Kevin Sharp is the front man to the band Brutal Truth, one of the United States’ most influential grind bands. He’s also the author of an editorial column in Decibel Magazine called Grinding it Out. In issue no. 69 Mr. Sharp’s focus leans towards to what I call the ‘glory days’ of metal. By that, I mean the days before the Internet, when you had to work to acquire music. Tape trading made it possible for friends and other bands to hear demos of new bands. In short, music was earned, not handed to them on a silver platter via the click of a button. Sharp points out that you have to put in a lot more hours to build your music collection. “In a digital world, you hop on your Facebook page and spread opinions versus content like a viral rash. You can crawl into your basement and open Pro Tools on your laptop, email some kick-drums… Your older brother tape-traded and begged for something cool in the mail. He corresponded overseas, stood in line Tuesday morning for the next lot of releases.” (Decibel issue 69, 2010)
Mr. Sharp, thank you for reminding me of the current state of music, because apparently I wasn’t aware of it already. Forgive me if I’m not on my knees begging the metal masses for forgiveness for the digital age ruining something that was supposedly just fine in the first place. Having grown up in the 90s I fortunately remember the CD and while being the older sibling and the only one into metal, I was a lone soldier searching for music on my own. I started hunting for music in the early stages of the mp3. No myspace, no Facebook, just random, hardly publicized websites devoted to making rad music available. If I liked what I heard, I still had to go out and buy the album, sometimes on websites, but it still resulted in a physical copy. Unfortunately we’re in a market where those in power dictate trends where practical reigns supreme. And that results in instant gratification. Labels, probably including yours, are releasing digital albums, 1s and 0s, no material copy. If you thought the analogue age of was dead, don’t worry the CD is on its way out too.
Don’t get me wrong Mr. Sharp. I wish I could have experienced the days of snail mail and cassette tape demos. The DIY spirit is still very much alive, just different. Bands still put out vinyl, sometimes exclusively. Band still trade their music, in my experience they do this in person, at shows. To this day I still try and earn the music I listen to. I read blogs and magazines and still go through the ritual of going to record stores and buying albums with good ol’ fashioned cash. Things will never be the same, but there are ways to get by and avoid the trends. So please, stop talking in hindsight, like my parents, and keep on making music. I get enough guilt trips from my mother, I don’t need one from you, kind sir. Perhaps your rise to fame has removed you from all this, who knows. People are still trying to hold on to a version of what you hold dear, it just can’t be the same as it once was.
(it should be duly noted that I think, regardless of Mr. Sharp's views, I thank Decibel magazine for publishing them. The same can't be said for Terrorizer and Gene Hoglan)
