Whenever you criticize a band or the local music scene, chances are, you are going to get called a jealous person by other people. Whether you’re criticizing a band’s music or their so called success… you’ll get called jealous. I’ve been dealing with this for years. I’m like, seriously? That’s the best comeback people can come up with? That is usually all people got. When I call out this band or that artist… you’ll get called jealous by their supporters/fans or you would even get called jealous by the band themselves. I usually laugh at these attacks and just ignore them. Why? Think about it. What is there to be jealous about of these bands/artists around the Albany area? Can you think of anything? I’m willing to bet they can’t because simply put, there is nothing to be jealous of.

Sure, they may have gotten a “little” exposure of a few little opportunities that really mean nothing but they are still not the biggest band in the world that these guys make themselves out to be. The truth is that other bands are no bigger or better than me. They are no bigger or better than anybody else either. The question that I have to ask is, if these guys in bands think they’re so damn big and so great at what they do, then what are they doing still stuck in Albany? As long as you’re stuck in Albany playing music, you’re nothing. Albany is not much of a music scene. As musicians, we’re all on the same level together. There’s no such thing as “who’s bigger than who” around here.

So what, you may have won a few contests, opened for a famous act or toured another country someplace, congratulations, I’m happy for ya but that still doesn’t make you bigger than me. You’re still a local musician and you’re still unsigned. If you get accolades, good opportunities, exposure and whatever… the last thing you want to do is act like you’re bigger and better than everyone else after that. Calling people jealous ’cause they’re opinionated is probably the lowest and most unprofessional thing people can do. If you were a real professional musician, you would just accept a critic’s review as an opinion and nothing more. People are gonna be opinionated, there’s nothing you can do about it. Nobody’s jealous. Just honest.

Bands really need to let the music speak on it’s own around here ’cause none of them want to do that. Most all of them want to think they’re good at everything and they have to defend themselves after every time someone says something negative about them. I used to be like that but it’s a pretty unprofessional thing to do. I learned to ignore the critics and learn to accept people’s opinions. Ignore them if I don’t like ’em. You won’t get any respect if all you’re gonna do is keep defending yourself from the critics and negative people. Like I repeatedly say you earn the respect, not demand it. It’s your job to win people over, respect won’t fall in your lap. Just shut up, work on the music, ignore the critics/negative people and music life would be much easier on ya. Trust me.

Musicians like me should have all their right to speak out about bands and the local music scene in general. If all you’re gonna do is call us jealous, then we win. There’s nothing to be jealous of, especially over a local band.

If you wanna prove that you’re good at what you do and if you wanna prove that you’re big/successful… then keep doing what you do. A good attitude to have is to let people have their opinions. Just accept them for what they are, and be flattered  and be inspired by the negative opinions. Don’t just be inspired by the fans. Be inspired by the haters too. Think about it right… you wouldn’t be where you are musically, if some blogger online wasn’t calling you out online, right? Isn’t that a good enough sign that you could be big & successful? Absolutely! If you’re getting a mix of hate and love toward you, then you’re going somewhere. Don’t respond to the negative critics out there and that includes me. You should be flattered as hell that the Brock called you out.

With all this being said, bands will never follow this advice ’cause their egos are so huge. Their egos are just as big as a hot air balloon. They want positive feedback and responses on everything ’cause they obsess with flattery. They want to look like they’re so big all the time. They all live in different delusions and fantasy worlds. I never had that attitude. I always acted like people never cared about my music and it’s better to be that way.

Kev