in the 80s. for example, take hip-hop...im going to say something now that might piss some of you off, but its my opinion: public enemy and run dmc were as influential as zeppelin and floyd. those guys made something out of their own experiences, and i respect that. they're skilled and artistic and my hat goes off to them any day of the week. sure, theres lots of crap out there in the mainstream, but there's also a lot of good stuff like radiohead, the white stripes, the roots, de la soul, and beck.......we shouldnt just sit around and bitch about how nobody appreciates all the good bands from the 60s and 70s.....rock has moved on in some important respects and its exciting! the most important thing is to keep your mind open and when you find something you like, support it!

[Clayton38]

Well, I live in california, so I have multiple scenes to choose from. for the most part, I live about 30 minutes from Orange County, so the hardcore thing is really big. I thought hardcore was Dead Kennedys and Sick of it All? That sounds like metal to me! Then the emo thing is extremely popular here now... and I don't much like that either. I'm in L.A. a lot, and I can tell you first hand that there is no scene in L.A. You would think there would be, but noone makes good music in the city anymore. It's kinda where all kinds of generic bands go to show off. The most interesting thing out here may be the desert bands... but thats not very interesting either. My friend has a band in the desert, and I enjoy hearing them... but I think thats the only band I enjoy hearing out there. So we don't have much. I can only imagine what it must be like living in a small town.

I personally have been going to see my friend Peter Distefano play acoustic, and I really like hearing him. Lots of jazz musicians and stuff that you can hear downtown. Iv'e listened to a jazz singer named Etta James out here, shes really nice... and I guess she was somewhat famous at one time, but I'm way too young to remember anything about that. One of my best friends is a DJ, so I listen to some of the stuff he plays and I like that. He mixes rap and rock, and it's pretty cool.

[fiveways]

The scene here is HARDCORE, as it seems to be everywhere, or DEATH METAL.....Mostly hardcore. It is a political town (Ottawa) so it is expected.

besides this, there are a few people keeping '90's indie alive, which, again, I have little interest in....I don't mind it, just not my cup of tea. What else? Ahhh.......There is a cool Industrial scene, maybe one of the last ones left, that actually play fairly modern and none mainstream music (No, you would never hear NIN at that night thank god), and a few of the local boys are sign to bigger industrial labels (Ant-Zen, Cold Meat Industry).

Other then that there is a TINY avant-guard scene, and a tiny glitchcore scene.....Not much though.

There is no place for what I do though, it kinda sucks, as I know Montreal is just a Hour and a Half away and seems far more into what I wish to do then the musicians around here....

[corvette]

Bottom line is.....money! If it sells, it's the "Next Big Thing", whether you like it or not, or whether it's good or not.
My favorite arr all the skinny white kids I run into, who think they are bad mofos "from 'da hood". Sorry pal, but your dad is a doctor, and you go to an all white school.....you have not a clue!
corvette

[special k]

Originally posted by Clayton38
Iv'e listened to a jazz singer named Etta James out here, shes really nice... and I guess she was somewhat famous at one time, but I'm way too young to remember anything about that.

Holy ****... Etta James is a legend. She is totally famous, too... listen to any of the better female singers today and you'll hear her voice in them. Yeah, she kicks ass. And you've met her? Very cool.

The scene in St. Louis is very strange. Everyone is really competitive, but there are little cliques of bands that kind of play shows together around, but for the most part everyone seems to be trying to get on this local music radio show, when nobody but local musicians listen to it (9:00 on Sunday nights! who listens to the radio then?!). There are some decent bands, though.

Uncle Tupelo cut their teeth around here, so there's a big alt-country influence with some bands. There's a group called Nadine who is very very good that kind of play along those lines. I think the performed at South by Southwest in Austin this year.

The blues scene here is pretty hot. There are some real living legends (Bennie Smith, Oliver Sain, Chuck Berry) who gig around town consistently that will just knock you over with their playing, but for every one of them there are bands made up with 50 year old white dudes doing ham-handed versions of "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Hoochie Coochie Man" that make me want to cry.

If musicians here stopped competing and banded together we could have a decent music scene, but as of right now the majority of people here don't support live music unless the radio station tells them to...

That's my goal, I guess. to build a scene here.
wicked.

-k.

