Breaking up is not hard to do...

Is it just me or are bands breaking up left and right? It's not the successful bands selling hundreds of thousands of records that are breaking up (mostly), it's the smaller (up-and-coming) bands who haven't even had a chance to stick their baby toe into the pool of success. The question is: If you've barely even grown as a band, how do you know it's time to break up?

Whenever I check a 'gossip' site now there's a post about a band breaking up! It's become a joke now, a 'who's next' type of thing because they're dropping like flies. The bands post their goodbye letters via MySpace blogs (P.S. does anyone still use MySpace?) and they say everything but the TRUE reason they're breaking up. They always list things that probably wouldn't break-up more established bands and it's always so vague that at the end of even a pretty lengthy/wordy blog, you're still asking yourself at the end "BUT WHY DID YOU BREAK UP?" I call it the 'Irreconcilable Differences' clause. [Whenever that's cited as the grounds for a celebrity divorce, you're left making things up on your own like 'she was obviously cheating' or 'he was obviously wearing her undergarments when she wasn't around and perhaps when she was because now they're getting divorced'.] What's the true reason, bands? Maybe that's need-to-know information but clearly, I NEED TO KNOW!

Let's take a closer look at the bands who have been breaking up:

My Favorite Highway, Sing it Loud, The Friday Night Boys... to name a few.

I look at these bands who have been together probably a little over three years and I hear they're breaking up. I can't help but think "Oh really?"

What gets me thinking is this: Why would a band who has been together for such a short amount of time decide to break up without even carrying out their 'dream' to the fullest extent. The answer for me then clearly becomes 'They can't."

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a hit song and to sell more than a few thousand records these days? Well, these bands..the ones listed up there...probably do. In fact, I know they do and there's no doubt that it's the majority of the reason they are no more.

But, you may be asking yourself "What about Fall Out Boy...they were successful and they broke up." and I am ready with an answer to that one lol. Clearly they didn't break up because of a lack of success, however with them I got an 'irreconcilable differences' clause feeling and I'm sure they'll never tell what truly broke them up (maybe a few years from now for Behind the Music or whatever) but there was definitely something. Pete went directly from FOB to some new band and Patrick is doing his solo thing ....clearly they didn't want to stop making music, they just didn't want to make music TOGETHER! And there's a reason (aside from money perhaps) that we may or may not ever find out! (I know, I know...things change, people change etc...vague, vague, vague)

It's as simple as this: If you love making music, the people you're making music with and the people you're making music FOR (even if it's just for yourself) then it would take something big to break that up. Not just 'I woke up one morning and didn't want to be near you...' because if something like that actually does break you guys up then the world is a better place for it because that is a group of individuals who didn't love music like they thought so don't ruin it for people who actually do.

Money: Money is the NUMBER ONE reason (in my head) that breaks a (smaller) band up...especially now when it's terribly hard to sell records....why stick around over 3 years at a job where there's a chance you may NEVER see the fruits of your labor! There's a difference between wanting to be successful and being a sell-out btw, and that's a whole different blog. I can't get upset over a band who breaks up for monetary reasons.. If your band hasn't hit it big in the 3, 4 or 5 years you've been together, why not try to move in a different direction?! Of course, if everyone in the band doesn't agree, then you get irreconcilable differences. Lol. It's beautiful to want to stay with the band you've come to know and love, it's beautiful to worry about the reactions of the fans because that means you care, it's beautiful that you have so much integrity...however, it's pretty STUPID not to know when to walk away.

I guess there are bands out there who couldn't care less about making money, who couldn't care less about getting a hit song, who couldn't care less about getting a record deal (who even needs that anymore though lol) and those are the bands who will probably be together for a really long time doing something that they love. Therein lies the difference... how many bands out there love each other very much but couldn't care less about being successful or getting their music to as many appreciative fans as possible? Not many... That's called having a HOBBY, not a career. Learn the difference my friends.

Of course, people DO just grow apart. Your favorite band broke up, they got along swimmingly and they're semi successful...so what happened? If they say 'we just grew apart', I'm inclined to believe it. Of course, I'm naturally skeptical and love to know the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so I'll have doubts but I know it's not impossible. Bands like Envy on the Coast who have had some success (maybe not as much as the Fall Out Boys of the world...) I read their good-bye blog and it was truly one of the most honest ones out there. They don't try to trick their fans with fancy wording and insanely vague phrasing, it's just pure honesty and I'm sure everyone appreciated that.

