Wow, I so can't believe the stuff I've read here. Just unreal. Ok, I'll try to breathe and do the right thing.

Ben, I'm not threatened by anyone. And I don't fear anyone musically or compositionally speaking. I'm happy with the music I make and am happy with myself, where I've been, who I worked with, who I work with today and what I've accomplished. I so can't believe the stance you've taken and how you've attacked James, myself and now Grant.

I tried to do you a favor by telling you my feelings. I didn't share anything publicly that wasn't supposed to be shared. I told you in private that I felt it was best for me not to give you my take. What I posted here to you initially, was not my full take. I went easy on you...trust me. You thought I was harsh in my intial response? You might have imploded if you read what I WAS going to post. If I would have known for sure you would have acted like this...I would have posted it so you would have rightly been put in your place once and for all. 

You're like the dog in the kennel that everyone feels needs a chance. They try to help you only to have you bite the hands that feed you. You'll self destruct in time or maybe you'll get a clue. I'm really impressed that several didn't go off on you in this thread for your actions. They chose to either be nice to you because they didn't want any confrontation, they felt sorry for you or they looked at your posts...labeled you an attention seeker and closed the thread.

Fragile ego? Me? I don't understand. Where have I shown any sort of fragile ego? You asked for comments about your stuff. I gave them to you while also pointing out your continuous bragging without delivering anything other than a senseless voice for the sake of a voice and more bragging. I explained that there is a difference between belief in ones self, and all out bragging. I can't believe I found it in my heart to even respond to you. It's people like you that kill it for the good people. James, Grant and myself will all think twice before ever going out on a limb again to a ticking time bomb person like you...rest assured. We don't need the aggravation nor do we need to waste the time. I blame myself though for knowing all of this going into it. I knew you would react this way, but took a shot anyway in hopes you wouldn't. The same as James did. Neither of us deserved what you threw at us for simply being as honest and up front as possible because YOU asked.

Well, you've burned many bridges on this forum....I hope you know that. No one cares about your degrees, what you have to say or how brilliant your songs or compositions are. As long as the man behind the music (or whatever you choose to call it today) is you, the music will be as meaningless as its creator. I'll offer a final line of advice.

Let's have a talk with yourself:

"Ben....Ben...Ben...what am I doing? I'm ruining a place I really enjoy for myself and others.....I'm hurting others who have tried to help me by being honest with me whilst my friends around here all ride my chump telling me all the things I want to hear. I know I'm really not brilliant and great at anything. Why do I say these things and act so mean and heartless to these people? What have they done to me other than they are all better than I am? Sheesh, they don't even have any degrees and they smoke me like a blunt. Why do I rant so incoherantly and try to make them all believe that I'm someone/something that I'm not? I gotta get a grip.

Heck, I can barely type like a human being and lose my way during sentences. If I don't know what I'm trying to say...how can they? This is bad....I've really screwed up this time and I've made myself look bad....AGAIN. Why do I do this? I think I need to stop drinking and blaming the world and others for my short-comings. I need to stop bragging and appreciate life as well as how kind others have been to me even when they said my stuff sounded good. I mean...ok, I sing like Henry the 8th on a vibrato acid trip and most of my songs sound like I was doing Angel Dust....hmm...maybe that's why no one can get my art but me.

I think I was really harsh on James, Danny and Grant. Though I'm not fond of the styles they play, they really do a good job at what they do. A much better job than I do what I do. That wasn't very nice of me. I need to realize and understand that I really do need all the help I can get and those guys really have been helpful to others. I wonder if my attitude was different.....if they would have helped me if I asked them to? Too late for that now...why do I do this....I don't just do it on this forum, I do it in life too! I thought it would be different here...but I'm doing it again...the same things I always do.

Ah, lemme get another drink...no wait...that's partially my reason for being mean and wild. Hmm...maybe this is why my songs come out kinda half done and are loaded with amatuer mistakes and inconsistencies. They sure did sound good when I worked on them drunk...but now that I'm straight and a bit more focused....yeah, I do hear what they hear...wow...they were right. How can I call myself great at mastering....I don't really even know what goes on in an actual mastering session. Not to mention, none of my tunes have really been complete enough to know if mastering would make them better. I can't even mix the right way yet and most of my instrumentation is really lacking from the print stage. Wow...it's all starting to become clear now.

I wonder if my constant boasting and bragging is the reason people may not like me? Ah who cares if they like me or not...I got my degrees and I know so much about....hmmm...what do I know so much about that would really help me to be a better writer, player and get acceptance in this world? Well I know I can rant and flaunt my degrees...I can also complain that no one is hiring me. Hmm...maybe I've never been the best man for the job because as soon as I open my mouth, the potential employers lose interest. Ok, I get it now....I'm so gonna change this....these guys are right....I'm gonna create a new me....you wait and see! Danny...if you can receive subliminal messages...know that I'm sorry...if I get myself together....and change my attitude...would you help me man?"

Maybe Ben, just maybe. We'll cross or burn that bridge when or if we come to it. Until that time, get to work on that rehabilitation. :)

-Danny

Rain


To whom it may concern. ;)

I remember my college days back in the early 90s after the Oliver Stone movie The Doors just came out.

A lot of my fellow literature students buddies drank, smoked, dropped acid, wore leather pants, acted like rebels and wrote crap. But they were still convinced they were the real thing because they emulated Morrison's behavior, tried to read the same book he'd read and talked about indians and shamans. 

Of course, they had it all backwards. You can be a poet and end up being a drunk wearing feathers, but being a drunk wearing feathers doesn't make you a poet. 

I'd say: quit reading and studying biographies and focusing on musicians' lives, emulating their attitude and trying to justify yourself as an artist based on a series of symptoms that you have in common w/ them. Just focus on music.

Mimicking originality is the least original thing one can do. Acting like a musician doesn't make you a musician. It makes you an actor impersonating  someone else's life, at best. Just because a few geniuses were misunderstood during their lifetime doesn't mean that being misunderstood makes you one of them. 


There is no formula for genius and talent and borrowing traits from others certainly won't get you any closer. All the contrary...

Nice post Rain.

It reminded me of my college days, when one of my fellow students modelled himself on The Ramones look, right down to the on-stage poses. He was a terrible guitar player.