Aww, the poor indie rock musicians. The DJ's and Live PA guys can ride the buus with their laptops.

And I should care why?

I understand their dilemma - it sucks driving hours for a gig only to find that the headliner really can't draw for shiat, and your cut of the door barely pays for beer, to say nothing of fuel.

It's probably for the best, modern guitar-oriented rock is boring anyway. Long live lite jazz.

will this be the end of the gigantic gratuitous novelty drum?

This, plus a thumb to hitchhike, are the only equip you need!

Can't you write it off on your Schedule C?

Indie rock musicians doesnt mean they play indie rock music. It just means they arent signed. I would plug my buddies band here but that is kinda lame, but they do play solid rock music, although they havent been effected by the gas. Still manage to playing in NY, RI, and MA

stjohn: Aww, the poor indie rock musicians. The DJ's and Live PA guys can ride the buus with their laptops.

They're talking about guys on independent labels, not indie scene shiat. This is a shiatty situation. There are a great many talented indie bands out there who don't want to be signed to a major and have their creative control compromised.

/many people would take issue with calling laptop jockeys "DJs"

Economics, people.

I'm a musician. It is unfortunate that getting to gigs is expensive, but if you are a quality band, with a quality product, and there is demand for said product, you will be fine. If you go out and play bars to try and build an audience, or because of the romanticism of touring, even when there is no demand for your product, you will lose money.

I'm yawning on this one, folks. The internet is a virtual tour bus. It might not be as fun, but whining about gas prices isn't going to make your band successful.

DKinMN: I'm a musician

Hey awesome, I thought I was the only white, college-aged male who played guitar.

WaltzingMathilda:
/many people would take issue with calling laptop jockeys "DJs"

Why? All the pro's use laptops now. Pretty much the only people still using vinyl are drum n bass heads, and only then out of a sense of purism or if turntablist techniques match the music (i.e. jump up.)

Back on the subject, it seems Fark is telling musicians to keep their day jobs and don't care to go out to concerts. That's fine if you buy the music. If you steal it, and don't support the artist, then they will quickly be gone.

Of course, if you don't like the music, then it doesn't matter.

Glitchwerks: Back on the subject, it seems Fark is telling musicians to keep their day jobs and don't care to go out to concerts. That's fine if you buy the music. If you steal it, and don't support the artist, then they will quickly be gone.

This is a good point--if you use P2P services and they help you find a band you really like, most musicians have no problem with that, but if you enjoy the album, please spend the $5-10 to buy it. Otherwise they won't make any more albums like it.

Or a shirt, or stickers. There's lots of ways to support a band, but do something if the music gives you anything.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: It's probably for the best, modern guitar-oriented rock is boring anyway. Long live lite jazz.

Me too. Matter of fact, I have a TiVo Season Pass for the Weather Channel's "Weather on the 8's." Smooth jazz and current traffic conditions, all in easy-to-handle 2 1/2 minute increments.

No big loss.

i would say the benefit found from myspace and other internet attention delivery systems would counteract the rising price of fuel

plus, this may finally convince clubs to encourage bands using each others tools

i can't stand going to a show and having 4 opening bands i don't care about taking up too much time tearing down kits and such between sets, and then the headliners i actually came to see have to cut short their set because of the extended earlier setup times...

/rant

Suflig: Can't you write it off on your Schedule C?

Like these guys report money from gigs on their taxes. Having reportable income would interrupt their welfare and food stamps. Plus, the only accountant they know only has office hours in the morning, when they're still asleep.

Oh the terrible life of the musician. Remember how hard these clowns have it when you're sitting in that meeting about creating synergy through a dynamic new paradigm shift tomorrow.

there's something so classic and ages-old about troubadouring.

lolmadillo: plus, this may finally convince clubs to encourage bands using each others tools

Wycked Sceptre FTW

Great_Milenko: Suflig: Can't you write it off on your Schedule C?

