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Youtubers on Warped...

haha here we go. my feelings are complex. this is in response to a question i received on ask.fm - asking ‘how do you feel about Youtubers on Warped?’

objectively, i understand why they were invited on the tour in the first place. in principle, they theoretically represented the demographic Warped is targeted at, and music was a defining aspect (more so for some of them than others) of that culture. but i felt like on the tour itself, their meet and greets (for which people literally queued HOURS) took away from what the festival was about - music, the bands creating it, and the fans of that music.

that said, i feel strongly about young people with little to no life experience being put on a pedestal. the youtubers and lot of bands included - these are bunch of people in their mid-late teens, given a platform, and expected to handle the attention they're getting when most of them don't even know what that attention actually means. i'm not just talking about inappropriate behaviour via social media, as has happened with bands and youtubers all too often lately. what sickens me is the emotional significance and responsibility the fans have dumped on these perceived 'celebrities'. i saw this first hand - as some of you may have seen, coops posted a somewhat provocative image on instagram challenging the youtubers' presence on warped... middle finger up. pretty standard rock music fare.

but the vitriol and sheer brutality of the bullying directed his way by fans who claim to have been 'saved' by their mere presence and existence - it was heartbreaking. they viciously leapt to the YTers' defence because the fans themselves felt slighted by someone simply disagreeing with the YTers being on the tour. coops' caption was simply 'that we are looking up to the wrong people' - these kids aren't role models. hell, I myself am not a freaking role model - i'm just a dude with generally level-headed opinions based on being observant, respectful and I regularly challenge myself in what I believe and how it relates to people around me.

i said it on stage a couple of times on the tour - 'you saved my life' has become a bumper sticker and a 'club badge' that people are attaching to almost literally anyone we look up to. it's used as a simultaneous plea for attention and a badge to say 'i belong'. if a vocalist says 'life gets better' yet spouts an entire set of lyrics that are misogynistic, arrogant, homophobic, deliberately narcissistic, disrespectful and insulting, people still think he's a saint and a role model, quoting that one single statement to the disregard of all else. and people will defend that to scary ends because of how much of our own identity we invest in others. we (musicians and our audiences as a collective whole) have created a culture where 'lives saved' are bought and sold for profit. bands deliberately play up a feel-good 'message' because it sells. and this has become part of the culture that perpetuates itself in young and vulnerable teens, whom I believe make up the majority of the youtubers' audiences.

let me say this now. no band, no youtuber, no song, no lyric, no religion can save your life, short of physically pushing you out of the way of an oncoming bus. you, yourself, deserve the credit. i've suffered plenty with depression and anxiety and if there's one thing I've learned by it is that your own mind is the only barrier between you and a life worth living. and it's a daily battle. inspiration comes in all shapes and forms, and inspiration is powerful. but only because it motivates us individually to be something different.

I know that's all a tangent - so let's bring it back in.

first of all - i don't understand the attraction. maybe it's a generational thing. objectively, i find them to be exceptionally mediocre as journalists or public personalities. so i don't believe they're any more deserving of a place on warped than a mediocre band. simply being someone people recognize shouldn't be a reason to be paid to appear for the express purpose of meet and greets. they do not perform, they do not further an art. what they produce is media, not art. and i believe artists should always be given precedence. is that personal preference? of course. and plenty of mediocre bands make the bill. so that's not necessarily reason to kick them off future tours. but i do believe it distracts from what I feel and believe the tour is about - music. i have no problems or experience with the youtubers personally (excepting one past situation where a lack of professionalism and editorial consideration almost had severe real world consequences for one of us - but I won't divulge or dwell beyond simply stating the fact). they're just teenagers who haven't had to grow up yet. i simply don't believe they should be given a platform beyond their own channels that makes them appear as anything greater than they are. paying them to be on a tour, explicitly to meet people, seems wrong to me, no matter who they are.

if you're going to look up to people, seek perspective, not idols or role models. fame shouldn't add any weight to what we have to say, nor should it be a reason to listen.

Bands, Girls, Girl Bands, Girls in Bands, Bandgirls.