There are aspiring bands/musicians out there who have watched these bands drop and are worried about heading toward the music industry for fear of facing a fate similar to the aforementioned bands, but the finger of fate is often fickle so don't be afraid to take a chance! The music industry needs something new, something incredible.... No one knows what but if you're out there and you can read this: HELP!

P.S. There may be a PART 2 on this soon because there's SO much more I want to get into here, including topics I've discussed in previous blogs that pertain to this particular post and I just didn't want to make one HUGE post. But, there is PLENTY more to be said. Feel free to say something in the comments. Agree, disagree? Let me know! Tell me I'm wrong. I would love to hear your own thoughts on it! Are you IN one of the bands who have broken up this year? Are you willing to say something honestly in the comments? Cmon, do it! Insight is key.

"Trying and failing is one thing...never trying at all is another." :)

-Erica O.

Where is the love?

Did the music 'industry' ever really love music or did they only ever love the money they could make off of impressionable teenagers? When you think about the bubblegum pop movement of the late 90s, it's pretty clear that most of these acts weren't signed because they had astounding talent, they were signed because the industry saw a trend catching on and knew they could make some fast money! Now, the labels are so desperate, they will apparently sign anything with a heartbeat and a MySpace page. The internet, if you haven't noticed, is working kinda how the radio used to work for us old-schoolers, the more friends aka "spins" you have, the easier it is for people to brand you the 'next big thing'. and, much like the radio, sometimes, it's so IN YOUR FACE, constantly repeated day and night until it becomes something you can't escape, you end up feeling like you have no choice but to listen. How else do you explain 'Metro Station'? in place of the bubblegum movement, we are now in the internet movement. i know a lot of times we will look back at what we 'used' to listen to and realize that some of it was barely even in our control. for instance, why did i ever enjoy Sclub7? i couldn't tell you now what made me like them back then. however, ask anyone who loves, for instance, Journey, why they loved Journey back in the day and they could probably list off 100 reasons. there's a lot of music i probably loveee right now that I'm going to look back on and wonder 'WTF?'. there's also music currently that makes me think 'WTF' already! i dont understand the music business anymore. it's all over the place, nothing's consistent. talented bands get dropped while the millionaires get signed... its like a circus!!!!

Too Many Bands Sink The Ship!

Well, there isn't really a ship. But, there is however a high occupancy internet-operated vehicle called -- MySpace! A few now well-known bands have the networking site to thank for their fame and fortune. Catchy tunes and a MySpace page got so many bands their lucky break. However, that seems to have triggered a new genre of music: 'Internet Bands'. In this genre, you will find bands that don't have an actual website, just a MySpace URL; they're almost all unsigned and unrepresented by any form of management. It's the year of the D-I-Y bands! That's fine, I totally support the whole 'make it happen' movement. It's just that, so many bands are jumping on the 'DIY internet band' phenomenon at once. I literally get at least 10 friend requests from bands I've never heard of within 2 minutes of signing into my MySpace. Their speils are all the same 'Check out our band! I think you'll like us!' or 'We saw that you like Cute Is What We Aim For, we sound like them! Give us a chance!' I'm all for it, I'm all for checking out an up-and-coming band and every once in a while, I find something I really like. When a zillion and one bands are all saying the same thing at once, I find that I often feel attacked. They all seem to feel like they've found the formula, and I want them all to make it. If they make art that they are proud of and want the world to know how good they are, that's great! You want your band to become a brand, that's great, too! The music industry is mid-downfall and I understand that bands no longer even want to be signed. (A lot of people I know are trying to get out of their contracts.) Again, I'm all for the indie band out there making music without compromising their art and integrity for cash profit. (aka 'selling out'). In fact, I fully support bands who refuse to sell their souls to the major labels! Woo! What I don't support is the false gaining of fans. These days, people turn to the internet instead of the radio because they DON'T enjoy being told or force fed something that other people think they should listen to. When I get a message saying 'we sound like 'insert a band i like', I often find that this band lacks everything the other band had that made me like them in the first place. For instance, if someone said 'I know you like Rocky Road ice-cream, try this other ice-cream, it's similar' well, my favorite part of Rocky Road is the marshmallow swirl and guess what, this other flavor, while I did give it a chance, it didn't have the delicious marshmallow-y swirl that made me fall in love with Rocky Road!

