Lol. Why are they going to arrest me for playing in Drop D, Jimmy? Because all of their stuff is in those extremely low toned tunings? Drop B, C#, A, Drop A, etc...
Music = Part of the soul.
Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.
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AH! L33T, NO! Lol. I hate that stuff.
"I am the Unforgiven"
#27521 by Mike Gentry
Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:36 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:36 am
Do some of you actually believe that this genre is only played by 18 year olds who can't play anything else or who are only average or below average musicians? I built my reputation as a guitarist around the Seattle area playing Blues and Classic/Rock and gigging since I was 17. My friend who started this band with me is classically trained in music. We are a little older than 18 but our "screamo" band has only been together for a few months and our songs have been up on our site for less than 4 months and have been averaging between 600-800 hits a day lately. We have also been approached by 2 Labels that want us to work with them so if this is working so well for some untalented average musicians that can't do anything else then you talented pro's shouldn't be having any problems at all right?
Mike, in reply from another "youngin" (as Uncle Howlin calls us), look, that is not unusual. See, screamo is in the mainstream now, it is what is selling... I say there is lack of talent, a screamer is not a singer, yes it sounds good at times, but I rather have someone who can sing period.
Apparently your band is talented man, or you would not get that many hits in a day. I am happy to hear you guys are doing so good. But, that does not change that screamers are not talented nor should they be considered musicians, they are just what they are, people who can scream in a vocal range. So if someone knocks their talent, it is not knocking the band that is in back of them. You guys are being looked at because you are great musicians, not necessarily because you got a good screamer as a frontman.
That is my take on it man, I mean no offense, but yeah.
Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.
Apparently your band is talented man, or you would not get that many hits in a day. I am happy to hear you guys are doing so good. But, that does not change that screamers are not talented nor should they be considered musicians, they are just what they are, people who can scream in a vocal range. So if someone knocks their talent, it is not knocking the band that is in back of them. You guys are being looked at because you are great musicians, not necessarily because you got a good screamer as a frontman.
That is my take on it man, I mean no offense, but yeah.
Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.
"I am the Unforgiven"
#27531 by Mike Gentry
Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:42 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:42 am
I write my best stuff when I'm pissed. Nah, not pissed just frustrated about some so called musicians lack of respect for something they don't like or understand. There is some types of music I don't care for either but I don't insult the musician or his skills just because I don't like that certain type of music. That's absurd to me. Say you don't like or hate that type music and I respect that. try to tear me down as a musician just because you don't like it and we have a problem.
#27532 by Mike Gentry
Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:04 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:04 am
GA. my friend this thread is not about an individual singer or screamer but a whole genre. This is also not about my band but if it was would you say that because our front man screams he is not talented? Talented in what? Screaming? So there is no talent involved just because you don't like it? This is not the only thing he can do as he's a better singer than 95% of the people here but he likes to scream more than sing. If you don't care for it or listen to it how can you judge his talent in that area. Just say you don't like it and leave it at that. It's when you try to expound that things start looking silly. I'm still your bestest friend though!
Lmao! Alright, yeah I get what you mean, Mike. But I have seen some pretty crappy singers who can only scream, and I do not like that stuff. I do not consider a pure screamer a musician, I consider the band behind him musicians. But if the screamer can sing, then I will agree he is a musician.
I am not overly into the whole screamo thing myself. But it does not mean the band is necessarily bad just because the lead screams. Look at Linkin Park, Chester screams a ton, but it is still great music, and when he wants to sing he sings well.
P.S. Bestest friend? The word "bestest" sounds like something out of the Brady Bunch. Lol. And if this is the Brady Bunch, I want Alice to tune my guitar every morning for me.
Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.
I am not overly into the whole screamo thing myself. But it does not mean the band is necessarily bad just because the lead screams. Look at Linkin Park, Chester screams a ton, but it is still great music, and when he wants to sing he sings well.
P.S. Bestest friend? The word "bestest" sounds like something out of the Brady Bunch. Lol. And if this is the Brady Bunch, I want Alice to tune my guitar every morning for me.
Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.
"I am the Unforgiven"
#27538 by Craig Maxim
Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:49 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:49 am
Mike bro,
You know I respect your skillz.
I wanted to understand this genre better. I hoped there was something I was missing.
There's not. sadly.
It's just the new "in" thing, for kids to follow the leader in. It happens every 10 years. Pure Screamo can't last, at least not with the following it has today. The younger generation will come along and reject it, like they always do. Something more real will take it's place. Think of Disco, and the backlash against it, and then some of the best rock came out and took over. The same will happen here.
Disco was somewhat limiting and so is Screamo.
Screamo is more limiting (vocally) cause there is almost no melody structure, which means screaming the same, over and over and over and over. What do you do when it begins to sound the same? Which doesn't take long.
Funny how no one really tackled most of the legitimate questions I asked in the original post.
Screaming can convey many emotions (anger, happiness, despair) but when done in the style it is being done, it conveys one emotion: Anger.
So you have an already limiting vocal style, only expressing really, ONE emotion. Not room for much versatility. That has to come from the musicians (some amazingly talented ones, I admit) but screaming, not being in melody, and being prominent, because it is the lead part going on, means much of the music gets lost underneath, cause you almost have to tune out the vocalist to get the nuances of the music underneath. That is another problem I have with strictly screaming. It distracts from the music, WHICH IS in melody with keys and chord changes, etc... The vocalist ends up being noise. Like a barking dog that won't shut the f**k up, and let you hear the music you are wanting to listen to. That's EXACTLY what the vocalist becomes to me. A barking dog, that won't shut up.
Noise is useful, and can be used artistically. We were just discussing Frank Zappa in another thread, and he does this quite effectively. But constant noise throughout, is just that. Noise. Not music. Not art. There was an artist who got alot of attention by placing a photograph of a painting of Jesus and putting it in a jar of his own urine. This was funded by taxpayers, which was why it became national news. There are those that defend this as art. It's not art. It's being offensive for the sake of being offensive. There is little creativity involved. Screaming is not very different to me. It's a one trick pony.
Your band is not a pure Screamo band.
And neither is this one...
http://www.myspace.com/burdenofaday
But those guys are good. And I think your band is too.
Interestingly they list "Christian" as one of their genres. Wasn't that being discussed not long ago? How could you be a screamo Christian band? LOL
Go listen to these guys, and listen when they scream.
THEN...
Click on "Lyrics" on their player, and see if those lyrics were what you heard. I'd like to know how many people got it right, or didn't.
I had almost no clue what they were saying until I clicked on the lyrics.
And Mike, if you are doing what you love, that is MOST important. If you can find success and money at it as well, all the better.
Life goes through stages, and we all change our likes and dislikes over time. For me, music has the power to change people's lives. To heal them. To move them. To make them think. I think it's power is profound and eternal. Lyrics not well understood, and being carried on a solitary emotion of anger, will not be well received. My wife's young children ALWAYS receive messages from me better, when expressed thoughtfully, as opposed to me screaming them. I get their attention if I scream. But it shocks them. It puts walls up, and I think whatever I say, goes in one ear and out the other. When I have a real conversation with them, they are MUCH more receptive to the message, and accept it, and remember it. That is when they really think about it. It becomes a part of them then.
I realize that many artists could care less, whether they use their music for meaningful pursuits, but why... WHY... WHY... bother putting a message down in lyrics, if you don't really want people to get it? To understand the message. To accept the message.
How is that effective?
Music has immense power. But not getting the message through, is like having a nuclear power plant running, but not bothering to hook it up to the city.
A huge waste of energy and resources.
Things that are not effective, are quickly forgotten. Personally, I want to create things that last. That have staying power. I'd like to know that my music can affect people long after I'm gone. I invest my heart in things I want to endure.
You know I respect your skillz.
I wanted to understand this genre better. I hoped there was something I was missing.
There's not. sadly.