Like these guys report money from gigs on their taxes. Having reportable income would interrupt their welfare and food stamps. Plus, the only accountant they know only has office hours in the morning, when they're still asleep.

Oh the terrible life of the musician. Remember how hard these clowns have it when you're sitting in that meeting about creating synergy through a dynamic new paradigm shift tomorrow.

Reel me in, why don't ya...

I'm not sure you know what it's like working 50 hours a week at a high-pressure job, only to spend another 40 hours a week practicing with your band, promoting, booking, playing out, writing songs, doing interviews.

It's not a terrible life. It can be a great time, man. But you don't get to sleep much as an indie musician. Unless of course you're a musician just along for the ride while others do the work.

It may only be a joke you shot out half-heartedly, but the reality is there is little rest involved.

DKinMN: I'm a musician. It is unfortunate that getting to gigs is expensive, but if you are a quality band, with a quality product, and there is demand for said product, you will be fine. If you go out and play bars to try and build an audience, or because of the romanticism of touring, even when there is no demand for your product, you will lose money.

For fark sake, every other thread I read about download insists that musicians should make their money from touring. Now everybody in this thread insists they should make their money from album sales. Half the thread biatches about these bands sounding the same, and the other half says they should all use laptops and acoustic guitars. The complaints how all popular music sucks alternate with messages wondering why we should care about unpopular bands.

farking A people, even if you don't like a given band or type of music, a diversity of artists helps the musical culture as a whole. And most of the bands you like started by playing small, half-empty clubs for nothing more than gas money to the next venue. They make sacrifices people in this thread can't even imagine, let alone have ever attempted.

DKinMN:

Economics, people.

I'm a musician. It is unfortunate that getting to gigs is expensive, but if you are a quality band, with a quality product, and there is demand for said product, you will be fine. If you go out and play bars to try and build an audience, or because of the romanticism of touring, even when there is no demand for your product, you will lose money.

I'm yawning on this one, folks. The internet is a virtual tour bus. It might not be as fun, but whining about gas prices isn't going to make your band successful.


Well, Mr. Musician Guy, I suppose you emerged from your cocoon a fully-formed, self-supporting "everybody knows me and loves me" musical butterfly of no small success, right? If that was actually the case, I salute you and your most awesome talents and good fortune.

For most everybody else, it doesn't work that way. You start at point zero and go from there. Typically, that's working an expanding out-of-town circuit and building a fan base as you go; at the lowest rungs, that's at house shows or in small clubs where you don't typically have guarantees of any kind that you can count on.

Internet? "Virtual tour bus"? There will always be people who want the noise, sweat and energy of experiencing live performances by new, (hopefully) interesting bands, and they'll do what they can to help support them. But when, at that level, you're quite happy if you make enough money to get you and your gear to the next town, and you now find that the cost of doing this has nearly doubled, the dynamic is significantly and undeniably altered.

Those effects will be (or "are being") felt on up the chain: bands playing bigger clubs will need bigger guarantees to be able to tour. At the highest levels, sure, it's no big deal to tack an extra $5-$10 onto an already $50-$100 ticket price, but below that, everyone that tours is going to have to adjust, not just kids who are starting out.

If this makes you yawn, maybe you should go and take your beauty nap now, sunshine. I could only make the most random stabs in the dark as to what kind of work you do, but in any case, it's a shame that you have come to have such a narrow opinion of what being a musician or playing in a band constitutes. Maybe I've read more into things than is there, and if that's the case, sorry. But your comments have a familiar ring to me, a tone I've heard before which tends to aggravate.

I'm sure there are lots of people with little or no care about live music, and that's fine -- my own interest in going out has at this stage certainly waned. There's no shortage of quite good stuff you can track down online to suit your needs, and it's great fun stumbling across something new that you actually like. Just recognize that it's not the same for everybody -- some people like playing and hearing live music that just fell out of the van. Go figure, huh?

seminole87: Torc: They make sacrifices people in this thread can't even imagine, let alone have ever attempted.

