THE HARD R: WHY ARTISTS DESERVE TO HAVE A VOICE BEYOND THEIR ART
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 4:34pm by Dallas Coyle
Why Should We Shut Up?
When I say ‘We’ I’m talking about the people out there who take their blood and put it to paper, celluloid or a digital hard drive. Seriously, why should we stop putting creations out there for everyone to judge? Do you honestly think that an artist doesn’t have any other thoughts or opinions but their art? It’s unfair, it’s nasty and I’m here to tell you we’ve got shit to say. It’s just sad that artists, musicians and filmmakers are maligned when they have something real to say. It may not be right but it’s as much from the heart as the art we create.
It’s about time the mentality of ‘entertain me and that’s it’ stops. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m wrong a lot of the time. I’ve predicted things right and I’ve predicted things wrong. But here’s the rub, when you put yourself out there you’re bound to fuck up more times than not. I learn more from my failures than I do from my successes. When you fail you realize your shit DOES stink, badly.
Look at my Terminator Salvation blog: I was wrong! Dead wrong! I didn’t see the movie but I don’t want to from the feedback I’ve seen. At least I had the balls to say what I thought. It was about a movie, but I said it, I lived with it, and I now admit I was wrong. It takes more to do that than to sit silent. I don’t mind being the butt of jokes or insults. It keeps me grounded to know I am flawed.
Maybe that’s the reason we should speak out. So we can understand how full of shit we really are. Musicians and artists are full of shit for the most part; journalists, bloggers, entertainers are too. We’re in the business of selling people and getting an emotional reaction from them. It’s very rare where you hit something that’s important in a social context or has real meaning. I think it’s important to speak out enough to where you’re lucky enough to hit that nerve, if it still exists.
That’s one thing that bothers me about the metal scene to a certain extent. When you’re unknown you can do no wrong. When you’re popular you’re at the will of the people who made you popular, which makes you a slave to their preconditions. They want a part of you but only certain parts. I get it. You’re not married to a band. It’s not ’til death do us part. But understand that people are people whether they punch numbers or play an A chord. But respect their opinion even if you don’t agree.
Isn’t this the reason why blogs are so popular? Anyone can state their opinion. Look at the growth of Metalsucks over the past year and a half. It’s grown immensely because people respect the opinions of the writers on the site. They come here for a point of view they can’t get anywhere else. I think it’s great that they have musicians give their perspective because there really isn’t a platform for that sort of discussion.
I understand people get angry at me because I speak about shit besides metal, but metal to me can get very boring. I’m a well-educated metalhead. I know my history and I know my shit, but I’m no teacher.
If you have any questions about the music business I’ll use my next blog to answer them. I’ll answer ten questions that you have. Make them good, pussies.
Everyone deserves to have a voice, but artists/celebrities need to realize that they’ll be judged by a large audience (depending on their popularity) and will undoubtedly get a lot of shit if they choose to exercise their voice. Artists aren’t given a pedestal for their words to be miraculously turned into truth, they’re under a ton of pressure to voice their opinions in the right way and to the right audience. Some of your fans don’t give a shit what you think and just want to be entertained, and some of your fans care about you beyond that and will listen to your opinion with an open mind. Your fans are not always your friends. Most of the time they’re consumers and they just want their money’s worth.
And about Terminator: Salvation. Fuck everyone, you made the right assumptions, but unfortunately the trailer was deceptive as shit.
The problem is not THAT artists give opinions about things not related to their art, it’s that they assume BECAUSE of their art or fame that their opinion holds more weight than that of the average citizen.
Yeah dude.
Or is it that YOU assume that THEY assume their opinion holds more weight?
Could be. I’m not really talking about guys like Dallas. More like guys like Sean Penn, Stephen Baldwin, et al.
There are plenty of people saying, not enough people doing.
i agree with you guys
im sorry but i really dont care to delve THAT much into your beliefs
so yes
expect to be judged on your music
or what movies you put out
because unless i meet you that the only thing i really got on you
its not like im being an asshole
but most people, including me, care more about their own lives than the celebs they ‘worship’
I thought Terminator was great. Critics are the retards. The movie was 100 times better than T3 and a lot of the criticisms people are making are utterly retarded.
Oh… and no one “deserves” to have their voice heard. Some people “make” their voices heard. And some people should be “allowed” to have their voices heard.
Why can we ( the general public) not find out how many records an album has sold. We have to find out from someone with access to soundscan. I mean maybe we actually can and I am a fucking moron…I know this question isnt great but I dont give a shit.
I think there is actually a soundscan and that’s where people get their numbers from.
soundscan website***
Soundscan is like a subscription. It costs an insane amount of money per year to get the detailed info.
Oh and Ben….I agree Terminator was great. Granted they left out a lot of character development which would have helped but as far as the action went…top notch. Can you say T5?