It's just the new "in" thing, for kids to follow the leader in. It happens every 10 years. Pure Screamo can't last, at least not with the following it has today. The younger generation will come along and reject it, like they always do. Something more real will take it's place. Think of Disco, and the backlash against it, and then some of the best rock came out and took over. The same will happen here.
Disco was somewhat limiting and so is Screamo.
Screamo is more limiting (vocally) cause there is almost no melody structure, which means screaming the same, over and over and over and over. What do you do when it begins to sound the same? Which doesn't take long.
Funny how no one really tackled most of the legitimate questions I asked in the original post.
Screaming can convey many emotions (anger, happiness, despair) but when done in the style it is being done, it conveys one emotion: Anger.
So you have an already limiting vocal style, only expressing really, ONE emotion. Not room for much versatility. That has to come from the musicians (some amazingly talented ones, I admit) but screaming, not being in melody, and being prominent, because it is the lead part going on, means much of the music gets lost underneath, cause you almost have to tune out the vocalist to get the nuances of the music underneath. That is another problem I have with strictly screaming. It distracts from the music, WHICH IS in melody with keys and chord changes, etc... The vocalist ends up being noise. Like a barking dog that won't shut the f**k up, and let you hear the music you are wanting to listen to. That's EXACTLY what the vocalist becomes to me. A barking dog, that won't shut up.
Noise is useful, and can be used artistically. We were just discussing Frank Zappa in another thread, and he does this quite effectively. But constant noise throughout, is just that. Noise. Not music. Not art. There was an artist who got alot of attention by placing a photograph of a painting of Jesus and putting it in a jar of his own urine. This was funded by taxpayers, which was why it became national news. There are those that defend this as art. It's not art. It's being offensive for the sake of being offensive. There is little creativity involved. Screaming is not very different to me. It's a one trick pony.
Your band is not a pure Screamo band.
And neither is this one...
http://www.myspace.com/burdenofaday
But those guys are good. And I think your band is too.
Interestingly they list "Christian" as one of their genres. Wasn't that being discussed not long ago? How could you be a screamo Christian band? LOL
Go listen to these guys, and listen when they scream.
THEN...
Click on "Lyrics" on their player, and see if those lyrics were what you heard. I'd like to know how many people got it right, or didn't.
I had almost no clue what they were saying until I clicked on the lyrics.
And Mike, if you are doing what you love, that is MOST important. If you can find success and money at it as well, all the better.
Life goes through stages, and we all change our likes and dislikes over time. For me, music has the power to change people's lives. To heal them. To move them. To make them think. I think it's power is profound and eternal. Lyrics not well understood, and being carried on a solitary emotion of anger, will not be well received. My wife's young children ALWAYS receive messages from me better, when expressed thoughtfully, as opposed to me screaming them. I get their attention if I scream. But it shocks them. It puts walls up, and I think whatever I say, goes in one ear and out the other. When I have a real conversation with them, they are MUCH more receptive to the message, and accept it, and remember it. That is when they really think about it. It becomes a part of them then.
I realize that many artists could care less, whether they use their music for meaningful pursuits, but why... WHY... WHY... bother putting a message down in lyrics, if you don't really want people to get it? To understand the message. To accept the message.
How is that effective?
Music has immense power. But not getting the message through, is like having a nuclear power plant running, but not bothering to hook it up to the city.
A huge waste of energy and resources.
Things that are not effective, are quickly forgotten. Personally, I want to create things that last. That have staying power. I'd like to know that my music can affect people long after I'm gone. I invest my heart in things I want to endure.
#27544 by RyanStrain3032
Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:25 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:25 am
I just think its all about personal preference...I know people who can sing really well, but they choose to scream, because that's the style THEY LIKE. It's not like they scream because they can't sing. It's their choice.
Also, you can't just come out and say screaming sucks. I HATE rap, but I still respect it as a style of music. It's just not a style that I like. ALL styles of music were created by God, so to say that a certain style "sucks" is insulting to him.