Thank you for keeping us safe from terrorism.

Nice. I didn't say anything about the relative importance of the cause, only that it's a sacrifice. A soldier also gets a guarenteed paycheck, fed, housed, and clothed by the government. If they get injured or sick, they get cared for, and they are held in high respect for what they do. When their military careers are complete, there's a whole infrastructure established to take care of them and help them in the future. (How well that all works is another matter.)

Touring independent musicians don't have any of that. They don't get the respect of anybody besides their fans, they don't get cared for if they get sick, and when they're burnt out and exhausted, they're essentially left with nothing.

God, I hate this indie rock garbage. Grow some balls punks.

TheJoe03: God, I hate this indie rock garbage. Grow some balls punks.

You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

shadowself: TheJoe03: God, I hate this indie rock garbage. Grow some balls punks.

You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

I hate the indie rock genre, not independent rock groups.

galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Art should reflect real world issues. Leave the theremin and gong at home, Or bum gas money from the girl who lets you sleep at her place.

TheJoe03:

shadowself: TheJoe03: God, I hate this indie rock garbage. Grow some balls punks.

You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

I hate the indie rock genre, not independent rock groups.


Your conception of "indie rock" as it applies here seems to be an awfully narrow stereotype. I've seen kids playing punk rock, glam, noise, country and straight-ahead roots rock; the thing they have in common is that they're all just getting started, they're learning as they go, they have energy, and they love what they're doing. It's not always that good, but it's usually a lot of fun. Not sure what you find so reprehensible in that, even if you yourself might prefer something more polished.

it amazes me how closed-minded some of you are. just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't good to someone. i'm not an indie rock fan, but i'm sure some people are and thats cool.

and every band you like started off this way. the fact that gas prices hinder music is bad for all of us.

TheJoe03:
I hate the indie rock genre, not independent rock groups.

Indie means independent. It would be ridiculous to think that the headline meant that only bands in a very narrow genre of music are being affected by gas prices.

mynameismark:

it amazes me how closed-minded some of you are. just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't good to someone. i'm not an indie rock fan, but i'm sure some people are and thats cool.

and every band you like started off this way. the fact that gas prices hinder music is bad for all of us.


This seems really obvious, but apparently it isn't.

Gas prices are going to start hindering a lot of things, and I guess there's always going to be the "let them eat cake" crowd who won't give a damn until it actually shows up on their own doorsteps like a burning sack of dog crap.

awfulperson: SockMonkeyHolocaust: It's probably for the best, modern guitar-oriented rock is boring anyway. Long live lite jazz.

Me too. Matter of fact, I have a TiVo Season Pass for the Weather Channel's "Weather on the 8's." Smooth jazz and current traffic conditions, all in easy-to-handle 2 1/2 minute increments.

TWC Classics (new window)

I am straight and a man, I swear.

lolmadillo: plus, this may finally convince clubs to encourage bands using each others tools

awfulperson: Wycked Sceptre FTW

:)

The Billdozer: awfulperson: SockMonkeyHolocaust: It's probably for the best, modern guitar-oriented rock is boring anyway. Long live lite jazz.

Me too. Matter of fact, I have a TiVo Season Pass for the Weather Channel's "Weather on the 8's." Smooth jazz and current traffic conditions, all in easy-to-handle 2 1/2 minute increments.

TWC Classics (new window)

I am straight and a man, I swear.

Oh. My. God.

Thank you.

As a 12-year-old in 1990, TWC was instrumental in getting me into jazz. Yeah, smooth jazz at first, but it was a gateway to all the good stuff.

I have many of the albums listed there (lots of GRP stuff, go figure), but have always wondered what I was missing, for nostalgia's sake alone. iTunes, here I come.

