Jack Johnson is a goddamn homo

I have lots of issues with todays music scene, which is so different from when I was just coming up in the early '90s as to be completely unrecognizable. There seems to be an unprecedented focus on light, fluffy, bubble-gummy pop right now...or maybe disposable is the right word, since it seems to encompass pop, hip-hop (easily the most creatively dead form of music right now - I'll get into that in a sec), r&b, hard rock, metal, etc. I'm not letting myself get depressed by it, as I do live right next to NYC. Now, New York is not the playground of creativity it once was - not by a looooooooong shot. But you can't see the kind of stuff elsewhere that you can here. Couple years ago, I stopped in at the Izzy bar (hmm...maybe not the Izzy...but one of those places like that), and Richard Bona was playing. Kenny Garrett was sitting in on sax. What? Thank god I had my minidisc player with me that night (no, don't even bother asking).

I've never really been that into mainstream music anyways, but I've always had a good sense of what was musical and what was just crap. Backstreet Boys? Crap. That's why they sold it right next to the register, along with merchandising stuff like keychains, hats, etc. Pearl Jam? Not the greatest rock band in history, but there is a validity to their music. It's real.

The problem is twofold - and really seems to have picked up steam in the '90s, and even more so in the current century/millenium. Of course, the real root of the problem is probably MTv, with it's quick cut editing style, it's over-reliance on style itself, and the push for instant gratification. If you are in a band today (and I know this from personal experience), you will be told by any A&R guy you speak with that the intro to your song can be no more than 10 seconds, and you have to be into the chorus within 40 seconds, or it won't be commercially viable, and nobody will touch you. Well, that sucks for anyone who has a real creative vision, because the "punk" mentality of banging out songs in under 3 minutes, leaves no option for actually being musical. Another part of the problem is musicians themselves (including me, although when I got started I didn't realize it). The "freelancer" mentality is so prevalent today...everybody wants to get paid. Understandable, but someone has to be in a band. Really. If you're a freelancer, and you are reading this, join a band. Not in place of putting food on the table, but start a creative project, and actually make it a priority.

You see, what happens is, you work and develop your ability, you get out there and market yourself as a gun for hire who will make singer-songwriters sound as good as they possibly can, you start getting gigs. You probably join a wedding/cover band to supplement your income. Maybe you teach. And god, you get bored. Because so many good musicians are saying "Pay me to make you sound good" instead of "Let me put it on the line myself, and make my own music", the pool of musicians who are actually writing has gotten much smaller, and as a result, there are far less good bands/solo artists out there. So you go to your gig, punch the clock, smile, play great, do all the glad-handing you have to do, go home, and feel ridiculously unfulfilled, musically. You started in this line of work long before it was a line of work - when you were a kid, when you wanted to play, have fun, look cool to girls, whatever. And then you developed a passion for it. You realized you loved playing, and felt it was your method of communicating you you are in the purest sense.

And then you realized you could make money doing it. And that brings us back to the part from freelancing to the lack of fulfillment. So what can you do? Oh, ok, you say, let me go start a band with my freelancing buddies. We'll get monday and tuesday night gigs, for free, or very little money (unless someone in the band is a "name" player), and we'll use it as an excuse to blow, stretch our creative legs a bit, and then Wednesday through Sunday we'll go back to playing with the singer/songwriters who've managed to scrape up enough money to hire us this week, and our cover bands, and our wedding bands, and we'll spend the week thinking about how much we can't wait to do our house gig at the local bar, when what we should be doing is pushing that. Even though it means we'll have to teach more during the day, and take the risk that what we're playing is too much for the dumbed down music listening public, and that it might not go anywhere. Besides, being a freelancer is easy, once you get past the lack of job security - all you have to do is show up and play. When you own a piece of the band, shit...then you are responsible for everything, including - oh no! - getting people to come see your band.

Is this coming off like a bitter rant at this point? I guess it is, in a way...but it's a larger thing, really, epidemic of where America is going as a country. Dumbed down, only interested in the quick buck, not really willing to roll up our sleeves and work. Not willing to take any risks. But what I said about the American Idolization of music not affecting me, cause I can always go to New York and see great stuff, or I can go see Glenn Alexander when he feels like playing in New Brunswick, or at Orphan Annies. People in the flyover states have to thank Al Gore for the internet, cause that at least provides an option to search out good music, even if your live music options are the local blues band, and whatever shitty tours come to town (OMG! The American Idol tour is coming to town!!!!!!!!).

Ok, I said I'd expand on what I said about hip-hop music. I'm tired of typing, so here it is in a nutshell. I'm not a guy that hates rap. I love good rap just as I love all good music. But can you find me some? Please? I blame the easy marketability of the form for its downfall...it's just a quick buck now, instead of what Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were doing. Screw social message. Screw subtle sampling, and even coming up with your own music. Lets just put the latest thug in front of the mic, let him babble about how many diamonds he has, and how many bitches he's fucked, market the living shit out of it, and watch it sell a million units. Ugh.

Ok, hopefully you weren't looking for a point, cause obviously I don't have one.

I'm listening to good music right now. Real musicians really interacting with each other, making a real musical statement. Get it while you can...it won't be around in 20 years.