Editorial: August 1996Well, I've just about had it with all the people bitching and whining about the musical scene these days and not doing anything about it themselves to alleviate the problem. Not a single day passes where I don't receive a piece of e-mail, read a newsgroup, or talk to a person who is so disconcerted with the industrial scene that s/he wants to just give up. Ironically enough, these are the same people who never show up to concerts, do press work, or anything else to fix the problem. The key is simply a lack of action. In reality, action is so extraordinarily easy to accomplish that one might wonder why everyones respective scenes are not flourishing. It falls down into a handful of easy steps. #1 Attend events regularly It's amazing what a strong turnout at a local club can do for a scene. It allows the local management to realize that industrial music does have a strong audience and that they can make money by booking similar bands in their clubs. It also has the secondary bonus of being seen by others who are into the same type of music, thereby making everyone else aware that other people do exist in the scene in their city. #2 Advertise, make people aware Contrary to popular belief, this doesn't mean plunking down the big bucks in a trade magazine. Word of mouth is an amazing tool. By telling everyone you know about upcoming events, album releases, and positive magazine press, suddenly everyone becomes aware that their favorite band is in town as well as having two new albums out next year and a cool interview in the local free weekly music magazine. Awareness is an amazing tool, use it wisely. #3 Quit complaining It's amazing how far one single negative comment can spread. One negative comment can spark an entire fruitless debate about absolutely nothing and in the end cause much more damage to the scene than 100 positive comments. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. There's a difference between complaining and constructive criticism. There'sa difference between, "I wish they would have had more energy on-stage!" and "This show sucked!" #4 Ignore your ego, instead choose humility As hard as it might be, allowing your ego to inflate itself causes more damage than it save you in self esteem. A single individual who gets up on a podium and tells the world about how much he knows about a certain style of music and that he is the world's utmost authority is more likely to drive people away from the scene rather than attract people to him. Trust me, I've done this before and saw the negative result for weeks, it wasn't a pretty picture. Humility is an amazingly powerful device, use it or be faced with people who hate you every single day of your waking life. Having followed these four simple suggestions for the past three months has allowed the small scene in my town to grow and begin to blossom. Already people have become more content and enthusiastic and willing to do their part. Amazing how that works!
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