I read MRR, wrote for them in the early to mid 80s and am here at the Hideout as well. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I am firmly in the anti-Scion camp and just don't see the benefits and will never understand or accept the point of view of those that do or think that it's an okay thing (I am not going into this again plus there is absolutely no argument that you can present that I haven't heard or could possibly change my point of view). I'm also no fan of the way the term "garage" is thrown around. Most of these so-called "garage" bands are nothing of the sort and are really just boring bullshit indy bands. Any band that people can't label are all of the sudden called "garage" because it sounds cooler than "indy". There's almost no difference between a fair number of these bands and crap that was called indy 10-15 years ago. Any band that says they need corporate money to keep doing what they're doing are sellout pieces of shit. I know MANY bands that have been together and playing for 10,15,20 years and they don't have to bend over and take a corporate dick in their ass. Growing up in the late 70s/80s punk scene made me very anti-corporate (working for a record label and publishing house for 2 years only contributed to my contempt) and I don't think that it has any benefits. We always did everything ourselves (and still do) with a network of like-minded people. With the internet, it's 1000 times easier to network with people and there is no fucking reason at all to suck at the corporate teat unless you just want money. It's a slippery slope and one I will not take a step on. I have turned down corporate money in the past (once for close to 25 grand and another time rejecting a distribution from a label that represented itself as an independent but was owned and distributed by WEA) and I would do it again if they offered me even more. I am not a whore - I do what I do because I love to do it and I am willing to make whatever sacrifices I have to in order to make it happen. If not taking that money makes your life a little harder and you have to make a few more sacrifices to do what you love, so be it. If you can't handle the difficulties and the hard work, you're doing the wrong thing.
Alex said:
The past few issues of Maximum Rock 'n' Roll have had seriously angry rants against the whole Scion scene and the bands that participate in it, essentially claiming that they're inauthentic sellouts, and if they were true "punks" they wouldn't be taking any money from anyone. I think it's very interesting to see the difference between those who are more into hardcore/punk and read MRR vs. those who are more into garage/rock 'n' here at the Hideout.
