On not being an artist

[ARKHE]

Underground cultures are way much more consumerists in the material sense than mainstream culture, who are just streaming shit these days (which they pay for with giving attention to ads etc). If you feel such an urge to contribute something beyond your money to the scene to feel part of it, but cannot get around to actually creating something and in the end feeling shit about it - get over it. Hardly constructive, but that's all I can say. Considering how incredibly much is released in all genres today, I wish more people would get over it. Everyone can do what they like, but if you haven't got anything to say, there's no idea forcing it.  Read somewhere a quote about being a writer, saying that the only reason a person should become a writer is not wanting to be one, but having to be a writer. In this context, and many others, it becomes pretentious ("oh! my artistic soul cannot be quenched! I must create!"), but modified, it applies to all forms of creativity. If you should do something - create industrial noise for example - you'd know it, and you'd do it. Wanting to do it because it's something you "should" do to fit in or whatever, well again, get over it. If you really want to create sth, just get shit done. This kind of music should be among the easiest to attempt and fail not so miserably that you'd have to kill yourself.

[xdementia]

It is equal parts good and bad that the noise scene has so many creators. It is great in a creative sense because it allows any artist more inspiration, more routes and ways to release their music, more sharing of knowledge and more variations in which they can define themselves (if they so choose).

It is bad from a logistical standpoint as you have all these artists creating but who is there to actually consume the products? Sales become trades and the scene becomes a buddy fuckfest where creative inbreeding is out of control.

I am a creator in the scene and obviously choose to go that route, but I think from a logistical standpoint we need more people who are merely fans or just into it participating. Of course, I don't want it to become like indie rock is now as Sean Ragon described it but that is an extreme that I don't see noise going to.

Also, as some have already mentioned here there are many ways in which people involved in the scene can participate without actually recording noise themselves: run a label, a zine, book shows, buy records, or just show your support and spread the word.

And for what it's worth it doesn't seem like you care too much about what other people think.

[RyanWreck]

I have a hobby of buying stuff.  I can't help feeling a little pathetic about that.

A lot of us are the same, so don't feel pathetic about it. As ARKHE mentioned it seems as though underground scenes are far more into buying and owning stuff than the mainstream scenes and cultures. Most of us into Noise, Industrial, Power Electronics, Metal, etc. have a "collector fetish", it's very common.

[bitewerksMTB]

I didn't read much of the thread but I get more of a kick out of the opinion of a non-artist or even just getting msgs/orders from people I've never heard of before...

[Hal Hutchinson]

If listening to (but not creating) music enhances your life for the better and it makes you feel good,more power to you.The nature of the music does not make listening to it or creating it more or less legitimate.Those who genuinely enjoy the music are diamonds in the rough.To quote Con-Dom: "You Have The Right To Be Here".

[icepick method]

Brad is still young, I didn't ever feel the need or drive to create sound until the search for music i liked dried up. Now i feel the need to create out of necessity. Necessity for a sound that others have abandoned or that only a small handful of people ever got right.
Because of my strong personal beliefs against artists who feel content working well and safely within defined genre rolls, i would probably never release anything until i could overcome those boundaries and be in my own eyes on a similar level to the artists i hold dear, without being a me-too! soundalike/copycat/hero worship tagalong. God knows there's enough of those in every scene.

Do you think you'd get more respect as an avid fan or as a limpwristed halfassed i'm in a band to say i'm in a band guy? Some people want to make art, most people just want recognition.

[Black_Angkar]

It is bad from a logistical standpoint as you have all these artists creating but who is there to actually consume the products? Sales become trades and the scene becomes a buddy fuckfest where creative inbreeding is out of control.

Also, as some have already mentioned here there are many ways in which people involved in the scene can participate without actually recording noise themselves: run a label, a zine, book shows, buy records, or just show your support and spread the word.

The beauty of participant culture - if you wish to contribute with music, zines or whatever you CAN but it is hardly a must. as has been stated, too many related releases to keep track off, and also as Arkhe says, we are more focused on physical formats, consumption etc. Which means buying small editions, going to small venues, sometimes just taking part of the genre history (and thereby keeping it somewhat alive) by looking up and downloading obscure out of print releases is participating in the "underground culture". I'm sure most of us agrees on vinyl and cassette, and even cd.s being preferable to online digital formats and a very important part of this culture. No one wants to spend money on LPs with no one buying. Logistics as xdementia says. and also, not asking for permission to be a part, but to just learn to see yourself as one.