So after our class I have my Music 203 lecture immediately after. Today we had a guest speaker come in who owns his own record label here in Edmonton (Old Ugly, check 'em out here --> http://olduglyco.com/fr_olduglyrecordingco.cfm). When my prof began to introduce "Ugly Joe" I was expecting him to either:
a) be some old hippie or wanna be rock star who never quite made it or...
b) your classic money grubbing suit who's not exactly in it for the love of music.
To my surprise, out came a hipster looking dude who couldn't be more than a few years older than myself. As he spoke he revealed that he is a rapper, who had once been approached by the major label Universal Music to sign on as their next marketable find. He would be flown to the big city of Toronto, and distributed to the masses. Due to a bad gut feeling, he turned them down. He opted instead to start his own label here in Edmonton, void of any interest in profit, and merely about branching into what he described as the huge Edmonton music scene. He mainly signs on friends who aren't sure how to get their sound out into the city.
He continually mentioned how amazing the local talent here in Edmonton is, and how each band or artist, no matter what genre, supports one another. The scene here is apparently all about contribution rather than competition, and that sort of mentality cannot be found in the major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The main method of support fellow artists and fans can contribute? Going to shows. Most of the albums pressed by the label are for free, and what they really want to see is the music getting out there and for people to attend their gigs. He spoke of how if you regularly attend local Edmonton shows you will discover a community and friends and even more musical talent.
Listening to this speaker and reading some of your blogs have made me realize what a bad supporter of the arts I've been in this city. Its really inspired me to start going to more shows, because I do listen to lots of local sound, but I've never put in a concerted effort to see them live. And when push comes to shove, if I'm going to take part in the scene by consuming (mostly for free thanks to downloads) the least I can do is go hang out for the night in one of the many venues Edmonton has and support some good local music.
I don't know why, but the Edmonton music scene is particularly good. Tons of talent, really generous, inventive, widely admired - and from what I hear, not that hard to break into. Sounds like a cool Music class, too.
ReplyDelete