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While money would be great. The one thing I most often wish I could do
like big rock stars is travel the world.
I would love to have a house in France, or deep in Northern Canada, New
Orleans, Northern Africa...Different locations where I could get away and
gather new inspirations and experiences.
- Paul Vnuk Jr: of the Tribal / Space duo Ma Ja Le
A studio assistant! "Here's five 50-megabyte files. Edit each one to take
out any extraneous noises, run each one through noise reduction,
re-equalize and back them up on CDR. I'm going to take a nap...."
- Sara Ayers: ambient artist
A reality in which such a choice might be made seems less the result
of greed than the strange by-product of an unpublished work of
science fiction. Fame is something for which I care little, and
groupies are nice unless one considers that they will vanish at the
next shift in musical trends or at the first reading of a proper
slating in the high and mighty musical publication of one's choice.
As I neither watch MTV nor follow smash hits, these have little
meaning for me.
But if some inexplicable rain of money were
precipitated out of one of my records - again, I am suspending
disbelief here - I would certainly not refuse it, for while the
mostly ridiculous trappings of celebrity (obsessive followers, action
figures, stadium appearances, sightings in society columns, chemical
dependencies, publically aired emotional laundry, fearfully
handpicked bowls of candies in dressingrooms, and defenestrations of
television sets from overpriced hotel rooms) tend to be ephemeral or
destructive, the funding could be used to improve my studio, expand
my label in order to more widely release music by those deserving of
more listeners, and perhaps contribute to the world something other
than another garish mansion or another flashy car.
Then again, cats
can talk all they want about how they would carry on as dogs yet
cannot offer a single bark.
- Joshua Maremont: Thermal / Boxman label
I realize how incredibly maudlin this will sound,
but in all honesty the "trapping" of bigtime success I would enjoy would be
the financial freedom to support those causes in which I believe. The other
trappings are ephemeral. But to be able to improve the Earth and help those
who inhabit her, that would be star-like.
- Richard Bone: ambient /electronic artist
Oh, give me the money. Yeah, the money, because you can always do with more money. I like to put it around, I like to give it to the musicians. And you know, the more money the more projects you can work.
- Jah Wobble:30 Hertz Records
Personally, I find all those things to be fairly repulsive. They sound cool
when you're 16 years old, but I've realized, the more time passes, that, at
BEST, those things are complete distractions from making music. I've never
liked the term "fans", because it implies a king-serf type relationship
between the musician and his audience- I'd MUCH prefer the term "fellow
music listener", because *I* still get excited LISTENING to music. Being
famous, in my mind, would be the veritable hell on earth- no privacy, being
loved AND hated just because people believe that they know you- not for me.
Ultimately, I think the LEAST destructive of these things would be the
money, but, again, the trap becomes that you could end up viewing your "art"
as a vehicle to achieving financial success. Even in this small genre of
music, I would worry if my music became my sole means of supporting myself-
would I still view it as art, or would it become a vehicle to pay the
mortgage?
- Jeff Pearce: ambient guitarist
I'd like my hair back please...
- Dino Pacifici: Music-Language of the Spirit
Most of those trappings don't interest me. If they did, I would have gone
in that direction originally. I'm already doing what I want. Of course,
more money could help, as it would allow me to explore some creative
avenues that my budget currently doesn't allow. Beyond that, feh.
- Robert Rich:Soundscape Productions / Amoeba Music
I'll take the money. Most rockstars have more money than sense. Me, I've got
more sense than money.
- Nigel Ayers: of Nocturnal Emissions
THE MONEY
I have no interest in groupies, fame or dumb ass videos.
I'd like my music to have fame.
- lk: (audiochrom)
money, enough to live on very comfortabley for the rest of
my life so I could quit work and concentrate on developing my music and
label properly.
That's why short tracks are soooo good. less time to get
bored.
- aspen: www.involve.co.nz
I think I would probably choose the money. Fame and having groupies must be
great if you wish inflate your ego, but having an excessive amount of money
would enable me to not only pursue my music more effectively but to invest
money into projects and causes that can help our planet make it through our
adolescence unscathed.
- Maitreya: Ambient Artist @ Council of Nine
The ability to do large-scale performances (presumably attended by lots of
people). Not so much for the glory, but because a major live artistic
experience is a uniquely amazing thing, and has become relatively
untractable except for the real superstars.
Before the advent of radio and TV and the Internet the only way to hear new
music was to go to a performance, and when the rave scene was open to
experimentation there were some real opportunities to this kind of thing
that we wanted to do, but now so much of it is just a predictably-channeled
armchair affair.
- Seofon: member/producer with Ambient Temple
of Imagination and The
Archipelago
The only thing that would be really cool about being 'big' is the capability
to work with people one normally wouldn't have much of a chance of working
with. For instance, to collaborate with Brian Eno, Sting, Peter Gabriel,
Suzanne Vega, Bjork; to ask Pavarotti, Madonna, Lisa Gerrard to perform on
an ambient piece I wrote and have them say yes (!!!); to learn from the
masters ... this would absolutely rock.
- John Michael Zorko: AdAstra Records
Money, of course. I would lie if this isn't the case but since this is
absolutely not my motivation behind why I'm making music, I guess it will
never happen. And perhaps this is for the best as well since the success
quite often diminishes the flair and charm of music.
I still choose for the appreciation, I'm getting now and then.
But money will definitely help me buy a few more things...
- Vidna Obmana: ambient/electronic artist
Yeesh, the money, I guess. I enjoy the volunteer work I do more than my
paid job, so it would be nice to be able to ditch the "wage slavery" thing.
Definitely not the fame or the groupies, because I'd angst too much about
how I was representing myself to my fans.
- Michael Upton : (a.k.a. Jet Jaguar)
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