Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 13:21:49 +0100 From: "J.B.Hunt" <JOA97JBH@sheffield.ac.uk> Subject: Sinister: being happy, being dirty
Hey hey! Hey!
This is only my third post in nine months but I thought I should get it in before I go home for a while. Today was my final exam, so I'm scampering to the countryside to chew straw and wear a hat and sit around in sandals. Till September.
Whycliffe says it better than me.
What I was wondering was... is there anyone out there who would like to form a band? I've been writing songs for a while, and I've had a bash at playing in groups before, but it always seems to end up with me standing cross-legged, struggling with the three chords to Jailbird while an engineering student wrangles, bug-eyed, to get a solo out of a very expensive guitar (yeh man, I'm stung).
It's so bad that everyone with similar musical interests to me always live somewhere else. Damnit. But don't you see that playing in bands that what you describe is truly the backbone of rock? Not that it's populated by engineers or that would be scary, but people who get together for the hell of it and jam! Rock music is the only form of entertainment where you can be a bad singer or not know your instrument and yet are still considered good. Nobody gives a damn about proficiency as long as you rock. people in this town that I'm in have completely forgotten that. to them, it's all about demo tapes and who you know. They've completely forgotten the idea of getting people together for the hell of it because Austin is becoming a place where too much is at stake. I remember reading a biography on the Smiths and was amused to learn that Johnny Marr went several years without owning an amp. Here, everyone has in-home recording studios, a CD release on their own label, and looks strictly at your work references. They don't even want to waste their time auditoning someone they've never heard of to join a line up. They're going right for the throat as far as success is concerned, but they overlook the most important things such as talent, ideas, and having fun. I don't know if it's like that everywhere, but it makes me sick that many people have forgotten what it is to be a performer and want to go strictly for the juggular. yeah, I admit I want the same, but as far as I'm concerned, I want to have a playlist of many songs and try them out before and audience and then I'll rush to a studio. who doesn't want success? It sucks to be kicking around in front of half interested audiences, but really, I'd rather earn my respect than have it earned for me by MTV and then be a trivia question in a bar as "this one hit-wonder wrote..." several years on. Luckily, I have been doing that and it feels good that people ask me what I'm doing or when I'm playing just because they want to. s.s. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa -----------------------------------------------------------------------