Tuesday, October 27, 2009

we ain't got no place to go...

it's funny how you can slowly get desensitized. how your view can change without even knowing it. lately my mind has been thinking a lot lately about bands that cannot reproduce their record live. so much music, especially music that i listen to, doesn't sound anything like the record when i go see the band live. and beyond that, it's starting to feel like everything is written for the radio. everyone is writing perfect structure pop songs no matter what style they are. nobody is taking chances.



yesterday we played a show with MxPx. this took me all the way back to when i was in high school and was so pumped to go to cornerstone festival for the first time. sitting side stage watching them, i realized something. i know their music isn't a long stretch from what is being put out today, but there is something that we've lost in these few short years. for one, a lot of bands just flat out don't sound good unless they have a great mix. these guys have three instruments. if one is a little too loud, it doesn't make that much of a difference. the energy is still there. the music sounds great whether you're in a small club or big stage. sometimes the songs were ridiculously short. sometimes the second verse had nothing to do with the first. the guys don't need huge pedalboards and crazy effects. they were even taking requests and pulling out all the good stuff. no tracks. no meticulously programmed effects. no video walls or moving lights. and ya know what? it was a fun show. mike herrera wrote some great little punk songs and the music speaks for itself.

just because technology lets everyone be a recording musician, it doesn't mean that it's all good. actually, i'm starting to think that the amount of good stuff has stayed the same and that we've just increased the background noise.

that's my rant for the day. oh, and also, i saw this at the airport. i couldn't believe it. i grabbed my phone, acted like i was checking messages and clicked a picture. i'm not trying to be obscene or anything. this is just some straight up freak show sort of thing.


either those are really high knees, or.....

anyway, we're doing a west coast run of shows starting on thursday and i'm pretty excited about that. for now i'm enjoying the few days off with my wife and dogs.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

+1.. w/ more tools/instruments/effects power than ever, why does everything have to sound the exact same and totally, robotic-ly perfect?

Cassidy Johnston said...

http://thousandfootkrutch.fancorps.com/headquarters/

About Me

"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos; that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" --Hi Fidelity


Hey guys, my name is Nick Baumhardt. I help write and record music. I also play guitar for Thousand Foot Krutch and FM Static.

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