This was not written by any of us in Bring Forth the Fallen but we more than empathize with the content contained therein; give this a read and then think long and hard about why things are in the state that they are...
"Hey everyone out there in blog land. This is Gary, singer and bassist of KOS coming to you from good ol' Texas. We are down in San Antonio (thats where the Alamo is and PeeWee Herman's bike) and we are held up here at a truck stop. With plenty of time to have our minds wander I have come up with a question, then an answer, and then finally more questions. I'm hoping all of you, the people who make up not only the internet world but also the real world, can help me with finding the answer to the highly popular question among touring bands just like Kids of Survival....HOW DO WE SAVE THE SHOWS?
Many small, yet great, bands spend endless amounts of time and money booking shows and promoting through online venues to try and get kids to come, listen, and hangout at shows. Most of the time they will be playing with local acts in your town. Yet it seems nobody, even those who respond to outcries of promotion are showing up and keeping their word and trying to take chances on new acts. Why?
---Has the sound become over saturated? Are we bored?
Maybe since it seems most of the acts among one genre can share a closet, we have become tired not only with the look but now the sound. Maybe it has simply become too easy to judge music and artists alike. Most of us out there have always wanted to be like the actors, musicians and stars we love, and in today's world, not only is it becoming more possible, but because of the outlets we are given its become trendy.
It was once easy to point out the people we knew were trying too hard because we were busy being ourselves and enjoying it. It seems as if now everyone is trying so hard to be "that" person it has caused more frustration and separation among the people who most likely indulge in the same music. Look beyond the american apparel V-neck and deeper into the music that your listening to. Some of us are trying harder to shine as ourselves through our music and style yet are getting swallowed by the large amount of posers, yes, posers, who do this for all the wrong reasons.
---Have we given up on the idea of having fun at a show?
Networking is key to any business. However all networking really is, is the act of meeting new people and exchanging ideas. Have we lost touch with the idea of human contact because of our obsession with websites and instant message boxes? Maybe we have almost become too concious of ourselves that we have lost all ability to walk outside and be ourselves. It seems as if many of us are more worried about the what "they" are thinking than what we are thinking about ourselves. We have turned music venues where kids were once able to dance, sing, and enjoy eachothers company into the crossed arm battlefields of bored looks and bad attitudes that we now know today. Doesn't anyone miss the idea of meeting random people and making friends at shows? Or going to a show to see a band that you've heard of, and then discovering a new band that you hadn't heard of yet?
---The simplest question is where are you when the shows are happening?
It can take months at a time to put together shows so bands can be playing everyday in different towns by doing long overnight drives and then sleeping in their vans. KOS has done it more times than we can count and there are times when we see nice crowds and there are also times when we don't see anything but the floor infront of the stage. Its impossible to ignore the small venues that exsist next to the local stores in your town, but they are being skipped over and replaced with watching the overwhelmingly popular, major network promoted, karaoke shows that swarm our televisions. I can't say that talent doesn't exsist among the contestants of these shows; in fact, I personally am a fan of the ones who go and create their own image after the series is done airing. However, it is nothing in comparison to what it takes for a young boy or girl to sit in a room and write a song from the bottom of their heart and soul and then try and show it to the world on their own dollar.
Maybe we have forgotten the idea of what its like to start small and go big because the people who have done that already arent leaving much room for the next generation of entrepreneaurs. At a time when it would seem self-promotion is at its easiest, many artists are having the same problem--connecting. If you need to be reminded, we, the artists still love our music! Personally speaking for the four members of KOS, we have sacrificed relationships, left our families behind, let our gas tank run low, and our credit card bills run high. All because when even just a few of you show up at a show we can give one thousand precent effort into giving you our best possible peformance to prove our love for our music and you the listener. Fans are family. Our music is our life. This is our world. This isnt about sex or popularity. We do this because when we looked through the "career books", nothing made our hearts melt the same way standing up in front of a crowd did. Its a disease for which the cure is simple, yet we are happy to be infected.
Finally ladies and gentlemen:
This is not the last you've heard from Kids of Survival or me personally. I will continue to write these long overdue blogs and pray that you all read them. Changing one person's mind is the way to start changing everyone's minds and I hope at the least I have started what can be the revolution into bringing back the love among music and its listeners. We must focus on the good that we have in common and not on the bad in which we love to obsess over. Nothing will change until we start changing and bringing back positive energy into shows and the scene. So heres the deal....
COMMENT ON THIS BLOG!! TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO AND ANSWER BACK WITH YOUR IDEAS ON HOW TO CHANGE PEOPLES MINDS ABOUT OUR NOW DYING MUSIC WORLD!!! ESPECIALLY IF YOU LOVE GOING TO SHOWS OR IF YOU ARE IN A BAND THAT FEELS THE SAME WAY WE DO. IF YOU AGREE WITH THE PROBLEMS WE'VE IDENTIFIED OR HAVE IDEAS ON HOW TO SOLVE THEM, POST THIS BLOG ON YOUR PAGE AS WELL. GET PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT IT. CONTACT ABSOLUTEPUNK.NET, PUNKNEWS.ORG, THEDAILYCHORUS.COM, OR WHERE EVER YOU GO TO GET YOUR MUSIC NEWS AND TELL THEM ABOUT THIS BLOG AND SEND THEM A LINK.
Everything a musician does is for the enjoyment of you, because without you, there wouldn't be anyone to entertain. So as weak as it might seem to some haters, I beg all of you readers to simply try and speak up.
Hopefully we'll see you at our shows and others will see you at the local venues in your town.
Save music before its too late. If bands can't rely on people showing up for the simple want or need to have a good time and make new friends, it won't make sense for any of us, not just Kids of Survival but all of the bands who are frustrated with the current state of shows, to tour anymore. We love doing this more than anything and we love meeting new people. But we want to meet more than just other touring bands. We could have this same conversation with them everynight, but we'd rather not. If you refer to yourself as a "Scene Kid"--GET INVOLVED IN YOUR SCENE.
Somewhere in America, a band struggling to put gas in their van, sleeping in a WalMart parking lot with a smile on their face, will thank you."