Getting Really Depressed When People Who Just Started Making Music Get Famous

  On 2/28/2010 at 11:57 PM, 277: 930-933 said:

Also it seems that a lot of people who are a sudden succes after just downloading their first sample pack are the ones that dissappear after a festival season or two though.

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:33 AM, kaini said:

yeah, the rdjs (for want of a better term) are pretty rare. it's unusual for someone to release a debut album and to be immediately hailed as a genius these days. everything is jazzband now.

it's becoming apparent that there are many geniuses. now that everyone has access to the tools to create (computers), we are starting to realize that most anybody can make something astoundingly mindblowing.

i will say though that there are certain people that stand out. john zorn.

aphex twin, squarepusher, brad mehldau

those are some other musical geniuses of modern day i can think of. maybe panda bear. brad mehldau is the most of those.

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:48 AM, vamos scorcho said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:33 AM, kaini said:

yeah, the rdjs (for want of a better term) are pretty rare. it's unusual for someone to release a debut album and to be immediately hailed as a genius these days. everything is jazzband now.

 

 

it's becoming apparent that there are many geniuses. now that everyone has access to the tools to create (computers), we are starting to realize that most anybody can make something astoundingly mindblowing.

well that's the same thing. if everyone is shitting out masterpieces of complex glitch at a rate of one an hour, then the bar is set higher

but your brain doesn't see or acknowledge the bar. it just wants to hear something different and new and original, something that stimulates. not richard devine recording the sound of the sperm in the spunk-puddle on his kyma using multiple $5000 contact mics.

see: oversteps. autechre know the score.

true. what sets squarepusher and aphex apart from bogdan raczynski? are they all "genius?"

i say no.

the only "genius" work or "masterpiece" (Masterpiece (or chef d'œuvre) in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship) of recent years (09/10) that i can think of would be united acid emirates by ceephax. i don't remember who pointed this out in another thread but they were right. i keep raving about this album on this board, but i think it's true.

this track does it for me in that "exquisite" way like 54 cymru beats or greenways trajectory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI_Oc0Y6ldg

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:14 AM, Jacck said:

  On 2/28/2010 at 11:36 PM, we_kill_soapscum said:

i have no problem with mount kimbie. they're pretty good. but when i read interviews with them and they're like 'oh i just started making tracks in 2007 w/fruity loops' and now they're The Bright Young Future of Electronic Music, i get all sorts of bad feelings inside. i hate not being happy for people. and yes obv the chorus of 'its not how you make it its what it sounds like' or 'its not why you bleh its how you blooah' or whatever.

 

but come on, i know some of you are like me and have been making computer music since you were 12, and now 12 years later no one knows who you are still. i know you feel a twinge or something not-nice when you hear people come up in the dubstep or whatever circuit who have like six tracks under their belt when you have 3 full broken hard drives of years of your life that no one has any interest in.

 

god ive depressed myself i need to leave work and pet my cat

 

Lol, Joy Orbison is another. He's released like 6 tunes.

Why do you both consider Hotflush Recordings acts famous? Joy Orbison and Mount Kimbie just built themselves a good reputation out of 2 EPs each. I remember myself complaining about Hyperdub musicians who were called the "next generation of dubstep" because of most of them only released 2 decent tunes on the label each. Then I learned they are simply talented DJs as well, and they have potential as real innovative producers in the next following years. Nevertheless, I do get your point when such artists who have accomplished almost nothing get some sort of praise in magazines and blogs.

make music for yourself

anyway there won't be many people that will be remembered in electronic music. or even other musics. anyway we're all gonna die so who fucking cares

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:45 AM, vamos scorcho said:

we should really try to get a watmm record label together. i'd actually (seriously) rather be signed to something like that than something like planet mu, thrill jockey, etc.

 

the only labels i would consider signing to would be warp or rephlex and right now that's not going to happen. just haven't got the skills yet. thank god i'm only 20!

 

planet mu, kompakt, etc - all second rate for the most part.

 

 

 

anyway don't get down on yourself about it, all artists feel this pain.

 

  On 3/1/2010 at 12:36 AM, Boxing Day said:

Make a pact with Da Devil ..

 

 

for real. i battle this constantly.

kompakt second-rate....what?

I make music because it's the only thing I really really like to do. That & I actually like listening to about 60% of my tracks. Some times I wish I were getting cash off it so I could stay home all day buying all sorts of musical instruments & esoteric gear, but if that never happens I think I'll still be happy cobbling together things in my basement out of old electronics from the junk store & putting albums out on torrent sites every so often.

Who the fuck are Mount Kimbie?

Vamos - you seriously think Planet Mu is a second rate record label?

yeah i do, if warp is first rate

just being real. does planet mu have that drukqs, confield, untilted, red snapper, geogaddi, prefuse 73, flying lotus, clark SQUAREPUSHER!???? level of quality to it?

  On 3/1/2010 at 2:02 AM, vamos scorcho said:

yeah i do, if warp is first rate

 

just being real. does planet mu have that drukqs, confield, untilted, red snapper, geogaddi, prefuse 73, flying lotus, clark SQUAREPUSHER!???? level of quality to it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn40v7N3V9c

i cant even begin to tell you why you are wrong about kompakt.

no i take that back. i was trying to make a point. stupid

  On 3/1/2010 at 1:56 AM, Cryptowen said:

I make music because it's the only thing I really really like to do. That & I actually like listening to about 60% of my tracks. Some times I wish I were getting cash off it so I could stay home all day buying all sorts of musical instruments & esoteric gear, but if that never happens I think I'll still be happy cobbling together things in my basement out of old electronics from the junk store & putting albums out on torrent sites every so often.

is that bgwaves?

also i dig your music, making music is the same for me. the only thing i enjoy other than drugs and good deep discussion.

