I see a lot of musicians, who dream to become rockstars. They play in studios, create their music at home, make gigs in their home towns or somewhere near. Some of them record CDs... But that's all they do... Few years later they loose their hope. Some of them still play, but for a passion only... Last few months I was thinkin' (and still think), that it's better to leave my "Home Sweet Home", and make a big tour around Europe or even around the world... "Band On The Run", he-he... It's not a problem to find places, where we can rock. Perhaps someone will pay to us attention. But the risk is: all or nothing. But I think, I can do that, because I don't want to live without music. Now the question is - could YOU do this and what could YOU do else for the music?

Yes, I could do this because anyone with skill can do it with the right people.

I don't really understand this thread, maybe Im missing the point? Musicians don't do things for music, they make the music. Music is what makes them musicians, so the process cant go reverse.

Hmm... I think I have my priorities different, I could never pick up and leave to play in another city or country because I am unwilling to take that risk. I don't work on impulse, thats just how I am. I try to plan everything ahead even if the objective is far away, planning things just makes me feel secure. Also, Im eager to start learning again so I don't want to jeopardize myself financially by going out of my way to fulfill my desires.

I guess I never really wanted to be famous anyways... but for the money, sure.

Written by Lord TJ on 24.12.2007 at 16:44

Yes, I could do this because anyone with skill can do it with the right people.

I don't really understand this thread, maybe Im missing the point? Musicians don't do things for music, they make the music. Music is what makes them musicians, so the process cant go reverse.

You know, amigo, sometimes it is necessary to do something to realize your art. And I'm sure, that everywhere will be admirers of your music - the only problem is that they can't hear you if you play only in your home city. And I'm sure, that each musician wants to promote his music to have as more fans as it possible. Do you agree with me?

Hehe, some smart and talented guy whose name I cannot recall, once said something like, "you see, the problem is most of them don't practice for the pleasure of practicing, but in order to be good enough to secure a record deal." So you see, first there's a really big difference between doing a job, and making a living out of your biggest passion.

Everytime the question you ask here bugs me I rember those old interviews with the guys of from Poptallica, about how fucking poor they where in the early days and how they kept going. Sure it was America in the 80's but still, those guys back then had a much rougher time than any of us would have right now. And still they did it. Currently I'm making my music at home...then I need to find and a drummer some guy that can sing. And then I'll take on the world *chuckles. So far I haven't found anything else so forth doing. Cheers.

Written by Alex Smith on 24.12.2007 at 17:48

You know, amigo, sometimes it is necessary to do something to realize your art. And I'm sure, that everywhere will be admirers of your music - the only problem is that they can't hear you if you play only in your home city. And I'm sure, that each musician wants to promote his music to have as more fans as it possible. Do you agree with me?

I agree with you, but im just confused on what "What can you do for the music" is supposed to mean.

Written by Alex Smith on 24.12.2007 at 17:48

Written by Lord TJ on 24.12.2007 at 16:44

Yes, I could do this because anyone with skill can do it with the right people.

I don't really understand this thread, maybe Im missing the point? Musicians don't do things for music, they make the music. Music is what makes them musicians, so the process cant go reverse.

You know, amigo, sometimes it is necessary to do something to realize your art. And I'm sure, that everywhere will be admirers of your music - the only problem is that they can't hear you if you play only in your home city. And I'm sure, that each musician wants to promote his music to have as more fans as it possible. Do you agree with me?

Yes, noone can hear your music unless you leave your town for a year long tour because we have not come up with ways to digitalize music and make it widely available on the internet for anyone in the world.

Seriously though, what can you do for music? stop watching MTV and grammies, and for fucks sake does everyplace have to have music playing throughout the day? everyshop you go to has either mtv or radio on, its really irritating. Even if the music they played was something i liked i wouldnt want to hear music all the time, id rather listen to it when i can pay proper attention to it and truly enjoy it.

Written by NECURATU on 24.12.2007 at 20:58

Hehe, some smart and talented guy whose name I cannot recall, once said something like, "you see, the problem is most of them don't practice for the pleasure of practicing, but in order to be good enough to secure a record deal." So you see, first there's a really big difference between doing a job, and making a living out of your biggest passion.

Everytime the question you ask here bugs me I rember those old interviews with the guys of from Poptallica, about how fucking poor they where in the early days and how they kept going. Sure it was America in the 80's but still, those guys back then had a much rougher time than any of us would have right now. And still they did it. Currently I'm making my music at home...then I need to find and a drummer some guy that can sing. And then I'll take on the world *chuckles. So far I haven't found anything else so forth doing. Cheers.

Yes, the problem is, that most of us (musicians) can't do this desperate step. At this time I have only one man, who's able to do this with me - it's my bass guitarist. Feels like, that I have to search for adherents everywhere on this planet.

