Scene Fantastic

The one thing New York still has, is that it is the mother of all "scenes". From Jazz to Classical to Rock as well as other arts. And if you look at the "scenes" closely they will tell you what's going on socially. It's no secret that all of the "scenes" in New York are dead and have been for a while. Some reporters will tell you different and have convinced themselves of this falsehood because they have a job to keep. Scenes still however, always try to emerge but are short lived due to lack of support from outsiders as well as insiders (artists not supporting each other). Also the resulting suburban scene (like Seattle, Austin etc) is turning or has turned. The economy effecting homes and suburbia could be a problem (post-grunge) if I wanna be nice. If I wanna be Hemingway, It was and is, just time. That Indie-Rock, Pop stuff has a blandness and visual emphasis on it that gives a very eerie undertone of assimilation. Don't question me, you get it, you're smart. Now you can say something dumb like, "What Art doesn't have assimilation in it?" But just admit to yourself that it pissed you off cause it has truth to it, and you'll feel much better.

Now, so I don't get accused of being fascist, by you easily intimidated types out there, I'll say these great words, "That's just my opinion, you're entitled to have yours too". However, I'm attracted to the artistic freedom it seems those Indie Rock and Pop "Bands", usually have. They have some devoted supporters. I don't know if they convince these supporters of this "mega scene" emerging or what. It seems these supporters are like old reject dorks in high school who's revenge it is to create a new high school/college scene; or a "has been ‘popular’ high schooler" who is desperately seeking a scene to control. It definitely takes one to know one, ‘Band Nerd’ and ‘Varsity Football Jock’, I didn't fit anywhere but was respected cause I was good at both (while my nose is way in the air). These scene-seekers are actually doing something that has a lot of good in it considering the present condition of numb youths. But the desperation presents the trip wire. Desperation without giving can cause some problems. That's my concern ... I don't know if these kind of people could get into these New York types due to the nature of how they search out scenes.

I can definitely say that I have contemporaries, but we have a hard time sticking together because everybody's going for self, due to the fact that none of us have a significant following and we tend to only play to other bands performing on our night, at shows. Now, one could say that this must mean our music isn't strong enough, but I doubt that because we all have credit with every peer or band that has encountered us. However, the New Yorker's nature is trendy and they don't want to be out of the loop. This makes for un-devoted listeners.

Quantity is clearly more valuable than quality to the New Yorker. Even in other arts. I went to MOMA one Friday (cause it's free on Fridays), I'm trying to take in this Pollock piece and this girl jumps right in front of me snapping shots of the piece, then snaps a shot of the annotation next to it. I couldn't believe how many others were doing it, almost everybody! They don't even take in the moment with the painting, just snap...snap...snap! My girlfriend later pointed out that, traditionally people can’t use flash photography in a museum, for fear of damaging the painting. One person was so exhausted from all the photo taking, they leaned on a Picasso to take a break and security didn’t make a big fuss about it, they just quietly told him to move. This is sooo Information Age behavior. They’ll email all these paintings to their friends as proof that they are living life to the fullest. We now tend to gather all of these experiences up for status, without experiencing anything.

I went to the Chelsea Gallery district to check out some cutting edge art. That shit was so redundant, I was laughing out loud and had to leave. The themes were so literal by these artists and "in my opinion" very lazy. What was interesting (more than the art itself) was the background stories of the art given by the gallery staff. I quickly realized that I wasn’t alone and felt sorry for any true artists trying to survive out there.

It scares me that we’re this lost. A people this lost, can and will be taken advantage of and swept up by an unexpected force. Don’t believe me? All I have to say is this: There are a lot of American musicians starting to do business in China.