  On 2/28/2010 at 11:36 PM, we_kill_soapscum said:

i have no problem with mount kimbie. they're pretty good. but when i read interviews with them and they're like 'oh i just started making tracks in 2007 w/fruity loops' and now they're The Bright Young Future of Electronic Music, i get all sorts of bad feelings inside. i hate not being happy for people. and yes obv the chorus of 'its not how you make it its what it sounds like' or 'its not why you bleh its how you blooah' or whatever.

 

but come on, i know some of you are like me and have been making computer music since you were 12, and now 12 years later no one knows who you are still. i know you feel a twinge or something not-nice when you hear people come up in the dubstep or whatever circuit who have like six tracks under their belt when you have 3 full broken hard drives of years of your life that no one has any interest in.

 

god ive depressed myself i need to leave work and pet my cat

i know what you mean sometimes i wish i could grit my teeth sit down and make a couple of dubstep and wonky songs that people will like but i just cant do it.

I think there is no reason to be 'depressed' perse because i think more often than not artists who get really popular in a short period of time (ie Burial) will always be in a sense 'chasing the dragon' trying to experience that high again but most likely the peak of popularity has already been passed. Put yourself in the shoes of musicians who are hyped as the hottest thing of 2009, and in 2011 get almost no mention. It's not as bad but similar to the crest fallen experience of being a one hit wonder band.

whats more painful than any of the things you mentioned though is watching friends of yours or musicians you knew totally switch genres simply so they can make money doing shows, you know that they are selling out but they would never admit it. the level of cognitive dissonance that happens to a musician like this is extremely high. I understand people that really want to make a career out of music and making money from it, but at least acknowledge the creative sacrifices if you've made them, which most people have.

  Quote

is that bgwaves?

Bgwaves? Can't say I've heard of him/her/them/it. Anyway, thanks.

Sort of on topic - a lot of the music I listen to these days is stuff made by unknowns on the internet. To be honest, I don't think there is much separating some of them from the big names like Aphex or BoC, except that maybe they were a decade or so ahead of the curve & are better at presenting their work (ie, the way RDJ comes up with wild legend-building stories about himself & only releases his top tier tracks instead of everything he's ever done).

whats wrong with being an artist and making music that larger audiences would like?

it's still art. and think about this: you're doing positive things for the world. you're affecting more people, making more people happy.

also the fun part is that it's fucking hard! most of us have our own sound and style, and mixing that style with the more "pop" side of music is a challenge. you don't have to write some FM shit, and you don't have to sell your soul and ruin your art. just make the kind of music you like listening to, and i think i can safely say that anybody enjoys good pop music now and again.

pop being a word used to describe any music that leans toward the mainstream - dubstep being the current genre of electronic that i might consider pop.

well part of being an artist is business. you have to know how to sell yourself and your work to the world, that is if you care whether or not it gets heard. some people just need one person to call them a genius and then they're satisfied.

personally i want pitchfork and shit reviewing my work. i want to make some money.

i think there is a huge amount separating rdj, squarepusher, etc from less well known electronic acts.

  On 3/1/2010 at 2:32 AM, vamos scorcho said:

whats wrong with being an artist and making music that larger audiences would like?

absolutely nothing

  On 3/1/2010 at 2:34 AM, vamos scorcho said:

 

 

personally i want pitchfork and shit reviewing my work. i want to make some money.

 

nothing wrong with this in and of itself, i just think too often people fail to acknowledge the creative sacrifices they make in order to achieve this goal.

ok i see what you mean. yeah.

i actually just finished a pop music album - then deleted it from my website because it honestly felt like the biggest most ingenuine (phony - not genuine) sociopathic manipulative fucked up thing i'd ever done.

  On 3/1/2010 at 2:34 AM, vamos scorcho said:

i think there is a huge amount separating rdj, squarepusher, etc from less well known electronic acts.

Maybe, but a lot of people seem to have this idea that they're like untouchable gods of electronic music. I think there are a lot of people who could be producing material on the same level with a whole bunch of dedicated practice & experimentation.

yeah, very true. bach said it himself:

“I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed . . . equally well.”

If it's any consolation to any of the members here, I really do like most of the work from you guys that I've heard. It's just that I can't do a lot of exposure being one person, though I've gotten more than one person to get that Antarctica album as well as a few other things.

  On 3/1/2010 at 2:02 AM, vamos scorcho said:

yeah i do, if warp is first rate

 

just being real. does planet mu have that drukqs, confield, untilted, red snapper, geogaddi, prefuse 73, flying lotus, clark SQUAREPUSHER!???? level of quality to it?

Absolutely:

Lunatic Harness, Slag Boom van Loom,Geometry, most of Vibert's output on Mu, Swarm & Dither, Dynamic Obsolescence, the Blurring of Trees, The cures of Vale do Lobo, Sound Murderer...i mean..that's just scratching the surface of Mu's great and varied output.

I would consider Mu to be just as good as Warp and Rephlex.