Of Montreal Are Fucking Sellouts 2007-11-24 by Dave de Sylvia EMERITUS | 22 Comments | Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes has sold out by appearing in a commercial or something, and he's written the following essay to make his dirty sell-out conscience feel better.
Selling Out Isn't Possible
by Kevin Barnes
Are you a sell out? Yes. Don't let it bother you though, cause apparently I am also a sell out, and so are your parents and everyone you've ever known. The only way to avoid selling out is to live like a savage all alone in the wilderness. The moment you attempt to live within the confines of a social order, you become a sell out. Once you attempt to coexist you sell out. If that's true, then selling out is a good thing. It is an important thing. If we didn't do it, we'd be fucked, quite literally, by everyone bigger than us physically who found us fupckable.
The pseudo-nihilistic punk rockers of the 70's created an impossible code in which no one can actually live by. It's such garbage. The idea that anyone who attempts to do anything commercial is a sell out is completely out of touch with reality. The punk rock manifesto is one of anarchy and intolerance. The punk rockers polluted our minds. They offered a solution that had no future. Of course, if the world would have ended before Sandinista! was released then everything would have been alright. It didn't. Now we have all of these half-conceived ideas and idiot philosophies floating around to confuse and alienate us. I think it is important to face reality. It is important to decide whether you are going to completely rail against the system or find a way to make it work for you. You cannot do both -- and if you attempt to do both you will only become even more bitter and confused.
When I was younger, and supported my parents, I chose to float between the two. A lot of people choose to do this. There are so many confused young people running around now polluted by this alloyed version of the tenets of the punk rock manifesto. Of course they're confused. It isn't possible to be in chorus with capitalism and anarchy. You must pick one or the other. Very few people are willing to do it, though. The worst kind of person is the one who sucks the dick of the man during the daytime and then draws pictures of themselves slitting his throat at night. Jesus Christ, make up your mind! The thing is, there is a lack of balance. When capitalism is working on a healthy level, everyone gets their dick sucked from time to time and no one gets their throat slit. It's impossible to be a sell out in a capitalist society. You're only a winner or a loser. Either you've found a way to crack the code or you are struggling to do so. To sell out in capitalism is basically to be too accommodating, to not get what you think you deserve. In capitalism, you don't get what you think you deserve though. You get what someone else thinks you deserve. So the trick is to make them think you are worth what you feel you deserve. You deserve a lot, but you'll only get it when you figure out how to manipulate the system.
Why commercialize yourself? In the art industry, it's extremely difficult to be successful without turning yourself into a cartoon. Even Hunter S. Thompson knew this. God knows Duchamp and Warhol knew it. Some artists are turned into cartoons and others do it themselves. I prefer to do it myself. at least then I can control how my cock is photographed. Why should it be considered such an onerous thing to view the production of art as a job? To me, the luckiest people are the ones who figure out a way to earn a living doing what they love and gain fulfillment from. Like all things in this life, you have to make certain sacrifices to get what you want. At least most of us do. If you're not some trust-fund kid or lotto winner, you've got to slave it out everyday. People who wanna be artists have the hardest time of it 'cause we are held up to these impossible standards. We're expected to die penniless and insane so that the people we have moved and entertained over the years can keep us to themselves. So that they can feel a personal and untarnished connection with our art. The second we try to earn a living wage or, god forbid, promote our art in the mainstream, we are placed under the knives of the sanctimonious indie fascists. Unfortunately, there isn't some grand umbrella grant that supports indie rockers financially and enables us to exist outside of the trappings of capitalism.
The thing is, I like capitalism. I think it's an interesting challenge. It's a system that rewards the imaginative and ambitious adults and punishes the lazy adults. Our generation is insanely lazy. We're just as smart as our parents but we are overwhelmed by contradicting ideas that confuse us into paralysis. Maybe the punk rock ethos made sense for the "no future" generation but it doesn't make sense for me. I like producing and purchasing things. I'd much rather go to IKEA than to stand in some bread line. That's because I don't have to stand in a bread line. Most people who throw around terms like "sellout" don't have to stand in one either. They don't have to stand in one because they are gainfully employed. The term "sellout" only exists in the lexicon of the over-privileged. Almost every non-homeless person in America is over-privileged, at least in a global sense.
Obviously, I've struggled with the concept. I've struggled because of the backlash following my songs placement in TV commercials. That is, until I realized that the negative energy that was being directed towards me really began to inspire my creativity. It has given me a sense of, "well, I'll show them who is a sellout, I'm going to make the freakiest, most interesting, record ever!!!" ... "I'm going to prove to them that my shit is wild and unpolluted by the reach of some absurd connection to mainstream corporate America."
I realized then that, for me, selling out is not possible. Selling out, in an artistic sense, is to change one's creative output to fit in with the commercial world. To create phony and insincere art in the hopes of becoming commercially successful. I've never done this and I can't imagine I ever will. I spent seven years not even existing at all in the mainstream world. Now I am being supported and endorsed by it. I know this won't last forever. No one's going to want to use one of my songs in a commercial five years from now, so I've got to take the money while I can. It's the same with pro athletes. You only get it while you're hot and no one stays commercially viable for long. It's not like Michael Vick is going to be receiving any big endorsement deals anytime soon. As sad as it may seem, one of the few ways most indie bands can make any money whatsoever is by selling a song to a commercial. Very very few bands make enough money from album sales or tour revenue to enable themselves to quit their day job.
