Music Thead Black Hole!

[nutty da drummer]

i totally agree reev, im in some bands, and i dont play to get noticed, i play cause there so fun to play in. im in 2 jazz bandfs, and playing drums with jazz is awesome. im in a wind band, you really think ill be the next famous travis barker or lars in that? no chance, just fantastic to play in, so if you enjoy the music and the playing, why shouldnt you stay at it? whats stopping people? nothing, so if you "do it for fun," dont leave. your happy, crowd will probably be happy so its all good.

[Jeid]

ben... you can't tell the man to keep his opinion to himself just because you disagree.

its a message board on the internet which allows free flowing discussion and allows people to voice their opinion. whether you like it or dislike it... its pretty much tough. people have the right to criticise your band. your in the "public eye" i suppose. no matter how good or bad he thinks what your doing is and no matter how good/bad what you think your doing is, you should take the criticism on the chin.

telling him that his opinion counts for nothing and he's talking rubbish is an arrogant statement. if someone praises your band, you'll accept it with great delight... everyone does, i ain't just singling you out. what i think makes a band stronger, and quite possibly a person... is the ability to accept criticism of their own work

you don't seem to be coping well with this...

ps.. why the hell are you never on msn?

[Reev]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, someone who agrees with my statement, cheers dude

[Reev]

i dont seem to be taking this well, to be told that what we do doesnt count isnt a very nice thing,

this guy seems to be harking on a lot about cover bands being pointless, well, im allowed to be annoyed at that, why, cause thats rubbish, absoloute crap,

i can agree to disagree on certain subjects but the paying public tend to pay to see a band play things they know, i know this due to how many paying gigs ive played in my lifetime A LOT, so yes im annoyed, what i do does cpount, and to be badmouythed to that degree is nasty and not needed, if thats the kind of criticism im supposed to take then id rather get none, yes we are in the publics eye and are effectively cannon fodder but what was said is definetaly not constructive criticism, he has basically stated we arent neede3d or wanted, which i have already said, plenty of people would disagree with THAT statement

[Jeid]

i don't see what you do as not counting, as i've said before, and stated in a few of the recent posts, is that you should try your own thing out on the public. i think you guys have built up a strong list of cover songs. ok, i don't really like them all that much, but hey, times change. i ain't your one and only audience. you guys have the ability to perform to a higher level, why not do a mixture of covers and originals?

you can say its crap, like i said, i think your being arrogant to his opinion. he's willing to read yours without telling you what your saying is utter crap.

take a chill pill, see past your anger and read what he's saying.

[Uppiebalad]

Oh but I do care about the work of cover bands, it's just that at the moment I'm only wanting to deal with the subject of bands that want to get somewhere by hopefully performing their own work. I'm fully aware that there are cover bands out there who do brilliant covers.
I'm not a fan of Line-Dancing but i have spoken in favour of it during production talks. I also asked a collegue on the board of Caithness Arts to speak up for all local bands and he has done so very much favourably for all of you with my full backing. All classrooms have pupils who want to learn and others who don't share the same interest even within the same field. It is obstructive to the course for such people to remain in the room. You are interested in cover work whilst other bands express the desire to perform original music. Are you trying to put them off? If so you are doing no service for your fellow musicians. I am involved with performing arts of all kinds and I'm here trying to show my support of those wanting to show their talent to the world. Give me some time instead of jumping on any word thats seems against you, and you will see me get round to the subject of cover bands and it won't be unfavourable.
relax, chill, take a nap. because all you need to know is that your are good at what you do.

[nutty da drummer]

yeah, duress have got a strong set list, i like them personally, but i think it would be even better if they played some own stuff, thugh doing there own style of music eg: sharply dressed men was total awesome, i thought it was cool, your own touch and thats what i thought was great. and id love to hear some your own stuff,that would be total awesome cause if it was anything like your own style when you did the covers, itd be so kewl!

[scridge]

i'm kinda unsure which,side of this beabte i lie on, i agree a lot with jeid ANd nutty, i agree that playing originl material, is a major boost to a band andi feel itoften helps brign the band more together making them a tighter unit coz writign their own material takes team effort it means comprimise ti menas playing off each others personal inluences and tastes, and turnign it into somethign whoelly different, sometiems far exceeding the bands expectations, in my old band i always felt one of our strognest songs was oenof the last we got to write because we all came toghether, and very memebrs style was present yet it went together as a solid decent song. but at the saem tiem i agree it is alway godo fun to undulge in a little bit of fun and jsut get up and put your own spin on some of your favourite songs because well for me at least, learnign to play songs i love enhances my appreciation of that song, and i also feel that covers can be a good way for a band to find their feet, to build up a bitof confidence in playing together also sometiems if a band start their life as a covers band, and ppl ge to knwo them for the covers it can soemtiems act as a pleasant surprise to fans whenoriginal material does begin to surface.a think nutty has a good approach to it,he's samplig a lot of styles by drummin all over the place, and i think thats what the likes of caithness needs is ppl dipping into a range of styles and u kow maybe workign 3 or 4 bands at once, maybe contributign soemthign different to each band, so that u can btoh indulge your creative ability and lvoe of covers,so efr example even thoughi am part of 2 bands myself i'm still gonna whore myself abotu musically, and get my teeth into as much of the developign scene up here as i can, so jeid if ya still fancy a jam sumtiemi'm still more than up for it

[nutty da drummer]

yeah, but i ahve to admit, covers are good, but seeing the odd song thats there own, thats what i think would make duress great. i like there covers, total love "hero by foo fighters" i think thats great, and they are a great band, but after listening to there own style on peoples songs, theyd be brilliant if they played some of there own stuff, with there style of music, which im sure they would pull of greatly. but im on know ones side, im just giving opinions.

