Old Band
Old Band recently got a page on a popular social-networking website. I'm fine with this. People seem to like the band, even though we've been broken up for 8 years. You'd think they would have forgotten about it by now. Half the people who bring up the band never saw us play. Weird. I mean, I think we were pretty good but I get surprised by stuff like this.
Then there are people who say we should do a reunion show. I don't really understand that either. I don't get enjoyment out of those songs anymore. They were very important to me in the mid 90s, but that was a long time ago. I personally have no nostalgic feelings for any broken-up band I've seen (or played with) in the past. They're gone, I'm over it. I get excited about new bands, because they have the advantage of existing right now.
Old Band actually did do a reunion show in late 2001. As it was, we played with a lineup we'd never used before. R wasn't into playing again, so we brought back L, our "fill-in" bass player, and I. (the initial, not me) switched to guitar. I (me) played drums and C sang, as usual. This reunion was Poison's doing. She was probably our strongest supporter, and happened to be moving away. I agreed to it on the condition that we learn and play at least two new songs, which we did. Based on what I read and hear today, people only got excited for the old songs. Fuck that. Without making something new I would have felt like a juke box... a whore. Or some washed-up ol' rocker trying to recapture the glory days. I HATE THAT SHIT.
The bold type indicates that I'm all riled up. Why the attachment to the past? You can't keep things the same forever. I get bored with stuff really easily. Making consistently good music without ever changing is nearly impossible. I guess people like the comfort of dependable things. They want to feel like something (eg. the steady sound of a band they like) will always be there for them. But wait a sec... aren't we talking about punk rock? That's not supposed to be comforting, is it? It's supposed to make you uncomfortable! To make you move and ask "what the fuck??". To me, it's not supposed to be a security blanket. It's supposed to be a swarm of bees hiding under the blanket, stinging to remind you to keep moving. That you won't get anything done hiding under a damn blanket.
But who am I to say. Punk means something different to everybody, and my interpretation is no more valid than anyone's. But the bee analogy is pretty much how I feel about punk rock's place in the cosmos.
I read this over and it seemed ironic... back in the day, when I heard certain "scene" people express this sentiment I used to get really mad.
"More emphasis on progression? Punk is punk, it's supposed to be absolute! Progression is why modern-sounding punk bands suck!"
No. A lack of creativity and willingness to take risks is why most modern-sounding punk bands suck. Playing punk rock, period, was dangerous and risky in 1976. That's all you had to do (what an awesome time that must have been, seriously). The key to making it feel that way in 2006 is not trying to copy the 70s sound, since punk bands at the movement's onset were not copying anything themselves. I don't even know what the "key" is, but I feel it's important to keep it sounding new, fucked up, simple, unpretentious and not easily commodified. What the music actually sounds like almost doesn't matter.
Ok, this rant's done. I threatened to define punk, and now I've done it. Fuck off.
Then there are people who say we should do a reunion show. I don't really understand that either. I don't get enjoyment out of those songs anymore. They were very important to me in the mid 90s, but that was a long time ago. I personally have no nostalgic feelings for any broken-up band I've seen (or played with) in the past. They're gone, I'm over it. I get excited about new bands, because they have the advantage of existing right now.
Old Band actually did do a reunion show in late 2001. As it was, we played with a lineup we'd never used before. R wasn't into playing again, so we brought back L, our "fill-in" bass player, and I. (the initial, not me) switched to guitar. I (me) played drums and C sang, as usual. This reunion was Poison's doing. She was probably our strongest supporter, and happened to be moving away. I agreed to it on the condition that we learn and play at least two new songs, which we did. Based on what I read and hear today, people only got excited for the old songs. Fuck that. Without making something new I would have felt like a juke box... a whore. Or some washed-up ol' rocker trying to recapture the glory days. I HATE THAT SHIT.
The bold type indicates that I'm all riled up. Why the attachment to the past? You can't keep things the same forever. I get bored with stuff really easily. Making consistently good music without ever changing is nearly impossible. I guess people like the comfort of dependable things. They want to feel like something (eg. the steady sound of a band they like) will always be there for them. But wait a sec... aren't we talking about punk rock? That's not supposed to be comforting, is it? It's supposed to make you uncomfortable! To make you move and ask "what the fuck??". To me, it's not supposed to be a security blanket. It's supposed to be a swarm of bees hiding under the blanket, stinging to remind you to keep moving. That you won't get anything done hiding under a damn blanket.
But who am I to say. Punk means something different to everybody, and my interpretation is no more valid than anyone's. But the bee analogy is pretty much how I feel about punk rock's place in the cosmos.
I read this over and it seemed ironic... back in the day, when I heard certain "scene" people express this sentiment I used to get really mad.
"More emphasis on progression? Punk is punk, it's supposed to be absolute! Progression is why modern-sounding punk bands suck!"
No. A lack of creativity and willingness to take risks is why most modern-sounding punk bands suck. Playing punk rock, period, was dangerous and risky in 1976. That's all you had to do (what an awesome time that must have been, seriously). The key to making it feel that way in 2006 is not trying to copy the 70s sound, since punk bands at the movement's onset were not copying anything themselves. I don't even know what the "key" is, but I feel it's important to keep it sounding new, fucked up, simple, unpretentious and not easily commodified. What the music actually sounds like almost doesn't matter.
Ok, this rant's done. I threatened to define punk, and now I've done it. Fuck off.
posted by the baron ash von foolishness at 11:14 AM
1 Comments:
hey rikk,
i thought that the reason the pistols played all of those hick towns was because mclaren didn't want anybody who was actually into the music to realize that the band couldn't play! they played rodeo bars in shopping malls instead of hip rock clubs!
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