Grizzly Bear in New York Magazine
There's a really fantastic article about Grizzly Bear over at New York Magazine's Vulture. The article goes into some detail about how difficult it is for bands to make a decent living. CoolMom and I were talking about just that over dinner last night.
I can't tell you the number of shows I've been to where acts -- some legendary -- were setting up and breaking down their own sets, crawling around on the stage, taping down cables, etc. Twitter is littered with evidence that, for many of the artists that I love so dearly, a successful album or two or three doesn't translate into a life of luxury, or even middle classness. Not all of the members of Grizzly Bear even have health insurance. This amazes me, but I guess it shouldn't.
The article mentions that Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear's second LP, has sold approximately 220,000 copies to date. That is a monster in the world of mindie. Contrast that, though, with someone like Taylor Swift. Her first three albums have sold over 4,000,000 copies -- EACH!
Sadly, I think to some extent, the mindiesphere takes some pride in the fact that even "Indie-Rock Royalty" isn't sure that they'll be able to earn a living next year. It kind of adds to a band's street cred that they can't afford roadies and are in it for the love of the music. That's great, and I'm sure many (maybe all of them) are in it for just that reason. But they gotta eat and pay rent if you want them to keep making music.
So, if you really like some band, buy their damn album. You can do a heck of a lot worse than Shields. Freaking album is great.
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