The Argument of Electronic Music

I think it's crazy that every music festival these days has to throw a DJ in their lineup to draw a completely different crowd and ultimately make more money (Bamboozle, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Coachella, Summer Jam, etc). Is this where live music is heading? I love electronic music as much as the next person, but I feel many music enthusiasts go to these festivals to escape those kind of crowds, unless it's an electronic festival of course. I used to go to rock festivals in high school to feel accepted and to feel like I belonged within a part of a movement that none of my classmates could relate to because they were too busy listening to their auto-tuned bullshit. At music festivals nobody judged me for what I listened to and nobody was too drunk to recall what they witnessed the day before. It was just a group of extremely open minded individuals, all there for the love of live rock n' roll.

Since when do acts like Afrojack share the same bill as Radiohead? How do musicians feel about this? Live music to me is all about the human element and the talent a musician has perfected in their own individual style to be able to free style live and give people what they paid for plus more. There is nothing like the raw sound of a live guitar and the feeling knowing every show will be a little different, not just the same track playing from a DJ's computer. Seeing "trendy" college girls overdosing on drugs wearing ridiculous neon outfits convinces me they aren't going for the live music aspect but to hear the same tracks coming from a computer in an altered mind set. -__-

Although I do think some DJs and electronic artists are extremely talented and not everyone can just pick up LogicPro with a Massive plugin and know how to create something listenable, I just feel like the music scene is changing. For example, the producer Skrillex (who originally is a vocalist, composer and guitarist), is obviously a talented creative individual. But when he plays for live music festivals that draw in thousands, he is expected to play his biggest songs as well as remix the Top 50 at the time to keep his crowd pleased. There are also fans complaining that on his newest EP, Bangarang, there are no big "bass drops." My only reasoning for this is that the "fraternity bros" who I am forced to share the crowd with enjoy the bass because it is "so filthy" and because when you're rolling (on ecstasy or molly) feeling the bass is like nothing other. Are these the people I truly feel like sharing the experience of live music with? When they don't care about the musicianship, or the live remixing but just about a bass drop? Who don't realize that Skrillex is a modern version of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher?

This is why I am not a big fan of this scene. However when Skrillex plays smaller venues, shows in Europe and after parties, his sets are insanely tasty and artistic and lack the pop music and hits that he is expected to play. What is that telling us? Are artists not allowed to express themselves in the way they like if it will not please their fan base and their record labels? Shouldn't artists take creative risks in what they feel is right?

The "Skrillex" I knew back in in 2004 was known as Sonny Moore. I first knew him as the post hardcore frontman of my favorite band, From First to Last. He then came out in 2008 with an EP Gypsyhook which was made of Japanese Electronica tracks. His EP was completely torn apart by the critics and he was dropped from his label because it was so experimental and so Aphex Twin-esque. However when I saw him perform live, the intimacy and understanding I felt within the crowd of only 24 people and him was unlike anything I've experienced with him as "Skrillex" playing for thousands behind a big box of computers and equipment. The talent I saw him possess playing percussion and guitar (for song songs), singing and screaming is so much more powerful than what I am allowed to hear today from him. It's things like this that makes me question the direction live music is heading. Hoping I'm not the only one alone in this predicament ..

Here is my favorite song from Sonny's old days in From First to Last (with him as the frontman)

Here is a song from Sonny's unreleased EP, Bells.

Here is an acoustic version of Mora from Sonny's EP, Gypsyhook

Compare this to the songs with the "heavy bass" noted at 1:17- onward he is expected to play now.