the Ill Opinion #8: #OCCUPYLOCALSHOWS

picture above does not represent the only audience who should heed this message.

Howdy,

With #Occupy [insert city here] being all the rage recently, an interesting image came across my path, one both lampooning the #Occupy craze and also bringing up an important point:

People need to go to local shows more often. No, seriously.

I've been fortunate to see/hear a couple live acts in the past 2 months, such as Mojo Kick, The Brinks, Like Beasts, Comrades, World In Arms, 3MF and others. For what I paid to get into these shows, I got a lot more than what I paid for. CDs, merch, experiences, new friends, great photos (another story for another time), all things I left with.

And I left with one more thought on those nights: Shows like these deserve more attention.

While many don't attend to varying reasons (lack of interest/time conflicts/the band sucks), and some of them are with merit, let's kick the ballistics here: time after time, you're at home, doing nothing, wondering "man, i'm bored." Let's look at it further: you want to go out, get away from home for a night, be social and all that...and yet you have no initiative.

How do you fix this? You get edgy. You do some digging, realize friends are playing a show at a local bar, take those 10 dollars you would've spent on something lesser (beer/cigs/chips/some bad movie/"adult entertainment") and hand them to the guy at the door looking for ID.

I can't stress how awesome and how much fun you can have by being in the live show scene, especially the local ones near you. You meet people, see bands you would never imagine, hear songs you normally don't hear, get music you never would've been exposed to, and did I mention meet people in bands?

It's happened. I've met quite a few talented band members, such as the lead vocalist of Static Electric, all of Mojo Kick, some of the musicians in Like Beasts, World In Arms and others. That's another reason why the local scene is awesome beyond belief: everyone's down to earth and approachable. No one's got the ego that makes the big guys so uncool to hang with, because they too work the 9-5 jobs, go to the same schools, ride the same trains...wait a minute.

In a way, these musicians and others like them are just as similar as the fans themselves, they were fans who got their flames sparked by seeing/hearing live music, among other things and they chased it. What's my point?

Well, go to a live show and see. You never know, chasing a dream you have may start with one experience at a small local gig, whether it's in a small basement somewhere in the city, a converted VFW hall, a church on loan for the night, or a local bar.

Just give it a chance. That's all they want, give it to them.

This was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

The Ill Opinion #7 Part 1: One Song Is All It Takes

before I begin this blog, I have to disclose that this edition of the Ill Opinion was a rough topic to tackle and with my dislike of how people are using the following event to profit sickens me. However, it would be more of a disservice to not tackle this topic. With that said... let us begin.
Music can be considered therapeutic to many, for different reasons. A breakup, a bad day, a venting forum, anything you think of, there's a song written for that moment, that feeling.

But no one could imagine that one song could become a resonating sentiment in a nation's darkest hour.

That darkest hour is 9/11. That one song is P.O.D.'s "Alive" from the album satellite.

Before that day came upon us all, Alive was just floating around the radio, getting some solid airplay and people enjoyed it like most other songs. It was a hit, one that caught on, but no one could expect that it would have such a part to play in the recovery of America post-9/11.

The song's positive and soaring atmosphere became a refuge to many, and the video climbed the charts, becoming a TRL topper for a string of episodes. While many didn't know how to explain it, it wasn't rocket science, it was music being music.

Music, in it's essence is a way to vent, a release of what builds up, for both those playing and listening to it. Alive did that. With positivity amongst the dark and gloom cast over by the attacks, people liked it and connected. And before anyone knew it, P.O.D. went from being under the nu-metal heap to being atop the mainstream rock scene, without even trying.

So with that said, musicians can and will use their medium to bring about positives. However, sometimes, in order to bring about positives, some things have to be said that may be taboo...and some taboos you can't cross.

Continued in #7 Part 2: Shut Up and Sing/Rap/etc....

the Ill Opinion #6: Watch The Winds Of Change

Last week, a historic event happened in the way music is marketed and sold.

Last week, Jay-Z and Kayne West released Watch The Throne, and accomplished a lot of things that were considerably historic.

• High iTunes sales, a new record
• Exclusive to iTunes only and Best Buy for a period of time
• Made it to retail, without leaking on the internet beforehand

Look at the last 2 points. That's what I want to focus and highlight on: the conflict between independent record stores and Jay-Z/Kayne West, and how they beat the internet, which is nearly impossible nowadays.

Firstly, Jay-Z and Kayne West, with their huge amounts of clout, managed to cut deals with Best Buy and iTunes to get "Exclusive sales windows" of Watch The Throne, with the digital launching 1st, the physical version following a week or so after.

While this may not seem that major now...it can set a possible precedent for how albums are sold and how you, the listener gets it.

Consider this: a new major record comes out and obviously, you want it. But you want a CD version. Now, the act behind the new record cut a deal with internet distribution stores to give them an exclusive window to sell the album, and in turn, put the CD on the backburner for however long this period lasts.

If you don't understand what's happening, I'll spell it out for you: CDs are being gradually phased out. By putting the digital version 1st, the digital version will sell more, thanks to early adapters and pre-ordering, which in turn shows more demand for digital, less for physical.


As time wears on, digital will overtake physical CDs and make it as much as a novelty item made for the hardcore fan as vinyl releases are today.

Now, how does this relate to independent stores? The rise and overtaking of digital puts indie stores in serious trouble. Not only do they not get a big name album when everyone else gets it, they in turn get less of the big records later on, leading to a downturn of business and closure.

So in the end, innovation leads to casualties. A rough way to look at it, but the future isn't cheap to be a part of.

Secondly, and this is not as extensive but still worthy of note: Watch The Throne beat piracy with simplicity.

