If you want to get yourself into your local music scene and become part of the local music community… there’s a few things that I need to warn you about. First of all, the local music community is not always going to be so kind and friendly. You’re going to meet a bunch of crazy and untrustworthy people. You need to watch out for that stuff. Secondly, don’t make the mistake that you need to support every musician you see. You don’t have to like everybody you see and meet. You need to worry about yourself and your own music. Not worrying about whether other musicians like you or not.

After years of being part of the music scene in the Capital Region… I would have to say that musicians are sometimes horrible at supporting local music. As a matter of fact, I would say that they are horrible at it most of the time actually… here are 5 reasons why I think that is… these are just my observations…

• Dishonesty – One big problem that musicians seem to have is all the dishonesty that goes around. A lot of them appear to like you and respect you. They seem to like your music… but then you seem to find out that they only like you ’cause you support their music and they don’t support yours ’cause when you ask them feedback to your songs… they don’t give much of an answer. They’re supportive of you just to be “friendly”. A lot of these guys refuse to be honest about your talent and songs ’cause they’re afraid it would hurt their reputation and professionalism in their own career. That’s why a lot of them appear to keep their criticism to themselves. Don’t always believe that musicians really like you ’cause you’ll start to see the signs that they really don’t.
• Too much drama & negativity with other musicians – It used to bother me how musicians get into too much drama and negativity sometimes. It don’t bother me anymore ’cause I vowed to stay out of that stuff. Yes, musicians aren’t gonna get along with other musicians. It happens. It’s part of life. I learned that if you want to have a positive music career, you need to ignore the drama and focus on your own music. Musicians don’t get along sometimes and they have feuds ’cause ego & jealousy gets in the way. That’s pretty much, all it is. The world is not about pleasing everybody. Remember that. You’ll know who your true musicians friends are when they really believe in you and stick with you. I’ve had feuds and drama with other musicians in the past but I’m the kind of guy that moves forward and never looking back. If people give me bullshit in the music scene, I’ll just act like they don’t exist to me and move forward to my life. Works for me just fine! I have no plans in trying to reconcile with musicians that I’ve had feuds with in the past. I try to but it’s not worth it anymore.
• Too many have strange delusions & live in different fantasy worlds – A lot of musicians make the mistake that the more successful they get and the more opportunities they get, they’ll think they’re an established act. They’ll appear to be acting like “legends” or even “rock stars”. Sorry but the more good stuff you get in your career (congratulations, btw) — you’re still a local musician. I’m getting real tired of musicians acting all cool and stuff just because they opened for this national act or played some big festival. All musicians these days want to see themselves as “professional” and they want to see themselves as “talented” musicians. Music shouldn’t be about getting bigger and trying to get lots of fans. Music should be for you but unfortunately, people don’t see it that way anymore. Everyone wants to be “big” these days.
• Sometimes you’ll get outspoken musicians – When you want to go out and play. Get your music out there, chances are… you’re going to get some outspoken musician who is going to talk all kinds of negative stuff about you and your music. While most musicians will be afraid to be honest about your talent… some won’t be afraid. Some musicians will be openly honest about your music and some can get aggressive about it too. Harsh criticism like, “You suck, you should quit playing”… blah blah blah. You get the deal. They’ll talk about how you act online and at the shows. You don’t have to listen to these assholes. You don’t have to change to please these guys. Just being yourself and not listening to the critics is how you move forward in a positive music career. Don’t listen to the outspoken musicians who just want to talk shit. You’ll meet a lot of them. Trust me. You’ll certainly get a lot of bullying and harassment around here, for sure.
• So called “professionals” putting down amateur musicians – There are a lot of talented musicians around here but we all need to be treated with equal respect, be it… amateur or professional. Whether you’re a professional or amateur, who cares. You maybe technically skilled and on a professional level but that doesn’t make you a better player than everybody. A lot of musicians have this problem. it’s all “ego” with them. If you appear to not sing well or know a few chords, those pros will appear to be anti-social with you. They seem to only support other musicians who are at the same level of talent as them. It’s bullshit and ridiculous but that’s how musicians are. I’m not saying I’m an amateur or a professional… I never saw myself as either. I always saw myself as a guy who liked to play music. You may know how to shred and improvise well on your instrument but don’t knock others that don’t. We all deserve to be a part of the local music community.

I know this is another post that musicians don’t want to read but it needed to be said. I’ve witnessed all this explained above and it still goes on to this day. That’s the way musicians are and will always be like that. It’ll be nice if musicians and bands will stop all the bullshit explained above so we can all support each other 100% if we want a good music scene but it’ll never happen. That’s why you gotta concentrate on you only if you want to have a good and positive music life. I’m learning from my own mistakes and past experiences.

Kev