Flea says today's rock music is dead
NME.com: Transcribed by Alternative Nation, Flea says that he "looks at rock music as kind of a dead form in a lot of ways."
"I just remember being so excited that we were playing with [Pearl Jam] and with Smashing Pumpkins, because it was just an exciting time for rock music. A lot of times, especially recently, I look at rock music as kind of a dead form in a lot of ways. Nothing to take away from us and [Pearl Jam], because obviously I believe we’re relevant bands that come with a real energy," he continued.
"But if you’re a kid today, and you get in a rock band, it’s like – when we were kids, when I said I want to be in a rock band and that’s what I’m doing for my life, that’s what I was going to do, no question. You’d get: ‘You are a fucking lunatic, you are crazy. You’re never going to get a decent job in your life. What are you doing? You’re ruining your life."
"I was like fuck it, I don’t care, this is what I want to do, this means everything to me, I found a home. I’ve been a weird, neurotic, loner kid all my life, I was always the kid you called fag in high school, punk rock gave me a home. But nowadays, you decide you want to be in a rock band it’s like, ‘Oh great, let’s get you an image consultant, and a lawyer, and a manager, and let’s see what we can do here. It’s a great money making opportunity for you junior."
15 comments:
maroon 5 proves his point. Total crap band.
Goo Goo dolls beat them to it.
Didn't Lester Bangs say that ~40 years ago?
I heard a new tune by the RHCPs - sounded pretty good.
Rock 'n' Roll died with the British Invasion.
Rock (or whatever they called it) died with Disco (if it lived that long).
I read somewhere that rap has now been the dominant music form longer than rock. All things must pass. Maybe rock will survive as an artesianal music form like Dixieland, bebop, or opera. I think when my generation dies off there will still be a market for Beatles' songs and there will still be artists who want to perform them, but there will never again be artists like Lennon/McCartney working in the rock field. The energy has left the building. Operas are still being written, but no one like Mozart is writing them. ......I've still got a lot of old rock music on my playlist. I mostly listen to it when I'm exercising in a pathetic attempt to feel young and to up the tempo. But for idle listening and just floating on the music Mozart is the go to guy........On a whim I picked up an Amy Winehouse cd. It was pretty good, but I don't think it qualifies as rock.
Flea's right and I think it's irreversible. It's a combination of demographics and ethnicity. But there will always be something new. I hear a lot of Mexican polka blaring from trucks out here. And what sorts of music do Middle Eastern cultures listen to? Maybe someone can mash those two up?
Music reinvents itself. It's cyclical.
The last rock song i bought was 'Lazarus' sung by a dead man.
Link
Anders Osborne disproves Flea.
I mentioned them awhile ago but.. Halestorm?! Hell yea! Hot woman with pipes to rock your socks off does exactly that.
Although I honestly don't listen to a lot of new stuff. There are a lot of good contemporary bands, though. With ever more out there, you have to look harder to find what catches your ear.
I love Foxy Shazam- they are on a break though. Crazy all over the place music- from experimental metal to well polished pop and rock. A bit screamy sometimes, though. An acquired taste. Like Iced Earth.
Some new stuff I heard lately and I thought was awesome- Tito and Tarantula. Sort of Doors-like. This band Wovenhand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgg0S5scDcs
Rock isn't dead, it just went home.
Music is like this. Classical music as we know it basically died a long time ago, but there were enough aficionados of the genre that they have kept it alive. However, with classical music, like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, et al. is basically only now available to a select few that can afford the price of admission to hear said music (outside of streaming) in a live venue. Effectively that music is relegated to the wealthier among us who make a big to-do about it and go see it played by a symphony and gather to discuss their latest engorgement of more wealth and harumph in succession.
When rock basically grew out of the big band and blues era, it become music for the masses. The fast food of music and it's had an awesome run ever since. It's splintered so many times into so many sub-genres, that i can understand why a guy like Flea would see that rock is dead. It isn't. It's evolved into other things. A perfect example is disco which ended up becoming House music and then that music split into other genres. It's like metal, there are so many sub-genres of it that it's hard to keep up, then there are bands out there that try to bring some of those sub-genres together.
I was going to look up Red Hot Chili Peppers on YouTube, but mistyped the entry. What I typed was Red Hot Chili Pipers.
I suggest that you do the same. Very cool.
How much of what we consider the golden era of rock music was due to the talent of the Wrecking Crew - they, along with their counterparts at Motown and Muscle Shoals. That kind of musicianship is largely gone from the world these days.
The Wrecking Crew and Muscle Shoals documentaries taught me a lot of shit I did not know. What professionals.
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