^ bahahaha.
Love it
Here are two prime examples of why i don't particularly like Rollins:
[video=youtube_share;gH-M8Ixphxw]http://youtu.be/gH-M8Ixphxw[/video]
^ some of the most ignorant, shallow and sexist perspectives on drugs going around.
If you wanna talk about looks, how's Keith Richards looking these days? Pretty fucking good for a man of his age - especially one with his history of drug use that
still smokes fucking cigarettes.
[video=youtube_share;AyRDDOpKaLM]http://youtu.be/AyRDDOpKaLM[/video]
...because drugs had/have
nothing to do with the history (or origins) of rock'n'roll? Right.
Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard never took speed, coke or alcohol. Uh huh.
I really hate the whole "rock" vs "dance music" bullshit dualism. It's often just extreme narrow-mindedness in my opinion.
Yeah, i like rock music and get into it more than electronica - it doesn't mean i can't - and don't - enjoy both.
Those kind of attitudes get on my nerves. It's bad enough when i hear friends or acquaintences say shit like that - but coming from some guy you've paid money to go see? Irritating.
(Yet, he often mentions Iggy Pop's [well-earned] reputation as a once prodigious drug-user in glowing terms - like, as if it was an impressive part of his act. Hypocritical, macho bullshit in my opinion)
I have nothing against people that advocate living drug-free. Some of my best friends don't take any sort of intoxicating substances, and i admire anyone who makes a choice about how they want to live their lives and get on with it.
But i also admire the fact that they don't ever tell me i should do the same.
Rollins often talks about his working-class roots, working in an ice-cream shop for a shitty minimum wage or whatever - and how he took the great risk (that paid off) of joining Black Flag and going on the road, and throwing in his job in the process.
That's all well and good, but it's kind of an empty message to go touring around the world on, for at least two reasons;
One - he got lucky, and it simply isn't possible for most people to be faced with such a choice - or given such an opportunity.
Secondly - there's no living to be made playing music.
Most bands are lucky to break even on a tour.
A lot of bands make a loss on tours - but it's good for exposure, making fans, meeting people, selling some records and t-shirts and (most of importantly!) having fun.
But it's hard work - often quite degrading, as much as i love it.
Put simply - playing rock'n'roll isn't a career option anymore (if it ever was). That's why all these old bands have reformed in the last ~15 odd years; even the biggest recording artists still have to play live to make money, because royalties alone don't pay the bills.
I doubt Bob Dylan has much of a shortage of cash - but even he did a fucking tv commercial last year.
Does he owe a lot in alimony or something? Who knows? But it's interesting, which is why i don't
necessarily have a problem with artists doing that kind of shit.
Personally, i wouldn't make an ad for a company that made weapons or ran sweatshops or other sorts of unethical shit.
But if i had the chance to make a living off of my art - hell yeah, i'd take it.
Following your dreams doesn't always keep a roof above your head or food in your belly.
Henry Rollins would know this as well as anyone.
That's why he does these increasingly uninspiring spoken word tours. He needs the bread.
Besides people who specifically make music for advertising, compose tv/film scores or somehow get lucky to record something that gets a major break - the massive majority of working musicians make little money.
I've been signed to overseas labels, toured, recorded and played more gigs than i could ever remember. But
the money's no good (to quote the Stranglers). I still have a day job - as do friends of mine that have gold records on the walls of their tiny rented apartments.
Sure, i also know people that
do make music thei career and source of income, doing soundtracks, jingles or whatever.
And i respect that - it takes a lot of business nous to do that (and no disrespect or jealousy on my part towards people that make
commercial music, in any sense of the world (i plan to do more film scores and soundtrack work myself).
But the point is - it's a shitty thing to go around preaching to kids.
Especially if you're making a career out of it. To me it seems to disprove the point that sort of idealism is always going to pay off. Sometimes it will, most of the time it doesn't (which obviously is no reason not to do either btw)
Yes - it is perfectly good advice to recommend people
follow your dreams
But I think jello's classic "don't just hate the media -
be the media" was far more enlightened use of the punk message of channelling your aggression into something positive.
Hell, one of John Lydon's best lines, right there -
anger is an energy. At least he has the art of self-mockery down to a fucking art.
Johnny Rotten, flogging butter on TV commercials. Genius
