Indie Acts = Accountants on Vacation from Real-Life.
Is indie music dead? James Dean Bradfield, frontman of the Manic Street Preachers, thinks so, because new bands are full of wannabe accountants. In an interview with the Daily Record, Bradfield insisted that most of today's indie musicians lack spirit and treat their careers like vacations from real-life – "gap years" before they go back to doing more conventional jobs.
It's an interesting theory; it's not your everyday, music sucks nowadays because I say it does or because no bands have surmounted the success of Led Zeppelin or The Beatles. Therefore, music nowadays must suck. That's not to say that it's entirely thoughtful, but it's still curious. If you believe that the last album from your favorite band wasn't very good, perhaps, they'll be an accountant before you know it. If they can't make sales numbers, they'll crunch other numbers. Take a look:
"I think it is still easy to fall in love with a record but it's not so easy to fall in love with a band. I don't look at a band now and think that it is going to be amazing or a great band. I don't see a story unfolding with bands because it is gap year music. It seems like somebody has said, 'I think I'll do an album then my dad will give me a job in the accountancy firm'." (Read on.)
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Note: Thanks to the crew at the Daily Swarm for unearthing this gem!
The Economy sucks, the music industry is in turmoil, and all the majors are trying to shove 360 deals down bands’ collective throats. Is it any wonder people are finally listening to their parents advice to have a backup plan?
Frontman of who?
Clearly James Dean Bradfield doesn’t feel that his band has successfully inspired a new generation of musicians and bands.
Anyway – Manic Street Preachers were pretty ordinary at their best. Just look at the music they did with Kyle Minogue … crap! (I have stronger words in mind too!)
There’ll always be brilliant musicians in awesome bands producing sensational music. The trouble these days is finding them through the clutter, and having the sense to recognise brilliance on first-pass.
It sounds like James has graduated to the cynical generation of Grumpy Old Men, where nothing sounds as good as the music he grew up with. For most of us, that’s just a process of ageing and is completely unrelated to the talent that will always exist – regardless of the state of the world economy or the record label industry!
Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.
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