A collection of comedic diatribes bemoaning the death of rock spirit in modern music.
I love this diatribe on modern music by Henry Rollins.
I vehemently disagree with him on numerous points regarding Techno production, but damn does he cut it pretty close to the bone on the state of Modern Rock. I would love to have a genuine face to face with him and go through a week of studio production and creation with him, share ideas and thoughts and see how far he would shift on the views he holds about the validity of electronic music and Djing as a truly expressive musical forms.
I was born and raised on rock ‘n roll, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and later, heavier and darker stuff like Death, Obituary and Deicide (through Iron Maiden and Metallica). One of my first musical adventures was to form a death thrash band called “Prophecy” when I was 12 years old and play gigs in clubs where my dad had to be present in order for me to be in there legally.
I lived and breathed metal and I HATED electronic music, to this day I still cannot listen to acts like Depeche Mode and dare I say it? Kraftwerk.
At the time I saw them as fakirs pushing buttons and getting the machines to do all the rest. I simply couldn’t conceive how they could call what they did music and get famous for it.
This 80’s era rant against rap by the legendary Comedian Sam Kinnison sums up the sentiment I harbored for years.
Now, of course, I live and breathe techno placing me squarely in their line of fire. The majority of my musical creativity happens behind the scenes and the laptop/controller set up I use has a long way to go before being fully accepted as an instrument in it’s own right.
I have practiced guitar till my fingers bled, played drums till my fingers were numb, but I have also spent migraine inducing three week stretches trying to get a bass line to sit correctly in a track, and countless hours automating synthesizers and effects to do just the right thing at just the right time and even more time rehearsing and perfecting my performance and production skills.
As long as music is made with conviction, passion and love, any creative endeavor is worthy of merit in my book, just make sure you always play from your fucking heart.
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