Post by The Ghoul on Jan 6, 2007 5:26:20 GMT -5
I've become more than the slightest bit irritated about the state of the local music scene in the Upstate New York Area. What I'm seeing that's pissing me off isn't the bands out there, because in the past five years I've been in Zadoc... and the Nightmare I have gotten to play with some of the best bands in the area that were creating and playing original music that was not the mainstream puss that we are told is popular by MTV and the mainstream radio. Bands that have worked hard, who've sweat and bled for their craft. A LOT of good bands I've seen and had the opportunity to play with. For those of you out there who don't know them, there are bands that have shared show bills or beers with us at the bars that don't get enough attention -bands like Undergang, Enertia, Caroline Blue, Lovebone, Haunted By Angels, Redezra, Hypnotica, and dozens of others. These bands may perform the occasional cover but their focus is in creating new and entertaining music. Other new friends have come along that we haven't yet had the opportunity to play with, like Divinity Destroyed and The PushRods.
The sad part is it is becoming less and less likely that bills with any of these great bands will be seen in your area anymore. See, New York's music scene is suffering horrendously as establishment after establishment where bands can perform are being converted over into Karaoke, DJ, and cover band venues.
This is trend that all of us musicians have seen as the noose gets tighter and the number of places to play dwindles. To be honest though, I'm not really sure who to blame. On the one hand, there are the club owners who are more concerned with money rather than in enriching their local cultural scene. On the other hand, there are the people who claim to support local music yet who never go out to shows -in addition to those "music fans" who will only go out to see a band perform their favorite songs that were written by someone else. If you can't have Led Zepplin around to play Stairway to Heaven, then how about the next best thing to listening to the CD? Of Course! Go out and listen to a band play heartless renditions of your favorite song! Well, Led Zepplin didn't become the legendary band they are by playing other people's music.
What's really sad to me is that these people who perform in these cover bands receive more money for one performance, on average, than a band performing ALL ORIGINAL music for a half dozen shows. This is not exaggeration, folks. This is like paying a counterfeiter $10,000 to copy a painting and paying the artist themself $1,000 for the original.
Ultimately, the other problem has been the legislation passed which has banned smoking in bars in New York, which is one of the most asinine and repressive laws I've seen past in this state in my entire life here. Not only has this cut down on the patrons to the local bars, it has also forced bars out of business, or at the least out of the business of booking local musicians doing original music. Primarily, I think this is because the type of people going out to the venues has changed with the change in state policy. What seems to be a renaissance in the yuppy kingdom as these sweater-vested freaks crawl out of the woodwork to go see some nameless band play songs they can't hear played by the actual artist. Sort of a vicarious experience, I guess. This is pretty pitiful, because the band themselves isn't what's important. They won't remember the band name, they won't remember the bandmembers, they'll simply remember "Hey, that band played Freebird!" as if playing "Freebird" meant you had done something special.
So who do we blame for club after club turning its backs on local music? Who is to blame for these moronic, money-hungry politicians who don't realize how destructive their actions are -not only to the local economy, but to the local cultural scene? Syracuse has historically been a center for art and music. We have a rich history here that has become as endless loop of closing bars, splitting bands, and decreased local interest because of lack of suitable outlets for performance. Syracuse has become a haven for those who feed off others creations rather than a place to support the creative mind. The politicians are always happy to have their face seen attached to any 'cultural' event in the area, but how much of it is fake? Sadly, most of it.
Downtown every year they have a Blues-Fest, yet few of the bands there are local, and those that are hold a monopoly on the one or two major outlets left which only provide a stage for Blues musicians. The politicians are happy to have their faces photographed as though they support this apparent wellspring of local talent, yet as soon as the festival is over, it's right back to the way things are -with no one giving a crap about the local artist.
In a way I'm not just thinking about music here, since Syracuse has also had numerous great artists here who have gone unrecognized and forced into the background because of changes in policy and decisions to cater to the minority of the people that want the fake stuff. They want the appearance of a creative atmosphere.
This city has one of the more prominent colleges in the country, we have a great museum, a superb local symphony, one of the greatest old theatres still in existance -everything a cultural center should have -and we have jack squat as far as support from the local area culture.
So who is to blame?
Time and again, myself and others I work with have played for free night after night to entertain the few people who are willing to show their support for the local scene. We don't complain about playing for three of four people, we don't complain about not getting paid enough. What we complain about is not getting respect, and getting overlooked in favor of reprocessed ideas. We continue to play because we love what we do. Some of us simply turn to cover bands simply because it's a way to make money -I will not take this route. Not today nor tomorrow. I will not sell myself out to play other people's ideas. No artist should be restricted to only painting what has already been painted.
So, I don't know how much blame I place on the cover bands themselves as much as the atmosphere that has bred them. When I was 14, the local scene was alive and filled with interest, and in less than a decade it has become nothing but a shell of itself, and if someone doesn't do something soon, there won't be a local scene. The artists will leave in search of people who will appreciate them and there will be no one making it big to brag about their roots here in CNY. Those who do manage such a feat would not speak well of this area because it is not kind to them. In fact, it's outright cruel to them.
I encourage anyone who reads this to tell the employees at the bars, nightclubs, lounges, coffee houses, and wherever else to support local original music. I encourage everyone to boycott establishments catering to cover bands and DJ/Karaoke, and I encourage others to pass this along. I may be talking about New York, but I'm sure there are other places out there like this -places where musicians and artists are ignored. Only by doing something about it will anything ever change.
Creativity should not be put on an endangered species list. Sadly, it's already there.
Thanks for your time
The Ghoul
