10/6/2025 2:52:31 AM
Are you stuck in the past ?

9/30/2025 3:52:56 AM
Music as a therapy

1/7/2025 5:38:17 AM
Did The Beatles like Classical Music?

10/6/2025 2:52:31 AM

Are you stuck in the past ?
Every so often on forums or social media platforms, we are asked to name our "best" or our "favorite" song, artist, gig, album, whatever. I'm realising now, that many of us go into automatic mode and pull out an old, safe answer without having to delve too deeply.

Looking at the front page KIAC Classics for example, some of those artists/bands have been there for years. Are they really the best or were they just the best at the time? When do we stop looking back and start looking at other possible classics? When does a song become classic? Is it a time thing or does it depend on familiarity and some kind of emotional pull?

Many sites, when you join, want to know your influences. Obviously it depends on your age and music style but I know that I have a list that includes some bygone (and long gone) artists. I'm almost embarrassed to name them as they age me somewhat.

I know my kind of stuff (tuneful, lyrical, memorable) is hard to find these days but I'm sure there are some 'new to the scene' artists who are still trying to recreate the classic songwriting and producing of the past but with the aid of modern technology and the advantage of WWW exposure.

So, be honest, are you stuck in the past when the subject or questions about 'all time greats' comes up?

10/6/2025 8:54:43 AM

First off, the IAC Classic section is there because the musicologists pick songs to help represent indie music over the long haul. We want to assure that new listeners have a chance to hit on some truly great stuff regardless of what new stuff lands on our pages this week or that week.

You hold up new like it is all there is. Some artists here are interested in building a fan base. I carry my songs around in my satchel because they're all a part of me. Other artists delete all their old material and it's gone for all practical purposes. There's a least one artist here who has basically deleted their entire musical history and continues to do so. I would love to have her full page with every song she's ever done available to play any of her songs (she's one of the best indie artists I've ever heard) whenever I feel like it. Her sensibilities may be that her new songs are mainly the only ones that matters, and she is free to do what she does. but who knows, her music might gain more acceptance if listeners got to witness and experience her great body of work which she stubbornly keeps to herself. ha ha

There are a lot of old things that I love. I love NFL highlights from the old days because then they were allowed to hit really hard, now they are not. I loved my collection of 45s so much that I keep the Beatles' Daytripper 45 below my monitor when I work, simply because it gives me a charge to hold a 45 in my hand. Some old movies are precious, like my favorite film of all time - Tommy. People collect antiques, I myself am hooked on watching a show on YouTube called Froggy Flips where a guy goes to yard sales and flea markets looking for old toys. He has hundreds of episodes and I'm having trouble finding one I haven't seen.

I'm not stuck in the past. The band has a new song coming out tomorrow and we have 4 others we're in the middle of working on and I have 5 others almost ready to give to the band on my recorder. I'm heavily involved in day to day American politics and sports too.

10/6/2025 9:49:31 AM ---- Updated 10/6/2025 10:20:13 AM

In many respects I am stuck in the past. I refuse to keep up to date with technology. I wear the same clothes I wore 20 years ago. If I find a comfortable pair of shoes I wear them until the sole drops off. I only use cash.

I don't actually listen to music much, never have done so when asked what I like or which of my own songs were good, I have trouble remembering actually. It's just a hobby, a personal thing, a way to pass the time, no point getting nostalgic really.

10/6/2025 10:29:38 AM

Maybe the point is that the purpose of life is in part about accumulating experiences, life is more than what happens today. and that's a good thing cause sometimes today is pretty shitty. What made you what you are today? All of us have times in our past we are not thrilled to think about but it is a pastiche of the years that have gone by that got us here in the first place.

10/6/2025 11:32:41 AM

I try not to be. I keep up with current music trends and embrace new technologies. I don't want to be left behind. I know too many people my age and up who can barely work a computer. I know some people who only use computers for sending emails. I refuse to be that person.

10/6/2025 7:52:17 PM

I agree with Scott when he says,
"Maybe the point is that the purpose of life is in part about accumulating experiences, life is more than what happens today. and that's a good thing cause sometimes today is pretty shitty. What made you what you are today? All of us have times in our past we are not thrilled to think about but it is a pastiche of the years that have gone by that got us here in the first place."

Your "past" is kinda like your "relatives" and "family (re)members"... being(s)... "a part" of "you" and "yours". You wouldn't(and couldn't) know "who you are" or "where you came from" without "them". I WISH I COULD "get stuck in the past". "It" WOULD FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!

10/6/2025 8:10:50 PM

10/6/2025 8:22:22 PM

10/6/2025 8:22:39 PM

10/6/2025 8:23:15 PM

10/6/2025 8:58:58 PM

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life, as the saying goes.

"Without memory existence is injured" is also true...

--I heard a Dire Straits song in a shopping lot, walking back to my car, on an outdoor speaker, in the warm summer (early fall) breeze...ahhhh...

10/6/2025 11:40:09 PM

Reading the responses here, I'm realising that I may feel differently about life, family, relationships the past and music, which was the inspiration for this thread. But I agree life is all about learning and becoming who you are today. I mostly like who I am now although I know others wish I was more like who I used to be. So, why would I want to ruminate about mistakes I made, tragedies I've experienced, things I regret or people I disappointed? Often music will bring back the times I don't want to remember.

I suppose I was wrong to say I never listen to music, as a former dance teacher I had to use music all the time, and getting into music reviewing means I have to listen to music now. However, I listen in a constructive rather than emotive way mostly. So when I find music that does move me it won't be because it takes me back in my life, it will be that it brings imaginative thoughts or some chemical reaction to the listening experience.

I don't want to ruffle feathers here, just trying to share a few thoughts.

10/7/2025 5:58:56 PM ---- Updated 10/7/2025 6:18:24 PM

I don’t feel stuck in the past but I do cherish certain wonderful experiences from the past. Conversely there are things in my past I wish I could erase from my mind. I celebrate the former and have made peace with the latter. I’m always open to new things and feelings that live in the present but the past, present and future can exist within the same realm. Time is a very subjective concept. You haven’t ruffled my feathers! Expressive and creative thoughts like the ones you put forth are more akin to stroking feathers than ruffling them!

10/8/2025 11:46:44 AM ---- Updated 10/12/2025 11:38:51 PM

In reality it does depend upon how bad it was for us in the past. I've had a very good life up until now. So, "living in the past"(for me) is more like a remedy and "cure" for present "disappointments". But, THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY! YOU ARE RIGHT TOO! Verity. -M-

10/19/2025 8:10:19 AM

Nope, I am not stuck in any past. The past can and does provide imagery, feelings, and experiences that are vital to relating to stories in song. All of my songs are stories of something that has happened to me along the way. I like to disguise expected reactions with simile, metaphor, and other lyrical insights to make a point that is often disguised. Higher Order Language is poetry in stories linked to notes to make a song.
I am not looking for the masses. I am looking for the 7 -14% who get it.

        ©2015-16 IndieMusicPeople.com      All Rights Reserved