Respect is the Key to the Door of Success.
In this industry, they say it's who you know that counts. It doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have the connections to push yourself into the big leagues. In my opinion, the best way to meet those kind of people is to go out to the shows that they are at and try to network within that social circle. It puts a face to your name and creates a better memory for them. Well, more memorable than a random email I'd say. Now here comes the whole point of my story......when given the opportunity to make a first impression, which can be a make or break moment for a lot of people, why give off the impression that you just don't care? Why be disrespectful?
Respect is a fairly simple concept, and yet, I have come across so many people and acts that have just not gotten the memo. When an artists steps on stage, they are aloud to present themselves in whatever fashion they feel is needed to best convey their message, and I get that. As soon as they step off that stage though, the artists also has a responsibility to the other people in their band and to the crowd. You are now representing your entire band after a show and should act in a way that is professional. I'm a little sick of bands not giving respect when it is clearly needed.
I mainly write this because of an incident that happened this weekend. Over the past 5 days, I have been busy sifting through band submissions and emailing interview questions to as many as I can in my free time. I make the effort to listen to each band's music and write out honest reviews of my two favorite tracks, and I take the extra time because I respect the artist and time that they took for them to create their work. Being in a band myself, I know how hard it is to create a song and record it for everyone to hear. I have yet to come across a band that I didn't feel would be a good for the site....until I received an email this morning.
Now out of respect for our musical community, I will not say the name of the band that sent this email. It's not my place to name drop, but I feel it is my duty to tell cautionary tales of groups like this so that others can be prepared to deal with them. I sent this group of musicians my normal, well though out, run of the mill interview questions that I send to everyone. After reading their responses for no more than thirty seconds, I immediately knew that they had not taken it seriously.....and that kind of pissed me off. They had been the ones that reached out to me, not the other way around, for this interview and half of the band didn't seem to respect anything about the process. One member at times seemed to mock the entire process by giving rude responses and just didn't really take it seriously. I asked questions like, "Where are you based out of and what one word describes your band?" and would receive answers like, " Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng." After reading no more than three of their answers to the questions, I though the exact same thing their band.
This website is suppose to be an encouraging place where anyone can get access to free press, help promote one another, and share with a group of supportive people that are going through the same struggles as one another. That being said, SF Solid Gold will take no part in supporting asshole musicians. People who have no respect for the others in their scene can please leave this site right now. If you decide to not take my questions seriously, I will not publish anything about you. These reviews are done for free and are meant to bring awareness to your creative endeavors. By creating this website, I aimed to build a strong sense of community and support so that when you are feeling down and out about your band or project, you know that you will always have somewhere to turn. So when people do not take these reviews seriously, this website seriously, or are just flat out rude, it is a huge slap in the face to me.
Most of all, it's a huge waste of my time and energy. I just don't understand why people choose to present themselves that way. It has no benefit to your cause, and it makes you look like the biggest asshole at a proctologist conference.....so why do they still do it? Honestly, I think it is a defense mechanism to hid behind. People very rarely like to let their guard down, especially around a complete stranger. It comes with our fear of judgement, critique and what that might do to our pride, but you eventually have to overcome that fear as a creative type, don't you? I mean, fear can cripple bands and leave them for dead as the time goes on, but only if they are not willing to take things seriously and are open to change. What makes the great bands great is that they were not afraid to change, and on so many levels. With change comes responsibility, and within that responsibility lies respect.
People naturally want to help each other. It's in our DNA to try and preserve our population so we tend to look out for each other, at least that's how I see it. If you're not willing to respect the other people around you, how do you plan to survive? With enough dedication and respect for their craft on all measures, the smallest band can grow from a weak and frightened child in a corner and become a full fledged force to be that demands to be taken seriously. If artists don't start taking themselves seriously, how do they expect anyone else to?
Maybe I'm over reacting to this whole incident, and please feel free to express your thoughts as well in the comments below, but it's because I take pride in what I'm doing for people. It's rewarding doing this work for others because I know that they respect what I'm doing, and hopefully, that respect will go towards them helping another person down the line. It's similar to the idea of "pay it forward", but on a much smaller scale and with more consistency, in theory. I've always said that music is a personal journey that is best shared with others so try to open your ears, eyes and hearts to other musicians that are going through the same trials and tribulations as you. You never know what being polite can lead to for you, but I sure as hell know what being disrespectful will do for you....