[Ice age coming]

The music scene here:

There's a little group of people here that listen to good music like me and there is a bunch of Britney Spears\trance\dance music\rap\nu-metal fans..

The litte "good music" group is my friends, some of them listen too 60,70's rock, some of them listen to my type of music (Radiohead, Pixies, etc.) and some of them listen to death-metal and stuff (i except that because its better than christina aguilera)
I would mainly like to thank my brother because of my taste in music, before I listened to dance music and pop but he pushed me to listen to great music... THANK YOU BRO! The first Radiohead album i fell in love with was surprisingly Kid A. When my bro first showed it too me i thought "this must be the most weird and crappy music i've ever heard" but he kept pushing me and after a few weeks i started to dig the song "Nationel Anthem" and after a while i digged the whole album.. Then I did follow up with OKC which i really thought was more weird than Kid A
:p and then The Bends, Amnesiac and Pablo Honey... and after a few i now have a big collection of bands i like. In the start period i showed the Radiohead albums too my friends and they reacted just like me "this is crap" but after a while all my friends thought they were awesome...

At my school there are like 4% with good music and the rest 94% listen to RNB, Christina Aguilera and pop-rap. And 1,5 % of the people with good music taste play a instrument.

I think its a shame what happened to the mainstream music industry... Everything that come out of it is crap. But hey! we can comfort us with all the good bands like: Radiohead, Mogwai, Flaming Lips, Trail Of Dead, Muse, Sigur Ros, GYBE!, Built to spil ETC ETC

I really dont see why we really bother to complain about the charter ****s because in the background there is ALOT of great bands that produce great music! I think its a good thing that they dont end up being played 150 times per day on the radio and everybody whisteling the melodies because then we would be bored of them at 1..2..3

ah this post is not getting anywhere...... :( LOL

[Dubious]

As much as I despise most of the music that gets attention from mass audiences, as long as people genuinely enjoy it, then good for them.

That said, I've decided that in general most people don't really like music. I'm sure you know what I mean: they say they do, they even can sing along with what's on the radio, but ask them who the song's by or what its title is and they happily respond, "I don't know." They don't care enough about music to actively search for more, they just are content to be hand fed by the radio.

Gross generalization, sure. But I'm stuck with the radio every day for eight hours when I'm at work, and am forced to hear the same songs 4-5 times a day......Oh how I hate Clear Channel.

[special k]

Originally posted by Dubious
Oh how I hate Clear Channel.


Clear Channel is the Spawn of Satan!! Bad bad bad bad BAD clear channel!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[EdgeCrusher]

Where I am, there's a real big Ska-Punk scene, in the style of Less than Jake, Reel Big Fish, etc etc. It's what they want to do, it's what's cool for the kids. About 40% are into that, and maybe 10% of them have bands.

The other half, or other 40% are into Rap, RnB and Nu-Metal. About 1% of them have bands, and, well, one of their bands thought they got big, but they didn't. Meh.

Then the other 10% can be split up into the metal scene, and the indie. There is one indie band around here, compared to the two metal ones (I'm in one of them.). So when you're in a scene full of ska punk, it does get hard to stick gigs on. But we started organising our own, and a scene is slowly starting up...it's nice to see.

[darkstar54mm]

since i live in the same place satch_21 here does (gasp the secret is out!!) anyway yeah the music scene is preatty crappy now i like some nu metal i.e. saliva,disturbed,system of a down excetra but if i didnt start playing id be clueless about ZEpp??!?!!!
imgaine id know stairway but a world without blackdog i just cant imagine... yeah the rap **** is popular and i mean there ****in idiots about it to its dark angel music if i listen to ozzy or led zeppelin or GnR for some stupid reason... now more people are being exposed becuase im doing my job as a good human being... and it was just today when in PE class and this prick called me ozzy becuz my hair is long... anyway the point is he only knows of the oz man cuz of crazy train and maybe mama im comin home.......what a **** head

[Satch_21]

Theirs no narrow-mindedness on my part...people can listen to whatever the hell they want...but Im saying that for me there's nobody to relate to around here...I mean me and darkstar54mm stand around talkin and people walk by and say **** like "jeez will you two shut up with the guitar crap...?"...ugh...i got to go jam...keep myself sane...

