First heard by me from the mouths of one of my fav underground bands -
They Died Too Young (click me) - who are now sadly defunct.
Always on the side of D.I.Y, i have found that, ethically and within its intention, the whole D.I.Y movement is good - but as with anything that begins to become popular, it becomes yet another thing to mention/say/write to lend oneself that 'cool' against-the-grain, down-with-the-man, credibility. It is easy to say you're D.I.Y, its a completely different thing to actually BE D.I.Y. There are probably billions of promising young & talented & new acts starting up around the world and without hard work and an incredible amount of luck (being seen in the right place at the right time on the right night), the mainstream industry will pass them by unnoticed - because the higher up you go, the smaller everything seems and the more generic everything sounds.
So what do we do? We, as consumers, DO have choices. The media controlled content that gets delivered to us is far too huge for us , which is why sub-genres such as pop, rock, hardcore, rap, hip-hop, trip-hop, break-beat, two-step, dub-step, post-rock, post-hardcore, happy-hardcore, grime, garage, drum n' bass, drill n' bass, electronica.. etc.. etc.. have been needed. It's a filter which make believes that we, as consumers, can have an easier time trying to find something that we like. But in reality, no-one making
original music will ever be ONE genre. So the trouble now becomes that, although we have choice, too much choice can restrict us and we'll end up going with what feels comfortable, sometimes never knowing what lies beyond what we're 'used' to listening to.
SUPPORT YOUR F****** SCENE <--- Well, it connected with me. I came around to thinking that it is the 'people' who make or break you. Your friends, your family, your social circles, that give you help when the rest of the world 'just aint listenin''. So I'll make it a small goal of mine to try and support my friends in whatever they do, if they have an exhibition or gig, i try my hardest to attend, if they need sponsorship i will give whatever i can spare, if they need help, i will help them. Supporting my 'scene' - helping the people around me.
[A] from Ex Lib <3
p.s. This is response to a comment posted against the POST below. please take the time to read what the anonymous poster has written. He/she wrote with much conviction and fluidity, and therefore deserves to have their viewpoint noticed ;)
