MANITOBA ROCKS!

Manitoba Music Month is coming up. I'm glad the Province is taking an interest in young musicians. Some young talented kids are going to have the privilege of working with some of Winnipeg's top music professionals. At least the ones who aren't busy being professionals... But the type who have time for government sponsored contests.

Honestly, I think this is a great idea. However, being the person I am, I have a bit to say about Rock music in Manitoba. I would be more impressed if it wasn't Rock based. But, we all know that rock is the alpha and omega of popular music, despite the fact that innovation in rock hasn't happened for a long time. Record companies keep re hashing things that have worked in the past and bitch about DRMs when they don't make the returns they stole when they killed the Grunge rock movement.

******** Puts on Rant Hat ********

The last thing we need is washed up old mullet men promoting their dead musical forms.


A well seasoned "Winnipeg Rocker" who experienced a modicum of fame says : "Hey kids! How about you try writing for two guitars bass and drums!?" Then you can get signed and voila! Career in the music biz"

In My Opinion, the pop music business is a closed business. Sometimes you get picked to be part of the industry but it has nothing to do with your talents. Talents comes from professional writers, recording studios, targeted marketing and media giants. The physical featurses that the most profitable demographic like are what the record industry looks for. Why dosen't Manitoba have a young model competition where four young attractive guys are picked to be handed over to the industry to be made into stars. That way they could actually have promise in the industry.

Is this program a cash cow for the "industry professionals"? or is it for the kids?

If it was for the kids, I'd teach them how to take advantage of cheap, readily available music technology. That way they could produce and cultivate their own talents without being at the mercy of "Professional recording studios" and "industry professionals" Both of which are parasites who take advantage of young talents who are trying to make a living making music. For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be hand picked by the gods of the music industry's marketing department, indie success is the best one can aspire to. That or a career as a music teacher or academic. I'm going for the latter option.

A time will come when the music industry as we know it collapses. I prey that it is sooner rather than later.

Check out www.downhillbattle.com for a real "insider's perspective" on the music biz.

Finding a Job

As most of you may know, my scheduled one month vacation turned into a month and a half of vacation, a few days working part time, and a week looking for a job. Having never actually looked for a job, the whole process was quite strange for me. Typically I see a job that I want, find out how people are hired for it, then I go and get it. Up until this point, all the jobs I wanted involved working all summer for the city or the government. This time I wasn't sure where all the jobs for young people were. From what I understood, young people do one of two things. Work in retail or work in the food service industry. Composer not being one of those two options, I had to look around for a little while.

I spent most of my job hunting time wandering around the down town, Osborne and st Boniface areas enjoying the city and the strange things it has to offer. It's amazing how many fast cash advance places we have. There are about 10 in my area alone!

Here is the little list of work places in my area. The only jobs I was actually interested in were Music store, Money Mart, Tache Hall and Server.

Money Mart Broadway
First Nations Bank Broadway
Scotia Bank Broadway

Medan Credit Union Broadway
Kave Broadway
Docs Now Copy centre Broadway
Canada Customs Broadway (Federal)
The Fyxx Broadway
Starbucks Broadway
Manitoba Housing Broadway
Buffalo Credit Union Broadway
Cambrian Credit Union Broadway
Hotel LFG security Broadway
The KEG
Assinaboine Credit Union Various Locations
AVIS
Western Canada Lottery Corp
MTS Center
Hulls Books store
RWB Graham
Second Cup Graham
Lewis Craft Graham
Paymax Graham
Pictures frames and More Graham
HBC Graham
Old SP factory Forks
Branigans Forks
Dollarwise Osborne
Into the Music Osborne
Nyce Osborne
Public Library Downtown

Quite a list I know. But it's not like I really applied to more than a few of them. I ended up working part time in construction. I enjoy the sledge hammer the most. It feels good to smash things. After that, I landed a job at Great West Life! So, that's where I work now. I'll be working full time in a cube for the next few months. Life is crazy.