Randall Paul Jenkins, Esq. » Blog Archive » Isn’t It Funny How Artists Ignore Artistic Progress.

So today I was reading a few weeks old blog by a band I very much respect and am a huge fan of. I won’t name them, because it has nothing to do with the band, maybe a little to do with what they were saying (also I’ve heard a ton of bands saying lately), but it’s more about the thoughts that occurred in my head. The gist of the post was concerns over bands that create their music on computers, aren’t playing instruments, and are playing weird/random hybrids of genres.

It’s all very ironic to me when I see a band bringing these concerns. I understand why, I understand that even the supposed rebels making rock music feel threatened that people create successful songs and even sell out a room doing something “easier” than they do. Artists are supposed to be the ones pushing envelopes, artists are supposed to welcome change and innovation; so why are so many upset that people are finding new ways to make music that people like? In the end it’s all relative, sure you may not like a band like 3oh3! (not the band listed in the blog, but I see a lot of this type of response geared towards them from artists and fans), but people think they created (that’s the key word) a pretty catchy and fun couple of tunes. It doesn’t matter how, or the tools used, none of that crap actually makes any artist “cooler” than another (but some sure think it does).

It’s about creation, creating something, being far more unique than the boring old ways of a guitar and amp. Let me announce something, not everyone can program a hit song in a computer, just as not everyone can play the guitar like Hendrix. Sure, a lot of people try both, but a lot of people fail. The ones trying and failing doing it using a guitar are no more (or less) important than the ones trying and failing at programming a song in a computer. They are expressing themselves, they are creating, they are pushing boundaries. Maybe they are creating for commercial success you say? So what, so are plenty of bands.

What I really wonder, I wonder if these were the same things happening: when photography was invented, when they took classical instruments and created jazz, bluegrass, etc, when moving pictures were invented, when a broken amplifier accidentally invented the now standard distortion. You get it right? It’s innovation, and sometimes Rock N’ Roll seems a little old and dated with their mentality about the auditory realm.

Not all music is for everyone, but criticizing ANYONE trying, especially if the critic is a fellow creator, is a bit hypocritical (and can come off as jealousy). Just say it’s not for you and let the masses decide their final place in the scheme of things.

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