Girl is one of those words that looks weirder and weirder the more you type it. Like saying ‘bowl’ over and over (Ted Mosby - I’m looking at you). These combinations of two (TWO!) words have so many different loadings and meanings... so let’s talk about just one of them today.

I saw this article over at altpress this morning and wanted to type up some (extended) thoughts - too much for Twitter at least.

First, I agree with Hayley Williams response that the only one that is concerning is Skate and Surf’s complete omission of any bands with girls, but for a different reason that you might think.

Furthermore, I am a dude in a band so I might not have the particular traits, genitalia or life experience to know what I’m talking about - but I have met some fantastic female musicians over the last couple of years who more than stand up to (and regularly outshine) their male counterparts and it’s gotten me thinking.

The mainstream discussion, acceptance and debate of gender roles in wider society, especially in more ‘forward thinking’ areas like music and journalism, is a fairly recent thing - widely propagated and promoted by the internet. And frankly - this is fucking awesome. But while the conversation has been happening for years, decades, even centuries - change is a slow moving machine.

Music isn’t just something you pick up suddenly (unless you’re an incredibly gifted freak - in which case I am equal parts jealous and in admiration of you). Most successful musicians at the top of their games were born at least in the mid 90s or earlier. The 90s into early 00s were the golden age of marketing to children - we were culturally conditioned by TV and advertising that was incredibly defined by gender. I remember watching cartoons of a saturday morning where every ad was either boys shooting water pistols, driving remote control cars or playing with exaggerated action figures, or ads for dolls, craft sets or any other ‘girl’s’ toy - all sickeningly drenched in pink. During our formative years, that made such an impact on the way we identify ourselves.

Fast forward 10 years or so and suddenly we’re all talking about feminism’s role in society, closing the gender gap and even broadening our concept of ‘gender’ so that gender is moving towards irrelevance in every day life. But we’re all still growing up and while it’s fantastic that there are so many gifted, hard working, talented women being recognized and celebrated in music, it’s going to take time for that to filter down to young people picking up instruments, getting good enough at them to gain some attention, then play this wild and unpredictable game of building up a ‘successful’ career and finding your way onto such massive festival bills.

So sure - festival lineups might appear very skewed if you remove all the all-male acts but the fact that there are so many female-inclusive acts already there is a huge step forward in a severely conditioned society. By putting these artists on these stages, I hope that it is an active step towards inspiring more girls to pick up an instrument and dedicate themselves to mastering it.

Skate and Surf haven’t committed a cardinal sin in booking an all-male lineup - I’m sure there’s no prejudice or intentional exclusions involved in their decision making. They simply booked a festival full of quality bands. The fact none of them feature women is probably irrelevant - other than the fact they aren’t using their opportunity and platform to be a voice in the ongoing discussion of gender equality, and to inspire the young people on the other side of the barricades.

Huge congrats to the other respective festival organisers and a special nod to Kevin Lyman of Warped Tour, for being outspoken and actively involved in booking so many female musicians on the tour. Not because they’re girl bands, but because they’re talented artists deserving of attention.

~ Trenton

#altpress #feminism #hayley williams #warpedtour #girl band #band girl #music #trenton woodley #trentonwoodley #handslikehouses #hands like houses

Collisions Songworks - Support Project

Hey guys – it’s Trenton from Hands Like Houses. We’ve been lucky to have a busy and successful touring schedule over the last 2 years and it’s hard to describe just how much we’ve learned about music, touring, songwriting and the music industry. And as we learn, we’re growing older and have more to think about in terms of our long-term career and opportunities. Since joining HLH my favourite part of being in the band has been studio time: refining and realising the songs that have materialised somewhere in our heads and giving them their own life and character. Developing songs and bands is a fantastic experience and something I’ve been wanting to pursue long term beyond the band.

To that end I’m in the final stages of planning to build a small mixing/writing studio at my home in the Hunter Valley, NSW, with the intent of specialising in developing young Australian bands. I will also be offering online digital pre-production, mixing and mastering focused on finding and reinforcing a bands’ own sound and brand – it’s one thing to make a song sound professional, it’s another thing entirely to make a song great.

