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My Indy Rant
by Jason from Scumgrief
[Editor's
Note: Scumgrief, a heavy band in Indianapolis, is fronted
by the enthusiastic and opinionated Jason. Never afraid to
speak his mind as he constantly works to promote his band,
Jason has some insight to share regarding leading a group
at the local level. Though many of his comments are specific
to Indianapolis, all young bands can take some universal truths
from his statements.]
A while
back I was asked to write some thoughts on what it's like
to front a metal band in Indy. This is what came out when
I started typing.
Business
wise, this city is pretty simple. Frankly, most of the bands/clubs
here don't have much of a business side. The town is small
enough that if you have a decent recording and promote, you
can get about any show you want. Booking agents are useless
because the bottom line is, it's about personal interaction.
I have planned/booked more shows yelling in someone's ear
while watching a band than I can count. It's actually quite
a nice way to do business. It's very friendly. The downside
is, we're all in for a rude awakening when we decide to go
to the big markets. A few weeks back, we were in Chicago and
I watched 6 bands play and met members of 2 other bands as
well. The thing that struck me is that EVERY band had their
shit together. They all had good press kits, good recordings,
and were good at what they did. I may not have dug their music,
but I couldn't fault their ability. When I go see shows in
Indy, there are always at least 2 things you can find that
the band needs to work on. (with a few exceptions) It became
very apparent why the industry doesn't pay any attention to
Indy. We don't act pro, so why should the pros pay attention?
I only had contact with 8 bands that night, in one club, on
one random night in Chicago, and every one of them could have
been signed. You can't say that here.
Look at
what has happened with the chances Indy has had. Josh Baker
(benchmark records) has worked his ass off for the last 2
years to put on The Midwest Music Summit, and lost his ass
every time. Why? Because the bands here took it for granted.
If every band here promoted and supported like it was a job,
Indy would have a scene. A scene of fans, not just other musicians.
If you don't promote in Chicago, you don't play, period. The
thing that kills me is how many bands don't look at it as
a job. That's what it is! Hell, why else is it the called
the music industry? Which brings us to money.
If you
are wanting to make a living here, you might want to learn
a trade, or get really good at flipping burgers. There are
only a select few clubs in the city that allow all original
bands to book regularly, and they can't pay much. Those clubs
are run by some of the best people I know. They know there
is no money in this. They just love the scene. People like
Chris from the Ritz, Shane from Tailgators, Jeff from Birdys,
Matt from the Patio, Josh from the Emerson, and Smedley from
Festivilla are who keep our dream alive. If they stop believing,
we might as well move. On the other hand, if bands did their
job more often then maybe the clubs would have better attendance
and they could afford to pay. I have stopped trying to gig
swap because I just plain can't make it worth any bands while.
I have more than once paid out of my pocket to have a band
come play a show with us. Why? Respect. They drove all the
way here and gave us a gig in return. I'm going to make it
worth their while. Hell, I'm embarrassed to bring bands here.
There
are many advantages of staying here though. You have the unique
ability to be a big fish in a little pond, you can get to
several major markets in under 5 hours driving, everything
you need costs less, and did I mention you can be a big fish?
But, then again, that also has a downside.
Two years
ago, Trinity and I formed this band with the intent of recording
with studio musicians and shopping our disk out of state.
I came from several years of bad experiences in Indy and he
had just moved here from themiddleofnowhere Tennessee to better
his chances at finding a band. We wrote all of the music ourselves
and I was so jaded to Indy that we were just uninterested.
We accidentally found the rest of the band when I was just
reading the Nuvo adds. This prompted us to maybe look around
for gigs. Then came Indianapolismusic.net, and it changed
my mind completely about the Indy scene. Now it's 2003, 70
some gigs later and we're back where we started. Well, minus
the fact that it's not just the 2 of us. I am happier now
with the lineup than when we started, but I am again jaded
to Indy.
The past
year an a half has seen us sink thousands of dollars into
promoting in this city and countless hours of supporting other
bands. Not all of that has been wasted. We have been able
to hear some great music and learn some valuable lessons.
We've made many acquaintances, and a few friends as well.
The disheartening part is that I spend more time now defending
scumgrief than anything else. We have become the punching
bag for the underage scene in Indy. Some have said that I
should be glad everyone knows our name, and I am, but I don't
understand the unwarranted hatred we get. Bands in this city
have actually sent e-mails to their fans telling them NOT
to go see us. We have watched bands who we thought were our
friends quietly distance themselves from us. Every underage
kid I meet tells me the same thing, "I heard you guys sound
like Creed and look like Poison". Do you have any idea how
hard it is to get a kid to come see for himself if everyone
he knows says we suck. Worst thing is, NONE of them have ever
heard us. All of this hatred and I have yet to find out why.
I have
many ideas of why it's so hard to get the average Joe out
to shows. One of which is that the heavier genres can't seem
to stop calling each other names and bitching about who's
"real metal" and who's not. Why does the average guy want
to put up with that? Another one is that Indy has done so
well financially in the past few years that most people have
all the entertainment they want in their homes. So now that
things are tight, everyone would rather stay home and save
money. Still another one is the lack of support from the major
radio stations. That argument could go on forever between
their hands being tied by the "higher ups" and the public
not wanting to hear it. Since they are just doing their job,
maybe us doing ours better could sway that argument. The last
idea is that Indy itself is such a trendy place that anything
new or unsanctioned by someone cooler isn't acceptable. Our
radio is choking on top 40 with a noticeable gap in independent
programming. Most "Hoosiers" are a bit defensive when it comes
to living in a state so often equated with rednecks. Maybe
they are just too scared to try something new. I think it's
a combination of them all, with a little dash of the fact
that everyone knows someone playing in a bad garage band.
Why is that? Because we've had so much money the last few
years, everyone owns a guitar. Mars Music went out of business,
but the highest selling store in the country was right here
in Indy. Hmmm.
So what's
my overall view of Indy? I guess it's just take it for what
it is. Without pissing off too many people, I say, don't sweat
this city. I've had many a great night hanging with musicians
at local shows, but very little of it taught me anything that
I really needed to know. There are lots of good people here,
and several good bands. It's fun to walk into a club and have
half the people there know your name, just don't expect anything.
It's easy to sit around after your show counting how many
times you've supported band X and wondering why they couldn't
make it out to see you, even though they said they would,
but that gets you nowhere. Look at every show as your first
show, and flier it like it's your last. Study this industry,
do your homework, get your business straight. Then practice
here and prepare for the real world. This city could have
an incredible scene, I'm just tired of trying. Who knows maybe
someone reading this will change the face of music as we know
it.
Never
give up, it's in your blood, it's in my blood. Just be realistic.
If you just want to have fun getting high and playing music,
then do that. If you want to make this a career, then get
serious, and get your music out of here! See ya around.
Contact
Jason at jason@scumgrief.com.
Check out the band itself at www.scumgrief.com
and www.mp3.com/scumgrief.
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