As to TFA: give the people what they want - they give the owners what they want, and the owners give you what you want. Break anything in that cycle, and you'd better be independently wealthy because you're not going to make enough to support your habit.

/gigging for the last 10 years - 95% of those within 2 miles of my house.
//go jazz!

For the person who said "no big loss."

GO LISTEN TO YOUR KENNY G. A$$HOLE.

DrBenway: TheJoe03:

shadowself: TheJoe03: God, I hate this indie rock garbage. Grow some balls punks.

You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

I hate the indie rock genre, not independent rock groups.


Your conception of "indie rock" as it applies here seems to be an awfully narrow stereotype. I've seen kids playing punk rock, glam, noise, country and straight-ahead roots rock; the thing they have in common is that they're all just getting started, they're learning as they go, they have energy, and they love what they're doing. It's not always that good, but it's usually a lot of fun. Not sure what you find so reprehensible in that, even if you yourself might prefer something more polished.

Well I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about those lame bands like Decemberists and the like. I'm not at all talking about up and coming bands, I'm talking about the subgenre of alternative rock called indie. I hate that shiat. Stupid, pretentious, hipster, artsy tools.

shadowself: TheJoe03:
I hate the indie rock genre, not independent rock groups.

Indie means independent. It would be ridiculous to think that the headline meant that only bands in a very narrow genre of music are being affected by gas prices.

Your right, but whenever I hear the term indie rock these days, I think of that soft rock with whiny vocalists.

*You're right.

/Normally I wouldn't care, but grammar Nazis always seem to fark with me.

Jesus, I was going to try and have something relevant to say on the topic, but I just don't have the time or wade or interest of wading through the fark sark of the assholes who seem to think that, in all their worldly understanding of the music and touring business (from sweeping floors on Wednesdays at some night club, no doubt), they have this issue triumphantly resolved through their narrow "fark you, I got mine, now shut the fark up and get off my lawn" attitudes.

All I can say to you fark-ups are "you will reap what you sow". Just wait until this is at your backdoor, and artists you actually like are out of reach, either financially or logistically, due to rising costs.

/a guy who hangs out with musicians (a drummer)
//lucky to be in the northeastern US, where things are closer together
///it makes things easier, but still a far cry from being "easy"

TheJoe03:

Well I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about those lame bands like Decemberists and the like. I'm not at all talking about up and coming bands, I'm talking about the subgenre of alternative rock called indie. I hate that shiat. Stupid, pretentious, hipster, artsy tools.


I don't fully agree with your generalizations, but I can certainly appreciate the disregard for types of music that don't do it for you, even if you take it a little farther than most. And granted, the indie-rock types you refer to can be a bit of an in-your-face nuisance in a lot of college towns, as one for instance.

But that's not really what this is about, even if it does say "indie rock" in the headline. It's about lower-tier young bands of many different genres who are having to deal with trying to keep touring while gas prices are going through the roof; this when they're already operating on a shoestring.

TheJoe03: galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Everything you list in your profile is RIAA approved major label music.

DrBenway: TheJoe03:

Well I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about those lame bands like Decemberists and the like. I'm not at all talking about up and coming bands, I'm talking about the subgenre of alternative rock called indie. I hate that shiat. Stupid, pretentious, hipster, artsy tools.


I don't fully agree with your generalizations, but I can certainly appreciate the disregard for types of music that don't do it for you, even if you take it a little farther than most. And granted, the indie-rock types you refer to can be a bit of an in-your-face nuisance in a lot of college towns, as one for instance.

But that's not really what this is about, even if it does say "indie rock" in the headline. It's about lower-tier young bands of many different genres who are having to deal with trying to keep touring while gas prices are going through the roof; this when they're already operating on a shoestring.

Yeah I see that now, but I just felt like ranting about those in the subgenre of indie, regardless if it has anything to do with the farking article. I respect up and coming artists to be honest, I'm friends with many of them and I've been in and out of that scene myself. I just hate indie kids ("oh look, I'm playing croquet cause nobody does that, I'm soooo indie!") and the only people worse than that are the emo kids ("oh look, I'm a little biatch"). Bastards.

