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| Ma and Pa Fighting Back |
| by Justin Pearsall | |
| Mon:26-Nov-07 | |
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Weakening the "chain store, ghost town gulch"
WB’s stock-standard way of closing our interviews is to ask the artist if there is anything else that they’d like to add. It’s a simple question, one that is most often met with ‘no, I think that covers everything’. But occasionally it yields unexpected results; answers that could not have been foreshadowed by even the best researched questions. In WB’s recent interview with Joey Burns from Calexico , we didn’t receive any of the scoops that such questions are designed for. But Burns’ answer was, to me, equally newsworthy and ultimately more thought provoking than any future album title. Here’s what Burns had to say [his reference to Dylan refers to an earlier question about Dylan’s argument that ‘the world doesn’t need anymore songs’]: “I think it is interesting that there are more people turning toward self sufficient and local business. Whether it is a local farmer's market or alternative energy source/conservation, people are reconnecting with some similar themes started in the 1970s and getting press coverage. I think food, culture, art is turning to this direction. Corporate control is losing its hold. This is a good thing. So in reference to Dylan's quote mentioned earlier I would wage that homespun songs/art will be more and more important to local communities. This could help restore some regionalism that has been lost to the chain store, ghost town gulch.” Burns is not alone in his thoughts on the need for alternative markets. The recently held Buy Nothing Day, a 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending conducted on the day after Thanksgiving, is one example of the small, but growing legions who feel that big business and mass consumerism are unnecessary evils. In regards to the music industry, the long proclaimed ‘Death of the CD/rebirth of live music’ and rise of the indie labels is one example of our generation’s disillusionment with the mass marketed and mainstream world. And while we at WB are still sticklers for the physical product, it is pointless to argue against the internet music revolution on the grounds of its ability to expose people to new music, making our favoured art yet another facet in the global village. In fact, in the ever raging debate about ‘what the hell does indie mean, anyway?’ it is most probably the different approaches to packaging, marketing, selling and producing a record that are the biggest indicators of indie labelling. And rather than being tricked by the ‘I think, therefore I am’ approach that some record companies use in adorning their featured artists with appropriate catchphrases, comparisons and buzzwords (insert your own favourite NME propaganda here), a band’s identity is defined more within the music community: the blogs, the websites, the forums and word-of-mouth, than by any omnipotent tastemaker. Popaganda is still going to live on, and the masses will stick spoonfuls of the latest Thirsty Merc double ups down their throats till the end of time. But with diverse music festivals, the growth of DIY recording, the rebirth of live music, readily available internet access and alternative music media, the power held by corporate companies is weakening. And while Dylan’s right, there are a lot of songs out there, with increased exposure and resources behind non-mainstream music, the very artform of music itself is able to expand and adapt, lessening the impact of the “chain store, ghost town gulch” saturating the FM airwaves. |