Edit: Wow, I found an old photo I took in 2004 of the CD in Trolley’s CD player.
Modest Mouse used to be the best kept indie rock secret. Then they let Gravity Rides Everything be used in a Nissan commercial. Then they did Saturday Night Live. Then they did The O.C. (Really, Modest Mouse? REALLY?). Then they appeared on Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, and now I wonder if they were just sellouts doing it for the money to begin with.
But before all that happened, or perhaps as it happened, they came out with Float On.
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This was the song of 2004. It defined the year for me. I was picking myself up off the floor after a torrid relationship, and settling down alone, finding my own little bit of peace.
That was six years ago, and I’m back there again. I had an odd moment of serenity as I left the staircase to the Tai Chi studio tonight, and walked into the frigid, calm air. Sort of like I had no hope, but that didn’t matter because I didn’t need hope; I had my hands, my senses, my wits, and my camera, and that was good enough.
I’m sure the fact that I’ve starting working from home four days out of the week has something to do with it. I can work on projects with my music loud, and my pjs on. I don’t get interrupted, so my productivity is great.
Okay, so I’ve been avoiding any movies or TV shows with dating or romance. I’m sticking strictly to Babylon 5 and The Sopranos. It’s been working, because I’ve been feeling better about myself and my current situation. Thinking: “Maybe I’m a nice secret right now”.
Thats a good way to put it… “I’m a nice secret”
I feel this way at times too..
But mine is more like.. ‘fuck you if you don’t want me or don’t want to get to know me more.. your loss kid.. Don’t underestimate me.. You’ve seen about 10%’
Cause me and you have so many suprises and tricks up our sleeve.. so many awesome little secrets and almost the full deck of cards in our hands
Me and you are Win !! ohhh yeaaahhhh :)
PS I remember the first time you showed me that song… In the loblaws parking lot where you played: The Artist In the Ambulance… followed by: The World At Large.. and then finally: Float On…
and I remember it was the BEST SONG EVER… even better if you listen to The World At Large first… EV-ER-Y-TIME
I know what you mean. I don’t like to reveal all of myself at once. Which is crazy, because I haven’t been with someone long enough to do everything I’ve wanted. Not even close. I think it’d take at least two decades for someone to completely know me, and experience all the romantic ideas in my head.
I remember that night, and how important that order is; Modest Mouse did too cause those were next to each other on the album. I also introduced you to Iron and Wine that time too, when Sam does the cover of Such Great Heights, and you said, “Too slow”.
Ohhhh yeah.… that such great heights cover… When I heard it I thought it was some amateur and it came off as being pretty pretentious..
And now Iron and Wine is like my top 3.. hahaha
This entry about Modest Mouse reminds me of death cab… and when their music started to play on all these random commercials and they were featured on The OC like every week… *yack*
That’s when I stopped listening but I still love their older stuff…
You’ve introduced me to so much great music.. and its the music that’s driven me to these realms of emotions that I’ve never reached (maybe once or twice) through other means.. Its this music that teaches me, that allows me a means of releasing..Thank you.. youre like my drug dealer.. except youre selling me the right noise to fit my mood:D
It all started with the postal service-the district sleeps alone tonight!
I have to add that being a musician is not an easy enough gig that you would NOT want to be on OC and make more money and get to play the bigger venues and NOT be in debt to your running crew and your slimey producers and the venues they booked you into, and to enable to you continue your life as a musician which otherwise might end in a heartbeat, and rather enable you to still support yourself and not become a slimey producer yourself instead. Neither selling out, nor avoiding it, is as easy as you think.
I have to disagree with you there, though maybe it’s semantics.
Being a musician is easy. Just look at how many people there are performing their own music on YouTube, people without record contracts or labels to back them, and yet I’d say they’re definitely musicians, doing their own thing.
On the other hand, making music as a living is hard. You don’t need a record deal, or a producer, or a venue to perform in, unless you’re trying to make money from it. That’s the entire concept behind “indie” (i.e. independent from major commercial labels or producers) music. Artists can subsist on much less than multi-million dollar contrasts and guest spots on the OC. What’s different is lifestyle they want, and whether they make enough money to support that lifestyle. As a photographer, I’m perfectly content with doing lots of unpaid work, and spending money on photo gear without any return on my investment. That’s not to say I wouldn’t accept a well-paying gig as a wedding photographer, but at that point, I would be doing it for a different reason, and it certainly wouldn’t be for the love of it. That’s what I expect from studio composers who write commercial jingles, not indie rock bands.
It all comes down to whether you like making music for the sake of it, or making music for the money. Two very different roads.