http://youtu.be/SN7ASS1l1qs

http://youtu.be/NdiSbAaVICc

http://youtu.be/Rr12u1tk_rM

http://youtu.be/Q67SVdXWhqo

Passing yourself off as a credible music scenester, on the other hand, is an order of magnitude more difficult. Never mind drug lords—no one can identify a poseur more quickly than a hipster; sniffing out fakes is essentially the entire job description. That’s what Boston police are finding out as their bungling efforts to infiltrate the underground rock scene online are being exposed.

I wasn’t aware there were so many underground shows going on. It makes sense since the main venues usually suck. I’ld personally rather play for free for a couple hundred people and have fun. Who wouldn’t? Established venues have been a drag for original bands in this area for a while now. The only bands that get paid around here are cover bands -at $500-$700 a pop! Most original bands don’t get paid, though some do if their lucky. The club/venue will usually ask for everything and offer nothing; with regards to promotions, doorman, lighting.

From what I understand, though the underground core scene thrived around here in the 80′s; for an original musician at an established venue, things deteriorated -an interesting proportion. From what I understand there is an official musicians union ( local and national ), that used to get all musicians paid and rights; but a law came out in this state that changed that. From what Iwas told, now musicians are treated as sub-contracters not employees. This has somehow adversely affected musicians pay grade and available venue quality. It’s interesting to see an uinderground scene for an orignal bands, while the club scene is so shitty! Such a contrast! Rock on!

One of the most stellar reasons I can think of to end copyright in music; is with regards to someone who should be everyone’s hero, Nikola Tesla. How did the patent system work out for him?  A man who gave this whole world nearly everything with regards to current electrical understanding died poor. Of course, not only did he ALLOW Marconi to plagiarise his work of Radio communications for the duration of his life; he also RIPPED UP HIS PATENTS. This was to save his friend and investor, George Westinghouse, from certain bankruptcy. Tesla could have been a very rich man, but he choose to die poor -maybe he saw wealth as a poison. Who knows? What we have now is many industries operating on the ANTITHESIS of his beliefs. Companies sue groups of customers in the thousands, “In the Name of Love” -often with harassing tactics. Software and technology lock downs, GMO patents, secret patents -for all we know. Is this the dream all you musicians from the sixties and seventies dreamt of? It’s time to stop all this madness, by doing what we can. Fix our own industry, the entertainment industry, one musician at a time. We should use the example Nikola Tesla set in life, and rip up our own “pantents”, for the sake of our poor musician brethren. In no small way, we’re all stealing from Nikola Tesla -still!

Creative Commons sounds great, from what I’ve seen. Though, what I think is, we all need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. THE AUDIENCE IS BEING CRIMINALIZED FOR NO JUST REASON -THIS IS NOT GOOD!!! The way our musical copyright system is currently set up is not working. Filing law suits onto countless consumers, is that the business model you want? Especially, in the movie industry this has become a problem. This has been at odds with a lot of studies that have come out about internet habits. It’s been shown that people generally want to buy or support what they like, media-wise; there’s just such a limited number of places where one can legitimately find media. Other things, like a less intense “Donate” button with your songs or movies has been shown to be quit successful. There’s also crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, that have proven even more succesful. Why DRM up your music, and build walls against your audience? Make them feel like part of it, cause in reality they are -it’s not just one sided. It is, in a way, “a symbiotic” relationship; that of the entertainer and the audience. One does not exist without the other. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!

The pragmatists would scoff at my opening statement, but here’s how it could happen. Start it at the local level. Get local bands to sign on to this in your own states and towns. Re-post this article as much as possible. Copy it. Paste it. Say you wrote this article for all I care, just get this idea out there.  The way musicians are treated at the local level is absolutely deplorable. I was pondering an answer to the “venues don’t pay and expect everything” issue that has been circulating for a while via Craigslist and internet circles, and this is what I came up with. I’ve read a few articles about it, there was one by Steve Albini that was quite interesting.  If anyone can get some national acts involved in “ending copyright in music” even better. The example I heard about Tool comes to mind. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t they re-record an album to get their song rights back from their record label? Or something like that? IF EVERY MAJOR LABEL ACT HAS TO RE-RECORD THEIR ENTIRE CATALOG, SO BE IT!! That alone would revitalize a number of musical careers, instilling a new sense of duty in us all. Of course this is quite altruistic and grandeur in its nature. But, it is just one example of the type of dynamic entropy you could find in such a “game changer” in the music industry as ending all copyright. I believe this is key.

The bottom line is this. The entertainment industry is criminalizing the majority of it’s audience with these copyright restrictions. These law suits being filed against customers are frivolous, often harassing, and unnessasarily burdening our justice system. That alone says we need a change in our industry. On the flip side, at the local level; you have musicians struggling to get by, though they put everything into venues that pay them nothing, and charge you for everything. Don’t get me wrong, screw the money. The clubs are disgusting often, I’d rather they got fixed up most of all. That’s a safety issue. Most of these places leave you with the desire to shower after. We, as musicians, should collectively take the step to end these unnecessary restrictions. Vibrations in the air -this is all about vibrations in the air!? We’ve just been copyrighting air this whole time! It’s absolute madness and it needs to stop now! The air is not ours, we are just the guardians of it -like the Native Americans and our ancestors before us. You must share the air so our fellow musicians can take a breath. Please breathe life back into our art and lives. Renounce all your copyrights in music today, and share the gift the Great Architect has bestowed upon you and us all. Thank you for your time.

-Mike Mutt

Sorry to some of the acts who have requested to be featured/listed. I will get you on board. I’ve just been a little busy. I’ve got three acts cued up for the featured acts page and I should have them up this week -hopefully!

“When I came to, I was in a stairwell with all of my pockets empty. No phone, no wallet, no cash, and (worst of all) no passport. Nothing. Even my hat and glasses were gone. It wasn’t until I found someone to ask for help that I realized something else was gone – my voice. When I opened my mouth to ask that person to call me a taxi, nothing but a scratchy croak would come out. I touched my throat and could feel that more damage had been done than I initially thought. A purple bruise began to form. I was having trouble swallowing.”

Their website has now removed tour dates until March 30th, in Rosemont, IL. Up until yesterday or the day before, the Boston date was still listed, but it has unfortunately been pulled now. A quick check over at Ticketmaster confirms this, that the show is indeed cancelled. Again, we hope for a speedy recovery for Steve Lucas, here at MassBands.org. Here’s a Local H video playlist to rock out with!