What ever happened to the community.

So today i created an account on ubuntuforums.org and something sparked my interest. I reallized how strongly regarded the sense of community was in this online forum. A sort of unity between all of the members and the cooperation between them for the better good. In these forums, you can go and ask simple questions, and you can discuss possible solutions to such problems with people who just might be more knowledgable than you about any one subject. Now, mind you, this is forum for Ubuntu Linux, a computer operating system, and the majority of these exchanges are computer related, But i made a sort of contrast with the music industry while exploring this newly joined community.
From what ive gathered, the music industry is nothing at all like a community. Everyone has their own agenda, and they will do whatever they can to achieve their goals. This sort of cut-throat attitude becomes a problem when the sense of unity is destroyed by it. Now, i have been in and out of bands for about 5 years now, and i have experienced quite a bit, not the most, but i have seen some things, good and bad.
I do see how some similar bands do stick together, play shows, share fans and such. Hell, i was there, ive made friends and played numerous shows with them. One situation that comes to mind was back when my old band played with Anomaly all those times (hell, i eventually joined the band), we met, became friends, stayed in touch somewhat, and played a few shows together and it was all good. We were both really small bands, but we kinda helped each other out.
I do notice where competition does get in the way of community. Especially now in the new age of the internet and the social networking revolution, all i see are bands that just want to get famous by any means possible (now where have i heard that before). But if you know anything about history, "by any means possible" never works. So its almost as if something needs to be done.
I have been thinking about this all day, and ive come to the conclusion that there should be some sort of online comunity for musicians. A place where they can go and exchange resources, collaborate on projects, and work for the betterment of the community. We already know my views on the music industry, but i think that by building something like this, it might help to make the situation better.
So that is my idea, it seems to be a great idea to me. I have no idea what other musicians might think about it. I just think that by borrowing on the ideals of community that has been so heavily emphasized in the open source world, that it can be used for the betterment of a different form of creative expression, because seriously, computers and music may be two different things, but the ways of creating both of them requires creativity and a willingness for progress.

Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Not At All

"Have you ever been a part of something
that you thought would never end?
And then of course it did."

Oh jeez, there is al ot i can write here, and i cant think of a place to start.
So i will start with the begining.
Well, it all started with me and my bass. Sitting, waiting for my bass lesson when i saw it, an ad looking for musicians for a "punk band" i figured i would check it out. So i did.
I do remember the first practice quite clearly, I had my dad drive me to Andy's house and i brought my bass and my amp. I remember meeting Jordan. I remember the first few songs we worked on. Little did I know what I was getting into. The coming years would be years of change, good times, bad times, and even more change, drastic change.
So i guess this is the part where i describe the way i was at this time. I was a junior in high school, just got through a real tough year the year before, and i didnt have very many friends. I had no social life, but i was starting to get into computers, starting to fiddle with them, started learning some stuff, and eventually i delved into the wonderful world of Linux.
But i digress. I eventually was happy, i was in a band who was actually able to write their own stuff. I had friends that i made through my band, I actually had some self esteem, how bout that. I met quite a few people through the band, and i even rekindled some old friendships. I met matt and eric, the two gentlemen who would eventually adopt me into their band.
I am now starting to remember the summers we spent together, gallivanting.
There were two summers spent doing this. Each of these summers were completely different. There was the first summer which was spent the three of us, Me, Andy and Jordan. There was however the times where i had to sneak around my parents just to see Alex (girlfriend at the time). We had fun times, listened to music that we thought was actually good. This was a great summer.
And now on to the second summer, this is where the most drastic change occurred.
So for this part, I will begin from the winter before.
Or should i even bother. Honestly, why should i still dwell on this, something that happened two years ago, something petty and stupid. I dont need to write this down, yes, it is a major changing point in the whole story, but its not good for me to dwell on it, so im not writing about what happened.
So now, there is talk of reuniting this band, my first real band. When first confronted with the idea, i had no idea what to think. I first thought it would never work out, but then i took some time to think about it. And truthfully, i am still thinking about it.
And this brings me to right now, I am with Death to the Modern Monster, and i have given them my full dedication, and i think "How will this all work out?"
I guess I will just play it by ear until something happens, thats the only way i can think to do this.

