Saturday, June 27, 2009

Musical Intolerance Anonymous

I will now proceed to narrate two seperate incidents. Both involve the opinions (and hence the actions) of Bombay music 'fans'.

Incident 1: I-Rock (ie Independence Rock) 2008. The venue was this huge playground in Andheri, and there was a whole list of kickass bands that were set to compete, like Black and (eventual winners) Silver. There was also one band (i forget the name) from the 'North East'. This Band From the North East had the usual four instrumentalists ie Guitarist, Bassist, Drummer and Vocalist. In addition to these, they also had a DJ and a rapper; and their music was a mix of rock and rap elements. Sounds a lot like Linkin Park, right? No. They actually covered Metalingus by Alter Bridge (This was the Edge's theme song. Yes. The Edge. From WWE. Not U2), and their vocalist nailed the high parts. 'Twas fuckin' insane, and i loved 'em. Sadly, the crowd didn't feel the same. The moment they stepped on stage, the crowd saw the rapper in his baggy pants, long jersey, weird-ass bandana etc (You know the stereotype), and immediately started booing. Their set was tight, and pretty good, in my opinion; but they got booed off stage. Just because they had a rapper.

Incident 2: I'm at college, and this girl comes to me and asks me what i'm listening to. She sees Jay-Z & Linkin Park - Dirt Off Your Shoulders/Lying From You on my ipod; and immediately shrieks something about how hip hop really isn't music, and how Linkin Park is for 'wannabes'. She then sees CCR on my ipod and goes: "Why can't you listen to some of the other stuff on your ipod? Like CCR. They're so good." I wasted about half an hour trying to justify myself to her. Didn't work. For the rest of my time at college, i'm now branded as 'that hip hop liker'.

In a way, i like talking to non-musicians about music, because they are very rarely biased when it comes to genres. I find that they can listen to disco, hip hop, heavy metal and even jazz; and appreciate all of them in their own way. They won't judge me if they see me listening to Jay-Z or Franz Ferdinand. Somewhere along the line, musicians lose this.

The point here is: The Bombay audience is NOT musically tolerant. I know people who judge me because i listen to punk rock, to hip hop, to funk, and even to pop. If i listen to punk rock, then i'm an amateur musician who can barely play anything, so i make do with simple songs. If i listen to pop, then i don't know shite about music anyway. If i listen to hip hop, then don't even consider me, because hip hop doesn't count as music. If i listen to progressive music, specifically progressive rock, then respect, because that shit is only meant for true listeners. Respect, even if i really 'donno shite'.

The music i listen to does not define the kind of person i am. The person i am dictates the kind of music i listen to; and i tell myself that i should be able to appreciate any kind of music.

PS: I could've researched and gotten all the necessary names; but then i decided not to on account of laziness and sleepiness.

1 comment:

Harry said...

People judge you for listening to Franz Ferdinand!? Fucking kill them.
And don't worry man. punk's cool. All 3 albums.
But yes, I do know what you mean. Judgement because of artist instead of art freaking blows.