Between my fiancée Katie and I, our intent is to fit out a shipping container to provide the creative space for growing both our small businesses. We have been saving and planning ourselves, and will be pouring our own time, energy and money into making this a reality – we don’t want to abuse any concept of ‘celebrity’ associated with my being in Hands Like Houses by asking for a free ride to pay for our own goals. That all in mind – we are still short of where we want to be financially and rather than setting our goals for some point next year, we would much rather, if possible, use the intervening time to grow our business and develop our individual skills. To that end, I’m creating an online store by which I can offer vocal or songwriting workshops (in person on tour or via Skype when I am home – mid-June to September) and song pre-production, mixing and mastering (once the studio is built – if all our goals are met, we anticipate it being functional in July). And if you’re not musically inclined, I’ll be selling a few t-shirts to support the cause! I’ve attached a few early design mockups of the studio to show that this is genuinely a serious venture – I have a business plan, material lists & budgets, construction advice, an exceptionally talented friend & father-in-law and most importantly – time and enthusiasm – all aside ready to make this happen, and will be pouring my own resources in as well as whatever I can raise via this campaign or whatever you want to call it.

For a full explanation of each of the products or services I’m offering to support our goal in funding this creative space, check out collisionssongworks.bigcartel.com.

If you want to support us in any way other than what I have listed on the site – please contact me at [email protected].

Connections.

So the last few months I’ve been trying to tackle my complex and conflicting thoughts about social media, personal entitlement and engagement with fans. We’re in an incredible place as a band where people are so invested in what we do and by association - who we are. That’s a weird thing, I mean if you have a great meal you typically wouldn’t follow the chef on twitter, or try take photos with him, or ask for his autograph. Occasionally you might ask the server to pass on your compliments, but you walk away happy you’ve had a great meal and you’re more likely to come back again. And that's that.

So what makes music different? It could be said that the personal experience we as musicians inject into our songs creates a connection - if they aren’t an emotional and tangible representations of our personal selves they are often hollow and soulless. But I know chefs who would consider their efforts to be in the same vein of inspiration.

I firmly believe that music is a universal language - it is an expression of a moment in time that we can all understand or appreciate even if the lyrics are in English, Swedish or Swahili. It can give you goosebumps, it can motivate you, it can open a spiritual connection to the world around you. Our job as musicians is simply to create it, and share it. The ‘live’ factor of music is a huge part of what HLH exists for - we love being on stage, sharing a personal experience and enjoying the recognition and reciprocation of our songs, which are in turn a reflection of ourselves.

So keeping in mind the chef analogy - what if you never had that interaction with us, aside from the ‘product’ we produce? What is it that makes us want ‘more’ than just to go to a rock show, enjoy the experience for everything it is, buy a CD of those songs to take home, and go away enriched by the experience?

Despite the stereotype of the extroverted, larger-than-life frontman, I’m a fairly reclusive person - it doesn’t mean I don’t like being around people - quite the opposite - but I never feel truly comfortable in multi-social situations. Likewise, online I share what I want people to know about me or my thoughts, and I don’t share what I feel is personal, irrelevant or non-productive. I don’t like ‘committing’ to hanging out at merch after the show, or announce during the set that I want to meet every single one of you. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy wandering around the show, meeting people, having genuine conversations and on a more self-motivated level, it’s a good feeling to have people tell me what our music has meant to them. But I do want to preserve the ‘live experience’ because I feel that is the truest representation of myself and our band - and sometimes I do just want to enjoy the chance to sit in the bus by myself or with a few friends and feel like we’ve just played a great show with no feeling of guilt or obligation toward ‘being out there’.

I guess the point of writing all this down and sharing it is because I want you guys, as our fans, or as curious onlookers, to understand and appreciate the people behind the music. I truly want to be accessible, not just through our music, but just as a fellow human. Talk to me, engage me, be a real person and recognise me as the same. If you see me at a show, come say hi! Ask me a question. Be real - don’t freak out because I’m ‘somebody’. And don’t be embarrassed or guilty if you have done that, I deal with it all the time and I don’t mind. I just don’t want to be seen as anything different than simply being me, with my own personality, my own privacy, my own desires and my own place in the world.

