Music, bands, and musician/venue/fan politics in Erie, PA.

Ive noticed since moving to Erie from Northern California that most metal bands here fall under the typical metal core/death core/hard core mold. I decided that I wanted to bring something really different to Erie. I knew it would not be easy for the Erie crowd to embrace since we are heavily influenced by Scandinavian death and black metal, with some atmospheric/acoustic sounds thrown in. We've played a few shows where, when we're finished with a song, we hear crickets! Heheheh. If it weren't for the positive critical reviews we've been getting since our demo came out in early 2010, I'd think we just really sucked! I also have noticed that our musician positions have been difficult to fill (specifically, bass and drums) and I'm not sure if it's because we don't do breakdowns in every song, scream like pre -pubescent boys or if it's because we just do so many different things that people find it difficult to wrap their minds around! Now, I know it sounds like I'm whining or trying to get on a high horse but we have been fortunate enough to open for such national and international acts as Mushroomhead, Ventana, Kriadiaz, and Foose. And, we were able to record at a decent studio for a discount because the guys liked our stuff. We have had four or five great reviews written up vs. 0 sucky ones;-) And, we got a slot at Celebrate Erie this year. Why is it so hard for people to embrace something foreign? To broaden their musical horizons some? So, why am I writing this? Just random thoughts from a sometimes frustrated musician. I know we're not the only ones...I saw Full Blown Chaos in Cleveland play to 15 people one night on their recent tour! That had to be a down night for them! They're signed to a major metal label too! I've noticed some bands that seem to have drawn a lot at local shows or at least were fairly well established, (i.e. Raja Deen, Faded Fallen) didn't even last out the year due to what I'm told were ego related issues. When local bands get a 'rockstar' mentality instead of we're all 'stars rockin' mentality, things go wrong. We're good friends with a band in Akron called The Approach and The Execution. They are a great example of what to be in the music business: enthusiastic, easy going, fun, talented, organized, energetic and entertaining. NO EGOS! Those are the types of bands we're close to here in town. Besides RFO, (and my old project back in Cali, Forsake The Flesh), I also recently joined Scarwork as their second guitarist/backup vocalist and that was what attracted me to them. They and Chisel Fist were instrumental in getting RFO started with live shows here in town. They were fun to be around, nice guys (and gal), all about the music and all about having a good time. The 'cooperative' approach is so much more attractive than the 'competitive' approach. Steve RFO

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