Disqus - Friends of lexspoon

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:14:19 -0000

yeah, but i'm kinda like a really awesome dork

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:27:29 -0000

you gotta balance being dorky with not giving a fuck. and then you get some good perspectives on life.

but damn girl - that's pretty good for 16. you go coco

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:28:16 -0000

i'm like totally like really right here guys.

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:29:24 -0000

yeah like the story line is pretty good right? but seriously, i wanted him to fall down the elevator shaft and fucking die.

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:30:17 -0000

oh yeah. i forgot about that one.... i def cried in that movie.
what hood? the beanie?

Re: ARG! You fuckin LJ kids is crazy!

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:31:22 -0000

tell me about it.

Re: Nostalgia is the Failure of True Emotion

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:12:19 -0000

thanks girl!
and dont worry i wasnt bummed at you for correcting my mistake! like i said, i like getting called out.
i was just annoyed with myself. but not really.
especially because i'm always ballin, so it's easy to see how i'd get confused. ;)

Re: Nostalgia is the Failure of True Emotion

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:16:35 -0000

whachu talkin about , this aint my blog/ :p

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:42:11 -0000

only from merch. touring is super expensive tour. we can only eat because so many of you guys have supported us by buying our tshirts. so thank you.

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:42:47 -0000

it's kinda my job. no one is forcing me to. but i take what i do seriously ( evn though it's fun) and i get sad when i let people down. so i try my best not to. can't win em all tho.

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:32:47 -0000

there are so many things that are factually wrong about your post, that it's hard to know where to begin....

firstly, i def did NOT discredit buying cds. i don't understand how you can extrapolate everything that YOU wrote from the 2 lines i wrote above.

this is what i see:
"where do you see your profits from"
"only from merch"

i didn't say anything about not buying CDs. and i didn't make any comment about all of the other things you mentioned. so i find it kind of odd that you would argue these things to me as if i had actually begun a debate. ...
i just read it again. try jumping from the original comment, to mine, and then to yours. it's a very bizarre read. seems like you have a lot of pent up aggression . maybe you should take up an outdoors activity? something physical to alleviate stress?

also, why are you calling kids ignorant? i was a kid. and i know i wasn't ignorant. and i definitely knew a lot of kids who were smarter than me.

what i think is really ignorant is to hear someone else tell me about how my business works. every band is different, so i'm sure there are different realities for different bands. but i am also sure that you have no idea what our P&L statements look like. so let me describe them for you: for first two years of cobra, the number at the bottom was always red. and the only reason we got out of the red was because of merch. again, that was OUR reality. but i know that it is the truth for many bands too. maybe other bands have other significant points of income, and maybe if cobras get really big, we will see money from other things, but merch is definitely what puts food on the table right now.

the thing you're def wrong about is saying that i don't give a tiny rat's ass. i def give a tiny rat's ass. but a big one? i'm not so sure. i once had a huge rat in my apartment and it was super scary. he was as big as a cat and he smelled like rotting fish. it was rough.

p.s. if you can articulate your thoughts a little better, you should send all your "points" to rohan at ap. and i'll answer them all in the interview we're doing this week. it's your one and only chance to have some else say all the things to my face that you're scared to say. i'll def address the millionaires, but that would be a real bummer if the entire interview was about that.

ok g2g

xoxo

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:43:34 -0000

joe, you are an incredibly negative person. but i understand that you are going through some hard times and i don't take anything you say personally. you definitely have gotten too old for this shit. as have i. but either you move past it and accept the things you don't like (and focus on the things you do), or you will drown yourself in your negativity.

you make good points, and i'd be happy to argue all of them. i just really cant sit here much longer and type everything. so if you want, i can address anything you'd like me to when i sit with rohan, or you can call during the interview, so you get the chance to refute my points.

no one DESERVES anything. and the wolves pick their own prey.

but hey, the scene is dead, right?

