Nostalgia Vs Genuine Good S*^t

Over the Easter break I went to Poona up sunny coast way. Fires, drinks, food, fishing... all the good shit about life you know?
My friend played his ipod around the fire, and he said he wasn't really liking any of the current music. And when he would play a song everyone would go "Oh yeah, I remember this!" and smile, do a little boogie or hum along or something you know?
I noticed that, personally, all this nostalgia was driving me crazy.
Didn't he have any Frank Ocean? James Blake? Even some ASAP Rocky or Kendrick Lamar?

I mean, they're better than Shaggy that's for sure...

But he'd switched off his desire for new music. His excitement. Stuck in nostalgia land he had downloaded a best of the 90s cd or something, and that had been his playlist for the past few months... woah... dedication.

But I remember a few years back being the same. Nothing was speaking to me from the radios or the itunes lists of friends or the filmclips or the viral hits. Well, that "Friday" song was pretty tight though... 

Sorry, I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. Gimme a sec.

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Okay.

And in a few years, the hits of today will be the next gen's nostalgia. It already happens now o' course. For me, old ninja turtles, samurai pizza cats and biker mice from mars are my nostalgic tip. Remember Technoman? That shit fucked me up it was so intense, and the last episode...? Well that was a day of school I kind of zombied myself through thanks to the trauma of it all on my lil teen brain.

Now people that run businesses, have kids, get married, organise events are like "remember how great pokemon was?"
I missed the pokemon boat by about 2 years.

I guess what I'm wondering is, is it actually good? Let's not get into the argument of if it was re-released would it be as good... Just, was it good? Is it good?
For me my nostalgic music moment lasted until I got sick of the music and didn't want to live in the 90s anymore, plus I heard Kanye's album, Danger Doom, CocoRosie and more...
And I actively sought new, great music. Like I did when I was a teenager. And I think that's why we're so nostalgic of that stuff, not because it was actually good. But because we found it, we sought it, we WANTED that new 2pac cd, we craved something kick arse to watch before school, we got EXCITED.
And I'm excited about music again, I have been for the past few years. But there was definitely a time in my mid 20s when all I listened to was the Makaveli album and Rage Against The Machine.



But I'm stoked about music and tv again. Entertainment is pretty great now. And it probably was a few years ago too, I just couldn't be bothered at the time. Adventure Time, Game Of Thrones, Walking Dead, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, James Blake, that new Rudimentals track Hell Could Freeze feat Angel Haze? Damn. That's the best verse I've heard in years. Air tight. Water tight. Tight as fuck.

But there's still shit out there. And I think there was a lot of shit you let slide when you're young. Because it's YOUR voice putting that shit out there. One Direction are terrible.

So's Justin Beiber. But the ones who are excited about music are these kids who see themselves in those artists. They see people around their age doing fancy as fuck dance moves and rockin around and they're like "that's me!" And in ten years time they'll cringe like we all do when we see that Backstreet Boys are touring again, or someone mentions 5ive. See? Even spelt it right. They were (to some of us) our Beiber and our One Direction. They're all terrible of course. But for some kids they're THEIR terrible music. "So shut up dad and go listen to your stupid Erykah Badu CD"...

If my kids ever diss Badu I might have to kill...

I think I had a point here somewhere. Or maybe not. This argument about nostalgia and it's power has been done before, and better. Shit, the Transformers movies sold on nostalgia alone, launched Megan Gale's career (or what she might call a career, is she doing an ad with a dolphin now? classy), and were terrible glitzy messes of movies. Splosions + Robots + Megan Gale's arse = $$$$$$$.
Nostalgia makes money, makes campfires kinda fun, and who here dares NOT know all the words to Gangster's Paradise?

$$$$ MAKE MONEY MONEY!!!! $$$$

Well you may know, or well you may not, about Jam Jar Poetry Slam and it's place as a place to place your words/stories/monologues/raps etc...

It's been running for over a year and in that time we've seen seen some pretty interesting changes and growth.

It costs money to enter now. A whole $5.
And while I haven't had much of a backlash about it, there is a small amount of discontent. A really minimal amount, but I thought it was worth discussing.
Because, apparently, paying for poetry is just not done.
It's a foreign concept.

Movies, ok. Books, ok. Music, ok. Plays, ok. Art galleries, ok...
But spoken word?
You fucking sellout moneymaking scumbag.
See we value our art, enough to attend, enough to want to join a community of artists, enough to write, but not enough to pay.

And there is definitely a broken culture of how we value our spoken word in Brisbane.

I was performing at a gig in Sydney called Outspoken, and a friend from Canberra came up to hang out while I was close(ish).
It was $10 to enter.
She was told she could get in for free because she was with me.
You know what she said?
"Ten dollars...? Maaaaan, I'll pay ten dollars to see poetry! Here".
And she gave them a ten dollar note and walked on in without blinking an eye.

Now I'm wondering if there are people in Brisbane who would do the same thing?
And don't get me wrong, I don't think it's out of spite or nastiness.
I just wonder if we've become so accustomed to free spoken word events that the concept of paying, of someone making a living off their spoken word art, is... weird.

You know why the events were free?
Because no-one would come.

But now there's a bubbling community of die-hard poetic lovers.
Why not say: If I put on a good show, you pay me - so I can eat, or drink, or get a tattoo, or smoke crack, or... gosh... maybe buy a new writing book? a pen? or pay for flights so I can bring Brisbane spoken word to other cities? Or just exist as an artist?

When I was starting out doing spoken word, I was paid according to my skill level. Or the funding for the venue. I now charge more. I charge more for workshops and more for a set. Because my skill set has been shaped and challenged and rewarded and learnt over nearly 7 years of spoken word. Add another 4/5 onto that  for writing rhymes, hip-hop, beat making and DJing and there's a shit load of experience there. And I'm not trying to blow my on horn, I've just come to a point where I know what I can do.
Yet I do a fuck load of free events for community-run organisations, festivals and arts groups.
And every payment sits within the standard awards for artists.

I value what I do.
And I have the right to make money off what I do.

Of course, the people who don't like it are in a teeny tiny minority.

Thanks to the majority of people who pay without fuss. And would probably pay more.

I can pay my rent now.

I can give the features some good cash for their work, their risk taking, their writing and their performance.

Poets are getting paid!!! Thanks to you!!!

And when it comes to funding, grant writing, and all that bureaucratic stuff, the government and funding bodies can see an economy based around this arts community and tick their boxes accordingly.
So we can build and create something to be proud of.