Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Your Space

Okay, I promised an explanation, and I will give one. I got a Myspace.

If you and I have spoken for more than 15 minutes, you may have heard me rant about the phenomenon that is Myspace. I have been steadily avoiding the moment where I submit my username, password, and try to box my music into one of the narrow categories that have been kindly pre-selected for me. I have tried to swallow my distaste for the "top friends" nonsense and the unspoken contest to see who can have the most Myspace connections. Since I heard about the site, I have stepped around it like yellow snow.

But I can only be righteous for so long. It's absolutely true that it is a brilliant way to network and share your art with new people. Considering that it's pretty tough to make it out to a live show every night, or even every weekend, Myspace lets musicians keep in touch and stay in the know about each other's projects. It's a great way to plan gigs. It's an even better way to find new music. But damnit, barf barf barf, it makes my skin crawl. The crappy photo resolution, the crappy audio quality, the crappy layout.... it just feels so sterile and completely unoriginal. Its one redeeming quality is that it's free, so artists who don't have the means to put up a personalized web site can still share their work. That's about it. Otherwise, it feels a bit like getting dragged to a bad club so someone can cop a feel. A bad club with bad lighting and sticky floors. And all you can think while you choke back your light beer is: "It's a good thing everyone here is drunk, because otherwise we might all run out of here screaming. Screaming like a truckload of terrified monkeys. Terrified monkeys on crack." And you keep on drinking. It's a corporate hangover of the worst kind.

So here's my site, which I offer to you, whether you're a Myspace lover or hater. All I can promise you is that you will get to hear my newest songs from the studio. None of them are completely done, but at least they will give you an idea of what I'm up to.

www.myspace.com/andreasimmskarp

Jeez, reading over this post reminds me of my recent cell phone rant. Perhaps I have entered a stage in my life where I give into everything that makes me mildly nauseous. What's next, dairy?

Oh HELLS NO.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have a terrified monkey who is recovering from a crack addiction, he didn't like that club either...