I have to say that I sympathize on both sides and find this situation to be perpetual and impervious.
There was a point in my life when I thought we were running out of new genres. That music was becoming recycled and muddied. If it wasn't for the internet and the influence of friends I may have never discovered this vast ocean of underground artists.
I remember the first time I heard Buck 65 and Sage Francis and Sole and Fog. My friend had made a mix CD for me and if it wasn't for his own affinity for this music and his decision to create this disc I may have never trained my ear to love and understand it.
The truth is that most of the music I listen to now has been downloaded and I have yet to donate my own hard earned cash to many of these artists. Not because I am greedy and apathetic, but because I am living check by check and cannot for the most part afford to do so.
You must understand however, I am also an artist and when I am not working to earn cash I am creating new art using primarily the music I listen to as inspiration. The problem for me is finding a way to balance out my energy between working to feed myself and working to please myself...while at the same time also worrying about aiding in the movement of those who are inspiring me. I'd like to think that by creating more artwork that I am giving back to the community as much as I am taking from it, though I have my doubts that this is how it works.
I am pretty sure that most of us are well aware of our moral or immoral decision when downloading music. I suppose all we as artists can do is ask that our lives are taken into consideration. However, from my experience, the people who I'm friends with that do the most downloading are also the same people who do the most album purchasing.
Either way, I think this is mostly a matter of how we are to judge the worth of art as far as dollars go? I'm afraid that it must be decided by those who are willing and/or unwilling to pay for it. I know that I will continue to create until my last breath regardless of my communal support even if it comes down to making sculptures out of trash on the streets. It's a hard knock life...step to it.
If it was within my power I'd feed you all an endless supply of inspiration and nutrition, but the truth is that we all have a chance to make a stand and we all, despite our greatest efforts, will eventually fall. And all the while people will be watching it on youtube.
My friend Jana and I started writing this song the morning after we shared a disturbing experience. The night before she had past out right before me and took a face dive into the concrete knocking out two of her teeth. She was unresponsive for about twenty seconds with her eyes wide open. It was absolutlely horrifiying.
She's from sweden so we decided to write the verses in swedish. This is what we have so far...I'll write it in english for all intensive purposes:
Yesterday, I lost some teeth. And now, should I laugh or cry? It's not so bad, but it's hard to smile. Death, it whispers in my ear. Singing softly what I fear.
Today while singing ..Oh sister.. a rather difficult song by cult band Neutral Milk Hotel, I had shifted the pitch of my voice so that I might sing higher. I did this as I was reading the lyrics from the computer screen and had noticed that along with the pitch change, my depth perception also changed. The result might be described as the sudden distortion in depth perception you experience after receiving a blow to the head. Though the transition is slightly more delicate. It gave the illusion of viewing through a microscope and pulling the lense just a bit higher. The text appeared to move deeper into the screen and the frame of the monitor felt to be further away. Which gives birth to the idea that the very tone of our voices may change the way we see things. So eat some reds and try to calm down. Smoke some grass..shoot some smack..shit man, whatever you gotta do.
Originality...now what is that? Hold on, let me take a sip of my beer.
Originality. Yes... No... Hmmm.
Original. The first thing that comes to mind is the word "first", right? Well, for me at least. So I suppose then THAT must have been an original thought, right? Unless someone else agrees with me. In wich case, there certainly must be a gliche in the matrix? No?
So if you DO agree with me, then must we compete for who produced the thought first? Or shall we celebrate eachothers likeness? Possibly unite and create like-thoughts together? Sadly, for some, this is not an option.
You see, a long time ago, I used to believe that if someone shared similar "interests", they must in some way...be similar.
Today I came upon a very talented artists profile...and I mean I cannot fathom his ability, amazing artwork! Yet he had this strange disclaimer on his profile...it read something like:
"How many (different names of well known artists), Wanna-Be's, Never Going To Be's, Too Scared to Be Themselves, Claiming to Be "Artists" are there out there? Have an Identity that is from within and NOT a replication of your "Idols"... No one is going to respect you, Especially the Artists that you ARE ripping off. At least wait until they're dead for a 100 years or so..."
Now, I've started my fair share of worthless arguments...but this really urked me, and now that I've been drinking The Old Style, I can't seem to keep away from the keys.
What an honor it would be to recognize that some no name "wanna be" is mimicking my style... Yet how can this be measured? I mean, I understand what a "remarkable resemblance" is...
Mary Kate and Ashley Olson (Though I must say Ashley is totally thicker, killer lips...or is that Mary Kate)...but who copied who?
Okay, art is a little different. Especially pieces of art conceived in distinctly different time slots...but still, how can you clearly state that one piece of art is a blatent rip-off of another, unless the very subject matter, and placement of both color and shapes are identical?...and if this is to occur, we have men in suits who deal with these things...and quite a wide variety of them.
Okay, so I'm being a pissant...yes, I see all the color inbetween, and I know what you're saying.
But hey, this guy sucks. Right? I mean, you said they were "Never going to be's", right? So what's your monkey so pissed about? They're obviously not going to tread on your market...and shit, if they do, you're "Original", right? You'll just whip up something new, RIGHT? JUst like that first line you drew at the age of three? That oh so original line, with that neat little scribble next to it...simply original... just like pukin up your mommas titty juice.
All I gotta say is, get off it. Your shit rocks. It's amazing. What the fuck else do you want? Mass Genocide? The fountain of youth? Maybe you could use some of that originality to solve a little more than a painting.
Original...original...o-rig-in-al...origin? Origin? But...But there's nothing before me....I mean, I can't remember...
drunk