The Mold
I remember back in early 1992 when we did that cover of AP with Nirvana.
Hell, I believe we were the first national magazine to have them on the cover.
It was an exciting time to be in music.
Into music.
We know the story by now: they broke the mold, they broke through the mold.
Over the next decade+, they would have launched a thousand new bands, a few hundred new sounds, and the careers of a whole crap load of music industry employees from journalists to A&R reps to music conference CEOs.
But as with all things in pop culture, there are cycles.
And as soon as we were all getting comfortable, the entire Nirvana-inspired scene spun out of control and we somehow ended up with Nu-Metal by the end of the 90's.
And back to the mold, again.
Ugh, I remember when we did that cover too.
Then out of the ashes of that came a sound that got us in the music business (and us as fans) all excited once again.
Fresh.
Spoken by a New Generation.
A New Voice.
That broke the mold.
That, again, would spawn a thousand new bands, hundreds of websites run by hundreds of crazy music fans and a whole crap load of new jobs for music industry workers- from guitar techs to label publicists to indie clothing designers to music site bloggers.
And we all slept good at night.
Until last year at some point.
When it started to get moldy again.
And now here we are.
"What's the new sound going to be?"
"When's it going to come?"
Two questions I hear often just about every day.
Emo is dead.
Screamo is on life-support.
Over-Auto-Tuned Electro-Pop is over.
The swoop cut is out.
And Pete shaved his head and grew a beard.
I get it. I understand why we had Dance Music City for 18 months.
Like with the Great Depression when movie-goers wanted to escape, to forget their daily hell of being broke and jobless and worrying how they were going to feed their kids the next day, the great Hollywood Musicals reigned supreme in popular culture.
Everyone just wanted to forget the bull crap. Go out, have fun, sing-a-song, dance-along.
No different to what's been going on in the music scene since late 2008.
But that turntable belt wore out, too.
So....now....here we are.
All standing around, staring at each other, waiting for someone to start dancing first.
But, so far, no one has been willing to lead.
The New Generation.
The New Sound of Now.
Or, maybe, the next Nirvana, the next Saves The Day...they're just not together yet.
As a band.
Or maybe they're still in their bedroom with their Garage Band software polishing up the sound that'll spawn another thousand bands and hundreds of iPad apps and a whole crap load of music industry jobs for people that are broke-assed from being out of work for so long.
(They're getting impatient, believe me. Hurry the fuck up, if you're reading this.)
To break the mold of what was 2002-2009.
The time is right.
The air is ripe for Change.
Whenever the country is in the crapper (and, interestingly enough, when there's a Republican in the White House), it tends to create just the right conditions for a New Great Sound to be born.
When Reagan was in the White House, punk rock ruled strong. So many great bands came out of that era that would change the future of music entirely. (Ask Henry Rollins)
Rebellion and Anger towards crap conditions in our country breed great artistry.
When Bush was in the White House- well, 2002-2009.
Now here we are with a Democrat in the White House, yes, but a very, very crappy (world) economy and a very pissed off artisan crowd.
The words for lyrics are all there.
On a silver platter, practically.
Waiting to be used.
It's the Rich versus the Poor.
Bankers versus the Common Man.
Racism and Bigotry versus Tolerance.
The Far Right versus the Far Left.
The Past versus The Future.
Great Technology versus Great Personal Distance.
Etc, etc, etc.
What band is going to be The One.
To come break this mold?
(PS- Hurry the fuck up.)
20 Comments:
We are trying!
Tryin so hard...
Mixing DJ with Pop band. And looking damn good doing it!
Out with the old. In with the Pyro.
www.myspace.com/pyrofighterband
I believe Fun. is the next band to break the mold
I'd seem like a douche if I posted my music here claiming to be the next Nirvana. But I'll say that I'm putting my money on folkpunk/acousticore
something so simple and raw compared to over produced autotune.
I started in a new band three weeks ago. I have my eyes closed, breathing heavy, on the verge of a breakdown, hoping that I can somehow be a part of whomever leads this newest musical revolution. Whatever happens, it'll be fun to watch.
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Mike,
I think these are very true thoughts from a "side-liner", that being someone like yourself who makes a lot of $$ on terrible artists yet calls out from the rooftop for the "next gen nirvana" to form and break the musical mold. Sounds like you are just bored...
This opinion of yours is blogged about comfortably in a chair from an office building with the magazine covers gracing yours walls with bands like All Time Low, The Maine, Family Force 5, Cobra Starship & the oh so inspiring 3OH!3!
Bravo Mr. Shea a job well done and we all appreciate these words and your endeavors to further along the under-appreciated artists as you continue to reenforce bad musical habits to an new generation of clueless kids.
Nirvana grew from the poor outskirts of a major city playing broken gear and singing about real issues just near homeless kids. You can't make that, people latched onto them because it was real and sad as it may be nobody cares about these bands anymore. Nirvana never cared to put on a purple shirt and kiss your ass by tagging photo's of you on facebook so crush management could have you by the balls.
The bums will always lose Mr Shea...the bums will always lose.
Sincerely,
Your conscience.
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thank you, james- i'm sure your record collection is cooler than everyone else's too.
(PS- if you think i'm rich, you're the one sitting on the sidelines throwing assumptions, dude.)
It's going to be all about being positive, lyrics that build upon being a better individual and trying to make a change through one step at a time.
I think the scene that is going to explode, is once again the East Bay. Bands likes Set Your Goals, This Time Next Year. And my current favorite and ridiculously young band: The Story So Far.
Mike,
The Chinaman (my record collection) is not the issue here dude, it's the fact that you're part of the problem and unwilling to admit it. You promote a sea of terrible bands that keep good art from rising to the surface. You are either part of the problem or or really part of the problem...
