April - 2016
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
50
Just Stop
Article By: Clayton Edwards
Stop supporting local mu-
sic. While you’re at it stop sup-
porting underground music.
This idea that you should sup-
port a band just because they
happen to hail from the same
area as you is absurd. Feeling
like you need to buy into an act
just because they have some
“underground” status is even
worse. Do you only shop at lo-
cally owned stores and buy only
locally made items? I am going
to go out on a limb here and
say probably not. You purchase
goods and services that you en-
joy, right? Why shouldn’t music
be the same?
I’m not saying stop sup-
porting local acts altogether;
all I’m trying to say here is
support good music. Put your
time, energy, and money into
bands that you enjoy. If you
see a local band live and spend
their whole set checking your
Facebook while outside smok-
ing, it’s probably safe to say
buying their merch or new EP
would be a waste of money
to you. It doesn’t “strengthen
the scene,” (pardon me while
I gag) it just puts money into
the hands of people that you
really don’t want to give it to.
I have friends who have pur-
chased every disc a local band
put out just because they were
local and then turned around
and gave them away because
they don’t even dig the band.
It perplexes me.
We have some pretty killer
local talent here in East Tennes-
see and some incredibly medio-
cre acts as well. Someone who
spends the time and dedication
it takes to get stage-ready has
my respect especially if they
are writing original material.
That is a super cool thing to do
but just because you have my
respect doesn’t mean you can
have my duckets! There are a
couple of bands from my area
that I love. Every time I see
them live it makes me want
to beat the guy next to me to
death, especially if I happen
to be seeing them at a venue
that doesn’t allow moshing.
These bands I have no problem
supporting with my money or
whatever else I can do (shouts
out to WarClown and Scent
of Remains!) but there are a
few other bands that, while
made up of good dudes, just
aren’t my cup of tea. I’ll have a
beer with them at the bar and
bullshit in the parking lot but
that’s about it.
There are probably a mil-
lion bands out there that are
still local or regional bands
that you would probably enjoy
more than most of the bands in
your local scene, and some of
