Wednesday, February 1, 2012

There is a start to everything...

Imagine yourself on an uplifted platform, looking across space toward a light; burning, expansive, bright.  You feel weak; nervous… there is nothing except yourself and the light.  How did you get here?  What is this place that surrounds you, spacious and smoky, foreboding and slightly terrifying… you wonder what brought you here in the first place.  What could you have possibly been thinking, nervousness and butterflies, sweaty palms and a twinge of wanting to turn around and RUN...  You worked so hard, hours upon hours of practice and writing, for what? 

 Sounds of screaming people, not of fear or anger, but of joy and elation, force themselves into your ears.  A loud burst of static from speakers surrounding you awake you from your wakeful dreaming… you at once feel  the instrument in your hands, the sleek polished wood.  Your fingers graze the strings that you strung yourself.  Feeling them, practicing in your head the patterns and sounds that you have created, worked so hard for, spent so much time on.  An involuntary grin spreads across your face.  You feel the crowd beneath you, the thick wafting energy they give to you. 

HEY, HOWS IT GOING PHOENIX!”  An even larger growl erupts from the already thronging masses, responding to your greeting.  “Are you ready for us?!”  Your own foreboding and subconscious regret fade as the audience gives you renewed power and strength for this passion you carry in your soul.  You create, you play, you exude music… This, my friend, is what you live for, what you work your 9-5 job for, why you teach your children to follow their own hearts in what they desire.  This, this… is local music. 

We’ve all been to the larger national concerts for bands such as Korn, Slipknot, Godsmack and other larger, mainstream bands; there is no other thrill like getting to see rockstars, in their prime, play their music before thousands of fans.  You pay for the pleasure of getting to witness stars on stage and play the songs you hear every day on the radio.  Hip hop, rap, country… it’s all the same.  Mainstream players come to town, they play large amounts of their music on the radio to get you psyched up, and you share this moment with hundreds, even thousands, of other like-minded fans in Phoenix. 

There comes a point, though, when the passion gets overshadowed by ticket prices, record sales and merchandise.  These individuals play the same music, over and over again, night after night… not to say they’ve lost their passion, simply that they have become working men and women, working their jobs, giving their product to millions of people across the nation.  The music loses it’s intimacy and newness.  Sure its fun to get to say you went and saw so and so band at this show, and this group at this festival.  The fact of the matter is sometimes you get to the point where ticket prices are too high or went too fast or not available at the time you can get them to get decent seats.  This leaves you far from the stage, and far from the raw, creative, passionate energy that these individuals emanate. 

There will always be mainstream bands you enjoy, you tune your radio to a specific station, and when that one song… that song that you relate to, subconsciously communicate to, comes on… you twist the dial for those subwoofers and roll down your windows, scream along with the music, no matter if you can sing or not, and let the world know “This is my JAM yo!!”  That is what marketing and radio stations are for.  To communicate awesome bands that have made it big to your minds, and to let you enjoy them. 

What makes a band go big?  Is it simply they are such a great band, everyone loves them?  Their creative processes creating such sublime music it makes you want to puke when you hear it?  Or is it the marketing, being signed on by a label and spewed 24/7 across the radio waves in hopes it will simply “catch on?”  I believe it is a factor of it all.  A factor of the majority, a factor of what most people like.  ‘Pop’ music, by unspoken definition is ‘popular’.  If a certain person of stature says this is THE song or artist to like at the moment, it MUST be so!!  So you buy their cd, merchandise, tickets to their shows, become part of their followers.  Which, by the way, have names from some bands… like ICP and their FAMILY and Slipknot and their MAGGOTS.  That in and of itself is symbolic of a cultish behavior, a level of popularity and following simply to follow.  Now, I am not knocking either band, I myself enjoy Slipknot thoroughly.  I think Cory is a genius in his own right and should keep writing great songs.  The point of this is that their fans grow exponentially and at some point the local Iowa band becomes “untouchable” for most of them.  Who can say they have met Cory and his bandmates, genuinely met them, versus winning a backstage pass through a radio station?  I can’t.  But I still love the music, still move to the rhythm  of Vermillion pt 2, one song I do have to say kind of inspired this online avatar.

So, as untouchable and popular as these bands are, as a physical energy dependent individual such as myself, it is hard for me to feel the passion they have for their music.  The utter pleasure and eroticism that music gives me, a good beat and a strong bass line… a fantastic combination for my being to enjoy.  To thrive.  To live.  Not many people I know go to live concerts.  I generally go by myself, to dive bars and small venues, not knowing who is playing, simply to listen to live music.  I enjoy watching the faces on the band members as they play, feel their energy that flows from the music they created, and at a short distance, touching even.  What a fucking thrill to me, to be able to witness this process live and at a breath’s pace from a human being, who knows what they want in life and plays because they want to. 

The local music scene is something that has enthralled me from the beginning.  As a younger woman, being introduced to a local punk band, working bankers hours by day and in the same attire, but by night these individuals become raging punks who smoke pot and lived life by the day and not by grudgingly planning into the future.  The music was loud, booze was aplenty and tobacco was by the carton.  We were kids, ready for everything and nothing at the same time.  My favorite past time was watching these guys create.  Getting drunk and jamming out, that was all that life was about… all that their jobs funded. 

This lifestyle definitely was great, but as mentioned above it was all about the booze and music.  There was really no substance to it other than that or the occasional CD release.  Purely for the fun.  This creates bored punks, even more bored groupies, and all around cranky individuals who are stuck working the 9-5 without any real enjoyment.  Passion faded, relationships dwindled and moved on to more concrete and stable pairings, and musicmusic got put on the back burner of life.  Life… to what end to we live?  To what passionate and non-humdrum finale do we expect without the single most important thing that dwelt in our souls?  A half assed college degree, bouncing from job to job hoping the find “the one”… nothing but empty smoke and reflection less mirrors.  To this end, 95% of the population slaves away for, for this our society and economy forces upon us.  To be the lucky few who follow their dreams, or simply don’t let life get in the way, while balancing home life, business life and that of a true punk… such a feat, is that so hard to accomplish?  So unreachable that not one of these brilliant, musical maelstrom filled creatures of societal taboo ever accomplished this particular achievement? 

We eventually went our separate ways, going on to new jobs, starting families, creating ties that would hopefully last a lifetime.  I myself became wife and mother to two wonderful boys.  Music always was a mainstay in my life, radio mostly, and I have always ascribed myself as a “punk at heart”, keeping my punk style: leather bracelets, band tees and yes, colored hair.  I gave birth to my second son with purple colored hair; I have pictures to prove it. When it came down to it, however, something was always missing.  Marrying a wannabe rapper who listened to country was absolutely not helping, of course.  Music is what defines me, carries me over life… who else has a soundtrack for their lives running through their heads?  Not many, but I know there are those who love music as much as I do, and enjoy the company of the vastly creative minds that mold it.   Manipulate it. 

I guess the point I am trying to make is the purpose for what I am trying to accomplish with this project here.  The local music scene… bands, small and intimate venues, dive bars… is what I have developed a passion for from all these years living.  I want to share everything I know, will know and come across.  Share great local bands, venues and businesses that relate to what I hold within my soul… Raw, non overproduced, creative minds that give me the music I love so much. 

1 comment:

  1. I would call that a passion. It's a passion that you have for art, for music and specifically for the kind of music that you feel speaks to you, deep down. I think everyone collects some articles of inspiration, throughout life and their experiences. Music is one of the most powerful of inspiring articles. We have five sense, and our species has devoted much time to stimulating them. We adore the scintillation of living, and art reminds us of that.

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