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Speaking of government funding, Earache’s blog has a great entry about how the label (and also Creation Records) started with the help of Margaret Thatcher. During her regime, the UK government set up an “enterprise allowance scheme,” which gave money to people to start businesses. The goal was to get people off the dole; the scheme worked, at least according to this Parliamentary transcript.
In the December issue of Decibel (#50, Metallica cover), I have a feature on Psycroptic. They, too, have had public backing. The Tasmanian government helped fund the death metallers’ debut, as well as airfares for some gigs. The investment paid off, as Psycroptic are now a global commodity. Their records have progressed from pleasant beatings to the sleek sculpture that is Ob(Servant) (Nuclear Blast, 2008). Its rhythm guitar work is amazing.
I’ve heard of similar public funding of metal in Europe, particularly in Sweden (which financed the awesomely wacky Diagnose: Lebensgefahr record) and France. (This just in: Dutch metallers Textures made a video with “a generous grant from the Dutch tax videoclip fund.” See story and video here.) Maybe Europeans take it for granted, but such aid is unheard of in the US. Recall the ’80s, in which the National Endowment for the Arts was a convenient scapegoat for conservatives, despite its tiny budget. In 1996, at the height of its various controversies (Serrano, Mapplethorpe, etc.), its funding got cut to $100 million. The US defense budget that year was around $250 billion. Now the disparity is even greater. For fiscal year 2008, the NEA budget is about $145 million; the 2008 US defense budget, including the War on Terror, is about $700 billion.
And people get up in arms when Barack Obama talks about “redistribution of wealth.” Can’t they see that their tax dollars are already grievously misprioritized? No wonder the rest of the world perceives Americans as trigger-happy philistines. My solution: redestribute wealth towards metal. Metal appreciation programs in schools. Replace “high school jazz band” with “high school metal band.” Establish a National Endowment for the Dark Arts. Turn ammo into bullet belts. Progress shall be measured not by rounds per minute, but by beats per minute. Dave Lombardo for President.
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I wish I could actually hear the rhythm guitar work behind the typewriter.
About government funding. If the Soviets had won we’d all be trying to explain to a committee that our HEAVY METALLIST MUSIK (and in this case writing on HEAVY METAL MUSIK) serves the public interest, in order to get funding to carry on with it. The good and the bad.
Oh also, Annihilator? First two records were partly funded by the Canadian government. I find this agreeable.
Also the word verification for this post was “bingo”. Apt.
I’m trying to think of the last Canadian metal albums to receive help from our country’s FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) grant…I think it’s Cursed and Cancer Bats. It’s a very good program, but it does tend to lean towards indie rock, especially of the Eastern variety. Arts funding is deeply appreciated in Canada…in fact, last month during his election campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper openly slammed the public funding of the arts, it was met with such derision, especially in Ontario, that it likely cost him votes he needed to form a majority government instead of the second minority, which is what he got.
So weird that Americans talk about ’socialism’ like it’s an evil thing.
Some Americans seem freakishly paranoid about any social programs whatsoever. CNN had this weird feature during the presidential debates where a panel of a dozen or so Ohioans who were declared undecided received dials that they could turn up or down, depending on their reaction to the speaker. CNN ran the results continually at the bottom of the screen-it looked sort of like a cardiogram. Besides the fact that this was an insane and annoying way of helping people process the debates (for the first two debates I ended up taping a piece of paper over that part of the screen, for the third I was too entranced by it), I remember that the men turned their dials down every time Obama so much as mentioned community. He didn’t even have to express an idea they could disagree with.
Come on now, don’t hate on the jazz.
I will agree though, an expansion of any musical curriculum in schools would be a good thing.
It would be a good day when the Obama administration helps finance a hundred or so pornogrind bands. Aaaah, that would make America the land of opportunity again.
helm – maybe Canada needs to finance Annihilator again so they can make a decent record.
adrien – how is health care in Canada? The constant argument that’s pulled out in the US presidential election is how “socialist medicine” leads to long lines for health care, etc.
anthony – I think such paranoia is because of the Cold War. Anything vaguely hinting at “socialism” or “Communism” = bad, nevermind the fact that the USSR had basically nothing to do with real-deal socialism or Communism. America’s values at the moment do not lie in “community.” We are not as family-oriented as other countries (except for the homophobia called “family values”) and capitalism is not exactly about placing community ahead of individual.
rob – I don’t hate on the jazz. I just think it would be great if high school kids played music with cajones.
bacon – you’re making me rethink my theory.
The recent Prog Power Fest in the Netherlands was subsidized by the Dutch government, too. Weed ‘n weedly-weedly. Your tax dollars at work.
Surgery wait times can be long in the less densely populated parts of Canada (like here in Saskatchewan), and MRIs and stuff like that, but aside from that, I’m very happy with Canada’s socialized health care. It’s fantastic, especially when compared to the mess south of the border.
Well said, FUND the arts! Norway also has it down. Something is wrong with the culture of war in the US.
Warp records was funded in the very same way. I fear Earache and Warp together put out some of the very best music of nineteennineties – I’d hate to admit Maggie actually did some good!
etan’s comment was my favorite. ‘Weedly-weedly’ is such a perfect description.
As for Obama, my qualms with his redistribution of wealth idea stems from the way I’ve seen people live. I still don’t understand how people in the middle and lower classes live way out of their means on credit. Call me selfish but I don’t see why people too irresponsible to count actually save up money should get, well, anything. That’s what seems like will be happening and maybe I’m merciless but I can’t support that. Some of his plans and ideas also strike me as disasters waiting to happen. Although… if he redistributed money towards metal, I’d reconsider before next week.
adrien, I would like for you to talk to my boyfriend about how socialized medicine works in Canada. He absolutely refuses to give it a second chance and I don’t understand why (other some sort of paranoia?).
