Page 7 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE OCTOBER 2014

One of the reoccurring trends I noticed during
my time in LA is that many of the bands from
the area are in actual fact lone songwriters who
hire other musicians in order for the band to be
seen performing live Ownership of a band
appears more business like precise and
professional here and it's expected that
musicians working within these parameters are
paid for their playing time No one is expected
to work for free One opinion I heard implied
that there are no bands that really write
anymore it's either a main songwriter
responsible for their acts work or a collection of
songwriters writing a song for an artist or
performer In this part of the world music
business is taken quite seriously there are pros
and cons of course to this; a band seen to be
having a moment of fun is probably the result of
a management decision and if you don't play the
game then you won't last long
Searching Hollywood itself for indications of
how music is celebrated was quite surprising;
British music is still viewed in a high regard
areas were decorated with shrines saluting the
likes of Freddie Mercury The Beatles and Amy
Winehouse when you walk into a store you'd
frequently hear bands from the United Kingdom
on the radio more so than American artists Even
the Hollywood tour bus driver made a big thing
about Elton John and Phil Collins having
property here repeatedly pointing out where
Ozzy Osborne's reality TV show was filmed or
revealing where Sharon Osborne took a dump
once and boasting that Led Zeppelin smashed up
some of their best hotel rooms I guess I was
expecting to find out more about American
music icons
The biggest billboard for anything connected to
music was that of a new season of The Voice
which looked more like a cheap advert for Dolce
& Gabbana Michael Jackson's former rented
home and place of death was of course slapped
on the tourist map but it made the whole thing
seem a little tacky and fragile; is this how
musicians make it? In Hollywood? By dying? Of
course this smokescreen was all for the sake of
tourism and not a true reflection especially as
Michael Jackson probably faked his own death
@weak13
@nickjtownsend
RGG October 2014 - p.7
anyway One musician I spoke to was adamant
that LA has every type of music imaginable and
so much going on within the city that it's easy to
discover that five of your biggest heroes in music
all performed on the same night at different
venues a week before you even found out;
there's a lot happening here
Of all the people's stories I heard the one which
stood out most for me was that of American
guitarist Brandon Mendenhall and his band The
Mendenhall Experiment This is a musician who
has succeeded in overcoming living with Cerabral
Palsy since birth a young man whose battled
odds his entire life been looked down upon by
folk from his hometown of Illinois and only got
offered a small job at a McDonalds for a mere five
hours a week because people underestimated
him He took up an instrument hid his guitar
playing from a disapproving father travelled to
LA worked hard and now he and his band
celebrate gaining a worldwide distribution deal
after supporting live some of the largest rock
bands on the planet such as Korn and Megadeth
I came to Hollywood and met the biggest star
ever an inspiration to all He never quit He
believed in himself when many around doubted
him; he raised his middle finger and gracefully
said "fuck you I can be anything I want to be"
This is why I came to America; to find people like
Brandon a real rock star
The American dream is real and I now shed a tear
of happiness before I fly back to England