Lawrence.com

Dear anonymous internet critic,

I’m responding to you because you attacked a friend of mine. You seem frustrated. We’re just a stupid band. It’s nothing important. I don’t know why you felt it necessary to run folks through the mud just for being our friends or enjoying our music. It’s fucking silly. Here’s to you:

(you) What many of you associated with this band refuse to acknowledge is that the whole reason bigger, underground indie rock bands don't come to Lawrence anymore is because dumbasses like you, who call yourselves "monsters of rock" (joking or not) while simultaneously admitting how their members don't even know how to play their instruments, cannot recognize a good band from a shitty one!

1) This critique is nonsensical. What I make of your opening argument is this: indie rock bands don’t come to Lawrence because no one will acknowledge that ad astra sucks and now they don’t know what good music is. Is that it? “Bigger underground” indie acts come to Lawrence. And it has nothing to do with us being a good or bad band. We don’t book shows for out-of-town bands very often. Just for friends. What bands do you want to see in Lawrence that you think our existence and/or influence prevents? Also – we do know how to play our instruments. If you’d listened to our records, you’d know this. I’ve had 12 years of lessons on piano and guitar. Kurt had years of lessons and played in the youth symphony. Julie had 8 years of training on the piano. Brooke has taken several years of piano and guitar lessons. Only Scott didn’t take lessons. In the beginning, in 2001-2003, I worked with Scott and Brooke to teach them as we progressed. But we’ve been playing together for over 7 years. You may not like what we play, but we know how to play.

(you) By saying a lack of "preconceived notions" towards music is a valid excuse for not having any ability to play your instrument to me sounds like a small-town Kansan's logical way of writing off not being able to play your instrument. How many more people are going to buy into the ideology that it's "cool" when you can't or don't know how to play your instrument?!

2) I think we have lots of preconceived notions about music. What we meant was we went into this band not wanting to sound like someone else, but not being sure of what direction to take. Kurt, Brooke and I went into this band with a background playing punk and hardcore. We knew we didn’t want to do more of the same. So we ended up with an array of different sounding songs. Some are much better than others, but I’m proud of all the things we’ve made. Also, we all hail from Kansas City originally. Your small-town bashing is off-base, but still admirably mean-spirited! For me, passion will always trump virtuosity in music. I’d rather listen to Bad Brains or Sonny Sharrock then well-crafted indie pop. Although I do like S.E. Rogie, and nowdays he might qualify. That’s not to say that poor musicianship doesn’t bug me, it does. I don’t think we exemplify poor musicianship. Are you Segovia?

(you) The fool who interviewed them, saying they’re "one of the best bands in Lawrence", has a lot to learn about music and the music scene here; especially for only being here since 1999. You have no authority or even intelligence to identify a good band even if it slapped you in the face; demonstrable by your unquestionable praise of this terrible act. The complete lack of professionalism presented in this interview by the band and the interviewer shows your guy's maturity level when it comes to music; child like.

3) ) From this response, I’d judge you have a sizeable chip on your shoulder. You don’t like our music – fine. Frustrated or not - you just made this personal. You’re the one acting childlike. You should apologize to Ailecia. We have fun playing music together and there’s nothing wrong with someone enjoying the outcome.

(you) In addition, I suggest we think about what such high regard for this band says about the demographics of Lawrence's music scene; perhaps uneducated, or a lack of diversity? This is a huge disappointment for anyone who is actually serious about music in Lawrence.

4) What do you want Lawrence’s music seen to sound like? Provide an idea, a direction, even one suggestion. You make some funny accusations. I can’t tell if you’re geniunely frustrated or just ill-tempered. Why you’d waste your time listening to an hour-long gab session between us and a dear friend baffles me. I’m happy to be part of the Lawrence music scene. Some of my favorite bands are from here (see our attempt at a cover song). I don’t see us as leaders or trend-setters at all. If folks like us, it’s not because we hexed them. And we appreciate the support we’ve received. I hope you book some shows and bring in the bands you want to see. We're taking a break. Enjoy!

Up the 785. Mike Tuley.