Next time you see a commercial with one of your favorite bands songs in it, just tell yourself, "cool, a band I really like made some money and now I can probably look forward to a few more records from them." It's as simple as that. We all have to do certain things, from time to time, that we might not be completely psyched about, in order to pay the bills. To me, the TV is the world's asshole boss and if anyone can earn some extra bucks from it and they're not Bill O'Reilly, it's a good thing.
Originally published at:
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/commercial-appeal/of-montreal-art-brut-do-tmobile.html
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Tagged: of Montreal
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Long ass article.
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Beautiful article.
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LOOOOOOOOOL.
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This guy sounds like a total dumbass
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That took a while to read. Anyways, I hate the term sellout and this guy makes a good point.
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Interesting article. The writing style is entertaining, if not a bit self-important and pretentious.
While his delivery is a tad questionable, I agree with Barnes' sentiments completely. I hate the psuedo-rebelliousness that accompanies the term "sellout."
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I agree with him completely. Its a fucking song. Art is what you attach to it. Someone can still say wraith...is art and another can still see it as just a jingle. Neither should expect everyone to see it their way.
And seeing as kevin made it, he can sell it however he wants. To both people even.
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I don't know what the moral of this story was, because I didn't read it, but he probably could've said it in a lot less. I think. I don't realy know.
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I thought that his point were all pretty valid, but he presented him in a way that makes him easy to discredit. It's just good form to keep the subject matter appropriate when writing anything persuasive. He would have been much better off without the fellatio metaphor. That said, the more topical parts of the argument seemed solid.
Was the random Papa Bear jab really necessary?This Message Edited On 11.24.07
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Point made.
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is this good?: "people pretending to dig all it is that you do as a band, blend in, ruin the "scene". and then comes another "true" indie scene untill the next band "sells out"..."?
pointless arguments to a pointless topic. selling out? no such thing.
... or is it?
i thought selling out was a good thing, like people buying all the tickets to for your show.This Message Edited On 11.24.07
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]:
Dave I'm disappointed with you...unless your joking. I can never tell on these sites.
I think he's right. I hate the "punk rockers" I know and their talk of selling out and all that. It's pointless. Here's my two cents...
Of Montreal has not sold out. Why would you even think this? The music is what matters. Have they changed that? Not that we've seen yet. Of Montreal still proves to be one of the most original and interesting indie efforts around. Why get bothered if that is still true? Music is my everything, but I'll never get why people get so hot and bothered over this sort of thing if a band still plays good music. That's why I agree with this guy. People need to quit complaining over every little thing, shut up, and enjoy the music...because last time I checked, that's what matters.
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guily conscience made him write that eh?
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Spat, the title made me laugh so hard. I salute you.
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Never heard his band, never seen the commercial, but as for his essay there, everything he said is spot on. Good stuff.
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Who cares if he appeared in a commercial?
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This kid needs to calm the f-uck down. I understand his point, but he doesn't have to pretentiously ramble for over 10 paragraphs to make it.
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Gosh, I absolutely HATE 90% of musicians nowadays, especially the young ones. All of them are fucking idiots.
By the way, Of Montreal fucking SUCKS. One of the worst and most unoriginal bands I have ever heard.
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Thank you for that intelligent contribution to this thread.
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I agree with alot of what he said. "selling-out" is such a stupid term. Just because they get played on mtv or whatever music video channel you watch doesnt mean they sold out. They are trying to make some money to keep doing what they love.
If selling out is having your band become popular then hell i cant wait till my band sells out.
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i thought his response was excellent.
"We're expected to die penniless and insane so that the people we have moved and entertained over the years can keep us to themselves. So that they can feel a personal and untarnished connection with our art. The second we try to earn a living wage or, god forbid, promote our art in the mainstream, we are placed under the knives of the sanctimonious indie fascists. Unfortunately, there isn't some grand umbrella grant that supports indie rockers financially and enables us to exist outside of the trappings of capitalism."
i thought this was the most impressive part of the essay. right on.
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@human cannonball
How is this a bad view for a modern artist to have? You think that older musicians saw music any different? Music has always been a business, moreso in the pop world. A pop world that kevin is not a part of. The kinks eh? I've seen kinks shirts in wal-mart. Guess they sold out. In fact, and classic rock artist that has become a brand is a "sellout". Not saying you like classic rock, though many here would attack kevin for selling out while their itunes churns out shitty zeppelin song after shitty zeppelin song.
Zeppelin are "sellouts"
The beatles are "sellouts"
Pink floyd are "sellouts"
The rolling stones are "sellouts"
Kiss are "sellouts" (wait, isn't that common knowledge?)
Metallica are "sellouts"
Nirvana are "sellouts"
The sex pistols are "sellouts"
Jimi hendrix would have "sold out" if he lived long enough to realize all this. And if he could think straight enough to do less sleeping pills and make more music. So his family "sold him out" for him. And if they didn't put his shirts on every wannabe hippy and classic rock elitist's back then I doubt hed be the "rawk gawd" most suburbanite assholes think he is now.
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