I appreciate an artist who can voice their opinion with something interesting to say, I think it can give you a better idea of who they are beyond music and that means something to me. Metal sites are often full of knucklehead forum trolls who suck at life so they bash everything to compensate so I understand your frustration.
But seriously, you gotta get back into music Dallas.
I’m writing music. I’ll have some stuff out at some point.
Why do we need this guy now that we have Eyal?
Because I’m like a virus. A disease of stupidity :)
I agree, Dallas. Notice the difference with God Forbid: Dallas (when he was in GF), wrote blogs separate from the music. You could read or not (so why complain?). But, when GF played a song like “To The Fallen Hero” live, they said it’s dedicated to the troops regardless of your thoughts on the situation. I like when bands make that distinction, and I don’t like when bands spend a minute bashing Bush because it’s a give-in that he’s an idiot and there’s no reason to get all preachy at a metal show. The one exception is for Municipal Waste, who can make Bush-bashing pretty damn funny.
Music business question:
How involved are your producers in terms of song arrangement and the actual creation of GF’s music? I know it might vary from producer to producer, but there’s a difference in getting the best tones and deconstructing your music with a fine-toothed comb (metaphorically speaking..).
I like to punch numbers and play my G-string. Fucking numbers.
the only thing that bothers me is when the rich/famous think their opinions are more important than everyone else’s.
and for what it’s worth, an artist without fans is a fucking homeless person. artists exist because people enjoy their work, so to that end, yes, they do somewhat end up being shaped by their fans. if your art no longer pleases your fans, expect to hear about it.
hey dallas i think i have a good question for you. when on the road you’re out of your element as far as just about everything in a normal daily life goes. regular meals, good sleep, good hygiene, etc., etc. do you end up losing a significant amount of weight from the day you leave to the day you come home? i remember asking the keyser bros. from skinless a similar question and they both just sighed and said “you have no idea…”
What shampoo do you use, if any?
Can you convince Doc to start blogging for Metal Sucks? I think you are a dildo.
I agree to a point. But as an artist (of any type), you’re going to be judged on your art. Period. Just as a mechanic is judged by his mechanical skills. If you’re gong it label yourself an “artist”, then your work had better be strong enough to speak for itself. Nothing wrong with wanting to talk about your work or other things you wish to express, but merely enjoying somebody’s art doesn’t give you the obligation to have to listen to EVERYTHING that artist has to say. It’s arrogant to think that just because you’re an “artist”, people should listen to you more than others.
Provoking an emotional reaction?
How about apathy?
No one would be mad about writing about non-metal topics, were they substantive and written in a compelling manner. This post boils down to “People are full of shit, myself not excluded.” Tell me something I don’t know.
Now we get to ask questions about the music business, to someone whose perspective and scope are skewed a certain way, having quit the music business just as the band was about to break. It’s like asking an attempted murderer what it’s like to ALMOST kill somebody. PASS.
You say all this with out thinking you are responding to a post of mine which obviously got you to react. you can pass all you want but more likely than not I have a more comprehensive perspective on music that you would unless you quit a band right before it was going to break. With that said I wrote a record that helped the band to break so since I don’t tour for two years it makes me less qualified to answer your questions? Give me a break Sven. you shovel more shit than you project out of your ass in a week.
Does this mean your taking two years off then coming back? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself…
from a brief scim of this, i can tell this doushhhhhh has nothing to say. stop sounding like your a famous world renound prick. you from god forbid ok, guy? calm down.
Its funny because people bitch about getting an alternate perspective on things other than music on a music site…but then when perspective is provided about music they bitch about that too. People read reviews of music and say, “That’s absurd! They should have written the review based on MY thoughts on the album!”. It’s fucking stupid and it makes me laugh every time. You can read a review and still think a band sucks ass or read a bad one and think its great, but it has no bearing on if the reviewer “knows anything”.
I’d venture to say that Dallas really couldn’t care less if we think his opinion is valuable or not. Clearly anybody posting in the comments needs to have their point of view be heard just as much as they accuse him of wanting his to be heard. Just because he’s a guitarist and you’re a jackoff sitting on the computer doesn’t really make one voice more important than the other.
In terms of the music business I’m sure he has lots more knowhow than any of us. He’s no more of a “world renowned prick” for stating his opinions than you.
Sometimes reading blog comments gives proof that freedom should, in fact, NOT be free.
oh and I’m sure part of the reason Dallas still blogs here, and that metalsucks asks him to, is because his posts seem to generate a lot of response and interest one way or another, thereby generating site traffic, thereby generating increased ad revenue, thereby making him valuable whether he be outside of God Forbid or not.
If those who hate his posts really wanted anything to happen the only thing you could constructively do would be to ignore them entirely. If everybody else agreed that they sucked and ignored them as well, business model would show that the blog would be dropped.
Dallas, it is about time for you and Doc to shake hands and make up. Get your ass back in the band, god damn it.
Hi, I’m thirteen and started my own metal band. How do we promote ourselves if we can’t find any one to take us seriously!