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:45:15 -0000

yo, it's mad corny to come to my blog and post my own lyrics.
it's corny and it's a cheap blow with no merit

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:55:00 -0000

wow. thank you. :)
but yeah, i'm being forced into a situation where i can't back down. it would have quietly gone away, but now it's become a "controversy," and i haven't even thrown my 2-cents in. ...
this is gonna get ugly

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:52:12 -0000

like i said, if you still think i'm dodging after the interview, i'll come back on here and reply to every comment.

when midtown started we were hated by the scene that came before us.

we were a threat to their establishment .

then i hated the bands after me, because they were a threat to me. thats when i was a real loser . and i did lose.

but i got another shot. and i'm blessed for it.

you are the one who is about to lose now. your age is over. but enjoy your christmas.

also don't forget, i never made music for you. i made it for myself. and it's sad to me that it means nothing to you now. i feel bad for you. i will never forget what it means to me. and you will never fully comprehend. the same way you didn't before.

and i didn't box myself in a corner. you guys came on the attack. and yeah i'm in teh corner. but trust me i dont go down that easy. and if i have to go down, i'll take a piece of yoru face in my mouth with me.
xoxo

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:30:56 -0000

sorry that for my mistakes below—I’m in a a bit of a rush, and thanks for what you said above. Here are some responses:

when i said "your age is over" i am not making a reference to your tastes in music, nor am i implying you "get with the times." by using the word "age" - i am being a bit metaphorical (as in "the dawning of the age aquarius"). i'm glad you have diverse musical tastes, but by “age” i am referring more concretely to the "scene" you grew up in - the one that you are passionate about - the one that helped you form your ideas and principles.

my scene died a long time ago. and it was really painful, but then i realized that the "scene" wasn't an end within itself, but just a means to an end. what end? my personal betterment. (and when i say "personal" i don't mean monetary or material. rather, my understanding of who i am and how i fit into the world). music helped give me that. and i know what your response will be: "well, if you got that from music, how can you be helping a band that isn't contributing to that at all?"

to answer that, you need look no further than to your own musical tastes:
do all the bands you listen to help you discover more about yourself? of course not.

there is a place for everything. for every kind of music, and every kind of message. and as the world changes and cultures and opinions and tastes change, the popularity of certain ideas and art will change as well. (don’t forget, Michael Moore was booed off stage after winning an award for "bowling for Columbine" when he spoke ill of our invasion of Iraq. 2 years later, he was hailed a hero).

will every kid have the fortune to find music that can change him/her?
of course not.
(and even if they stumble across it, they may not be at the point in their lives where they are open to such messages--are we to call these kids ignorant? or pass judgment on them simply because we think our eyes are more open than theirs?......
maybe our eyes need to open a little more to realize that passing such judgment is not only futile, but detrimental to our personal growth)

is it my responsibility to only like "music that matters" because i've made "music that matters?"
FUCK NO.

i had many revelations about myself. and i documented them. and they are there forever (well, for as long as we still have technology) for anyone who wants or is interested in such a message. but then what? i had my revelation. i climbed the highest mountain i could and screamed it to the world. and now? would you like me to become a martyr for that message? would you like me to become a martyr for the "scene?"

i've seen many of my favorite bands try to adjust to changing times, and make records that weren't really them in order to try and keep up. and they kept grinding at it, and slowly the enthusiasm and passion began to disappear. At least i had the good taste to leave midtown untarnished (or as close to it as possible--after all, we did play on the beach in the real world). and at least Midtown left behind a good legacy.

so again, what do you expect of me?

what do i expect of me?

should i have kept grinding midtown throughout my 20s? playing to an audience that no longer existed? filling myself with defeat and regret and frustration and jealousy? would i have been more "true" then? is that your definition of "not selling out?"

i had another revelation: do not confuse great art with the person who "created" it.