You're right though about one thing in that music needs to break the mold and mean something again just like being on the cover of your magazine needs to mean something again.
The average indie band member makes about 10k-20k a year if he's lucky. I mean lucky in that royalties are paid, decent merch sales and some hopefully a few checks from publishing syncs. Most artists live at home with their parents well into their mid-late twenties so your modest 75k-95k a year salary thats fueled by a crush on horrible music does make you a rich man after-all.
Are we going to address the issues?
James.
(PS- With all the free records you get everyday I am sure you have a collection of good ones that I couldn't even begin to pay for. The only difference is that I'd try to write about them if I had the chance.)
A Face For Radio out of Dallas, Texas IS the face of new music. A bright future for these pop-punk influenced guys and they want you to all be a part of it... Be on the look out for them in your "Friend Request" box...
http://www.myspace.com/afaceforradiotx
I'm a long time subscriber of AP.
I've seen it go through the changes. From great bands like Girls Against Boys to the questionable material of 3Oh3. The record review section is getting smaller each month, over 30% is advertising. It's been a frustrating ride, but the magazine still covers (for the most part) something I love: MUSIC.
I understand why they cover what they cover now. It pays the bills. I wish more risks were taken, sadly risks don't pay bills.....
Anyway- this was about the next Nirvana, a band that can break the mold. It would be great, however something tells me it's not going to happen. Listen to the radio. What do you hear? Garbage, maybe. the next Nirvana/mold breaker isn't slipping the $ to the right people - therefore not getting to the ears of the masses.
People don't care about music anymore. Really. I know YOU might, but generally music has taken a back seat. It plays a major part in movies, but not in everyday life. No one goes to record stores anymore. (With illegal downloading - why leave the house?) People have the power to sample and have an opinion in 30 seconds. People download, listen once and that's it. Goodbye albums that grow on you. The album format is changing. Bands are resorting to putting out a song a month for free or a dollar. I remember buying cassingles and I couldn't wait for the full length to arrive. The song a month stuff is different. The album is never coming out.
I guess we need to find the bands that break the mold according to ourselves. Listen to those bands, share them with like minded individuals and support them. Don't worry if MTV plays them or your local radio station is giving them serious spins. It could happen, but don't bank on it.....
sorry just returned from the other day to read the responses- all i can say is that music and trends change all the time. it's never the way it was when we grew up or when (we thought) music was better. we never really understand why things change the way they do or what makes people like certain types of entertainment over the stuff we like or liked. it's a frustrating experience. there is no way we could be writing about the same artists from our past and be in business much less go the other route and put very very cool but very very segmented indie bands on our cover. i've seen the circ figures for those magazines and they sell very very few copies and can be found in very very few outlets. that's not my goal.
but it is their goal- which is great. so those magazines can write about the very very cool and segmented bands (many of which i have in my ipod) and we'll write about the bands our readers want us to write about.
but i'm not a rich man by any means- if i did taylor lautner in a wet t-shirt on my cover followed by lada gaga the next issue, i probably would be.
now THAT, my friends, is selling out.
i wish there was a way to reach music executives with my music. other than having to know people and all that crap. I know none of you people will ever give a rats ass, just because of how many people in the world that are trying to make music their life. I'm going to keep trying. Hope you hear of me soon.
and for the whole breaking the mold thing. Who knows why the fuck no new stuff hasnt hit the streets yet, maybe its like what james said.. you guys just dont care anymore about REAL musicians, you just grab random popularized fags off of myspace and throw them a record deal cuz they sound fantastic in the studio.
-Jimmy
Man, I thought what I was going to say was original and fresh, but I am very, very wrong. Thus, I would like to thank Chris (for crediting fun.), kapy53 (for crediting folk, acoustic, punk stuff) and downtownbrownbottles (for crediting bands like Set Your Goals). I would like to add that bands like Sherwood, fun., the new hellogoodbye stuff and Good Old War are breaking the mold. Will it catch? We'll see.
Trust me I'd love to see something new done. I think part of the problem partially instrumentation. The whole guitar, bass, drums (and sometimes keys) band setup is limiting in the context of what a band can do and sound like. I wish more bands would stretch out and experiment with a broader range of instrumentation even within the context of those instruments. Or embrace new technology more for new sounds.
I dont think that there will be a mold breaking band, I think every thing is heading twoards more niches. So theres no so much an overall alternative music scene but small more homogeneous scenes.
I have been reading Alternative Press since Say Anything was on the cover and I've been noticing my Music Bible getting thinner and weaker.
Whoever's idea it was to put something in about Person L, I want to kiss their feet and rub their toes. That is the future of music.
Whoever realized Jesse Lacey is right (again) and said "Hey! We should write a story about Manchester Orchestra!" I want to do the same.
The thing is, kids (mind you- I'm 15) have no idea who the fuck Kenny Vasoli is or who Jesse Lacey is or (in some cases) Max Bemis is. We've traded Chris Conley ("and to me you are the light from a lightbulb that breaks sometimes and the tender warmth inside is released into my life") for Christofer Drew ("what is love?")
Music is suffering but out of it we still have some of the best songwriters. Saves The Day is still together. Andy Hull, Jesse Lacey, Max Bemis, Kenny Vasoli (God Bless His Soul- throw him another bone Mike, for me? A story maybe? Please!), Anthony Green, Craig Owens.
We still have good sonwriters, don't forget that. As long as you keep NeverShoutNever off of the cover I will not ever ignore an issue of this magazine. Don't let the stupid Scene kids win.
(PS. Circa Survive better have a cover story this year)
BLACK SUIT YOUTH
www.myspace.com/blacksuityouth
that band has been doing it diy for 5 years, their catchy enough to cross over and no one sounds like them.
The Devil Wears Prada.
2009 Band of the Year......for a reason.
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