Same goes on Twitter or other social media - I’m not a mysterious rockstar thinking I’m above you, nor am I doing it to sell records by a fake sense of ‘connectedness’ or ‘we are here for you’. We aren’t, beyond expressing our own conflicts and struggles in the form of music. But be real - I try to respond to anything human. I can usually tell when people just want attention or recognition - these things should mean absolutely nothing more than from your friends or your family or even a simple nod from someone you pass in the street.

So coming out of this blog post - let’s boil it down to two outcomes.

One - let’s talk! If you want to know something or share something, tweet me. And if I don’t reply, don’t take it personally, sometimes I’m busy, or don’t have something worthwhile to respond with, or I just missed it. I don’t think anything less of you or appreciate your recognition any less.

And two - if you see me at a show, say hey! And if you don’t, don’t let it affect your enjoyment of what it is that we do - creating a shared experience and connection. Enjoy the show, enjoy the music and go home richer for the experience. That is all I can ask or hope for! And if you happened to bump into me at merch or outside the venue, awesome, I hope we both walk away better for it.

Music Hasn't Saved Your Life

I've had this blog for a while, but never actually written anything so far. I've had thoughts too detailed for twitter and plenty of things I've wanted to to express… but haven't made it so far. Part of it has been wanting to make my first post count or be worthwhile. This might, or might not be it. Either way - this is my first post. I hope it makes you think, or else it's pointless. This isn't therapy or an outlet for me, this is me hoping that I'm heard.

We get a lot of letters as a band. We try to read most of them, and it truly means a lot to us that people have taken the time to write to us and tell us about the impact of our music on their lives.

But all that said, as we get more established as a band, I'm not sure if I can, or want to keep reading all of them. Most are young girls struggling with self-harm and difficult times. I genuinely feel the emotional weight behind those letters. They typically thank us for the impact and inspiration that our music has provided for them, but not before they have told us what they are struggling with and often the extent of their self harm. Often they tell us how long it has been since they cut, and I am truly glad that by any means they have willed themselves to be stronger. But by linking their recovery or present strength so directly to our music, it puts a strange kind of emotional responsibility on us for their well-being. Unless I'm in a truly prepared mindset, it's deeply troubling and bordering on depressing to read - and I'm not sure how much I want to submit myself to that. We've even been given someone's blade and while I understand the significance of that to them, it's a huge burden and a very difficult thing to process (notwithstanding the obvious serious health and safety implications for us).

I don't want to imply that I don't care. Depression, anxiety and self harm are serious issues, the former two of which I have struggled with myself, even at times in the present. I would never wish them on anyone, nor treat them with apathy and disrespect. I do care about any human's well being, whether I know them or not.

But I've heard it said by others and I would like to repeat the sentiment: I am a musician - not a therapist. Music for me is often a kind of outlet. I write what I do as an expression and a 'sorting' mechanism for my own thoughts and struggles, and my own self-encouragement to be stronger, to be happier, to be free. It is not me preaching change for others, nor am I trying to sell records by giving a sense of 'we are here for you when no one else is,' be that a genuine or false sentiment. But we are not trained to give help, we aren't even trained to know how to process this kind of information from people.

If you are reading this and you are struggling with depression in any of its many forms, please, find help, and find it close to you. If your family or friends can't or won't understand, find a counsellor through your school or work. Music can't, won't, and hasn't saved your life - you have. Giving the credit/responsibility for your recovery to music is taking it away from yourself - and you are the only one who can enact change in yourself.

If our music has impacted you in a way that has helped you be stronger, I am truly grateful that you have found perspective in my lyrics. But that is all I can do - offer perspective. Music is a powerful thing, and something that connects on a level beyond language. Music is a free exchange of will. We choose to create something we want to exist. We hope that people like you also want that same thing to exist, and thereby we share a commonality and an experience. It's a relationship where no one owes each other anything, it is simply an opportunity to share as equals. (just an aside - if you have written to us recently, please do not interpret this open letter as being about you or anyone. We do genuinely appreciate your letters. These are just thoughts that I have been processing in the last few months and needed to express. I hope you are keeping strong.)

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