i am a self-sustaining entity.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Move over radio. Emo's here to stay.

The year is 2006. Radio is out. Pop is manufactured, short lived, generic and just too old-fashioned. Hip-hop is nonsensical, synthesized, talentless and more often than not, derogatory. Rock is crossing over the fine line into pop and metal is just unfriendly. Barring classical fans and jazz afficionados, what else can the youths of today listen to? Why mainstream emo of course.

Emo is a form of punk rock simply put. The term 'emo' is derived from band members becoming emotional during performances, thus exuding an aura of sadness that transcends into the fans and listening crowd and inevitably causes them to feel the same.

But in modern day terms, Emo is just used to describe any band that is not mainstream and does not play much on the airwaves. Youths of today can identify with these bands as their own 'private' bands. That is because most of these bands hail from the same hometown as their fans. As such, the fans perceive them as their heros and model themselves after their idols. Emo fans seem to identify humility as not becoming mainstream and 'selling out' to the public. Selling out means being signed to a major recording label such as Sony BMG or Warner, subsequently creating music videos, becoming too popular and not being able to identify with your own 'kind'. But the most important reason behind not selling out would be that once a band is signed to a major label, they would be forced to play radio friendly songs so they can sell more albums. And very often, these radio friendly songs that appeal to masses are fundamentally different from the songs they started playing in the first place. Simply put, by gaining a larger fan base, you lose your original small number of fans, and the soul of your music. Such is the complexity of Emo music. So what are some of the examples of Emo in today's context?

Bright Eyes
With over 15 albums under his belt, Bright Eyes' 26 year old frontman Conor Oberst can say he's been there and done that. Musically inclined Oberst started his career with the band Commander Venus at the tender age of 13. With varying success, he featured in many household indie and emo bands such as Desaparecidos and Park Ave before residing in his main and most current project to date, Bright Eyes. With Bright Eyes, Oberst released 8 extremely popular albums including his most recent masterpiece, 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' which rose all the way to #10 in the US charts; the highest any indie/emo band ever achieved. But ironically, Bright Eyes only has 2 permanent members citing Oberst and multi instrumentalist Mike Mogis. To his credit, Bright Eyes has never changed its label since its creation. Saddle Creek has always been first choice for Oberst even after being constantly wooed by Sony. Talk about not selling out.

Death Cab for Cutie
Though not necessarily labeled as emo, their music has never been branded as pop or mainstream. Perennial college students' favourite Death Cab for Cutie hails from Bellingham, Washington and consists of members Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nicholas Harmer and Jason McGerr. This band has come a long way since its first album 'You Can Play These Soongs With Chords' was released in 1997. The sales for that album is a fraction that of their latest record 'Plans' which has its first single 'Soul Meets Body' hit #5 on the US Modern Rock Charts. But strangely enough they do owe a little bit of their success to US hit teen drama The OC in which one of the main characters Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody) waxes lyrical about the band. Adam Brody is a real life Death Cab fan and insists on sticking their posters in his 'on-set bedroom' and even putting a few of their songs on the show proper. Free advertising at its best.

sammy says. at 5:08 AM