Xtreme Soundscapes is a project designed to highlight just how good the underground and local music scene can be. Since we are located in central New York, the local bands are the bands in the upstate New York area, but we have featured Indie bands from as far away as Florida, and national acts from California and Germany. When we feature a national, it is one that defines what this project is about. Good, original, music. Bands who have stayed their course and made themselves successful without the overmarketing and brainwashing of the corporate world. Bands who do it for the music first. Artists.

As for local artists, we have found over many years that there are always a good number of local bands that blow away most national acts. However, because talent does not equal national exposure, most of these bands will never be heard by many people who will likely enjoy them. So this is our attempt to take some of those bands and get them a bit more exposure than they would otherwise get. With the internet being such a great tool for exposure, our aim to to get as many people to see some of these bands as possible. And remember, when you are considering shelling out a fortune to go see a national act, you could be shelling out far less money for better bands, and bands who will actually appreciate it. You buy a CD put out by a major record label, and the artists sees very little of that money. You buy a CD from an indie band, and they see the money. All of it in many cases, and they don't charge as much for better quality music. Indie bands don't have to water down their sound to appeal to the masses. They don't have to smooth off the sharp edges and sanitize their image to fit expectations. They don't have to commercialize themselves to appeal to the lowest common denominator. And granted, not all indie bands are good by any means, but that is obvious. The problem is, there are plenty of good bands that get completely overlooked, and fixing that is one of the things we hope to acomplish. We want to bring the good bands to a media that people can see. And on the DVD's, you not only get to hear them, but essentially meet them and see what makes them tick.

And in saying all this, think about what the RIAA is doing. When you buy a CD from their organization of labels, you support their organized crime-like tactics in trying to stop file sharing. File sharing has been shown by unbiased research to actually boost sales. So why would they want to stop that? Because that is not what they are really after. They are after the limitation of access to music. They want you to hear only what they want you to hear. They want you to only buy what they want you to buy, and the internet is making that harder for them to control. Because of the internet, bands can now promote themselves quite well without the RIAA. Hell, some have been outselling national acts. If you watch the RIAA they are slowly making it impossible to share music. Any music. They have tried to sue for someone having an empty shared music folder. It's not about copyright infringement as much as it is about control. And that sets a fire beneath what we are doing. Freedom to listen to what you want, is more important than it may seem. Music inspires, and moves you. Music is hardwired into our brains. It is a part of us. Good music has an emotional effect on you. And of course, everyone is different, and what moves who differs. But generic music doesn't really move anyone. They may think they like it, but only because they have never heard anything that truly moves them before. The RIAA wants you to be spoonfed a small number of artists, buy them up en mass, then they drop them and replace them with bands that sound similar enough that they don't have to develop anything because they sound enough like the last group of bands that they know you will buy these too. This is the death of music. Music turned completely into product, and nothing more. Inspired bands turned into garbage and tossed away in the wheels of the machine. How many bands today were major artists 5-10 years ago. The ones that have been around since the 70's may still be going, but that was a different industry back then, when artists were developed and encourage to be different to an extent in order to stand out. Now one band is the same as another, and no one cares enough to remember. They are instead encouraged to get the latest thing, to catch the latest trendy band before all their other friends get the same band. The world is getting dumber, and this is part of the reason. Music affects your emotions and your intellect. It can make you think. But not what is out there in the mainstream. That is like bad, bad junk food. Seems like it's good, but it's really bad. And you feel so much better when you eat something that is good for you, don't you?

So all in all, Fuck the mainstream. Spread the word about the indie bands you know are good, they are the people who actually care when you support them. It doesn't matter what style of music you like, there are great bands out there that you will never hear unless you look around. Don't let your choice be taken away. And in the end, that is what this is all about.

Seriah Azkath
April 28, 2006