Respect is a fairly simple concept, and yet, I have come across so many people and acts that have just not gotten the memo. When an artists steps on stage, they are aloud to present themselves in whatever fashion they feel is needed to best convey their message, and I get that. As soon as they step off that stage though, the artists also has a responsibility to the other people in their band and to the crowd. You are now representing your entire band after a show and should act in a way that is professional. I'm a little sick of bands not giving respect when it is clearly needed.
I mainly write this because of an incident that happened this weekend. Over the past 5 days, I have been busy sifting through band submissions and emailing interview questions to as many as I can in my free time. I make the effort to listen to each band's music and write out honest reviews of my two favorite tracks, and I take the extra time because I respect the artist and time that they took for them to create their work. Being in a band myself, I know how hard it is to create a song and record it for everyone to hear. I have yet to come across a band that I didn't feel would be a good for the site....until I received an email this morning.
Now out of respect for our musical community, I will not say the name of the band that sent this email. It's not my place to name drop, but I feel it is my duty to tell cautionary tales of groups like this so that others can be prepared to deal with them. I sent this group of musicians my normal, well though out, run of the mill interview questions that I send to everyone. After reading their responses for no more than thirty seconds, I immediately knew that they had not taken it seriously.....and that kind of pissed me off. They had been the ones that reached out to me, not the other way around, for this interview and half of the band didn't seem to respect anything about the process. One member at times seemed to mock the entire process by giving rude responses and just didn't really take it seriously. I asked questions like, "Where are you based out of and what one word describes your band?" and would receive answers like, " Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng." After reading no more than three of their answers to the questions, I though the exact same thing their band.
This website is suppose to be an encouraging place where anyone can get access to free press, help promote one another, and share with a group of supportive people that are going through the same struggles as one another. That being said, SF Solid Gold will take no part in supporting asshole musicians. People who have no respect for the others in their scene can please leave this site right now. If you decide to not take my questions seriously, I will not publish anything about you. These reviews are done for free and are meant to bring awareness to your creative endeavors. By creating this website, I aimed to build a strong sense of community and support so that when you are feeling down and out about your band or project, you know that you will always have somewhere to turn. So when people do not take these reviews seriously, this website seriously, or are just flat out rude, it is a huge slap in the face to me.
Most of all, it's a huge waste of my time and energy. I just don't understand why people choose to present themselves that way. It has no benefit to your cause, and it makes you look like the biggest asshole at a proctologist conference.....so why do they still do it? Honestly, I think it is a defense mechanism to hid behind. People very rarely like to let their guard down, especially around a complete stranger. It comes with our fear of judgement, critique and what that might do to our pride, but you eventually have to overcome that fear as a creative type, don't you? I mean, fear can cripple bands and leave them for dead as the time goes on, but only if they are not willing to take things seriously and are open to change. What makes the great bands great is that they were not afraid to change, and on so many levels. With change comes responsibility, and within that responsibility lies respect.
People naturally want to help each other. It's in our DNA to try and preserve our population so we tend to look out for each other, at least that's how I see it. If you're not willing to respect the other people around you, how do you plan to survive? With enough dedication and respect for their craft on all measures, the smallest band can grow from a weak and frightened child in a corner and become a full fledged force to be that demands to be taken seriously. If artists don't start taking themselves seriously, how do they expect anyone else to?
Maybe I'm over reacting to this whole incident, and please feel free to express your thoughts as well in the comments below, but it's because I take pride in what I'm doing for people. It's rewarding doing this work for others because I know that they respect what I'm doing, and hopefully, that respect will go towards them helping another person down the line. It's similar to the idea of "pay it forward", but on a much smaller scale and with more consistency, in theory. I've always said that music is a personal journey that is best shared with others so try to open your ears, eyes and hearts to other musicians that are going through the same trials and tribulations as you. You never know what being polite can lead to for you, but I sure as hell know what being disrespectful will do for you....
Written by: Jacob Schmidt
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Thanks for reading!
SF Solid Gold
If you'd like an honest review by someone who cares, please click here to fill out an artist submission.
I will do my best to reply as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading!
SF Solid Gold