At the moment I couldnt' do it due to my education: lessons run from September to May, and during the summers there's mandatory summer work for the education (though I enjoy it, because it earns me more money to spend on music gear ).

But after I graduate, I might plan an European tour, perhaps even a co-tour with Relativity and Vortech.

The problem is to find people to play with that is dedicated as me, and want to go in the same musicaly direction, and ofcoures the skills! i'm going to rehab in a month time, and will stay there for a couple of years, using the time to make music and practise, and my plan after that is to move to Oslo and use all my time on getting a great band toghetter to play my music! and i know it's great:) so then i would definitly use a lot of money on touring other countries

well, buy all the albums you can afford and support local artists by going to their shows and buying their stuff.

My old teacher used to say "don't ruin a good hobby by making it your job". If you start depending on your art (whatever that art may be) as your livelihood, the pressure mounts and the quality of the art and it's capacity for truer self-expression is inevitably diminished. I've seen many great bands who put out great music and are fully content with a local crowd, perhaps doing a small-scale national tour every now and then, some going as far as to do a few hit-and-run gigs in the neighbouring countries. It's a choice I'll gladly make, to compromise personal fame and prosperity for the sake of genuinity. Like the saying goes: "don't quit your dayjob". Claim to fame should not be the driving force behind musical expression.

Written by NECURATU on 24.12.2007 at 20:58

Hehe, some smart and talented guy whose name I cannot recall, once said something like, "you see, the problem is most of them don't practice for the pleasure of practicing, but in order to be good enough to secure a record deal." So you see, first there's a really big difference between doing a job, and making a living out of your biggest passion.

Everytime the question you ask here bugs me I rember those old interviews with the guys of from Poptallica, about how fucking poor they where in the early days and how they kept going. Sure it was America in the 80's but still, those guys back then had a much rougher time than any of us would have right now. And still they did it. Currently I'm making my music at home...then I need to find and a drummer some guy that can sing. And then I'll take on the world *chuckles. So far I haven't found anything else so forth doing. Cheers.

Respect!!!

Making it big, signing to a big label and touring is not an ambition I hold. Ur-Nammu said it best, and that's probably the best mindset to keep, and myself being an artist who works in ink/pencil/oil paint etc. came to realize a long time ago that art is meant to be for your own pleasure. If someone wants to pay you for it then that's great, but don't sacrifice your passion for money.

I just want to create black metal for the sake of making the music, I actually plan to have at least two black metal projects going sometime this year. We'll do all the recording in my home studio, and maybe submit some demos to small labels, but we also just may release our stuff ourselves. I'm not trying to be "kvlt" but I hope to contribute to keeping black metal obscure and true, to keep it underground.

The idea of playing some live shows does sound fun though, the whole stage theatrics and stage props would be a way to further express this art form.

well, i make music just for having a good time, it's my passion ... i don't care if people like it what we do, the only thing that counts is that we like it.
i won't promote our concerts that much, i post it on myspace and people who like our stuff and visit our website sometimes know when we play.

I will like to expend my life doing music but in my country isnt many support so I will have to leave at 18.

I could do a small tour. Maybe around a portion of the US.
I really love gigging in my hometown, cause people here love us, but dunno.

I'd rather play for ten people who care than thousands who aren't really listening.
That's kind of my gigging philosophy.

Right now what I can do for music is work on my own material, in the process of recruiting musicians & also making guitars & other instruments for myself and others w/the passion for the instrument.

If I found a group of like-minded musicians to form a great band, I would drop everything I am doing, and leave at the first moment of opportunity I saw. It's been my dream for a long time to be a rock star, and if success was even a long shot, I would relentlessly pursue it at all costs, leaving behind friends, family, and career alike to make my dreams come true. I can do for the music what Metallica did for the music, what Led Zeppelin did for the music, but it would take the "dream team" to make it happen.

i don't know man, it would be fun to do that, but it's really always nice to have a good local following. It sucks though, because it really depends where you are. Home sweet home must have a strong local music scene

I dont really care if my band fail to succeed. My goal is not to become somekind of rockstar. I just want to play music, if we ever get the opportunity for a gig or record a cd, allright lets do it! And if the band fail and disband, I just see it as an opportunity to start something else

What can i do for the music? What can any one of us do for the music?

Nothing

Face it: metal is over 40 years old. Everything that could have possibly been done has already been done by now!

There's now ways you can create something original!
'Only thing you can do is just mix lots of styles and keep on creating good music that is not necessarily original!

Who gives a shit if its been done before? Thats a stupid reason not to play music. You can still play in a specific subgenre and manage to sound better than those who started out. It's stupid that every band that comes out is compared to the 'pioneers', if you take black metal for instance, people always say how shit the new bands are compared to the old ones. I happen to be one of those few that says the pioneers can't hold a candle to the consistency of current bands. Same goes for death metal.

