Category: Music

I just got back from a weekend at a couple of concerts. On the drive home, I was hit with a few musings about the music and the overall experience, so I’m going to vomit out a couple of posts right here before I go back about my regular life and habits again. If you don’t see any others yet, check back; I’m writing them all at once but scheduling them to publish over the next day or so.

One of the bands that played was Beartooth, and they played a song called Doubt Me. It’s a “fuck the haters” song about doing things people told you that you weren’t capable of doing. That’s basically a genre – sitting here and thinking about it, so many bands have at least one song in that category. (Several just from the two shows in Baltimore this weekend.)

It makes sense – it’s probably a good analogue of being in the music industry. Lots of bands and artists come along and most of them don’t “make it,” so odds are, you aren’t going to, either. When you start out playing local venues and submitting demos, you probably hear “it’s not gonna happen” a lot.

I really enjoy those sorts of songs; it’s fun to throw your success back in the face of the people who tried to stand in your way. But do most of us have those people?

Personally, I think I might be the opposite. I was told that if I just put my mind to it, I could do anything. (At least by anyone whose opinion mattered – there are always just shitty people.) I just never really aspired to that level. I never dreamed of being the president, or a rock star, or an astronaut or anything like that.

I don’t really know where I’m going (or where I’m even really trying to go) with this – I just had the though of like “yeah, fuck the haters… wait, who even are my haters?”

I guess what’s really important, haters or not, is to make sure you have a grounded definition of success. If nothing short of being the best in the world will satisfy you, then regardless of people supporting you or not, you’re almost certainly going to fall short. If you treat each step along the way as another step up, though, then all of the efforts you put in will be validated.

I’ll celebrate my accomplishments, and I (or someone who actually knows you) will also celebrate yours. To end on another Beartooth line, “come join me at the top.”

It’ll be fine.

I just got back from a weekend at a couple of concerts. On the drive home, I was hit with a few musings about the music and the overall experience, so I’m going to vomit out a couple of posts right here before I go back about my regular life and habits again. If you don’t see any others yet, check back; I’m writing them all at once but scheduling them to publish over the next day or so.

The first of the two concerts featured The Funeral Portrait, and they played a song of theirs called Stay Weird. It’s an anthem for the “weird” (read: emo/goth/punk/whatever) kids to not change and keep being their true selves. Now, in general, that’s a great message, and I’m all for music containing messages like this that people need to hear.

(There’s a whole slew of what I’m sort of calling “mental health-core” about dealing with depression or addiction or self-harm; I’m glad these topics are out there in ways that aren’t as preachy or “after-school special-y”. Thinking about it, I think at least three out of four bands on Friday and two out of three on Saturday have at least some material like that.)

But here’s one thing – when you’re playing an arena in downtown Baltimore with a capacity of 13,000 people, is anyone there “weird”? Sure, 13,000 isn’t a football or baseball game, but it’s also still a pretty good-sized crowd.

I’m not weird. I work in an office at a consulting company. I have a 401(k) and a mortgage. I don’t dress all in black. (Except at concerts – note to bands: sell more t-shirts that aren’t black. At Summer of Loud, I got a Parkway Drive shirt that’s blue. At a Nothing More show, I got their tour shirt that’s red. There were cool Beartooth shirts, but I’m not that huge of a fan of theirs, but both of their live sets I’ve seen have been great. I expected Bad Omens to have something maybe red, but nope.)

But then again, I’m into curling. Is that weird? I play board games, which feels like the normie-est shit out there, what with 70,000 people at Gen Con every year, but even other gamers often think my games are weird. Is professional wrestling weird? Conceptually, I think it’s mainstream, but it doesn’t draw the crowds it used to (although that could be mostly due to ticket prices).

I’m reminded of the tagline (or one of the taglines) for the YouTube channel Wrestling With Wregret – “Like what you like, just don’t be a dick.” You should “stay weird,” not by specifically trying to be a non-conformist, but by just finding your lane. Find your style, your music, your hobbies. Enjoy things unashamedly. Don’t “be weird”, but don’t be afraid of being called weird.

Because weird is normal, and normal is weird.

And they’re both fine.