Guide to saving industrial: chapter 1

"this is terror ebm....no it's just distorted trance"
I have got to say, I am so goddamn fucking tired of hearing people quarrel over genre meanings. In every genre there are the 'elitists' who sit on forums or message-boards all day and post about how such and such band is "not industrial, it's EBM" or "it's hellektro not dark electro". And the really sad part is that people will actually bicker back and forth about this all day, as if coming to the common consensus that Hocico is in fact strictly aggrotech and not dark electro is going to re-align the world's axis and everything will fall back into a stable way of functioning. I mean, goddamn! I don't think I could come up with a more frivolous and worthless pastime. I am going to divulge a terrible secret that may upset a number of these trolling elitists: bands don't give a shit what you label them. I promise. The artists you love don't spend hours on end trying to decide if they're hellektro or industrial or ebm or whatever. They just make music they love and want to hear, or that they want you to hear. I promise that your banal arguments are not going to make them like you more. They're not going to see your postings and think "wow that kid really knows his shit, he is so uber industrial".
I saw some postings the other day where kids listed their top 5 aggrotech songs and their top 5 hellektro...as if there was a fucking difference! To be honest, I couldn't even tell you the difference or even what the fuck the basic criteria of these or many sub-genres is. Personally speaking, I don't give a shit what you call my music. You can call it rock if you want and it really wouldn't hurt my feelings. If you said "worms of the earth is a great rock band" than thanks, I'm glad you like it. If, however, you choose to say "worms of the earth is a terrible rock band" than people might just think you're an idiot.

"fuck new skinny puppy"
Ok, so I think the point of this is to say: who the fuck cares about genre and labels. Also, stop fucking bitching that new "modern" shit doesn't sound like skinny puppy! Oh fucking no, boo hoo modern industrial incorporates many elements of trance and electro! Hey dumbasses, you know why modern industrial doesn't sound like 1985? Because it's not fucking 1985 anymore! There has since been such a huge forward movement in technology that every aspect of music (production) has been expanded on. Do you know why new Skinny Puppy sounds different than old stuff? Because Cevin Key isn't a retard who uses the same equipment and makes the same album over and over and over. He progressed with the times; he uses a ton of new equipment along with many new production techniques that were just not possible 'back in the day'. A lot of people critique them for this but fail to realize that if industrial is to be a progressive genre, bands need to be allowed to change, develop and evolve with shifting times. Listen to the new albums (you know exactly which I am referring to) and TRY to tell me the production isn't worlds better than the older albums. Just try. Tell me they got worse at writing music. You can't because they fucking didn't. The new music isn't worse it's just different. Think about it: you're crying because an album from a band you like is different...hmmm you sound like a fucking punk. Punk is so great and open-minded but if you don't dress and act exactly like us and if you're music doesnt sound exactly like this than its not punk! Hmm...
Ok, so now you say 'yeah but all the new distorted trance sucks balls and puts out the same and album over and over'. Well, in some ways you're right. But what are YOU doing about it? Probably not a fucking thing. You are reading this thinking 'man fuck bad music, but there is nothing I can do to save industrial'. Well, you're wrong. Do you know why Combichrist and Vnv and And one are on top? Because they have fans who are willing to put them there. Kids flock to see them and to support them. Well, are you doing that for your favorite band? Are you going to clubs every week and hassling the DJs to play them? Are you hassling the promoters to book them? Are you showing all your friends these good bands? You should be. When a good band plays you better make damn sure your ass is in the front row and you brought 15 friends. When they play their song in the club (after you've hassled the DJs for 3 months) you better get on the floor and dance your ass off (and again, bring 15 friends). Without doing such things there is no way that good bands are going to blow up and retake the crown of this miserable industrial wasteland. If you justs it at home saying "all these bands suck, why does my favorite band never tour or get played" it's because you're sitting at your house not doing a damn thing. I'm sure that band would love to tour and play for 200 kids a night, but most of the time it's not going to happen because not only is it expensive as fuck these days, when they do get to your town and play you probably won't even show up and neither will half the other people who like them. So they end up playing for 30 people (who don't know them and aren't familiar with the music and therefore are very unlikely to get into it) and afterwards they will probably get fucked by the promoter. Not to mention the other 5000 perils of trying to play shows, but that is another blog.

Basically here is a quick list of tips for how YOU can save industrial music:

1. Promote your favorite band: show their music to EVERYONE, when they play a show PROMOTE that bitch...make flyers, tell EVERYONE, tell the DJs to announce the show and play music by the artists
2. Hassle all the DJs you can find to play your fav bands. Hassle them over and over until they do
3. Tell DJs to announce when they play new shit. Also hassle them to post set-lists so you can know what you heard in case it didn't suck
4. If you use the internet, post about your fav bands everywhere you can. Post about how great they are. DO NOT waste time posting about shitty bands. Any press is good press, so if you want a band to disappear than forget their name and never mention it to anyone. If everyone posts about how they hate a band, than everyone is going to at least know that bands name and be more apt to check out their music to hear how bad it is...

If you're a DJ here are some quick tips:
1. PLAY NEW SHIT
2. Announce the new shit you're playing so people know what the fuck it is.
3. If you have a band playing the area ANNOUNCE THAT SHIT DURING YOUR SET. Play some music from that band and announce it so people will know what the band sounds like and be more apt to coming out to the show

If you're a promoter here are some quick tips:
1. DON'T BE A SHADY PIECE OF SHIT! If you don't have a venue 100% secured or if you don't have the money to pay, don't claim to
2. Actually promote