Petterson: Made up names alone do not make the band
Talent is talent; calling it ‘local’ or dressing it up with costumes doesn’t make the band
Friday, November 2nd, 2007
I hate local music.”
I saw this on a T-shirt on Massachusetts Street, and immediately I knew—the man wearing it knew what he was talking about. Maybe he was trying to make a statement, or perhaps it was just a joke, but I, for one, can relate to the sentiment. “Local music” is a term used much too often around Lawrence and other hip college towns that just isn’t worth much anymore. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just another name for subpar musicianship; a hollow buzzword that has little meaning or an excuse to be indie-pop-rock-folk-inspired (whatever the hell that means). Walk into any bar downtown on any given night and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.
I must have heard the phrase “support local music” at least 1,000 times in the last year, and every time I hear it I am confused as to what they really mean. Is music some sort of domestic product that must be subsidized to get the Lawrence economy back on its feet? Is there some sort of pseudo-farmer’s market where we should be shopping instead of the record store? Or do they mean that we, as citizens of Lawrence, should cultivate homegrown bands so that future generations can be just as good at it as we are, like football? Perhaps it simply means that we should attend concerts because our roommate’s girlfriend’s new puppy’s veterinarian is in a band, and they are, like, totally far-out, man.
The problem with supporting local music is that, quite simply, most of it is awful. To be fair, there is a small amount of musicians who are talented and dedicated to producing quality work, but for every good band there are at least 10 bad ones whose only draw is that they dress in gaudy leftover Halloween costumes with homemade instruments or warbling singer-songwriters doing their best to imitate Jack Johnson. Is it good to support something that is just plain bad?
But I do not wish to discriminate just against Lawrencian mediocrity. This town is a microcosm of the global descent of popular music in recent decades. So much has changed since the golden age of rock. Instead of eminent and charismatic frontmen, we now have “American Idol” wannabes and singers who sound like crying pre-pubescents, and instead of virtuosic guitar riffs and drummers playing until they pass out (R.I.P. Keith Moon), we have accordions and girls dressed in giant banana outfits. This is not music. This is cheap theater.
After the glorified outbreak of pop in the 1950s and ‘60s, things slowly went downhill. After the excess and decadence of ‘70s music, the ‘80s were a quick descent into hair bands and Michael Jackson, two things that are best forgotten, lest one have constant nightmares. The early ‘90s were a grungy glimmer of hope quickly quashed by big label ferocity. And now, while the Indie scene is burgeoning, rock ‘n’ roll is quietly dying. Why must we continue to propagate the dead genre that once was “Indie?” It was a nice thought but has long since run its course. Indie is no longer an innovation. Sounding vaguely like a Lennon/McCartney tune does not make a good melody. Volume does not equal rock ‘n’ roll. Having a glass-shattering falsetto or indestructible vocal chords does not make you better than Bob Dylan. And neither does not being anything else. Just because you claim to defy genre (hear me now, Beck!) does not make you, by default, a good musician.
So don’t be browbeaten into thinking that just because you aren’t into the “scene” around town, that you don’t know music. It’s a terrible lie supported by cooler-than-thou hipsters who have nothing better to do than make you feel bad about yourself. So turn off the new Devendra Banhart album and any local band that has more than three made-up words in its name, and turn up your Stravinsky, Coltrane, Robert Johnson and Rolling Stones records. You won’t be disappointed. And then perhaps we can get to the task of recognizing and creating some decent music for the next generation.
Petterson is a Prairie Village junior in English.
Discussion
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Three cheers for the elitist! What a jerk. If you say that nearly all local music is awful, well, that seems like quite an arrogant grouping. Aren't there different music types for different tastes within your high-brow "local music" genre?
I couldn't disagree more. People always talk about supporting local business. Well, this is no different. Why not support local bands? True, they aren't any better or worse than signed bands that tour the nation. So why write an article putting them down? They're just trying to do something they love and maybe make a few dollars doing it. Is that so bad? Besides, every band starts as a local band. No one starts their music career selling millions of albums. Everyone has to start somewhere. These bands are trying to do that. Why not give them an honest chance?
And another thing... I completely disagree that local bands aren't talented. Have you ever hear the Esoteric? Last Caress? Super Black Market? The Architects? Ludo? How about Stevie Cruz, who does Metal School and Neon? He's a great DJ. There IS great talent out there, but you have to be open to it. Withi this type of closed minded attitude, you're never going to enjoy any of the talent that the Lawrence/KC area has to offer. But if you keep an open mind and explore new opportunities (with the possibility that you might really like what you find), you'll be much better off.
