Do You Look Like A Musician?

[Vaiyen]

my above post refers to those young musicians who rely on their dressing in the hope that someone will recognise them as musicians and maybe perceive them as 'cooler'. This smacks of an uncertain self-esteem and identity.

I perfectly understand those major acts whose dressings are a part of their image and marketing ploy etc. glam and visual bands.


and to threadstarter: it seems very arrogant to put musicians on a pedestal as much "more cool and interesting" than everyone else.
I've met extremely interesting pple who are not musicians; whose intelligence and wit will blow u away, and similarly, very uninteresting musicians; who can't hold a decent conversation.

 

[vx02]

why must i?

 

[Blodstyre]

my above post refers to those young musicians who rely on their dressing in the hope that someone will recognise them as musicians and maybe perceive them as 'cooler'. This smacks of an uncertain self-esteem and identity.

But at times, there are some ppl who just enjoy dressing like so. so should those type of ppl be deemed someone who lacks self-esteem or identity?

I perfectly understand those major acts whose dressings are a part of their image and marketing ploy etc. glam and visual bands.

But those particular "major bands" were not "major bands" when they 1st started out. There is no band that starts out with instant popularity. So should we call them lacking of self-esteem and identity bands?

and to threadstarter: it seems very arrogant to put musicians on a pedestal as much "more cool and interesting" than everyone else.
I've met extremely interesting pple who are not musicians; whose intelligence and wit will blow u away, and similarly, very uninteresting musicians; who can't hold a decent conversation.

I agree with this though....I've gotch me rots of non-musician kaki-nangs who are more happening then my musician kaki-nangs. Its fun to bring these "non-musicians" jamming. Love to see them, or rather hear them try to sing...




~meh~

 

[hecklerkoch]

if a person has to resort to using something as superficial and external as clothings to establish his identity, then i think it is very very sad.
What happened to true inner identity and character?

Well, then you have to ask - how does one identify 'true inner identity and character'?

Visual cues are extremely important for human beings - that's why there's such things as 'first impressions' and whatnot.

Not all of the time we get to have the opportunity to really get to know a person and eventually find out about their 'true inner identity and character', and some people don't even bother.

How important is an identity that is obvious enough to the naked eye?

Very important I must say, in various types of circumstances and situations.

Sometimes you need to make decisions and you need to make them fast.

So, most of the time it's purely based on the outer surface.

 

[hecklerkoch]

=Vaiyen

I am sorry but I think maybe you haven't read all of my posts regarding this.

As I said, above everything else, it is ultimately a personal choice, whether you want to look different or dress up and form an identity for yourself.

My deeper concern is whether Singaporeans and local musicians still feel the need to succumb to society's expectations and be more comfortable fitting in, visually or otherwise, or can we slowly shed the fear of being ostracized for being 'different' and think for our own and progress to levels of creativity and reinventions that will benefit society as a whole.

So, I'd appreciate if you could read through the discussions before jumping to conclusions.

ps For that post containing donno what all teenagers are musicians whatever, I think maybe I am not intellectual enough to respond to such 'sweeping statements'.

 

[hecklerkoch]

Utter bullcrap. Define the variable "musician", please. From reading part of this thread, it appears every teenager in this world is a musician. God bless the real deals.

Oh crap, might as well..

Like the term 'human', a musician is not a state of absoluteness or an end product where nothing can be improved ya.

There are teenagers who were child music prodigies and have attained levels of musicianship and knowledge of his or her chosen instrument that some people can only dream of.

There are old farts who have played music for like half of their lives but can only best be rated as mediocre, despite their years of experience.

Everybody's learning at every point of their lives, there's no such thing as knowing everything.

So, I can just imagine what the 'real deals' you are talking about.

 

[hecklerkoch]

my above post refers to those young musicians who rely on their dressing in the hope that someone will recognise them as musicians and maybe perceive them as 'cooler'. This smacks of an uncertain self-esteem and identity.
I think everyone has some levels of vanity and I think it's very natural. Otherwise, women will not bother to wear make-up or people will not care to wear nice clothes or have different hairstyles. It's all about this 'identity', that visual difference between oneself and other people. And those normal, everyday people will not know better if there are no actors/rockstars/models who dress up, set trends and fashion and look cool.

I perfectly understand those major acts whose dressings are a part of their image and marketing ploy etc. glam and visual bands.
I think a lot of them do wear their fashion off-stage. See my above reply regarding natural vanity.

and to threadstarter: it seems very arrogant to put musicians on a pedestal as much "more cool and interesting" than everyone else.
I've met extremely interesting pple who are not musicians; whose intelligence and wit will blow u away, and similarly, very uninteresting musicians; who can't hold a decent conversation.
Like everything else - not ALL musicians are interesting people, extremely talented, have razor-sharp wit or even fashionable BUT I think that there're definitely some visual cues and elements that will definitely make one wonder what group these people fit in. Are they artists? Are they actors? Are they some sort of television personalities? Are they musicians?

I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

 

[hecklerkoch]

why must i?

Nobody's saying it's a must.

It's just a simple 'yes' or 'no' type of question.

