I'm gonna take a stab at this one.KeithReynolds wrote:The contents of this thread make me
Theres some good things sprinkled in here and there.
Bands come and go. Thats why everyone has been in 20 of them. The band youre in now, isnt any more relevant to the one you were in 10 yrs ago. It isnt like someone from an ultra successful band is handing down golden knowledge to all of us. We are ALL in the same boat.
The whole "dues" thing is mostly bs. The "pay your dues" thing has been said on here atleast since I got here in 2005. Guys who have been playing here for 20 years arent millionaires. They arent any better off then a kid forming his first band...except the older guy knows more people.....which comes from living and meeting people over time. The only difference is one can say hes been in 20 bands. Eventually, that kid starting out will be able to say that too.
SO I ASK...Whats the end result of "paying your dues"? what magical club do those guys get to play that everyone else hasnt? does the pay rate triple once "dues" are paid?
Or does it simply mean "be here with the rest of us for 20 years doing the same thing, then all the sudden you are valid....to continue doing the same thing" ???
You cant want a thriving scene, and then toss some huge elitist dividing line in it.
The people that play music around here do it for the love of music. Money cant be the reason because there isnt any.
There is too much Slacktavism when it comes to the local scene. No one does anything. I WILL.
Not sure why you are so negative against what we have around here, Keith, and you and I have been pals pretty much since you arrived back in '05. But like anything else in the world, we agree on a lot of things and agree to disagree on a lot of things. It's why I respect you. But the music biz is the music biz.
You act like we are all trying to get rich and famous doing this, like we are all pursuing and achieving record deals and national tours. You tear us down because most of us have not achieved that. You infer that your way of doing things (in a nutshell) is better than ours. I'm not seeing very much in the way of results from you, man. I'm not saying that to be mean, or to try to tear you down. I dig the stuff that you are doing with Max and look forward to hearing the finished product. Seems like those of us who are trying to support Max and give him advice from our experiences are just know-nothings in your eyes. And truth be told, that pisses me off a little bit.
I've worked my ass off to get some modicum of respect in the area. The scene is what it is, large or small, thriving or not. What I want is to be known and respected as a decent drummer, decent bandmate, and decent person. To some point, I think I've achieved that. Do I play out as much as others? No. But I am out there doing it in 2 bands. Both bands are well respected, and I'm intensely proud of both.
The end result of "paying your dues" in a local scene is that you write your own ticket, and name your own price. If you move up in the scene and are after money, and if the economy can support it, you make as little or as much as you want. And there IS money to be made here, I know, because I've made it. If you do it for the art, and you pay your dues, that means that bar owners will be much more open to your original product and give you more leeway on what you want to do onstage. Paying your dues allows you to play with better players and more successful bands if a current project disintegrates or doesn't "take off". Some kid who just practices in his room won't get the fair shake against a seasoned and successful vet in an audition, because the vet has more experience and a rep. It may not be fair, but that's just the way it is. There's probably some kid out there jamming in his room and slamming drum covers on YouTube who can play drums as well as Mike Mangini who would have been a better fit for Dream Theater, but Mangini has the rep and the track record.
We never claimed to be Los Angeles East here in Altoona. We just would like to play music, make some bread, and enjoy ourselves. The economy and DUI laws make things a lot tougher now than it was even 10 years ago, but again, it is what it is. We perservere, and use whatever medium we can to put our art and talents out there for people to see.
Again, none of this is personal. And like I said, we can agree to disagree, we just see things differently. I respect your opinion on things, and hope you would reciprocate.