[nutty da drummer]

yeah, but i ahve to admit, covers are good, but seeing the odd song thats there own, thats what i think would make duress great. i like there covers, total love "hero by foo fighters" i think thats great, and they are a great band, but after listening to there own style on peoples songs, theyd be brilliant if they played some of there own stuff, with there style of music, which im sure they would pull of greatly. but im on know ones side, im just giving opinions.

[Reev]

.......Well thanks for that observation, it is true that we all enjoy compliments and have difficulty with what we may consider to be unjustified negativity but i suppose we have to take the rough with the smooth.

That doesnt mean that i agree with previous comments i have already disagreed with. It does however seem to me that some of the comments made can only lead me to the conclusion that those having posted them consider the Caithness music going public incapable of making their own minds up. Gig goers vote with their feet and if they dont like what is being offerred they dont go to those gigs.

It would also appear that we have some contributors who are setting themselves up as our musical guardians and would like to tell us what we like and what we want. Or maybe that is the Royal "WE"

Yes you are right our local film makers do not copy films and try to do their own original material but do you think that that could possibly be down to their lack of equipment rather than lack of talent. Imitation is apparently the sincerest form of flattery and the ability to imitate a respected band and songs you particularly like is possibly a little easier than recreating "Gladiator" for example.

[Jeid]

thats the idea scridge, start off with covers and build it up from their. I'm sure duress have a wide range of influences, just as your old band did. I haven't really spoken to any of the band much in recent times, but i remember that ben was really into heavier stuff, but he also dips into nice acoustic numbers and even dance music. bones was really into metallica i think, but i could be wrong. Richard... well, i dunno about him. Dave always loved Travis Barker and i'm sure he's still his hero to an extent... he always had a wide musical spectrum which the band never touched on.

a wide range of influences like this band have could lead for some really interesting original stuff. i'm sure that by exploiting them and their potential it could be really interesting. this of course is down to the band. I'm quite gutted richard got banned, cos i'd like his opinion on the matter too. same with dave and bones!

i'm sure it'd bring the band closer and make them a tighter live unit too. the local music scene needs bands of their calibre to push themselves and contribute. this community needs a scene so badly. Duress could be one of the big players in that i think....

Scridge... a jam could still be on the cards. i know someone who wants a jam

[nutty da drummer]

dude, im not setting you up as your local gaurdians. i genually like duress and i wana know if youv got any of your own music, and if you do, when or where can we hear it? cause i like your style and i like your performance. i think its awesome!and your own styles great which is why im interested in hearing your own stuff.

[Jeid]

its not a case of taking sides nutty, its all about voicing opinions... its not the world... or caithness vs duress. not at all. i've always thought that it'd be cool to see those guys do their own stuff.

Reev, nobody is asking you to agree with previous comments, not at all.

take everything with an open mind. Uppie is simply hoping that you can realise your potential and get out there and put some of your own stuff to the public. hell, one song would be a start!

[Reev]

that response wasnt aimed at what you said my friend

[nutty da drummer]

yaeh, and youv got the potential, your one of the few bands that do in caithness, and i think you should use it. your really good on stage and hearing your own stuff would be gread, seriously consider it, even just the odd song every so ofter, that would be total awesome, hearing the actual band doing exactly what they want and making it sound exactly how you want it

[Reev]

Hmmmmm.......You seem to think i have missed your point, i do not for one second think this is the world against Duress, I do realise that you are asking us to do original songs and that is something that we will do when we are ready, and in our own time.

You may have missed our recent accoustic performance where we did do one original number, admittedly written by my dad and his mate, and yes, it did go down a storm. I am not missing your point but you are clearly missing mine.

Bands can perform covers and believe it or not, enjoy what they are doing. The buzz is in the performing in front of an audience who appreciate what you are doing. You can please some of the people some of the time but you cant please all of the people all of the time no matter how hard you try.

Please take my point, that bands can enjoy what they do playing covers and importantly an audience, even a Caithness one can enjoy a band doing what they do. we will have to agree to disagree on this matter

[Reev]

and once again nutty drummer, that isnt aimed at you, but i understand your point, and yes, we do have our own stuff, but at this time, that isnt what we are doing

[Jeid]

i'm taking that reev, i am, i know from my playing days with yourself that its cool to play covers. i was in that band from when did we start... november?(i remember it being damn cold anyway) until march? maybe april 2002. its now 2005 and fastly approaching 2006. the spine of the band (you and dave) have been there since the begining. I'm also aware that you added the other two members of the band over the past couple of years. point taken on that too

i would of just that that having been in some form of existence since 2002... now would be the time to show your true colours, hence my reasons for pushing it so much....

you guys have been around for ages, you guys can be one of the influential bands on the "scene".

i hope you just do it sooner rather than later

[Reev]

so we agree to disagree then,

i get what you guys are saying, but you have to get, that what im saying, as one of the people in question, is that,

like i have said already, at this moment in time, its not what we want to do

and im leaving it at that