Ranting about bands in my town…

Join or start band

Members join

Everyone has conflicting music taste (which is good we can pull from many sources)

Everyone else just ends up sending their inspo and creating a set list 

INSISTS on learning covers of (sorry for the arrogance but quite frankly) shit songs #sorrynotsorry

INSISTS on learning covers from completely different genres/scenes

INSISTS on gigging as soon as possible when we have no material and tried to book us when we literally have nothing

NO EFFORT to arrange meet ups, song writing seshes and jams

Brings no new parts to practice instead trying to write new stuff on the spot on the day (this is fine in general but all the time is big bono)

And the worst one of them ALL…

Is completely FIXATED on the idea of becoming famous worldwide and playing shows at massive festivals, like yeah guys it’s good to have big dreams and stuff but at my age (18) you need to focus on what’s in front of you, try and create and perfect as much music as you can, encourage the people around to put an input into their music environment, do local shows and practice, practice, practice. The first step is to actually help build a scene with a strong foundation where you come from because we can get the kids in this town to really push for a community that is consistently pushing an agenda creating art then that’s when we have space that we can call our own, start to create connections and network with communities further outside. I’m from Northampton, England the scene is pretty much non-existent except for a couple punk, shoegaze and hardcore bands. There is quite a prevalent metal, grind and slam scene here if you know where to looks and it’s fucking amazing. 

I think the havens of the UK right now (IN MY PERSONAL OPINION) are Glasgow, London, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham! They have worked hard to birth a beautiful DIY scene full of talented musicians, designers and creators. They actually RECORD their music even if it’s 3 track demos, even if it’s a 2 way split with only 2 songs, they get it done! They’re constantly spawning new bands after the previous one ended because it’s not about trying to make a cool group that plays covers to cater to the kids with the same mindset of start a band, write hits, get signed, sell out and become mega huge and famous. Its about growing together and building an extensive catalogue of where you come from, you put your city on the map, then your area, then your nation, continent and eventually feed back into the organism of which it is you are apart of; all around the world.

So what if bands start and end within months or years, the music is not going anywhere, you will always be able to look back and reflect on the fact that you have something to call yours, you and your friends or family are giving back to the very thing that makes you, YOU - your love for music.

I’m not just saying this out of the blue because I always end up joining bands that do this same loop: play covers of songs that have been done 40 gajillion times. It is actually the 4th time this happened to me so that’s what really pushed me to have a long and hard think on the psyche of my peers. It’s what made me want to rant on here about it. 

Please can we just start off SMALL!!! Like it takes a WHILE to write songs and there are only a HANDFUL of venues that I think would book bands with no experience playing live, original material and a non conventional sound. This why we have to take matters into our own hands, DIY is the word here - basement shows, living room shows, garden shows, abandoned areas or buildings, rented or bookable spaces (e.g, school halls, sports halls, churches, etc), booking venues. LITERALLY ANYWHERE you can find that is either secluded enough to not be shut down or anywhere permission is granted then DO IT! Small turn out? So what? Word will get around. Memory loss? Then tape the damn shows, record them, photograph the crowd and the band. I know we have an abundance of talented photographers here and chances like this could lead to building a brand or even starting a DIY label that can deal with all sorts of song making, business, film and photography, graphic design, art, writing and ideas. 

The reason I’m have not mentioned the specific genre and scene I would want to start here is because this is a cry for revolution to all musicians who struggle with finding themselves in an area you find desolate of any real passion. No matter your background, creed, taste in music or fashion you are ENTITLED to be a part of a community you can respect and appreciate but also bring something to the table. You don’t even have to do anything just listen to your favourite local bands and GO TO THEIR SHOWS!!!!! You are the essence of this ideology, the existence of a community means nothing without the presence of life, and you breathe that life into it.

You are powerful enough to do anything you put your mind to and if you disagree with this then you ARE NOT PUNK, go somewhere else but if punk isn’t your thing then whatever endeavours you persue it applies wether it be you’re a rapper or pop artist. You don’t love it as much as you think you do.

I love you all x