Do you get it?

Try something new on for size:

Originality is key! No one wants a rip off of another band they like. If you're willing to take risks and do something brand-new, you're more likely to find loyal fans who will love you forever. Sure, if you tell people you sound just like All Time Low, you'll generate interest in your band, you might get yourself a few page views and a few hits to your music player. But, guess what - All Time Low is quality to their fans and you'll probably (usually) pale in comparison. Not to mention, these potential fans have probably gotten 24 more friend requests from other bands claiming to sound like All Time Low as well. Even if you DO sound like All Time Low, I'm sure there's something original about you that will entice listeners! Find out and roll with that. It will work, trust me!

I personally will listen to a band who doesn't claim to sound like another band, because I hope to find something innovative and something that hasn't been done to death.

Another tip:
Start your own trend! Stop trying to be the same-old-thing; instead be the next-big-thing! YOU should want to be the band that every new band will say they 'sound like' in a year or two! I only say this because I care.

Good luck to all the up-and-coming bands and next time you are online figuring out what to say to potential fans to get them to listen, try saying something they have probably never heard before!

xo
Erica

P.S. Yes, I brought back the ice-cream analogy. And, I really do enjoy Rocky Road!

Shout out to all the flavor-of-the-minute bands.

Photo by XKCD WEB COMIC

What does photography mean to you?

I basically feel that if something feels right in your hands, if this same thing never ever leaves your mind or your heart that it is meant to be in your life for a reason. I feel this way about photography. I never really noticed how much it meant to me until I had to take a little 'break' from it, if you will. But they also say that if something comes back to you, it's yours. I am meant to create and I know that I will soon, again. I'm just overly anxious waiting for that day to come.

Editing Photos: Steps One & Two.

I decided to do a kind of 'tutorial'... but it's not really a 'tutorial', I'm just showing you guys things that happen to work for me. I usually follow all of these steps with every picture, a kind of troubleshooting. It basically has to do with the picture, each photo is a different case. I'm going to use this photo of All Time Low from Warped Tour in this example. The first steps I took with this photo were resizing and cropping. I'll elaborate on each step. Don't let anyone tell you that a little bit of editing is a bad thing... photographers who don't edit their pictures and post them without doing so when clearly a little tweak would be for the best obviously have some kind of elitist attitude and don't deserve your love! If the picture is fine the way it is, then, FINE. But I've seen some tragic cases...silly people who don't believe in editing make me laugh! Muahahaha.

Step One: Resizing.
I knew I would be posting this on my website, when posting anything to the internet, I try to resize it much smaller so that it doesn't stretch the page out but not so small that you need a magnifying glass to see it. I just size it down until it fits from top to bottom on the entire screen of my editing program. That's not as small as I will go, I need to save some room for cropping. Obviously, I said that every picture needs different things so it won't work for every picture. Blogger resized the picture obviously but I made it smaller...now onto cropping.


Step Two: Cropping.
Basically when I look at this picture, the things I don't want are: 1) The TON of space above Alex's head and the top edge of the photo. I crop out that space, ASAP.













2) The photographer in the bottom left corner. Also, I like straight lines and I can find a point where I can crop everything on the left, including the photographer leaving a pretty straight line along the left side of the photo. This will take Alex out of the center of the photo.


3) A mistake I could have made after that would have been cropping the right side of the photo to make it even again. I actually like having him off center, but cropping the right side would make the picture an odd shape, imo.






I mean, this isn't bad but it's not what I envisioned in my head. I hate having a strip shape, It's not one of those photo booth strips, geez.

So, I stick with this version of the picture. I like the shape and I love the peek of the backstage area! Haha.

Up next, I'll talk about image effects (ie. contrast, brightness etc)

I came here to make you dance tonight!

Not really. But we all know that line from a song by Cobra Starship called 'Guilty Pleasure' (or Placer Culpable, if you please) and it got me thinking.

I've been asked a lot 'What song is your guilty pleasure' and it makes me think, why I should feel guilty for enjoying a song? What makes a song/musician a 'guilty pleasure'? Is it something universal that I should just automatically know? Does one song considered a guilty pleasure by one person mean that generally, anyone who listens to it should feel guilty about enjoying it? Or can one man's guilty pleasure be another man's treasure?

