In spite of hardcore's enduring quest to erase the line between audience and artist, parasocial interactions are inevitable—especially in the internet age. There's still a lot of room to improve them.
I sometimes joke that you are going to get sick of me because I am a particularly present fan, both of Antimatter and Thursday.
But to be serious for a rare moment, I believe that the relationship between artist and audience is one that should be built on mutual respect and understanding.
There are simple steps that fans can and should take to provide support for the artists they admire. Essentially: don’t be creepy and don’t make it weird (mileage may vary, everyone has different definitions, after all).
I think it’s important to minimize the time I take up during interactions so others get a chance to say hi, and so folks can get back to their jobs. At shows, I try to give back as much energy as I receive when the band is on stage.
Chappell Roan immediately came to mind before I'd even finished the first section. Every generation has their artists whose audiences feel like the artist is speaking directly to them and when that audience is mostly made up of young people trying to figure out who they are, it can feel a lot more personal than it actually is. I'm glad Roan's saying out loud what I suspect a lot of people in her milieu are quietly thinking, and as hardcore's audience expands, it's gonna become even more important.
But this topic definitely grabbed my attention, and I am looking forward to the interview.
My experience is that the artist has to be ok with "not being loveable" (which may infact be the hardest part of this whole dynamic, for many of us), so that we can say to the fan/anti-fan: "chill the fuck out / step the fuck back / shut the fuck up / your uninformed opinion actually don't mean shit to me" when necessary. In my experience we/ I am just afraid to do that, because of the addiction to the good parts of having a fan.
On the other side, as a fan, I go up to my favorite artists, gush what I want to gush to them, not giving a shit about cringe-factor, and then say goodbye.
I think a problem is that many people are even more broken then we are, and as artists it is NOT our responsibility to be their husband/wife/bestfriend/dog/tvset/therapist. Thats why some people just need to be blocked.
I think the responsibility aspect is right on. When in “the king of comedy” deniro says “you have to deal with it” Lewis replies , “your life isn’t my responsibility.”
Norman, I always wanted to ask someone who is in “the public eye” this question it stems from an observation from watching the deniro movie “king of comedy” . If you haven’t seen it, it is about a deranged fan named Rupert played by deniro who is obsessed with a celebrity named Jerry Langford played by Jerry Lewis. There is a scene when Rupert says to Langford, regarding that celebrities have no privacy, “this is the price of fame you have to deal with it.” Do you think there is any validity in that statement. Did Rupert have a “ moment of clarity”?
I think that putting the onus on the person with notoriety to “just deal with it” isn’t quite right because it absolves the responsibility of the “fan” to learn how to keep their interactions sane, safe, and respectful. There is, at the very least, a shared onus between both parties, in my opinion, to figure out how to treat each other with kindness. There is no “price.” It’s a negotiation.
I learned the hard way about crossing boundaries with well known people. about 20 years ago with Ian Mackaye. When I met him I was being extremely uncharitable with pretty much a stranger and Ian replied “John am a human being” I will never forget that.
Thank you so much for this, Norman.
I sometimes joke that you are going to get sick of me because I am a particularly present fan, both of Antimatter and Thursday.
But to be serious for a rare moment, I believe that the relationship between artist and audience is one that should be built on mutual respect and understanding.
There are simple steps that fans can and should take to provide support for the artists they admire. Essentially: don’t be creepy and don’t make it weird (mileage may vary, everyone has different definitions, after all).
I think it’s important to minimize the time I take up during interactions so others get a chance to say hi, and so folks can get back to their jobs. At shows, I try to give back as much energy as I receive when the band is on stage.
Live music is a collaborative effort.
🖤
"...none of us came to hardcore fully calloused from judgment and rejection."
— Well said.
Chappell Roan immediately came to mind before I'd even finished the first section. Every generation has their artists whose audiences feel like the artist is speaking directly to them and when that audience is mostly made up of young people trying to figure out who they are, it can feel a lot more personal than it actually is. I'm glad Roan's saying out loud what I suspect a lot of people in her milieu are quietly thinking, and as hardcore's audience expands, it's gonna become even more important.
Looking forward to this one quite a bit.
🩷🩷🩷🩷
<-- old person googles GEL.
But this topic definitely grabbed my attention, and I am looking forward to the interview.
My experience is that the artist has to be ok with "not being loveable" (which may infact be the hardest part of this whole dynamic, for many of us), so that we can say to the fan/anti-fan: "chill the fuck out / step the fuck back / shut the fuck up / your uninformed opinion actually don't mean shit to me" when necessary. In my experience we/ I am just afraid to do that, because of the addiction to the good parts of having a fan.
On the other side, as a fan, I go up to my favorite artists, gush what I want to gush to them, not giving a shit about cringe-factor, and then say goodbye.
I think a problem is that many people are even more broken then we are, and as artists it is NOT our responsibility to be their husband/wife/bestfriend/dog/tvset/therapist. Thats why some people just need to be blocked.
I think the responsibility aspect is right on. When in “the king of comedy” deniro says “you have to deal with it” Lewis replies , “your life isn’t my responsibility.”
Norman, I always wanted to ask someone who is in “the public eye” this question it stems from an observation from watching the deniro movie “king of comedy” . If you haven’t seen it, it is about a deranged fan named Rupert played by deniro who is obsessed with a celebrity named Jerry Langford played by Jerry Lewis. There is a scene when Rupert says to Langford, regarding that celebrities have no privacy, “this is the price of fame you have to deal with it.” Do you think there is any validity in that statement. Did Rupert have a “ moment of clarity”?
I think that putting the onus on the person with notoriety to “just deal with it” isn’t quite right because it absolves the responsibility of the “fan” to learn how to keep their interactions sane, safe, and respectful. There is, at the very least, a shared onus between both parties, in my opinion, to figure out how to treat each other with kindness. There is no “price.” It’s a negotiation.
I learned the hard way about crossing boundaries with well known people. about 20 years ago with Ian Mackaye. When I met him I was being extremely uncharitable with pretty much a stranger and Ian replied “John am a human being” I will never forget that.