FEATURE:
Lonely Hearts Club
IN THIS PHOTO: Brighton’s YONAKA are one of the most exciting bands in the U.K.
Is the Band Market in Decline?
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A couple of articles have come out…
PHOTO CREDIT: @yannispap/Unsplash
in the past couple of weeks that have made me think about bands and whether the market is as productive and exciting as it once was. I think there has been a move away from the band-led dominance we saw back in the 1990s (and even the decade after that). This is not to say that bands are non-existent today. From Wolf Alice to Foo Fighters, there are some great examples. I do feel there has been a dwindling. Maybe certain genres are in favour and solo artists have greater flexibility when it comes to their sound. There are a load of great bands at the moment that are worthy of attention. I have highlighted some like The Lounge Society, and YONAKA. I like The Lathums too, and there seems to be a nice mix of rising groups and established bands. As NME reported, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine has observed a lack of new bands:
“Adam Levine has said in a new interview that he is disappointed that there “aren’t any bands any more”.
The Maroon 5 frontman was speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe this week following the arrival of the band’s new collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, ‘Beautiful Mistakes’.
Levine spoke in the interview about Maroon 5’s breakthrough in 2002 with their debut album ‘Songs About Jane’, telling Lowe that he had been re-watching old music videos from that era with his daughter.
IN THIS PHOTO: Adam Levine
Levine then said he remembers how “when the first Maroon 5 album came out there were still other bands”, adding: “I feel like there aren’t any bands any more, you know?”
“That’s the thing that makes me kind of sad, is that there were just bands,” he continued. “There’s no bands any more, and I feel like they’re a dying breed. And so I kind of, in a weird way, as far as … I mean, there still are plenty of bands, and maybe they’re not in the limelight quite as much, or in the pop limelight, but I wish there could be more of those around”.
I cannot agree that bands are rare these days. I will admit that there are fewer bands coming through that have impressed me – compared to a few years back -, but it is hard to fight the dominance of the solo market. I think bands were more popular decades ago because there were strong scenes and communities. There was a fruitful Alternative Rock wave and Grunge. We had Britpop, and there was a wave of interesting bands that came around just after the 1990s that created rivalry and some wonderful albums. Whilst there has not been quite the same fervency in the last decade or so, I feel that may change in the coming year or so. I think that lockdown especially will compel bands to form and there will be this appetite for live music from bands.
IN THIS PHOTO: Alice Cooper/PHOTO CREDIT: Jenny Risher
To me, you cannot get the same live experience from a solo artist or duo that you can from a band. Perhaps that is all-sweeping, though there is some truth to it. Another article that caught my eye pertains to Rock music today. I feel a lot of the best bands from years back were Rock bands. Maybe there were some great Pop groups around (and some good R&B girl groups), but a lot of my favourite groups were playing Rock. I do concede that this is an area of music that has seen a tapering-off. Another NME related to Gene Simmons (KISS) claiming that Rock is dying – this was defended by Alice Cooper:
“Alice Cooper has bit back at Gene Simmons after the KISS bassist recently claimed that rock music is “dead”.
Simmons first courted controversy with similar comments in 2014, and doubled down on the remarks in a new interview which arrived last month.
“Rock is dead. And that’s because new bands haven’t taken the time to create glamour, excitement and epic stuff,” Simmons told Gulf News.
“I mean, Foo Fighters is a terrific band, but that’s a 20-year-old band. So you can go back to 1958 until 1988. That’s 30 years. During that time, we had Elvis [Presley], The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, on and on.”
He went on to suggest that popular bands exist, but that doesn’t mean they’re “iconic and legacy and for all-time”.
PHOTO CREDIT: @framemily/Unsplash
But Cooper sees the opposite, defiantly telling NME that a new generation of rock stars are currently preparing for greatness in their own homes.
“Gene Simmons – I would like him to do my taxes because he’s a businessman and that’s valid, but I guarantee you right now that in London somewhere, in garages, they’re learning Aerosmith and Guns ‘N’ Roses,” he said.
“There’s a bunch of 18-year-kids in there with guitars and drums and they’re learning hard rock. It’s the same with the United States: there’s all these young bands that want to resurge that whole area of hard rock.”
“We’re not at the Grammys; we’re not in the mainstream. Rock’n’roll is outside looking in right now, and that gives us that outlaw attitude,” Cooper said”.
I think that there is a definite change in Rock. Although there are some good Rock bands, there is not the same excitement, rebellion and anthems as there were years ago. I don’t think we will see any iconic bands or leads come through in the next few years. I like a lot of bands coming through, as they are broader and more diverse than many from the past. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel Rock will continue and provide interesting bands - though we will never return to the giddy highs when there was a load of awesome bands penning these epic songs. That is not to say that the band market is dying out. It is not as populous and popular as it was, but I feel we will get a shift and growth when the pandemic has passed. Hopefully, live music will be back soon enough and, as bands have formed in lockdown and some interesting acts have come through in this past year, we will get this new wave. After such a tough year, this is what we all…
IN THIS PHOTO: Wolf Alice/PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Lake
WANT to see.