The start...

Well, everyone and their mother seems to be blogging lately, so I decided I'll jump on the bandwagon. I'm not really sure what this is going to turn into. It's probably going to be a lot of rants but hopefully someone else can say they agree with my rants. One thing in my life that is huge is music, no I'm not a musician, I wish I had that talent. But I am a huge music fan. So I guess I'll do my first blog on an article I read in Alternative Press last night from All Time Low. (AP 247 Feb 09)

Reading this article kind of opened my eyes to some things I have been doing and a lot of my friends around me too. This is really the quote that got me thinking, "It kind of sucks, the amount of shit we've been getting from our success," he [drummer Rian Dawson] says in the back lounge of the tour bus before the St. Louis gig. As he speaks his phone keeps trilling with messages. "We try not to let it hit us to hard, because it shouldn't be able to affect us. But a lot of our fans are saying ' We like All Time Low too much for them to get big.' To me it's just, like, I get what [they're] saying. I get it. But in a way, I feel like, if you like us, you should want us to be the biggest band in the world."

I could not agree more with Rian on this. I have been catching myself in the last year that when a band I have been following for awhile starts to get big I'm like 'WAIT! No I want you to myself." But, the thing is I don't really want them to myself I want the whole world to appreciate them the way I do. It's really not right criticizing a band for getting big. It is their job and they want to actually make money and they want to be successful. Bands want to spread their message to every possible person imaginable. Staying small isn’t in their dreams.

I started going to concerts my freshman year of college, although I have always been a music fan. But my first rock show I was in awe of the guys on stage playing. I was in the mindset that bands and musicians in general are not people they are something more. Oh, how naive I was for thinking that. I may have learned that these 'rock stars' are nothing more than a normal human being, but there are so many young kids I have seen and talked to at shows that have them put on pedestals. At a young age I do believe kids need someone to look up to and if that’s any member of a band then so be it. But believing they can do no wrong, and have everything figured out well that’s just asking too much.

I think this is where the "selling out" label that has become so popular lately is coming from. Kids want to see their favorite band after the show. Well, as much as they would love to they can't have 20 minute conversations with everyone at a 500+ capacity show. Yes, they may have when they were smaller, but they were also playing to less than 200 kids. There is no reason to say they are selling out because they can't talk to everyone.

Another way kids are saying bands are selling out is when they are sponsored by big companies, or put in ads. HELLO, it’s a business for them! If you want to see them in your town well they have to be sponsored so they can make it there. And if they are sponsored that’s another GREAT thing not bad, it means that they are good enough that someone at a big name company recognized them.

I just wish more young kids would start appreciating music for what it is. Not because there is some cute boy in the band. Or because MTV is backing the band. It's more than just a trend. It is a whole way of life for people. The music is more than just a pretty face; there are lyrics, different parts to the songs. I just wish people would take a step back and listen.

So, that’s going to be my rant on that. Just take this little piece away from this blog. Next time your favorite artist starts to become popular, don't criticize them. Celebrate with them the dream they are accomplishing.

thats all
nikki-bird