"Wired for Sound," Joel Warner, October 7
I don't even know where to begin. Joel Warner says the kid playing in the coffeehouse shouldn't get discouraged because, after all, John Mayer got discovered in one. And beyond that, reaching further back into the mythology of rock stardom, some down-on-his-luck "shaggy-haired" kid named Bruce got his start the same way. And then Warner says (and I quote): "These days, the journey to music stardom is more difficult than ever before." Are you kidding me? I think this is revisionism at its most nefarious. It has never been easy to be a rock star.
And that's the rub: Only a few people in any generation get to experience that rarefied air of the superstar. There were a couple in the '50s, a few more in the '60s, and so on. Not everyone can be MGMT; some have to settle for being Black Lips. But in ten years' time, MGMT will sound dated and Black Lips will still sound relevant. Who would you rather be?
I find the entire thesis of this article to be lacking. It presupposes that mass acceptance is correct. That being said, I hope Next Big Sound takes off and I'm wrong. I doubt it, but I hope I'm proven wrong.
Dave Garner
Denver
Glad that Westword did such a big profile on Next Big Sound. I suspect that quite a few people who follow Colorado music developments haven't been aware of the company or, if so, haven't realized it is based in Boulder. Also, with Alex White speaking at a number of national music-industry conferences, it gets Boulder's name out. Boulder has a number of resources, which makes it a great place both to live and to work.
Suzanne Lainson
Boulder
Why on earth apply this to an industry with dwindling revenues? Desperation dollars will dry up in this target market because there is still no way to recoup revenues for labels and artists in this generation of "music is free." Time to reposition and take this to Madison Avenue, and use it to measure advertising and media impact (for anything, not just music) on "social media chatter." It's like match logic and polk for the next decade. If your data-mining technology is this good, it would only make sense.
Russ Christiansen Englewood
I really admire the idea of trying to find out the buzz on local bands. However, I highly disagree with this Next Big Sound list. As a local-music fanatic, I go to almost any local show I can, and I feel like there are a lot of great bands making noise!
The first band I think this overlooked is a band from Denver called the 303 Movement (not to be confused with 3OH!3). I have been following them for three years now. They sold out the Bluebird back in June for their album release — that's pulling numbers! In the first three months of their album being out, they have sold over 1,000 copies at the local level. They work hard for the huge fan base they have, but have always been overlooked by the local media.
The second band is a metal band called NEMESYS. They have been around for five years now and have played with almost every "known" band in Denver and at almost every venue. They pull a huge crowd, too.
I could go on with a couple of other bands such as the Heyday, Regret Night and Hypnautic that I think should be on that list. I am not here to complain, because I liked the article and I love how you guys support local music. That is what Denver needs: unity. So thank you.
James Harper
Englewood
"Pot Luck," Laura Shunk, October 7
For shame. For the sake of a fleeting meal — one excreted only hours later — you watched living, feeling animals be boiled alive? That's unconscionable. Scientists have irrefutable proof that lobsters feel pain, and we know that octopuses are keenly intelligent and use tools. How you can sleep at night is beyond me.
Dennis Carlson
Posted at westword.com