[jonnyload3]

My situation here is pretty grim as well. I live in a small town mainly divided into three groups: the country music scene, the rap scene, and the modern music scene. Now, rap and modern stuff (ie creed, avril, junk like that) I really hate. As for country, all of the new country (anything post 1990 with the exception of cash, parton, and a few others) I dont really care for. As a band, it is very hard to break through here. Country and hardcore groups do well, but a four piece alt. rock band (my old group) or a two piece blues rock band (my new project) rarely get heard. Noone really cares for "fringe music" so to speak, so they choose to ignore it. Im just glad im going to college next year, where I know the music I listen to will be a common thing among my classmates. However, if they dont appreciate what I listen to, then thats fine. At least Im the one being enlightened.

[Dusty]

Los Angeles, CA

I moved out here about 5 years ago to go to college, secretly hoping to start a band and all that. I was shocked the first couple of times I went to the cool sunset/hollywood places that I had dreamt about while listening to Crue, G'N'F'N'R and all the 80s hair bands that I loved. The venues they used to play at (Whiskey, Roxy, Troubador) have all become pay-to-play places. So the bands that play in these great venues aren't great; or even good. Most of them suck monkey balls but they have money and they can afford to buy 500 tickets from The Roxy at $10 a pop and eat 3/4 of the cost. You can't actually make any money playing at any of the good places in town unless you can absolutely sell a ton of tickets, and even then there's too much Supply and too little Demand. So bands like the Tories (who are so f'n awesome, espcially live) end up breaking up after 5 years because they couldn't get signed and weren't making hardly any money, even though they were the best live band in town. The moral of the story is if you want good music you have to go find it. The stuff that gets dropped in your lap sucks because it took corporate america to get it to you because you're lazy. Once I got away from the Strip I found some good venues and bands. And until they closed it down for Fire Hazard bullsh!t, The Smell in Downtown was by far the best venue I have ever been to even if everyone was so pretentious. Damn sorry about writing a book.

[Clayton38]

Special K, yeah, she lives out here and goes to a salon that my friend owns. I talked to her a few times before she told me that she was a famous jazz singer... but I had really never heard of her before I met her. She's extremely nice though, and I want to play guitar for her one day.

I don't see what the big deal about the bad scenes is for. You guys should just make the music you like and hope it grows on people. Hoping that people would have a better musical taste is no use... because if they did then we'd be hearing My Bloody Valentine and King Crimson on the radio. Just find some musicians and make the best music you can, it doesn't matter if the majority of your friends understand. I believe that if it's honest, you will get some attention.

[special k]

Originally posted by Clayton38
Special K, yeah, she lives out here and goes to a salon that my friend owns. I talked to her a few times before she told me that she was a famous jazz singer... but I had really never heard of her before I met her. She's extremely nice though, and I want to play guitar for her one day.

I don't see what the big deal about the bad scenes is for. You guys should just make the music you like and hope it grows on people. Hoping that people would have a better musical taste is no use... because if they did then we'd be hearing My Bloody Valentine and King Crimson on the radio. Just find some musicians and make the best music you can, it doesn't matter if the majority of your friends understand. I believe that if it's honest, you will get some attention.

that is badass! you should go listen to a bunch of her recordings (if you haven't already) she's amazing. that's really cool that she's a nice lady, too. i think all the best musicians should be decent people, but often that's not the case.

[FuzzFan]

well, in my little town it's either "emo" bands or new punk bands (the warped tour is always the hot topic of conversation) or rap people. This is how I maintain my good taste, I ask people in my school what they are listening to, then I make it a point never to even consider listening to any of those bands. :D

[sk8punck7976]

i listen to what i like, and im not even going to say what it is... and it is definately not 3 chord punk from guys with blue liberty spikes and green mohawks.... but at my school there about 20 goths 854768376543 gangsta wannabes that listen to rap... and about 35 that listen to hardcore... and about 40-50 that listen to metal... 15 that listen to old metal... and about 10 that listen to south bay melodic hardcore.. (okay okay, i lied. im one of those 10) and the last about 100 listen to pop (brtney spears, good charlotte, christina aguiewilhh, blink 182, nsync, new found glory, simple plan){ok ill admit it, i like a song from simple plan called my alien... but aliens are way cool and a song about having an anlien girlfriend is cool too.} but yea thats the scene where im at... o

[clifford]

i have nothing but christian rock surrounding me.. love jesus? cool, im happy for you.. sing about him in every damn song? SHUT THE HELL UP.. im really sick of hearing "im taken higher, higher, into the arms of the lord" and stuff like that.. i have those and punk bands.. and me and my bassisit who need a drummer. that's my scene..