One more thing–cute though ‘high school metal band’ may sound, I just know it’s going to be a disaster. The metal bands my high school friends were in back then were silly prog/Dream Theater-worship cover bands… groan. Good intentions, but I don’t know how well it’ll work out in practice.
Annihilator issue : sadly it seems its faulty wiring in Waters’ brain and won’t be solved in such simple means as getting refinanced by his goverment. I’m afraid we have to call that ship long since sailed. Two amazing flash thrash albums by that band and that was that.
In the matter at hand – and more seriously – on one side I’d like to see the arts on the whole be supported with goverment funds. On the other side music such as HM happens best when its underground and alienated from reality and completely seperate from any hope of making a living out of it! At least some of the time. So as cruel as it might sound, it might be for the best to leave great HM to be made by minimum-wage slaves on their free time, and if they get any success let it be on the grassroots/self-marketing level. The ‘1000 dedicated fans’ theory springs to mind…
onerode – “High school metal band” just needs the right curriculum to work.
Year 1 – “Breaking the Law”, “Iron Man”, Black Album.
Year 2 – Metallica albums 1-3.
Year 3 – the entire Operation: Mindcrime album as a production with the drama department.
Year 4 – Necrophagist.
Mixed feelings on the Necrophagist, just not my cuppa. Although they should be included purely for technical reasons, especially because of Muhammed. I kinda think Years 1-3 could be crunched into one year (year dedicated to being an intro to metal) and the other dedicated to exploring and appreciation of different genres, maybe a different subgenre per term. I’d also definitely emphasize teaching some non-metal genres to compare/contrast and to enrich breadth of musical taste.
All that said, I’m with helm. Metal is best when it’s born in a more DIY fashion.
Here’s an elective for high school metal band:
High School Black Metal Musical.
Instead of having the prom in a dimly lit gymnasium with balloons and disco balls, it will be held at the local forest preserve with torches, bonfires, fake blood and carrion hanging from the trees.
I think there should be Metal Appreciation Class where they discuss the history and aesthetics of the form and listen to great records but for the love of god, don’t teach them to play the stuff from an early age! Necrophagist? A fate worse than death! No more super-proficient metal guitarists with fingers faster than their brains please! It’s it’s effortless to do, it’s meaningless!
Wow, you guys took this more seriously that I expected.
onerode – I have people in mind who could teach the Stoner Metal concentration.
bacon – There’s a movie called Carrie…
helm – OK, Necrophagist just for teaching diminished arpeggios.
Instead of P.E., you could pick among the following programs:
A crust apocalypse simulator, similar to a paintball course, but instead of a gun, you are armed with granola bullets and tofu grenades. You get to wear body armor straight out of Mad Max and you get to dodge bullets and escape evil police robots.
A power metal horseriding class, the classes will progress with basic horseriding, while the advanced classes involve jousting, horseriding while weaponry such as swords and axes, and the ultra intense mountain course with a fierce dragon at the end.
A black metal church burning class, where you would have to break in and enter a church, start a fire, and get out unnoticed in under a minute.
A grind blast beat endurance class, where the students will train to endure the rigorous task of completing blast beat marathons.
Instead of yachts, there will be a viking metal sailing class, where in teams, participants can learn how to run a viking ship and the final exam will be a trans-Atlantic voyage to Greenland.
Before anyone learns the Swedish national anthem and tries to emigrate, you should know that the age of government sponsored mayhem is pretty much over. They’ve realized that the authority dream of every young Swede playing Chopin was badly perverted and totally crushed. So the free Marshall amps and government-funded youth center concert halls are much rarer. Ask a Swede about their government’s attempts to influence culture, though, it’s pretty fucked up and so wrong. Or check out the kicker pseudo-documentary Stockholmsnatt, which every young kid saw during school; maybe you noticed a few references to “kickers” in the Swedish Death Metal book. Those were karate-kicking teens who roamed Sweden in sweatpants during the 1980s kicking everyone, especially young death metal dudes. There were five in the country until the film was shown in schools. Afterwards, Mikael Akerfeldt and Nicke Andersson lived in FEAR! (see book)
Anyway, I’ve thought about this funded arts question for years, too, and after scraping by myself envying Europe through many lean years I have to say at this point I’m happy the American system discourages creative pursuits. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I don’t think a comfortable safety net would have improved the music of Black Flag, Morbid Angel, Eyehategod, or Converge. Desperate circumstances have created some excellent desperate music in the USA. And in Brazil. And now in Afghanistan. There’s an honesty in making music for survival. My 18-year old self is wrinkling up his nose at this, but he didn’t know very much.
Also, the US doesn’t exactly need government support of music — this country already has an insanely over-developed music industry that supports every kind of recorded contrivance known to man. From blips to squawks, there’s a huckster ready to take your tape to market.
But if you really need assistance, just piss your pants and go see a social worker to apply for social security — crazy money. You won’t be able to vote, but you’ll be free to follow your muse and eat lentils all day.
Too brief, but already too long.
IAN
bacon – Your school will require significant property tax increases to fund it. Also, you forgot: Hammerfall curling.
ian – The bit about karate-kicking teens absolutely blows my mind. Thank you for the thoughtful comment. (Though the way things are going, social security won’t be “crazy money” for long.) Anyway, that reminds me – I gotta buy that Swedish Death Metal book.
karate-kicking teens who roam Sweden in sweatpants, kicking young death metal dudes — amazing.
For a good, detailed response to this post by a Canadian, see:
http://hocemolinakafu.blogspot.com/2008/10/for-government-subsidised-goregrind.html
Thanks for the link. I initially meant to post a response here in the comments, but it didn’t take so I turned the main ideas into a blog post of my own.