ok, here’s the deal…
supporting the local scene does not mean telling someone their band is good and then just never going to see them. it is not booking the same lineup show after show after show. it is not segregating genres according to venues.
it’s about SUPPORT. pay those measly $5. book different bands every time you book a show. go to see bands that you don’t even care for. offer to help out with whatever skills you have.
don’t just sit there and criticize from a far, get up in this shit and actually help it to manifest. attempt to move some mountains. host house shows. bring in out of town bands by emailing them and asking them how much they require to come through our town. offer them a floor to crash on. make them some food.
you might have heard of every band known to existence, analyzed every genre ever brought about, bought every shiny new piece of equipment that guitar center has to offer. but what are you doing with it? are you putting it to use, or are you masturbating to thoughts of yourself ripping a sick solo in front of an arena of people?
you have to work at this shit if you want it to…WORK. what’s that, you don’t have time? you have school? you have work? find a way to make it happen. fix it yourself, it’s not everyone else’s problem that you don’t have time to go to more than one snarky puppy show a month, but it IS your problem that bands aren’t being supported because you exhibit a lack of dedication to your local scene.
i’ve seen a lot of people, and i even have a lot of friends who PROMOTE LIKE FUCK for their band, and expect you to be at their shows, but when it comes time for them to support other bands, it’s always “oh dude i’m broke,” “oh dude i’m sick,” “oh dude i have work early,” “oh dude i have homework”.
there is more to life than a shitty job and going to school for something you aren’t even passionate about. i have seen so many friends get their degrees and then just fuck around for the next 10 years. if that’s what you’re ACTUALLY passionate about, so be it. but music is art, and everyone loves art to one extent or another. so if you’d like it not to vanish into the thin, sports-obsessed, coonass air that surrounds us in this town, then do something about it instead of gossiping with your buddies. thank you.
-max binet