Glitchwerks: TheJoe03: galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Everything you list in your profile is RIAA approved major label music.

So Jedi Mind Tricks, Andre Nickatina, Living Legends, and Aesop Rock are major label music??? Not to mention I didn't list a bunch of other artists I like that are also in the underground such as Immortal Technique, Brother Ali, Army of the Pharaohs and others. Please try again my friend, you got me pegged all wrong.

TheJoe03: Your right, but whenever I hear the term indie rock these days, I think of that soft rock with whiny vocalists.

I don't even know anymore. These days, each "genre" consists of about three bands total. I know that some say "indie" is a genre too, but I tend not to label bands too far beyond "rock", "country", etc.

TheJoe03: Glitchwerks: TheJoe03: galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Everything you list in your profile is RIAA approved major label music.

So Jedi Mind Tricks, Andre Nickatina, Living Legends, and Aesop Rock are major label music??? Not to mention I didn't list a bunch of other artists I like that are also in the underground such as Immortal Technique, Brother Ali, Army of the Pharaohs and others. Please try again my friend, you got me pegged all wrong.

No, he's right, you must be a total corporate slave listening to square jams by the likes of Parliament-Funkadelic, Hendrix, Wu-Tang, OutKast and Tool. Major label doesn't always mean bad, folks. The labels may be run by bad people, but good music does get through, everything doesn't have to sound like half-assed jangling and singing with Stephen Malkmus' cock in their mouths.

TheJoe03: Glitchwerks: TheJoe03: galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Everything you list in your profile is RIAA approved major label music.

So Jedi Mind Tricks, Andre Nickatina, Living Legends, and Aesop Rock are major label music??? Not to mention I didn't list a bunch of other artists I like that are also in the underground such as Immortal Technique, Brother Ali, Army of the Pharaohs and others. Please try again my friend, you got me pegged all wrong.

INTERNET DICK WAVING CONTEST IMMINENT

FuriousGeorge945: TheJoe03: Glitchwerks: TheJoe03: galactus5000: shadowself: You hate every band not signed to a major label? Wow, that's a lot of hate.

And yet, he loves Good Charlotte - go figure.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah farking right I like generic pop rock shiat. Where the hell did you get that from?

Everything you list in your profile is RIAA approved major label music.

So Jedi Mind Tricks, Andre Nickatina, Living Legends, and Aesop Rock are major label music??? Not to mention I didn't list a bunch of other artists I like that are also in the underground such as Immortal Technique, Brother Ali, Army of the Pharaohs and others. Please try again my friend, you got me pegged all wrong.

INTERNET DICK WAVING CONTEST IMMINENT

Not really, I just think it's pretty silly to say everything I listed on my profile was major label music when I counted 4 artists that weren't. Personally I have no problem listening to major label music, as long as it's good. I actually wish the underground artists I liked were on major labels, cause I think they deserve more exposure than a lot of the shiat the major labels are currently pushing right now. Then again, the majors will just try and change their sound and make them do club hits instead of art.

TheJoe03:

Yeah I see that now, but I just felt like ranting about those in the subgenre of indie, regardless if it has anything to do with the farking article. I respect up and coming artists to be honest, I'm friends with many of them and I've been in and out of that scene myself. I just hate indie kids ("oh look, I'm playing croquet cause nobody does that, I'm soooo indie!") and the only people worse than that are the emo kids ("oh look, I'm a little biatch"). Bastards.


Hey now! Don't be dissing croquet -- the sport of champions!

Okay, okay... make that the sport of "drunken acidhead champions" -- truth in advertising, right?

The Sticky Wickets would be a great name for a band, by the way. Or maybe The Sticky Wickeds... but I digress.