By keeping a USB thumb drive in their possession at all times with the masters of the album, leaks and other advance unveiling moments were thwarted. While I highlighted a negative in the first point, for artists who hate leaks, the industry may have found their way to preserve the cash cow of day 1 releases and stopped bootlegging.

We'll have to see if it's bound to be adopted by the rest of the industry, but if it is...don't be shocked to see your favorite artist walking on stage with a USB drive on their person.

And that was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

the Ill Opinion #5: Anvil: The Story of Anvil

Stop me if you've heard this story before: Classic metal band that takes itself too seriously gets one more shot at the big time, and a camera crew is watching their every move, showing how much this band cares and wants to be as successful as possible.

This is not Spinal Tap. This is Anvil.

A Canadian metal band that started between two childhood friends in high school, Anvil has been hailed as influential on a generation of metal musicians (i.e. Slash, Lemmy, Scott Ian, etc.). And yet, the success has never been there, in sales, or in crowd attendance.

Why do I bring this movie up, you ask? For a lot of reasons in regards to musicians, bands, families, and the mortality of a band or musical act.

If you're a musician: watch this film. Watch it and notice how the passion and will to make something work in light of real life problems, and how friendship can sometimes make your passion for whatever you do that much stronger, that much more real.

If you're a band: get everyone together and watch this film. It's a much-needed slap-in-the-face for every band, because it shows you two things: the fact that yes, failure is very very likely. You may wind up to be just like Anvil. But...it's a sign of how the meaning of "success" can vary case by case. Sometimes, just putting that album out is the victory, not the sold-out tour dates.

If you're a family member of the above parties: watch this film. There's a lot to be said about families and musicians sometimes not seeing eye-to-eye, and this film exploits those relationships, examines them, and highlights how both the difference in opinion and the willingness to embrace the ambitions of a family member affect those around it.

In closing, with this film being on Netflix Instant, you really have no excuse to not see this film.

And this was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

The Ill Opinion #4: Independent Day

So on the most patriotic of days in America’s calendar, there’s an interesting observation to be made about the music industry and the name of today, Independence Day.

In the later years of the 2000’s, in the wake of the industry’s self-inflicted bleedout, tools became available to people that in a way, created the oft-mentioned but rarely done “musical independence”. The use of a label to “make it” in music, has died, and in its place, the world wide web, has opened the gates for artists to take their sound and take 100% control on who gets it, how it comes out, what it looks like, and what people think about it. While this is still being ironed-out, musicians can live D.I.Y. and be reasonably successful.

Or in wilder cases, get famous and outshine everyone. All because they did it themselves, and they did it their way.

It’s a lot of hit-and-miss, but trust me on this, when you look back and see what you’ve done on your own, it’s amazing beyond words.

So what’s the gist here? Simple: for musicians who still think a label is the way, you’re no longer a slave, the war for independence is being fought right now, and while they may never be a winner, there will always be a move closer to true independence. Be your own label/MTV/promo/fan club…and have some fun en route.

And that was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

The Ill Opinion #3: Internet Killed The Rock Star

Hard to imagine that way back in 2005, when MySpace began it's path of world domination, the music industry was a lot different back then. Adapting to the advent of ".99 a track" and the ability of people getting any song any time they wanted was a hard thing to swallow for the draconian system of labels and musicians.

Turn your history books to 2011, and take a look, or better yet, a listen to the modern radio today. Now, how many songs tend to have a similar sound, i.e, the type of sound that you would associate with the now-fallen social media website?

The answer: lots of them.

In the course of 6 years, if you can believe that, the music industry has adapted for the internet. Not just in business, but the demand for songs are even more in-tune with the World Wide Web. With the rise of MySpace, "starting a band" and "putting music out there" is now easy enough that in the course of 1 week, you can have the amount of traction that would take weeks, months, even years, to obtain before MySpace.

Now how does that equate into the title? Easier than you think.

With the chance that a hit can come out of anywhere, the special feeling of being a "rockstar" is now commonplace, as in, it's no longer shocking.

And with this, music in general has become, almost cheapened. What was a needle in a haystack is now commonplace. That's not to say, good music is dead and gone, far from it.

The point is, the game has changed, and now there's an ease, a fast way in, which is great, yet also, awful. When every Tom, Dick and Hank can get famous now, what's the point in trying?

In closing, I want you to consider this: remember how special you felt when you did something "incredible"? Imagine seeing everyone else do it. Not so special now, is it?

This was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

The Ill Opinion #2: The Thin Line Between Truth & Hate

With the power of the internet and shortened attention spans, I have noticed a rather disturbing trend in music and the stating of opinions...

There is no in-between between "love" and "hate". Either you're down or you hate it.

It's a bad sign when you read interviews over the internet and people who know that something or someone isn't that good at what they do, that no one can actually say "I don't like this because..." without getting mouth-breathers coming online saying "OMG, F U hater! You're just jealous of what they did!"

This is a lot quicker write than the last one, because I'd rather not waste time with this point, but the fact is, if we can't come out and say "I don't like [so and so]", then the ability to critique and help people grow with their skills and talents via a fresh set of eyes and ears is dead.

And so is music. So in closing, there's a fine line between truth and hate, a middle ground. It's called "constructive criticism", don't be afraid to hear it, share it and who knows, maybe you can get something out of it, other than a reason to rage.

This was the Ill Opinion. Stay gold.

The Ill Opinion #1: Genre Bender

For years, the use of genres has been considered a necessity to organize different musical acts and albums for shelf spacing and purchasing at the stores.You could consider it to be a commercial innovation, something that caught fire with others and stayed around in music for years, an unquestionable part of the game, much like chords and the general structure of an average pop song.

For better or worse, genres have been an institution. However, a gradual effort to break the walls down and mix other genres with each other has slowly caught steam in the modern scene of music and what was considered an act of insanity bound for failure, is now seen as normal.