Local music is what fills the informational gap that higher education and news media leave out. To me, scholars, for the most part, are closeted, privileged, lifetime members of upper class society that write research books on topics unrelated to their personal experiences. The news is a politically charged, corporate interest fueled machine that relays stories through women with big tits and men with Don Draper haircuts. If you want to know the full picture what’s going on in your city, get educated.
Local artists are the people that can best articulate everyday life to the public. They are the orators of real issues. The outspoken artist can really connect to their audience and is considered good because they are speaking to relevant, relatable topics.
It’s getting harder for us to make an impact though. It ain’t easy trying to make a living and find time to catalogue life, take it from me. Employers don’t exactly like to hire artists, also known as people with strong opinions, either. This music shit can break you.
Today’s audiences demand an increasingly abstract and well-produced product too. Music takes time, and with the trendy addiction to globalization, it’s much faster to find something that imitates authentic connectedness with aesthetically pleasing content on the internets. It’s easy to skip over the local scene and find music that creates a feeling of something real.
I feel strongly on the topic because I studied at one of the top universities in the world and have worked with broadcast and print media. But people need to support artists from their own neighborhoods. A lot of “real” music fans claim that they hate the radio for its facelessness but not supporting local is exactly the cause of the homogenized music that gets played on those stations.
Follow Basement Made and I’ll do my best to keep you up on the best local talent.