Should you ever feel embarrassed or ashamed to admit that you like a song that's maybe not mainstream or 'cool' or whatever other criteria it doesn't meet? Whose opinion do you go by if not your own? If you love a song enough to call it your guilty pleasure why are you suddenly ashamed to admit to it? Because Absolutepunk.net says so? Because the so called 'important' media such as Rolling Stone only gave your favorite song one star out of 5. If I only listened to music that pleased ap.net's standards, I would listen to Cute Is What We Aim For because Jason Tate disapproves. Rolling Stone didn't have much of anything nice to say about Katy Perry, yet, her song's been number one for weeks! That's a lot of guilty pleasures, if we were going by Rolling Stone's standards.

Listen to what makes you happy. Don't try too hard to label it. Don't feel ashamed of what you are listening to. If Polka makes you happy, blast it from your speakers! Love every polka track you can on Lastfm. Do it! Dance like no one is watching and listen like no one is judging you! It's your life, you create your playlists don't let anyone tell you what shouldn't be on it.

Currently listening: Charlotte Sometimes - Waves and The Both of Us (incredibly solid record, btw, run to the store and get it!)

Yes, I am suggesting something that should be on your playlist, ok. That's what I do! But I would never tell you what to *not* listen to! That's blasphemous! Love music! Give everything a chance.

XOXO
ericaaa

P.S. In the comments, tell me what you're listening to right now or the last song you listened to!

three way tie!

my poll only got 6 votes and apparently its a three way tie. so while i cant pick a 'winner', i can definitely spot the losers of the bunch and its definitely WE THE KINGS! ahaha. They have some of the best hair I've ever seen so I don't understand why they didn't get a vote. Oh well. Sorry boys, you're the losers.

xoxo

Poor Lily Allen!

She's getting more and more desperate for attention these days. It's frightening how badly she wants to be reported on. Poor girl, I should send her a basket with games and puzzles in it or something so she'll have something else to do besides watch the more popular girls get all the attention.

Looks: Are they more important than talent?

TV Shows like 'The Hills' make this question really simple to answer. Yes. I tried to watch an episode and I was honestly confused as to what I was watching.

The show is clearly scripted so these people aren't even interesting enough for actual 'reality' but they all (with the exception of Spencer, he gives me the creeps) happen to be extremely beautiful. Beautiful rich kids in Los Angeles with no lives = reality show? Apparently. Maybe they should start asking us what we want to watch. Does beauty sell? Who is the person in charge of deciding what beauty is anyway?! How come we don't know what those people look like, lol. If they are beauty connoisseurs, how would they rate on their own scales. I often feel like if they put regular normal looking people on tv instead of Barbie molds, we might not watch as much because we look at TV to see something different from real life to escape the normal things we deal with in real life. I honestly think that's no longer true. TV is so different from the 60s or whenever this whole 'only beautiful people belong on tv' thing started. The hottest selling item right now is REALITY! The main part of that word being the REAL. How can I believe in a reality show like The Hills when I only see one kind of person. Who's reality is that? It's not my reality, it's not even THEIR reality even though they try really hard to make us believe so. We are demanding reality tv at the moment and getting a distorted version of the truth! I want to see something on reality TV that makes me say 'wow, that reminds me of me and my best friend' and I'm sure other people feel the same way! Sure, there are the people who love shows like The Hills and Laguna Beach or whatever else MTV has force fed us in the past few years but we don't look at shows like that and relate. At least I don't. I look at those kinds of shows and feel bad that all these people have in life are 'looks' and that it's the only thing moving them forward in life. I'd like to see a show about normal people using their brains to get ahead...and no, I don't mean a reality show based on Ken Jennings! Hahaha. Seriously, it's time for a change MTV. I challenge you to give a normal person a reality show, if it sucks I'll buy every season of The Hills on DVD. But if it doesn't suck and it does well, that would be enough for me. Just knowing you've been hit with the knowledge that the plastic surgery, LA, party-hopping crowd aren't the only ones who can give good TV.

Love
Erica
xoxo

all time lows crowd.

Intense!

bike gate oh eight

i tried to borrow alex gaskarths bike but he said 'no' lol xoxo

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Charlotte sometimes

automatic love letter

Camden nj warped tour.

home sweet home!

Finally home. times square ny!

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