On Tyranny: Sound Off on No Kings 2: A Communiqué About Community
This article was originally published in 2009 but, on what could be one of the most consequential days in America in the 21st century, if not in the entire history of the nation, it is now back online for your reading — and, hopefully, galvanizing — pleasure. Find your local No Kings rally here and, for the sake of free speech and freedom itself, please attend. Need further convincing? Read my 43-part series called On Tyranny, in which artists of every stripe tell me how they are being damaged and fear even more atrocious reprisals if the Trump regime and the right-wing scourge plaguing our country continues to run roughshod, unchecked, over the Constitution we have so woefully taken for granted for far too long.
—
Week four of the IndiePit Blog is coming to a close. And what a month it has been. From interviews galore to liberal doses of commentary throughout to some wacky features, hopefully the content has been as much a treat to read as it has been to write.
If you’ve noticed, each week has closed with an installment of a series called “Sound Off” – in which, like the back end of a newspaper’s op-ed section, some closing thoughts on the week are provided.
(New to all this? Read up on the past chapters: “Frank Zappa And Walter Cronkite, Sentries Of The Truth,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Michael Jackson And Kurt Cobain, Suicide Kings?“)
The purpose of this series, on the one hand, is to ease you into Saturday and Sunday after a week’s worth of in-depth music reporting/analysis/goofing around. To make sense of what that recent content might mean in the larger scope of things. To pull back from the micro and appreciate the macro, if you will.
But along with that, another aim is to continue an ongoing conversation – one that is inherent in IndiePit – about what it actually means to be an independent artist in this day and age. To provide insights on perhaps how best to function as one. And, in a broader sense, to get to the bottom of what the concept of “independence” actually means.
In an age when bands have to promote themselves, can they really be creating art independently if they inevitably have marketing in the back of their minds? What about situations where indie-label execs turn out to be even bigger shysters than major-label ones? And beyond that, what is even the point of being “independent” anymore, at a time when we are all so driven to connect with other human beings, online or otherwise?
Interviewing bands this week, one of the recurring themes has been a newfound appreciation for community – whether it be artists supporting other artists, fans volunteering to go the extra mile to help out bands they love, or crowds simply becoming more engaged at concerts than they were in years past.
On the one hand, and even though it used to exist decades ago, this community spirit feels new in the world of independent music – a world often often corroded by pretension, indifference and self-preservation. This spirit has been hugely refreshing for so many reasons: it has become “safe” to dance at concerts again (example: shows by the Drums; the crowd’s smiles have replaced their long faces; and optimism seems to abound everywhere despite the Apocalypse that encircles all of us in the music sphere.
But on the other hand, while this friendly rebound is going on, one can’t help but fear that – like the economic and/or housing crises – the worst has yet to come. Artists still aren’t making money. And while concepts like packing vinyl with download coupons, offering creative merchandise and lowering ticket prices all seem like noble efforts, musicians have been echoing the same thing during interviews: We don’t know how we’re going to make it. We have to take on day jobs again. We want to create but can’t afford to and no longer have the time.
The crisis even led Bloodshot co-founder Rob Miller to say in our interview, “As a culture we’re going to decide if music has value. And I don’t know where we’re coming down on that question right now.”
While the answer to that question may be a few years in the offing, one thing has become clear: So-called “independent” artists cannot survive without other people. Without having a community behind them. One could go even so far as to say that a social net need be provided.
And this brings us to an even larger issue: the role of American society as an entity that functions in the best interests of its individual citizens. While musicians and the communities that surround them try to suss out how to make money, U.S. citizens and our population as a whole are also trying to figure out how to survive at a time when we are still getting collectively bilked by corporations, despite the economic hardships so many of us face; at a time when our health care system is in the pits; and at a time when we can’t even get the media to speak truth to the powers that be.
But, for the better good of the audience reading this post, I won’t further debilitate you with a tirade about the importance of community – and government, which, lest we forget, is a representation of the American community. Instead I will let someone much more qualified do the ranting.
On tonight’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the host proved himself once again to be one of the more indispensable members of the media. After all, when it comes to unbridled free speech, there was Lenny Bruce, there was Carlin, there was Bill Hicks … and then there is Bill Maher.
His closing remarks this evening were especially poignant – and especially relevant to this blog, as he expounded upon not just Walter Cronkite and the decline of honesty in the news – but even more importantly, the inherent problem with the corporate profit motive as it factors into the common good.
After claiming the U.S. is ranked 50th in the world in terms of life expectancy, he concluded:
“The problem with President Obama’s health care plan isn’t socialism, it’s capitalism. When did the profit motive become the only reason to do anything? When did that become the new patriotism? ‘Ask not what you could do for your country, ask what’s in it for Blue Cross/Blue Shield.’
“And it’s not just medicine – prisons also used to be a nonprofit thing. And for good reason; who the hell wants to own a prison? By definition, you’re going to have trouble with the tenants. It is not a coincidence that we outsourced running prisons to private corporations, and the number of prisoners in America skyrocketed. There used to be some things that we just didn’t do for money.
“Did you know, for example, that there was a time when being called a ‘war profiteer’ was a bad thing? FDR said he didn’t want World War II to create one millionaire, but I’m guessing Iraq has made more than a few executives at Halliburton into billionaires. Halliburton sold soldiers soda for $7.50 a can. They were honoring 9-11 by charging like 7-11. Which is wrong: We’re Americans. We do not fight wars for money; we fight them for oil.
“And my final example of the profit motive screwing something up that used to be good when it was nonprofit? TV news. I heard all the news anchors this week talk about how much better the news was in Cronkite’s day, and I thought, ‘Gee, if only if you were in a position to do something about it.’ But maybe they aren’t. Because this isn’t Cronkite’s day, when delivering the news was considered a loss leader and a civic duty. Making money was the job of the Beverly Hillbillies. And now that we have reporters moving to Alaska and hanging out with the Palin family, the news is the Beverly Hillbillies.”
So, as we try to survive in the increasingly dog-eat-dog-style climate that is the music “business,” let’s appreciate the resurgent sense of community.
Just like a conscientious band will go out of its way to instruct rowdy audience members to take care of each other, let’s not forget that we are all in this together.
The Bad Penny (beta) 
Leave a comment