 

[AEnimic]

Metallica, KISS and whatever bands that have been mentioned only dress up for their shows. They don't necessarily walk around with skintight leather pants and wear corpse make up everywhere they go. So there's actually no valid reason to actually look like a musician when you're aren't actually playing music at the moment.

Which apparently alot of people are doing. They dress up as though they are some full-time rockstar then actually they just wanted to go catch a movie.

You can look like a musician, sure you can..but are you sure you need to do so if you actually believe in the strength of your music? I seriously think dressing up for shows is alright..I like it. But yes, being a "show off" and dressing up when you're not performing is just plain retarded.

There's a thin line between dressing nice(in which ever way you regard nice as) and overdressing just to prove a point that you are a rocker.

 

[hecklerkoch]

=AEnimic

That's why I said you don't have to go the full monty and end up looking like a fool.

I am pretty sure most of the time it's the little touches here and there that ultimately makes the difference.

As in the expression 'less is more'.

And you realize we definitely cannot argue on specifics here - there's no absolute look that screams 'musician' but as with lots of things - you just 'know'.

 

[soft]

As in, you know.. musicians kinda look different. They are non-conformists, they've got attitude and style (well, most of 'em) and you can almost always tell a musician apart from the rest of the garden variety species of humans.

Hi hecklerkoch

I definitely look like a musician! Cos I do not look like the other musicians. ( you didnt see my shoulder length hair photo? )

My dad was a talior, he made his name by creating MGR ( an indian movie star who became Chief Minister) dressing. Shirts with lots of buttons, colors, stripes, zippers .... But my dad never wore them. He create them.

Dressing for the occassion appropriately is key.

 

[headwan]

Funny thing abt this thread, it seems those real musician i know from this forum have either limited or no say at all on this thread.....

 

[pf]

I got shoulder length hair (which I plan to cut soon). I play piano and keyboard. I got a dress code to adhere to when I play keyboard in church. Does that make me a musician?

What is it with musicians and long hair anyway? I don't get it.

 

[Blodstyre]

Hi hecklerkoch

I definitely look like a musician! Cos I do not look like the other musicians. ( you didnt see my shoulder length hair photo? )

I saw I saw I saw...so the henshem......can put Tom Cruise to shame one.....




~meh~

 

[hecklerkoch]

=soft

I did see that photo! Hahaha!!

Looks like two different persons.

With the long hair you look like an artist/actor/musician and with the short hair, you look like a geography teacher.

But you look younger in person.

:mrgreen:

 

[soft]

A confident person will look ok regardless of how he/she dresses. Cos, it is all about SELF.

The dressing up part is just for show.

 

[hecklerkoch]

So, why do you have longer hair now, James?

No more reservist?

:mrgreen:

 

[gutturalpiss]

... bla bla bla ...

Imagine? No need for that, it's simple. I'm talking about real musicians - not kids who spend half the week in jamming studios wearing leather undergarments. This is whom I refer to as a musician, not this.

Oh my, now you're onto semantics? There is a definition for the term "human"; a pig is not one. There is a definition for the term "musician"; someone who strums the guitar in a park occasionally is not one, neither is someone with long hair in a black suit.

You see, before asking a vague question such as this, you first have to let us know what a musician looks like. Before you can post a photo of a musician, you have to let us know what qualifies that person as a musician. These days kids just want a title of identity, and "musician" appears to be the perfect one; all you need is a forty-dollar acoustic guitar.

"Hey what're you doing these days?"

"Oh, I'm a musician. Look, there's my guitar."

 

[hecklerkoch]

... bla bla bla ...

Sorry, but why do I get the feeling of hostility and bitterness here?

Based on the image links you provide - hard rocker is definitely a musician to you but a teenage singer is not.

That's fine what.

Nobody will say that oh man, you are freekin' right and everybody should spend their hard-earned money on G3 shows and not a Britney Spears concert. It's just bloody to them if they want to worship different heroes.

Anybody worth his brains can read through my posts and see that, as with lots of things, there's no absoluteness in a look or dressing - it varies according to geographical locations, cultures, climate, history and all that. But somehow, you just know because it fits a certain set of criteria somehow.

So why should I post a picture of what I think a musician should look like?

Isn't that the same as imposing what I think is 'right' on other people?

Hell, it's like we are arguing on a pure black and white basis, what exactly makes it right and wrong. Do my thread posts insist on such a fact?

I don't think so man.

So, your world is full of idiots who strut around with Kapok guitars, boasting to everybody that they are musicians and you detest these imbeciles.

But do you think others' environments are like that?

Me comparing interestingly and fashionably dressed people to yawn-inducing, boring and uninspiring clothing is just a personal opinion, so I am sorry if people take it the wrong way and I appear like I have that 'holier than thou' air.

Because, I reiterate, my deeper concern at the end of the day, is not about the actual act of the 'dressing up' itself, but the attitude and mentality towards progress.

So, sorry ya if you are too pre-occupied with your world of absolute correctness and bla bla bla.

 

[balloons]

Why has long hair on guys a direct relationship with no more reservist?