when you make something great, you are just a vessel for it. because great art is never created, it is born. it comes from an energy that already existed before the artist. the artist is fortunate to come in contact with that energy and thus gives birth to it. and i was blessed for a moment in my life to be a vessel, to be consumed by that energy (or at least i felt as if i was). but then after it was done, after the energy, that "greatness," passed through me, i was left with a sense of emptiness. A hollow shell. and i tried as hard as i could to cling to it, and I became depressed because I couldn’t.

and then I realized how horribly self-indulgent that was. I should have been grateful to have had an opportunity to connect with something that helped me grow while following my dream. so forgive me if I’m not passionate about your emotions, or if i don’t let you see enough of mine to pass your “passion” quota, but i learned that my emotions are not so unique. and for me to equivocate my PERSONAL emotions, for the energy i can connect with is tremendously self-righteous and will only limit my ability to connect with that energy. (Sorry if that is a bit vague and hippie-ish )

the wonderful thing about music in particular, is that it's a highly social art form. the audience can participate, and thus they can be in touch with and transfer the same energy that the artist was in touch with. a show is just a transference of energy through music. you give it to the band, the band feels it, the energy grows, and they give it back to you. and THAT is your scene. it's not one thing you can point to, but it's a network of bands and kids who all feel the same thing, the same energy, the same emotions...... and it's slipping through your fingers.

i know how it feels to go see your favorite band - the one you grew up listening to, the one that changed your life - to go see them, and the audience is half the size of last time you had see them. and the excitement is gone, and it doesn't feel the same. and i know the frustration of being at that show, while down the street, NewHotBand just finished playing a sold-out show and there's steam coming out the doors as the hordes of sweaty kids (most of whom you've never seen at ANY show before) exit the building. it's a shitty feeling. but it's part of life. and it's not the only time it will happen to you.

i owe many things to many people. a lot of love that i've been given, that i work effortlessly to give back. but i don't owe anybody the right to dictate to me what i should and shouldn't like. and if i like something, i should not be afraid to admit it. i don't care how unpopular it is. and i should not have to justify it, but….. what i value most in this world is freedom. and like i said, if you try to shove me in the corner i will try to eat your face off to get out. i may not win, but i will try.

Also, here are a couple points other :
no disrespect to blink-182, I like those guys a lot, but the fact that you lumped midtown in with them, shows that you really have a limited grasp as to what midtown was and where it came from. I never had an anybody-signature strat. Even if fugazi had made one, I wouldn’t have bought it.

In terms of the trends: the chicken or egg question is hard to answer for anyone or for any trend. But I know for a fact that before cobras started, the majority of kids were wearing all black to shows. I am definitely not saying I started the bright colors trend, but I definitely never followed the “scene” there. I mean, I looked to influences from electroclash to hip-hop culture (particularly the Japanese interpretation of street wear), and I mish-moshed different things, but it wasn’t something happening in “the scene.” Besides, the new bands can have the neon hoodies – I’m over it anyway. I started a new trend. It’s called HoboSexual .. . . . now how do I get my computer to make that little TM sign….. ?

Incidentally, when midtown started, we purposefully dressed nice because everyone was trying to look so “punk” in the scene we had come from before. I got a ton of hate for wearing a scarf on the back of “save the world.” And kids called us abercrombie sell outs. It’s easy to see the past through rose-colored glasses (especially when you weren’t there), but it wasn’t so peachy.

I’ve always gone against the grain, and I’ve always gotten shit for it. But it always made me a stronger person. And more importantly, a freer person.

Anyway, sorry for rambling, but let me just address your “bottom line:” BAD music = BAD music.

Really? That’s it? That’s your bottom line? I’m sorry-- I don’t mean to be rude. But I don’t think there’s such thing as bad music. There’s a lot of music I THINK is bad, (in fact, most of it). But to make a sweeping declaration that there is some objective notion of BAD MUSIC is not only short-sighted, but also kind of silly. That’s why people have tastes, so that they can figure out for themselves what they think is bad and good. Who are you to tell them? And especially, who are you to tell the people from the 70s, 80s, 90s AND 50 years from now what is bad music?

