Sorry USA you ain't cool any longer!

Have you ever gone to a high school reunion? If you have I bet you have experienced that the cool kid suddenly has become an average Joe and the geek or the silent kid is doing amazing stuff. The worst part is when the cool kid still thinks they are cool and try to get everyone back in their old roles. It's just pathetic.

Right now USA is that old cool kid that desperately tries to tell us that their old coolness still matters. Sorry, it's just pathetic.

Austin is not weird any longer. It has become just a suite and ties. Not talking music just startups. NYC has no studios in Manhattan any longer since no one can afford the rent. LA put down gig places for condos. CBGB is now a cloth store. 

So if you think that USA is your gateway to a career or move to LA or NYC to get closer to the happenings you are on a totally wrong road.

USA is losing much right now. Mainly because they don't have support systems for artists or professionals. Right now even the smallest and poorest countries have it. And it makes a remark in the industry. Suddenly these countries take places on showcases and get cool collaborations with the hottest bookers. Connections to the best industry professionals. Suddenly the new cool sound will come from Asia, Africa or some other place.

You can also see this in the evolution of showcases. The rest of the world these are booming. But in USA they are disappearing. 

Another big issue is the visa rules in USA. They are just so imbecile that I rather send bands to Russia because its less BUACRACY! And its costly and to no point. Sorry, just this could put USA in The losing team. Now there is much more to consider that is just bad in USA. 

What happened to put yourself in a van and tour USA to success? Ohh that what is over twenty years ago. Can't be done now. Mainly because media is so scattered. Another reason is that the gig places around USA are in very bad shape. You have a bigger chance of getting good updated sound and light in eastern europé. Much because USA bought in equipment in The 80/90:s and since then had few updates especially in smaller places in the countryside. 

Also, tickets are harder. USA has a big share of poverty and soon you get out of the big cities the money is not exactly flowing.

Still, USA acts like we need them. With new markets opening up with millions of people to be number one market is soon gone and acting like to cool kid when your tupé is not matching and hanging on the side, well you probably have to do something before you can get honky-tonk back on the chart. The American dream has become middle-aged.

It's cool when you are there.

It's funny to hear artists bitching around certain things but then change opinion in a second. I saw a poster about some band doing an anti Summerfest gig in Milwaukee. And as long they are not playing they will be anti-Summerfest.
Then suddenly they might be booked to Summerfest and suddenly the festival is cool to be on.

And it's the same with everything as long you won't get it, the thing sucks.
This star sucks, that gig place sucks.
And when you suddenly reach that goal it's okay with the stuff.

PERSONAL:
Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated, Nothin' to do and nowhere to go I wanna be sedated.
The song just hit me. It came from a really bad cassette bootleg recording of Ramones that my cousin had bought on a trip to Stockholm.
At this point in time, it was really hard to get this kind of music in my hometown. The record stores there was not an uplifting story and I can easily say I just hated the main shit they where carrying.
But this was new. The sound was really bad but you could hear what a great tune it was.
My lifelong relationship with the Ramones had begun. Today I have my own personal Ramones museum with Dee Dee Ramones birth certificate as the odd one.
I loved the music.in reality, it was old. That song had come out at least 10 years earlier but of course, never reached me. I have been quite obsessed with Ramones and still, think many of the songs are one of the best ones.
Why I don't mention this when people ask for my favorite music is because then they think I look for a next Ramones. There will only be one Ramones so I don't look for it or want music that sounds like it. The only thing I want is memorabilia around them.
It's my collector's thing here in life.