Also, you can't just come out and say screaming sucks. I HATE rap, but I still respect it as a style of music. It's just not a style that I like. ALL styles of music were created by God, so to say that a certain style "sucks" is insulting to him.
#27547 by Mike Gentry
Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:52 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:52 am
Craig, I'll differ from you on some of your points. First, screaming, screamo or what ever you want to call it has been around for some time. It didn't just pop up recently. It's already been around longer than disco. It has evolved just like most other genre's and it will keep doing so or slowly disappear. You older guys or some old record exec. isn't going to be the deciding factor on where it will go. It will be here as long as young people will listen to it and buy it. I for one play it because they want to listen to it. I'm a guitarist and a performer and I'm going to do my thing. Now I can sit in my bedroom and record cutesy little tunes with my drum machine and paste them all over the web and call myself a musician or I can get out there play what people want to hear "now" and be out there on stage having fun and gigging and maybe even make a buck or two along the way. You know my history playing Blues and Classic/Rock before this band but it was going nowhere. Nobody wanted to play this music and even more didn't want to listen to it. Sure I did a lot of solo shows to small crowds of older people but the excitement wasn't there. Our show this past weekend had over 500 kids there and it was wild. we sold over 350 CD's at the show so you see it's working. Things change and I will change with it. I'm a guitarist and I will grow and change with the music or I will end up being 40 still doing cutesy little internet tunes and still looking for a band that will play my old Classic/Rock stuff.
#27549 by Craig Maxim
Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:39 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:39 am
Mike Gentry wrote:
Things change and I will change with it. I'm a guitarist and I will grow and change with the music or I will end up being 40 still doing cutesy little internet tunes and still looking for a band that will play my old Classic/Rock stuff.
Hope all that wasn't for me?
Hey. I may be 40, but I do have a kick ass band and we play out quite a bit. 3 states right now, but we're working our asses off to build a fan base and tour full time. We just got back from playing Macon's Cherry Blossom Festival, and we have a gig this weekend and next for this month and others for May and June. We're having HUGE set backs right now, or I don't doubt we'd be playing at least, every single weekend by now. You know our guitarist broke his arm in a car accident. The drummer is sidelined from a motorcycle accident, and now our bass player just took a full time job that conflicts with the band's gigs, so he will have to be replaced now.
And... "old" classic rock stuff. You would be surprised how many kids are digging that "old" stuff and getting into the classic rock bands of the day. Not to mention that newer bands, and young bands, like Panic At The Disco, are getting inspired by going back to those classic bands.
But, we're all just expressing personal opinions.
I think my dislike for Screamo (really the pure stuff) is just the things I mentioned. I think age has nothing to do with it, for me at least.
I'm totally impressed by your band's success though. 600 to 800 plays a day is amazing for a new band. When I am actively working our MySpace page, several hundred a day is about it for us. If I am not sending out bulletins and stuff, which I haven't been doing alot of lately, we only get about 50 plays a day.
And if you can sell 350 CDs to a 500 capacity room, that is just sick. It' hard to believe. Those are percentages to die for.
I'm all for your success, no matter what you play.
I know that I threw away some amazing opportunities, and now, you can see, I am trying to recoup some of those mistakes, at far too late an age for this business.
So, I'm in your corner brother. I'm a huge fan, and I certainly don't want to see you have the regrets I now do. You back up all the screamers you want! LOL
#27552 by Mike Gentry
Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:23 am
Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:23 am
No Craig, that wasn't all for you. You know how much respect I hold for you and your band. And even if you are an old fart I still consider you a friend and even a mentor when it comes to your knowledge. I'm just expressing my thoughts on where I'm at right now musically and where I don't want to be in the future. I'm not comparing this genre to any others but all this has been said before about other new forms of music that has been introduced thru the years. Some are still around and others have faded away and I doubt you me or anyone else here will have a say one way or the other on what will be around in the future. Things always change. I will say again that I don't care whether someone likes it or not but please people don't look down on people that do like it or that play a certain style just because you don't like it. I'm done with this thread now. Take care!
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