Fun Stuff > BAND
The importance of being local
ASturge:
my hometown is tiny.
But is see wehere you're coming from. The 10% of good are bascially, Seaglow, Fat Fish and my band ( ;) )
La Creme:
Hurrah! Drunken Khar is returned to us!
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Ok, so, I live in Los Angeles. Besides maybe New York, Seattle, or London, I wouldn't be surprised if we have the largest local music scene in the English-speaking world. There are literally tens of thousands of bands in the greater L.A. area who play music geared towards the ears of highschool and college students (and the occasional trendy adult or ahead-of-his-time middle schooler).
Although there are a HUGE number of bands in my city's scene, there are also several huge problems amongst them. The first is that almost every local band here is plagued with a disease known as Authenticity Immunodeficiency Virus. In a common occurance, the virus spreads like so:
((1)) A fairly original (though usually a rip-off of a more popular band and quite genre-stereotypical) plays a couple shows and garners a decent fanbase.
((2)) Stupid, sheep-like scene-cocks (a.k.a. 'average teenagers' or 'said crappy band's fanbase') see the [local] success of such a band, and decide to form a band that plays pretty much exactly the same music.
((3)) Because teenagers are too stupid to realize that this is essentially the same band, the new band gains a decent fanbase as well.
((4)) The plague continues to spread...
The bands themselves though aren't the real problem (even though they do really suck). The real problem is the goddamn sheep-brainwashed teenagers that I am greatly ashamed to call my peers. These kids continue to listen to the absolute shit at the local level (as well as listening to crap on the national and international [rarely {close-minded Americans...}] level), thus helping continuation of the spread of AIV.
Also, these kids are utterly unwilling to expand their horizons. I'd say I've tried to introduce new music to 95% of my friends and semi-friends. And they don't like what I play them, usually regardless of what it is. Why? Because it's just me telling them about this or that band. It's not a group, it's not a scene, it's just one person's musical preference. And the sheep don't follow break-aways from the herd.
The biggest problem though is the inability of the scene to hold up its own weight. New bands have a lot of trouble getting into the scene (unless they have friends already in it), and it's hard enough to start a new (and good) band in a city where everyone listens to absolute shite. Therefore, the scene rarely changes, and new bands are kept at the fringes playing free shows in fucking parking lots and getting them and their one-digit of fans (a.k.a. girlfriends and family members) kicked out by the coppers.
In closing, I don't think I've ever gone to a local show and seen a single band I liked. In one of the biggest music scenes in the world. Fuck the scene.
PS. I say the best way to go is to find bands that tour[ed] on a national/international level, and have some degree of success, but not a very large amount. These bands tend to have some sort of actual talent, songwriting capability, are fairly accessible, and tend not to be total corporate monkey-slaves. Or just listen to jazz.
The Mighty Mopdecai:
I live just outside Stirling. There is no local scene here I'm screaming for a King Tuts or a Barfly be thankful for what you have.
yipjumpmusic:
--- Quote from: sp2 ---
Additionally, buying Coldplay CDs and otherwise supporting Coldplay does nothing for your local music scene. Buying Coldplay albums won't make more bands come to your town. Buying Coldplay albums won't support local talent that helps enrich local rock bars, coffee shops, music shops, and so forth. Buying Coldplay albums won't establish an environment in your town that will support you if you decide to put together a band of your own and play small shows around town.
--- End quote ---
Buying mainstream does not help local, obviously. Buying a few here and there does not hurt it either when you support the local too and what about the lesser known but not local? I am not going to sacrifice my musical taste to help out people because they are in my town. I like them, or I don't and yes if they are local I get to see them more but that is just a side benefit. If you look for your music, you will be buying the same ratio amount of non local music as you would mainstream. Your town is just one of a hella lot so of course most of your music should not be local and in fact not that much at all or you are NOT looking around enough and pretty much have your head up your butt. Also I don't have money just enough for non local and when a local show happens just go *shrug* sorry all tapped out. Yes I agree about people not looking for music but when you put in the left out factor of lesser known, non local, the point of mentioning mainstream in regards to local music seems far less relevant. Yes you kind of mention lesser known bands in a way but really have no focus on it... and the theory of supporting the local so that they will become more known like people said, many live in a city with just about crap for bands and just think logically, chances are there are many more deserving bands elsewhere. Sure the bigger the town the more likely you'll have more than a couple good local bands but I don't have time to go to every local show just to hear what they sound like, but I do know a few good ones who I see and buy stuff from so what is enough to not be offensive to you? Yes again it is nicer with local since you can see them more often but the real argument here should be support the unknown bands wherever the hell they are. There are so many you can find online in a million different places that are as at the bottom as any local band. Supporting the local scene can only go so far and can have only so many good bands before it takes you weeks or months to come across another good local band but the good unknown bands out there are endless. Sure it may be harder to support them since you probably can't see them play and maybe they don't have a cd out but I know plenty have some crappy demo out if just a CD-R or even free music and you can spread word about that too. I just think if we're going to get into a big thing about supporting the those who need and deserve it, you have to have things in perspective and have the whole picture in mind.
sp2:
It's not all black and white. I don't really have a problem with you buying Coldplay albums. But I do think that a lot of music fans should at least try to put some effort into looking for and supporting the good local bands. If you can only find one local band that you really like, fine. Support them. Go to their shows. Buy their albums. Pimp them out to people who live outside your town.
I don't just listen to local bands, and I don't just attend local shows. I don't just buy local albums (although I do buy from local stores as opposed to chains). To say "limit yourself to local" is stupid. But it isn't stupid to at least familiarize yourself with the local scene and find bands in that scene that are worthwhile and listen to them. Or, hell, even just get coffee at a local shop that hosts a weekly open stage instead of Starbucks.
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