I think a lot of the kids who are freaking out about their “scene” dying, (and trying to hold me accountable because I “signed” the millionaires) fail to see that there are many other scenes out there. Your scene is not the only one left. If it dies, don’t worry, many more will come. The times they are a changin’ brother. And no, I don’t think that the electronic scene is the next one to rise (that scene is dying too). I’m not sure what the next scene will be, but I have a feeling that it will be a vicious one . . . and that it will devour us all.

xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:32:19 -0000

i was confused about that too. someone told me that they are confusing brokencyde with millionaires. i don't know brokencyde's music, so i can't say for sure/

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:45:31 -0000

tom for the record, go fuck yourself. i don't owe you shit.
send me back your records or merch and i'll send you your money you dumb fuck.

i definitely owe my success to the people who support me. but if supporting me means i am then beholden to your opinions and rules of what i should and shouldn't do, i'd rather not have your support. i mean no offense to those who continue to support me. but i got into this so i could be free. free to do what i want for a living. free to fuck up if i want. free to burn it all down. free to start again. and definitely free to like any band, and free to give any band i want "opportunities." honestly, i think the "opportunities" i've given other bands like sing it loud to come on tour with us are bigger than the "opportunity" i've given Millionaires. no one has made Millionaires a success. they have to go and do it on their own. they still have to prove themselves. and being signed to Decaydance is DEFINITELY not a one-way ticket to success. (uhhh.. anyone remember October Fall?). YOU are MAKING them famous by talking about them. so again, good work Tom Gooding you dumb-ass piece of shit.

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:06:18 -0000

you don't know what i wrote about. and songs you may think are about a girl may be about something else, and vice versa. - that's why there's no merit

it's a cheap shot because it doesn't articulate a point. it seems like it's making a point. but it is just a way to tug at emotions. it is difficult to argue legitimate points with "poetry." there's not much that i can say back, because the person quoting my lyrics at me isn't making a valid point. just playing with words that mean something to people. that's a cheap way to get your point across. but i can understand why people do it. not everyone has a solid argument. but it's still maaaaaad corny

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:14:43 -0000

you're comparing apples and oranges.
"poetry" cannot substitute for a developed and reasoned argument.

"but when the integrity goes, so does any notion of it beng fun."
what!? who made up that rule?
first, i like i lot of music taht i think lacks integrity
second, my notion of integrity is not the same thing as another person's notion of integrity. so that's a very gray scale to be judging music by. you are essentially trying to rationalize your personal tastes as something greater and absolute. very narrow-minded

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:48:20 -0000

who da fuck you think you fuckin wit i'm da fuckin boss
745 white-on-white dat's fuckin ROSS!!!!!

you go rick ross coco!

Re: Is the Money Really that Important?

Gabe Saporta — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:53:01 -0000

amen. just a bunch of spoiled kids with too much time on their hands

Re: re-post of comments worth reading (maybe ???)

Gabe Saporta — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:09:05 -0000

thanks. it's not about being right or wrong, or winning or losing an argument. but if someone attacks my character, i have to at least try to defend it.

Re: re-post of comments worth reading (maybe ???)

Gabe Saporta — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:35:34 -0000

trust me, i'm a little annoyed too. it's not about being right or wrong, nor winning or losing an argument. but if someone attacks my character, i have to at least TRY to defend it. at least my side is there on the record so people can make their own decisions. otherwise the negativity and the hate is the only thing on there. and that negativity is vile and infectious. that may be fine for absolutepunk, but it's not gonna happen on my blog.

and trust me, it'd be much easier for me to hit "remove" or require comments to be approved. after all, this is my house. but if you come to my house and take a shit, i'm not gonna come and clean up after you. no--i'm gonna find you, rub your nose in your shit, and make YOU clean it up. yeah, it might require twice the effort, but this is my fucking house.

Re: re-post of comments worth reading (maybe ???)

Gabe Saporta — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:37:42 -0000

i did read it. and thank you.