Why do they Insist on Destroying Music

By this, I mean the recording industry. If there is one way to destroy the art, and the beauty of what music is, the recording industry seems to be taking all of the right steps. So how are they destroying music, and are there any options that we have to reverse its horrendous effects. In my opinion, i do believe that there is seriously a problem, but there is still hope, both of those i will go over.
So what is the problem with the music industry? Well first of all, by calling it an industry, this creates competition, people lose touch with who they are, the distribution of money becomes involved, this brings in politics, personal politics that is, and this just takes it as far away from the music as you can get. Major record labels are just businesses that use bands. They use them, they use the creativity of the band, give them a few resources, and if the band does one thing that the label doesnt like or if the music climate changes, they are either sued, dropped, or they lose funding. So where does the creativity and the art come in. Well that is last in line. And if the label things the band is doing that wrong, they can step in and take control. Just as the situation with Thursday on their War All the Time album. When they said they were finished with the recording and writing process, they were basically forced back into the studio because there were no songs on it that were "radio worthy". So now why does this matter so much, and it basically boils down to the money. Money runs a business that used to be run on art and creativity. This is what makes it so hard for young newer bands to enter the music arena, because there is such a large gap between where you start and what is consitered successful, and what is consitered successful is whether or not you are making money. Now, it goes without saying that money is a part of life and that you need to make money to feed yourself and to make a living, but where is the line, why is this "rock star" lifestyle so glamourized and why do people keep buying into the bullshit that it is.
So now that i have described my issues with the music industry, i will explore a few ways by which i think that the people within the music industry can better it. First off, I really would like to commend that artists out there who are working for the better good, such as how Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead are working from the top to help change thing, so too must the independent artists work from the bottom to help make a change as well. One thing that the already successful independent artists can do is to help promote the not-as-successful artists. Much like how The Lawrence Arms or Against Me! always take bands on tour that some people might not know so much. The best scenario i can think of was when i saw Against Me! play at Headliners in Toledo. They played with Matt and Kim, and i must say, for a band that i have never heard before, i think that i was still able to enjoy their set and their music.
So with the new age of free music from the internet, what is next? The way i see it, musicians will give their music away for free, much like some independent bands that i know already, hell, i remember downloading the Defiance, Ohio album straight from their website. I think this is the way music should be done. When i like a band, they play shows, and that is what i remember most, the music is a catalyst to remind me of the great times i have at shows. More musicians should realize this, this is why they should have gotten into music in the first place, because of the intimate experience of going to or playing a live performance.
I am in a band now, and with my theory on music, i feel that it is almost our responsibility to at least try to make a change. By this i mean that i want to offer free downloads of our music from the internet. I want to as well offer sale of cds, but i dont want to be an ass about that. I want to design merchendise and sell that. That way i can see my art expressed in a multitude of ways. I want to become somewhat successful with my music so that i may somehow be able to influence someone to beleive the same as me and to also try to make a change. Because it is our music, and our art, and it is us who should be the ones who control it.

We are all human, its time to prove it.

As some of you may notice that line from and Anti-Flag song, you might guess that this post will be something about the nature of my political thought, or my interest in punk rock music.
If you guessed the latter of the two, you are right.
I am a guy who enjoys his punk music, and it can almost be attributed to the Anti-Flag song that I referenced in my title. For those of you who dont know the song, it is called "911 for peace". When I first heard the song, I was probably in 7th or 8th grade, I heard it on a mix cd I got from one of my friends. It didnt really do much for me until I bought the cd that the song was on. Mobilize is a great album for someone new to Anti-Flag. First, it shows off the nature of the band and what they are all about in terms of wanting peace, and political freedom. Secondly, it is able to showcase some of their other songs from earlier albums in the form of a live section at the end of it.
This was the album that got me into punk rock. Of course, I was also plagued with what many people would find as an abomination to music, I listened to mainstream pop-punk bands such as Blink-182, Good Charlotte, and Simple Plan. This was part of a phase I went through while growing up, it happens to the best of us (at least thats what i tell myself).
But back to my first "real" punk rock experience. The other things that stuck out to me was what the band had written on the last page of the booklet that came with the album. They wrote about how the record came into being. How they had originally intended to write a full album with fresh material, but then came the defining moment, 9/11. They explained their reaction, which was very different from the rest of the nation at the time. Instead of buying into the bullshit the media and the government was selling us, and which my young mind easily grasped on to, they took a different approach. They wrote the song 911 for peace, and quickly got it out there, they played live shows, they did all they could to get people to see what was really going on, and that it was a bad thing to make rash decisions on a whim.
By seeing this, and how they handled the situation, and hearing the music, Justin Sane's intense singing and wonderful lyrics, Chris Head's great guitar playing, keeping the song together, Pat Thetic's amazing drumming, giving it a great beat, and most importantly, hearing Chris #2's amazing bass playing, to me, was a great experience. It allowed me to look into a part of music that i had never really experienced before. It gave me something to strive for musically (being a terrible bass player at the time, Chris #2 really helped me push myself). I really owe a lot to the band.
I have since changed a lot of my musical interests, although the majority of what i listen to is punk, I still tend to mix it up at times. But the band that i will still go back to, time and time again, will always be anti-flag.