Month: June 2024

HARD ART

Photo by Seth Werkheiser

Lots of people are making great art. And now AI is coming in to make things more tricky. Sure, Fiverr. All that.

The “great art” part is easy for consumers – they know it when they see it. They might not even care if you made it or a computer made it. They know what they like, and they buy it (or just save it to their desktop).

What I’m saying then is your art isn’t for those people. Your work isn’t for “I’ll take whatever is cheapest / easiest.”

Your work is for people who want to go deeper, who care, who think the person behind the art matters just as much as the art.

Those are your people, and if you’re lucky, they may someday become customers.

The text above was part of my reply to someone talking about the never-ending conundrum of “getting the word out” about what someone makes as an artist, or a painter, or a photographer. How we need social media, how everything is stacked against the independent creative person.

They had two posts on their Substack, so I mentioned this, too:

I read two of your posts – one about ADHD, and one about the atrocities of the war-ravaged world we live in. I already know you care, that you think about others, that you live with ADHD (something I know very little about)… but now I know a bit about you. You’ve already made it clear “this isn’t just about making pretty pictures.” You’ve put on full display, “This is me, this is what you get.” For what it’s worth, I’m going to subscribe – not (just) because of your art, but because of who you’ve shown yourself to be, which is how all this works.

I’ve channeled a lot of Seth Godin energy in this reply, but seriously… there’s a lot of great artwork out there. There’s no shortage of that. But there’s a shortage of people who care, who show up like you do. Keep doing that.

THANKFUL FOR COMPILATION CDS

My friend Marissa wrote ‘My love letter to compilation CDs,’ and it’s been on my mind.

“(T)he first one I can really remember is Punk Rock Strike Vol. 1 by Springman Records. My gosh, as a young punk trying to discover new bands, that thing was a game changer. It was my first exposure to bands like The Wunder Years, No Use for a Name, and The Amazing Transparent Man, just to name a few.”

Spoke with another friend today who mentioned the Lumberjack Distro samplers we all used to get, which reminded me specifically of the ‘Lumberjack Distribution Spring 2003 Sampler.’

I had two MP3s saved from those days, the first of which was Kid Gorgeous‘ ‘Anyone Ever Tell You That You Talk Too Much.’

Most of it was standard metalcore fare, but the ending chorus section, those guitar harmonics or whatever? I LOVED that.

The other was ‘Missives On a Recurring Theme’ by Theory Of Ruin which I can’t find streaming anywhere, but here’s a link. Like, can’t even find it on YouTube. If I didn’t rip this song back in the mid 2000s, would it even exist anywhere online?

These are from over 20 years ago, from the year 2003. This was just two years after I started my music blog, and I was like a kid in a candy store, just devouring this type of stuff.

All these years later, yeah, it’s harder to get excited about finding new music, just because, dammit… I’ve listened to such much music over the last 30 years, you know?

When I was a kid in the late 80s, we had hair metal and Guns N Roses ‘Appetite for Destruction’ and Metallica’s ‘… And Justice For All.’

Then I was in high school in the 90s, so that means Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana and SoundGarden and Alice in Chains and Primus, like… my god.

Then yeah.. early 2000s up till like 2010 I was drowning in music, having run my own music blog, then started NoiseCreep for AOL Music in 2008.

That’s a long time to have been focusing on music with such intent. All the shows I went to, bands I interviewed, albums I listened to.

Right now, at 48, it’s just so much harder to get excited about new music. I absolutely love some of it (Knocked Loose comes to mind, of course), but… dammit, I’m not in my 20s or 30s anymore.

This is growing up, huh?

THE PINNACLE

It’s half-marathon week. This weekend I’ve got a hotel booked, meeting a pal, bringing my camera equipment – it’s gonna be great.

I ran 90 miles in May, which is way more than I’ve ran in a long time. I ran 8.5 miles early Sunday morning and got this photo at a place called Pinnacle along the Appalachian trail (here’s a map).

Earlier this year, around the first few warm days of Spring, this spot was filled up like a Starbucks. People everywhere. Today? Not a soul. It was gorgeous.

BYE, LINKEDIN

We did it. After countless years of absolute random ding-dongs asking to connect, and then just “wishing” me a happy birthday once a year, I’m out. Aside from the two gigs I ever got from this service, the distraction, the inane 9000 word articles from the thought leaders was just not for me.