100 Bands You Need To Know in 2009

After we returned from NYC a couple weeks ago I picked up the new issue of Alternative Press...the "100 Bands You Need To Know in 2009" issue to be exact. Forget the fact that 90% of those bands are forgettable and 98% of them won't stand the test of time for just a second; this issue got me thinking about the sheer volume of new bands sprouting up all the time and how ridiculous it is. Seriously, this shit is getting insane. It's not AP's fault. That issue just featured 100 bands and there's thousands more popping up everyday online, so I applaud AP for filtering through the pile. Who the hell, as a music fan, has time to check out all of these bands or the money to buy 100 records these days? (I think I just found another reason why 95% of music was illegally downloaded last year!)

Technology has leveled the playing field between bands/artists and record labels. Labels are no longer necessary to get your music out there. However, just because you have a computer, like music and can create a free myspace/facebook account doesn't mean you qualify for being a "musician" or that you should release this "music" that you've created. I like food, have a stove and a refrigerator, but that doesn't qualify me as being a Chef. So the down side to all this technology is this flood of music and new bands that wouldn't have been released years ago (in some cases for the better). This non-stop barrage of music creates a frantic pace for both artists and labels alike, which hinders creativity and prevents artists from taking the time they should be allotted, creating the absolute best album they can because they have to reach some unjustly appointed time frame.

I'm not one of those people that professes "music was so much better back in the day", but I do think our generation is severely lacking in the "generation defining album" department. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good music out there today, but given the current pace of things its hard for artists to create something truly amazing.

Now look, before any haters get their panties in a bunch, I'm not claiming that our music is somehow superior and that we're somehow the next incarnation of the Beatles by any means. I hold us to the same high standards. A couple of years ago we were once featured on the cover of that AP issue, and up to this point, I don't even know if we (along with most other bands from our generation) have created anything that doesn't fall under my criteria above when one looks back 10 or 20 years from now. I do know we're three albums (going on four) into this thing we like to call a career and withstood a ton of shit to get to where we are, so by that fact alone, we stand a better chance of not being forgotten...yet. That all depends on how our future albums turn out and our ability to create a timeless record. I don't feel we've gotten there yet, but for the first time in our career, we're working really hard towards that goal with our newest album. Timeframes be damned. We're trying not to add to the clutter any more. This album is essentially three years in the making and we hope all the time spent will be well worth it, for you and for us, once this album comes out...oh yeah, its coming out later this year!!!!! I hope you guys will have the same reaction to our new album that I had when Nirvana released Nevermind, Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction and more recently with Green Day - American Idiot..."Fuck, that's an amazing record!"

Eron