Hey, Petterson, I heard a rumor that you play in a local band...when do you play? And will it be at Liberty or Uptown? Or maybe Verizon or Kemper? ...or are you just adding to our "local" "indie" noise pollution?
It's also silly to imply that because some of us don't listen to Coltrane and Stravinsky we are not making good music. I would love to hear if these aforementioned artists bear any direct influence on the music you make. However, I'm betting against it.
I can't wait to kill rock-'n-roll for good at this year's Farmer's Ball. You should come, Petterson.
"Local music", as much as anything, can be bludgeoned to a pulp by relative thinking. Is anything ever "good" if there's always something better? Coltrane, Stones, Stravinsky - they all have some of the most vital output in music as well as the crappiest crap. Name your favorite Stones record. Now name your least favorite.
Is it really a fair indictment of the local music scene, much less the indie music culture, much less American youth culture, to say you don't see any instant classics? I agree that excellence should be the goal and that the endless competition for "cool" can get in the way of that. But along with the relativity of it all are the extremes and for every example of played-out crap there is someone making music with such intoxicating promise or such uncanny excellence that sweeping indictments start to look like swiss cheese.
The first, and best, defense of the Lawrence local music scene is that we are one of the most active hubs of Indie music in America. Which means we're a window of sorts into what's happening and what matters in our culture. So, what's happening? What I see is an array of influences and genres cross-pollinating, transforming, co-existing. The soul of our scene is definitely indie-rock and songwriter based but even then it's so varied. Is there more anxiety of influence right now with Neil Young or with Radiohead? With the Meters or the Sugar Hill Gang? Girl Talk or Aphex Twin? Fugazi or Can? It definitely feels like a smorgasbord. But if your impression from random bars is Wilco-lite, you're missing the lightning.
The most exciting sensibility I've found in Lawrence is the awareness that it doesn't matter that we're not in L.A. or New York or Chicago or wherever legitimate culture is thought to flow from - we know, because we connect through the internet, that location is not the key to legitimacy. As you might say: substance is. What's the latest rage? The Black Kids from Tampa, Florida. How do we know? Because they've infiltrated the location-defying nexus of our connected culture on the internet. Are they good? They're alright - kind of a mash-up between the Who and the Smiths. Will they last? Who knows. But if they do, it will be via the same process by which they were nominated: democratically.
Back to Lawrence - we have an overflow of potential winners. That's the reason our "local" scene gets so much respect outside of Douglas County. We have a solid 20 bands operating on an upper echelon of talent, expertise, inventiveness and passion. If you can not name ten of those twenty, you're either living in a vacuum or not interested enough in culture as it happens, preferring instead to turn on the Liszt, the Mingus, the Hank Williams, the Velvet Underground and stick a nose in a book, while the rest of the world connects atoms, rapid-fire, and rushes by.
Just try - seriously - all of us - not to be the kind of dorks that wear "I hate local music" slogans on our t-shrts.
Conflicting viewpoints within this article: You want all local music to stop, because it isn't as good as Coltrane and the Stones, but you want new big-name musicians. I guess we'll go American Idol for all our music needs?
To all of those who got their hackles ruffled by a seemingly arrogant opinion article, I suggest reading "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. If this article had been wishy-washy, would anyone have bothered to comment?
Also, why does this article on local music get scads more attention than the prior articles on saving the environment, the deplorable states of third world countries, censorship, etc.? The above responses to Petterson's article have been eloquent and backed well by examples and proposals--channel that indignation into current issues that demand change.
You're a junior in college? Really?
I considered a thoughtful rebuttal to this tripe, but Zaguar already covered all those bases, and somehow I feel like dignifying the above article with itemized critique would be giving it much more than it deserves. Mr. Pettyson, I wish you'd go back to Prairie Village. Lawrence has neither want, need, nor use for people such as yourself who clearly don't have the slightest understanding of or appreciation for any of the tenets that make the Lawrence music or art communities (or businesses for that matter) unique, interesting, and worthwhile. Just because you can drop a few impermeable names like Stravinsky and Coltrane and use the word "microcosm" doesn't make you an expert on music, or anything else.
thisone- we found it...
http://www.myspace.com/markpetterson
http://www.myspace.com/luckystrikeband
MARK IS RIGHT. YOU ALL SUCK.
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