Week 9 - The L Shaped Man

I am going to go off topic today a little bit and talk about something that rustled my jimmies.

I was asked a question in an interview that I did for a Kiwi music website recently and it read like this:

You guys shared an ‘unconventional’ tribute to Black Flag titled ‘Half Mast – I Was A Skateboard’ from your pals at Black Death records. Do you feel that heavy music owes a great debt to some of the stranger Flag releases?

I took this to mean:

You guys seem to think that those weird Black Flag records were good. Which is odd because everyone already knows that Damaged is the peak of that band and they turned to shit when they started getting into those experimental records. What do you have to say about that?

I could have been completely wrong in how I interpreted that question (I don't think so) but here's what I think.

This sort of attitude in music, especially in underground scenes, really fucking urks me. There is a perception that bands that attempt to do anything outside of the norm are abandoning their roots, or selling out. As if taking the chance to not write the same record several times over is the first sign that a band is looking out to Virgin and wanting to make it big.

As a result bands there’s a tendency in music, especially underground music, to do what’s safe. Tune low, get a big amp, buy a boutique fuzz. Do something different. Do something interesting. It’s as though bands are nervous people will think what they are doing is fruity so they stick to what they think listeners will enjoy. To me those records are awesome because it’s just Black Flag doing Black Flag and not giving a shit. At the end of the day it’s your music and your record so do whatever the fuck you want.

The other problem here is fans actually thinking that a band wrote that record for them. They didn't, they wrote it for themselves. Getting upset that a band changed is like expecting an artist to only paint water colour for their entire career and then being annoyed that they picked up a camera. As a band, obviously you would like people to enjoy your music, that's why it gets released and you play shows etc, but why would you place limitations on something that can and should evolve?

I personally think that playing music is like playing a sport. Over time your understanding of the game and your skills develop to the point where the way you play will naturally start to change. The way I play music is certainly not the same as it was 12 months ago. This is due to me being interested in different sounds and writing for new projects. A housemate even commented on it recently. He noted that the way I have been playing guitar is completely different to how it was at the end of last year.

I guess my main gripe or point here is that "Music Fans" are actually fucking idiots. Bands should realise that they are not actually at the mercy of these people. You can pretty much put whatever you want in front of them and eventually, they will like it. The marketing strategy behind pop music supports that point quite well.

Speaking of pop music, I would just like to quickly mention that everything that I have just spoken about excludes music that is produced for commercial purposes. People involved in that aspect of music should just throw themselves in a river or something. I am only focusing on music that is produced from a place of creative expression. Commercial music is the artist equivalent of a Hallmark birthday card. I guess that's why you can only find pop music in racks at petrol stations along the Hume Highway now?...

Lastly, incase you are thinking "But Ben, that shitty pop music pays bills!". That's why I go to school here. So I can acquire the skills to involve myself in other areas of the audio industry and make great records, with good bands for fun. If a career making pop was all that was left for me in life, you would find me swinging from a rafter in my back shed.

I didn't give a 600 word response to the original question asked of me by this particular music site but the sentiment was much the same.

I listened to The L Shaped Man by Ceremony while I wrote this. Mostly because they are a perfect example of what I am talking about. They started out as an LA power-violence/punk band and have morphed into something completely different. Fans slowly started to lose their minds while this band changed from album to album. Until they all eventually grew up and started going to art school. At which point they decided that listening to narrative based post rock was cool and you could listen to Ceremony again with out being a loser.