Written by Remus on 29.06.2008 at 01:09

What can i do for the music? What can any one of us do for the music?

Nothing

Face it: metal is over 40 years old. Everything that could have possibly been done has already been done by now!

There's now ways you can create something original!
'Only thing you can do is just mix lots of styles and keep on creating good music that is not necessarily original!

man, that's not true, music always evolves, it moves through time like a human being, growing and changing. There is always something that can change a form of a music.

^Well call me a pessimist but i don't think it can get faster. I don't think it can get more technical. En I don't think it can get more melodic.

Say what you wanna say but have you actually heard a band that has come up with a totally new genre?
I'm not saying new bands are bad, they are very good actually, just the stuff they do is not very different from what was being done in the late 80's for example.

Anywho, i guess there IS something you can do "for the music" - keep on creating it, make sure it doesn't go away!

Written by Remus on 11.07.2008 at 20:39

Say what you wanna say but have you actually heard a band that has come up with a totally new genre?
I'm not saying new bands are bad, they are very good actually, just the stuff they do is not very different from what was being done in the late 80's for example.

Idk, I'm into subgenres that were not so prominent or weak back a few years ago. Assuming that we're talking about metal, most of the styles that I listen to in metal are derivative of something that was spawned in the 80's. But yet, I prefer current bands more. So I guess it just matters where you are looking from.

^So, according to you, what have these bands done for the music so far?

Written by Remus on 12.07.2008 at 01:17

^So, according to you, what have these bands done for the music so far?

To me, they've expanded the number of quality releases in the genre. For the music? Well, probably not much, as I said before, that doesn't really matter to me. I think that musicians in metal today have a better advantage to understanding the dynamics of what really makes good music, because they have all of the examples of what works and what doesn't within that niche up until that point in time. It just takes motivation and awareness, its a challenge though.

Written by Bitter Dawn on 10.02.2008 at 02:08

Making it big, signing to a big label and touring is not an ambition I hold. Ur-Nammu said it best, and that's probably the best mindset to keep, and myself being an artist who works in ink/pencil/oil paint etc. came to realize a long time ago that art is meant to be for your own pleasure. If someone wants to pay you for it then that's great, but don't sacrifice your passion for money.

i agree man, if i could i'd learn to play drums and sing(though i have a horrible voice), so i could make the music i want, because it's so hard to find people with which you can have a great chemistry, the same ideas, life-style etc.

however, i would plan on moving to a neighbouring country or another city, but only if i knew for sure i'd strike up a band and have real chances for success.

Written by Valentin B on 14.07.2008 at 13:53

Written by Bitter Dawn on 10.02.2008 at 02:08

Making it big, signing to a big label and touring is not an ambition I hold. Ur-Nammu said it best, and that's probably the best mindset to keep, and myself being an artist who works in ink/pencil/oil paint etc. came to realize a long time ago that art is meant to be for your own pleasure. If someone wants to pay you for it then that's great, but don't sacrifice your passion for money.

i agree man, if i could i'd learn to play drums and sing(though i have a horrible voice), so i could make the music i want, because it's so hard to find people with which you can have a great chemistry, the same ideas, life-style etc.

however, i would plan on moving to a neighbouring country or another city, but only if i knew for sure i'd strike up a band and have real chances for success.

Thanks(?) man, it's also really cool when you find at least one STRONG commong ground with another person and on a metal forum it's kind of a strong thing since we're generally outcast of society.

I've never heard you're voice man, and I dont' mean to sound like a hippy but sometimes things aren't as they seem. I really don't like my voice at all, but I've done some recordings where I actually kind of like the way my voice sounds, it's awkward but I recently started a solo project apart from my band and the one track I've done I actually enjoy listening to, it's like it's not my work (or voice) at all. My advice man is just keep doing what you enjoy, create the music you want, if you want to do the vocals then do it...there's always a chance you'll imporve, I've kind of found that you actually need to focus on your vocal techniques to become good, it's not a natural ability for everyone and with practice you can achieve what you want.
I play rythem guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Sometimes I do everythign for my band, sometimes I just do drums and vocals, and my solo project I do everything and each track is another chance to discover my own capabilities. I actually realize it's not good music like the big BM bands of Norway, but the more I stick to it the better I get even though it's in small incriments. Just stick to it man, eventually things can work out if you truly have the passion for it, if nothing else you'll get enjoyment purely out of creating something.

OT: I was recently invited to play at a festival and the idea sounds awsome, since I was like 10 or 11 I would listen to my fave bands at the time and fantasize about being the lead singer and being the main attraction on stage. I'd really like to play a live show, to have people pay attention to me and see the discontent that I want to express to the world, but I don't feel we're that good but I get enjoyment out just creatign and expiermenting with music, my high hopes are gettign at least decent and play a handful of live shows because it sounds like a enjoyable experiance.