Transmissions of an Unknown Origin: I'm not better than you. Column by Chad Mitchell
I'm nineteen years old, this is obviously young in the real world. In the world of the scene, I'm on the brink of an old man. With this age comes great responsibility. Since when did I become so critical of the music I love? Why do I writhe in anguish every time I hear another "emotional band that can both sing and scream"? Is it just me, or has style started to reign over substance? At what point was it ok for a band to have a singer that looks pretty in girls jeans but cannot hit notes?
I have no problems with scenesters, I have no problems with dressing up for a style of music, and looking just like everyone else who in the real world would be different. What I have always loved about the music I listen to is the acceptance. Being someone who did not always fit in, I couldn't pretend in 5th grade to like the new MTV records, so I went out and bought NOFX's "Punk in Drublic". When others were listening to the new Coolio record, I had on "... And Out Come the Wolves" by RANCID. I absolutely loved every second of it, punk rock was mine, and it was infallible.
With time came more diverse listening. I first heard ZAO's "The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation" and was hooked on hardcore. THE GET UP KIDS got me into emo. So on and so forth my musical taste has developed into something I can pride myself on. I'm not elitist, I just like better bands than you (Note this sarcasm). I would like to think that there is any respectable genre that I can name a band that I enjoy who would fit under it.
Technically, I am a music critic at Pastepunk. I write reviews of records and shows because I love music. Why do I deserve to be respected and trusted? I absolutely have no idea. The point is not that I have this power and others don't, but that I have not treated it fairly. As much as I have engrossed my life into music (Pastepunk, I intern at a record label, I am studying music business, etc.), somewhere I forgot what passion really was. There have been glimpses of it, but not the real feeling I used to get when my favorite band would put out an album and I would sit in my room for hours and put it on repeat.
Tonight I realized that there is no standard that any music can be held to. All that matters is passion. When this is portrayed, all that needs to be done is to have a great time. I do not need to open my ear for a mistake to be made, but to recapture the perfection (and ignorance) that I had when I started to become my own person as a music fan.
I do not really know the point of writing this, but just as a reminder to anyone who may feel like that music is dying, that there is nothing new bands can do that would be as good as in the past. The great thing about music is there will always be progress, and new records will always be doing something for a kid that my first albums did for me.
There we go, I’ve made my point. I am not better than you, there is no one better than anyone. Enjoy music for all it can be. Don’t let the feeling of perfection escape. Never allow yourself to become conscious of others as you dance your heart out at a show. I am not a music critic, I am a fan.
At the top of your voice there is no doing wrong I swear- MATT POND PA
