I've been revisiting a lot of semi-vintage material in my catalogue, lately.
I'm finding that 'newer' music is lacking a lot of existential umph - and
yes - maybe I'm becoming a 30+ music snob, but I feel the need to
defend the gooders like Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Redd Kross and some
of the non-mainstream powerhouses of my musical taste birthplace.
You see, bands like Sloan get it. They understand that to really succeed,
in both stature and sound quality, you're going to have to sacrifice
many things. 1 big thing, which ends dreams for a lot of would-be-
rockers, is the lack of making any serious money. When you write
songs that actually matter, you will never really make money.
If you sell out, for a massive label and an agent, and write a few hits
and sell your proverbial soul, sure - you might make money. But if
you really get the guts and the dirt and the core of music, you'll be
poor forever.
I'm sure that Pavement and Stephen Malkmus and the gang have made
enough to get by, in 20+ years of being in a band, which seems like a
decent trade-off (instead of dwindling away at a call centre or as a
Burger King manager).
True art will always make you look like a fool.