[Alecto]

It's bizarre; I have the absolute opposite problem. I'm hanging out in an amazing musical scene right now; I'm jamming with (and listening to) friends that would blow half the **** on the radio away, but there's very few places to play! The bars are full of weekend types who play once a year for nothing, and bring out their families to pack the place. Flyering, postering, and stickering seem to be almost a lost cause. You have to get people (other than your friends) out to hear you play live almost at gunpoint, so there's no way to develop a following, or work on your live show. Toronto has this huge inferiority complex about local bands; you have to get successful somewhere else before anybody here gives you the time of day! I'm taking my band outside of the megacity to play shows; at least we'll get a chance to make some decent money! :rolleyes:

BTW, whoever thinks Les Pauls only have one tone need to get run over by a truck themselves!

[The User]

Big hardcore punk scene. Hate it.

[Wir-Click-Wir]

Three-chord punk is very popular here in the rock community, and I haven't met any musicians with similar tastes. Then again, I don't get out very much, so that doesn't count. The large majority listens to top 40 and island music. Needless to say, it's not looking very good.

[Bluesmoke]

people are just tourists...man what a bumma...you grow up and you see the world and it makes you cry...the sixties...I mean wow but I live in the land of oz and the sixties hardly made a bump here..Its sooooo sad... I mean I was lucky I was always into old music...even as a kid my parents had this tape collection of everything...it was cool...then I discovered Hendrix...man I was home...there's freedom there..the scene dosen't exist...people just want a party and background music to talk over...thats why the guitar is so out of vogue...people can't talk over it...they don't want a vibe...they don't want to think...they ain't there...How about this...you go to a big mall and one of those big chain record shops and you can't even get a Radiohead record...their not stocked...there's no Radiohead section...I mean what is going on here...its insane...even the local music mags cannot believe it...but its the consumers..they just arent into it..they just want...nothing...the over thirties under forties just don't listen to music...I don't know why...I guess their to busy buying mid-size 4wd's and big estate houses with big mortgages...they just don't want to keep searching for answers...they just want money.

[j_stashko]

Originally posted by Bluesmoke
...people just want a party and background music to talk over...thats why the guitar is so out of vogue...people can't talk over it...they don't want a vibe...they don't want to think...they ain't there

Yeah I know what you mean, I was playing the cd nightfall in middle earth by blind guardian and some chicks and the teach were like turn that down, then they were like turn that off. They don't know how to appreciate good music, they don't want music with depth, they don't want music they have to think about, they don't want music that takes more than one listen to understand, they just want music that they can shoot the **** over. Get some elevator music damnit!

[Alecto]

And while we're at it . . . (getting ready to spit some serious bile here)
Have you actually checked out some of the lyrics that these so-called top bands write? Blatant A-A-B-B rhymes (I can anticipate what rhyme the singer is about to sing half the time) & they don't make any sense! I mean, jeez, 'I Am the Walrus' was just a stream of consciousness thing, but there was at least some interesting word-play going on. These Ricky Retardo lyric writers don't even have that! Right now, the radio here is full of Default, Theory of a Dead Man, and Not By Choice: these bands all sound exactly the same (vocalists ripping off Scott Stapp ripping off Eddie Vedder), and they don't have anything to say! No wonder so many people are so vacuous; they're constantly being fed the aural equivalent of Big Macs!
Gee, maybe I should buy a PRS, tune it to drop-D, get a lobotomy, wear my pants around my knees, ditch my current bass player (because, you know, it's a boy's club all the way; no gurlz aloued!), write a ****load of one-finger barre chord songs with "die/try" rhyme schemes, pretend I'm really angry with nothing to say, and I'll have A&R types salivating all over me in no time!
W:rolleyes:
Jesus H. Frankenchrist, where's the next Nirvana, Clash, or Tori Amos when you need one?! I don't mind musicians who aren't virtuosos, but at least have something to say!
. . . Have I mentioned this thread punched one of my hot buttons?:D