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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Michael Carpenter <Stagefright@msn.com.au> |
| Subject | Re: Rants are us.. |
| Date | Fri, 11 Jul 2003 12:48:40 +1000 |
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Kev wrote..
>Its called DIY. Do It Yourself. I have a tremendous amount of respect
>for anyone who writes music and works to get it out there (your included
>in that Wendie). Obviously, you've had the experience of fighting the
>uphill battle. But in my opinion, you've already "made it." Just wish
>you and other artists would see it that way too.
Hmm.. this is a tough one, Kev. Yeah, i feel an incredible amount of pride
as a songwriter and as artist to have survived to make 4 albums in the last
4 years. There are literally thousands of others out there who never made it
even to album one. The tour i just did was another validation that i had
'made it'.. a dream to travel to so many places and play to people who were
happy to come and see me. Don't for a second think that artists like me, or
Adam or Wendie or Bobby or CVS who are on this list don't feel an incredible
sense of achievement for what we've done.
But i gotta agree with Wendie here. Do you think that Pearl Jam would have
had a decade plus career existing on the sort of numbers we're talking about
that the music we make is selling? It's one thing for Ben Folds to turn his
back on the majors and sell his independent EPs, but he now has something
none of us have.. a fan base. More power to him for taking the ball and
running with it now that he has something he can trade off, but he's in a
position that he can LIVE OFF the platform the major label deals have given
him, as have many of the artists mentioned. And for artists like us, it's a
day to day proposition to be able to continue to live this financially
meagre existence. Give me a $100,000 adavance for my next album from a major
label, and i'll turn it into 2 decades worth of work..
We all gotta eat. It's like trying to explain that my tour was a 'huge
success'.. i lost about $6,000 on that tour promoting my album to my 'fan
base', which i cherish very much, and am very appreciative of. And i love
that i have the opportunity to go and lose so much money playing my music to
people that want to hear it.
you also wrote..
>Ah, but you see...our definitions of "making it on their own" are not
>the same. I mean their music would have found its way into the hands of
>people who enjoy it, all be it in smaller numbers. I was not in any way
>saying they'd have as much $$ as they do. I do not equate "making it"
>with making lots of money. I believe "making it" is writing music that
>you can record and sell and establish a name for yourself and see your
>work be enjoyed and appreciated by fans.
Hmm.. i wish it was that simple. No offense to anyone here, but as Robert
Berry said in the start of the last digest i got, there's less discussion
about the sort of music we love on this list, as a small microcosm of the
'pop world', than ever. Without sounding sycophantic, or ungrateful, as my
tour got more than it's share of airtime on this list, there's hardly been
any talk on this list of, for example, hardly any of the Not Lame releases
in the last 6 months. We're talking about my album, sure, but also Bobby
Sutliff's fine album, and the JTG Implosion which is an absolute cracker.
We're finding it harder and harder to get our music into the hands of the
people who'll enjoy it... we can't even get a forum set up to discuss our
style of music to talk about it!
Anyway.. i appreciate your sentiment, but sometimes just getting it out
there isn't enough. My Mum, some of my friends, and my bank manager all
agree...
I know this might come across as a 'please talk about my album', but it's
not. It just gets up my nose when people say that it's 'just about the
music' . That's just naive. It's not, and it never has been, for without
some sort of sales, nobody's going to ever want to put out your record, and
basically it's just a hop step and jump from not being able to afford to do
it anymore. And this comes on the back of me knowing i'm NEVER going to be a
big pop star, and sell a lot of records. That dream is bullshit... it's not
going to happen, which is fine. And i am happy to just go out there get my
stuff out. But to think that that's enough is a mindset that does more harm
than good, IMO.
Hence my fired up post.. My apologies if i offend...
MC (getting ready to rehearse for a covers band gig tonight.. gotta pay the
bills..)
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