And what about those of us who were born in Minot, North Dakota? Am I supposed to be "doing it DIY" there? Or perhaps you were of the close-minded idea that everybody is born in a major urban area?
This idea is as outdated as the notion that if my father is a blacksmith, so should I be. "We should all just accept our lot in life." Or maybe my family should have never left Europe in the first place. Better yet, maybe we should all be living near the Tigris or on the steppes of Africa. Moving to find opportunity is not a new or "American" concept as you tried to insinuate. I agree with your sentiment-- it is frustrating to live somewhere like Minneapolis (where I lived for two years) and watch everybody leave to greener pastures rather than trying to cultivate their own scene. I grew up a punk and participated in several grassroots punk venues (one of them in Fargo was even called the "DIY Center") and can respect these ideals, but you have to recognize that they're not practical in many situations. I recognize that, for example, living in Chicago, it's much easier for me to be an electronic musician and run a label (lots of distributors are located here, O'Hare has a direct flight to anywhere, etc) than it would be in Fargo. The costs of doing business there would just be so much higher that it would basically be impractical. The vast majority of these artists aren't moving because they don't care about their roots, they're moving because they love their art and want to be able to make the most out of it. -- :: atomly :: [ [EMAIL PROTECTED] : www.atomly.com ... [ atomiq records : po box 805319 chicago il 60680 : 312.804.5389 ... [ e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for atomly info and updates ...
