Quote from: Nadir on May 30, 2026, 04:05:36 PMAs a starting point to characterize the difference between the art scene and the underground scene I think very crucial here is the economic factor: one is subsidised and the other is more DIY, volonteer run. To sound very academic myself here, I would like to bring up Marx' distinction between the 'base' and 'superstructure', and their hierarchical relationship, namely that the base determines the superstructure, in other words the economic reality shapes the ideas, the attitudes, the ethos. To apply this to the music scenes, the art scene relies on government money to fund their activities, the key thing here is that they have to 'justify' their claim to this money. Art has to be 'valuable', 'interesting' and maybe even useful to society, all of this is of course political. To put it bluntly, you cannot justify the use of tax payer money to screw around with some pedals.
Club Moral explains in the WCN podcast interview that they have/had regular day jobs and worked on their art at home afterwards. Because they were not financially dependent on their art, they could do what they wanted, had no restrictions, and did not have to hold back in their work. Fortunately, there is such a thing as subsidies in Belgium—government support to support various types of art. It is true, however, that you have to explain the expenses, ensure the money is spent wisely, attract a sufficient audience, etc. The trick is to keep following the same path with the added benefit of government support, rather than following a path only to receive the same or more support the following year. So indeed, a 15-minute chaotic performance with junk metal and broken tape sounds might be unjustifiable, but in fact, it should not be a breaking point. When we organized Noisefest, the venue we collaborated with, from which we received funding, was always supportive of what we presented, but over the years you noticed that they had to justify to the board that "only" 75-100 tickets were sold. Their question was: couldn't you put on a crowd-puller or something, etc. Finding and searching for something in between the two is the best solution.The DIY approach creates more freedom but also has its limits.
