If you look at a Billboard chart any time over the past several years, you’ll probably not notice a lot of rock and roll being bought by the masses. There will be some, but you’ll likely find more R&B, hip hop, country and pop acts throughout the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 singles charts. A chart in New York Magazine shows that the number of rock number one singles in the 1980s was well over half of all songs to hit the top of the charts. By the decade from 2000 to 2010, the rock portion of the pie chart was somewhere around fifteen percent.
It’s tough to feel bad about the decline of rock’s cultural hegemony when the most commercially successful bands right now are Kings of Leon, Nickelback, Foo Fighters and The Black Keys (my least favorite of this dismal class). The Billboard Rock and Alternative charts are even worse and the rock stars I idolized growing up are now punchlines on VH1.
I know it’s always been important to seek out exciting music outside the edges of the mainstream, but I don’t think there is anywhere in modern music where audiences are more poorly served by the establishment than they are when it comes to rock and roll. Never has it been more important to look in dirty rock clubs for new and exciting sounds than the radio.
I suppose that there could always be a “rock is back” declaration from some cultural arbiter like NME or Rolling Stone, but I think what is going on with Good to Die Records represents nothing short of the future of rock and/or roll. Rock music has gone from being the most prominent form of music to a niche, albeit and significant niche with a large and loyal fan base already. Good to Die’s Nik Christofferson has been the savviest at adjusting to that reality and he’s helping give Seattle’s rock scene a sort of renaissance at the time that folk and hip hop scenes are getting the most attention. Good to Die isn’t the first DIY label to originate from a fan’s dream and garage, it’s the first I’ve noticed to grow at a time when being good at Twitter is as important as a viable business plan.
Good to Die is the label Christofferson started last year, sort of an outgrowth of his excellent blog Seattle Rock Guy. SRG writes exclusively and passionately about heavy local music and Good to Die puts out albums of some of the best rock bands in the Northwest. Its roster includes Absolute Monarchs, Brokaw, Deadkill, Dog Shredder, Monogamy Party and Sandrider.
In a feature in the Stranger this week, Christofferson explained that he works on his label outside of the hours of his day job. It’s a DIY venture done through the love of heavy music and a desire to fill an important void. By putting out these heavy albums, rather than hoping a label will hear the same the music the same way that he does, it’s also helped reinvigorate a scene.
In that Stranger story, Christofferson talks about how he thinks he may have “alienated every other blogger in town.” Though our tastes in music differ quite a bit and we may not agree on many issues, I have always liked him personally and have nothing but respect and admiration for him. Good to Die specializes in vinyl and digital releases, and it provides a realistic model that one could follow, if they should desire.
Last week, Absolute Monarchs put out their debut album and played shows at Easy Street Records, the Comet and the Cha Cha. This Thursday, likely the first show at the new Barboza club, downstairs from Neumos, will host a Good to Die showcase with Dog Shredder, Sandrider, Monogamy Party and Brokaw.
If there’s anything that should give music fans reason to be optimistic for the future, Good to Die, along with others like Norm Bowler’s label he writes about weekly on ARS, is democratizing the process of putting music out. As Good to Die and its peers grow, it’ll help change the face of rock music in the future. The most passionate fans are now running their own labels and putting out music they like and believe in. It’s how the music industry should have been run long before we let Velvet Revolver happen.
{Good to Die Records showcase with Sandrider, Brokaw, Dog Shredder and Monogamy Party is at The BarbozaThe Highline on Thursday, April 26, 8pm doors, $8 tickets.}
Chris Burlingame is the editor of Another Rainy Saturday.
Excellent piece about G2D. And thanks for the shout-out, though G2D is miles ahead of my infant efforts. One of the topics I keep preaching is that the current landscape is amazingly open. Modern recording technology combined with digital distribution really lowers then entry cost for a label.
Modern marketing supports the idea of “the long tail” – that a tiny slice of a huge market can be a good living for niche players. It’s encouraging that people who love music are taking control and bringing fresh sounds to the table. I wish G2D every kind of artistic and business success. Rock on, dudes!