Steve Hubback - The Quest For Harmony, Quality and the Good Life
By Steve Hubback - August 11th, 2009
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Steve Hubback, a famous gong and cymbalsmith shares this article exclusively with OnlineDrummer.com. Be sure to check out Steve's work via the sites linked below the article.
Amazing how the world has changed so much in 10 years and not for the better. People work longer and harder, everything is more expensive, but quality is not as good. People are less trusting of each other and stress levels are hitting new highs. Add to this increasing controls and less liberty and you wonder where it's all going to go.
Well, it will get worse before it gets better, but if everyone made a small effort to be more pleasant to everyone else, less aggressive, more polite, good mannered and helpful then things would change
for the better. Everyone can do something and we don't all have to live in fear all the time. What's the point of being alive with all the amazing possibilities the world has to offer if everyone is too scared to do anything?
It would be nice to see a return to individuality and uniqueness. Every city center in Europe is becoming the same. Same shops, same cafe's same everything. I always try to find independent cafes, restaurants and bars and not some global soulless establishment only interested in getting my hard earned cash, and I can't stand these big TV screens that seem always be in these places. Often they are so loud you can`t even talk to someone, perhaps that's what they want,though. I want to be somewhere with character and with interesting people and get service and know that the people running the place care about quality and comfort. Somewhere where there is humour and a good spirited atmosphere. These places still exist but are getting less as time goes by.
Then there's the art and music scene. The independent record labels are really struggling. Most distribution is controlled by the big companies and they are not opening doors for the independent labels. Same with publishing; get a book made and try and get it in the shops. Ha! you have to go through a major system that's just not interested. The major companies are freaking because people download the music and a lot of people don't even care about having something that's been made with a lot of thought, care and love. A lot of the Pagan groups have excellent artwork on their CDs. They make an effort to produce work of high quality and of artistic integrity and creativity and there are a lot of people who support them and buy their work. So this is good.
The festivals these people make are also really good. Nice atmosphere, you don't have all the heavy security you find at other places. I've never seen any aggression at these festivals, just like-minded people having a nice time and drinking mead.
I think the jazz guys are suffering a lot, but then jazz is a small world and doesn't have such an interesting and powerful scene, unlike Heavy Metal or Black Metal. Black Metal especially in Norway is on a whole other level. Norway has always had good musicians, but these guys are really up there and the impact is strong. They are also rather anti-conventional and mundane society and this is good, because it shows another way. People are learning Norwegian - fluently in countries like Italy, because they are so into this. Italian BM groups singing in Norwegian!
If I were starting my career again as a drummer, I'd go straight for Heavy Metal (and/or Celtic music). It's one of the few areas of music where the musicianship is on an excellent level and creativity. There are strong loyalties. Fans will really support their musicians. Motorhead even have a backstage room for their most loyal fans at their concerts. That says a lot about the band and their fans...
As for art, some new fresh-minded venues are needed to break away from the established system which is rather stiff, and the expenses on the artist can be staggering. My last exhibition was at the Beltane festival in Telc in the Czech Republic. I installed 3 stainless steel mobiles and one large musical chime mobile and some smaller pieces suspended from an Oak tree. With the lighting it all looked like a fairy tale and all through the night, people were touching, filming and photographing my sculptures. When I arrived at 14.00 the next day, everything was still there - safe.
That was great and nice to be somewhere where work is respected. I can think of some places where everything would have been stolen or damaged, but this is all to do with how cultured people are. I can't stand TV, can't take the commercials and most of what's shown is so uninteresting for me. For a lot of people 'culture' is one of these 'talent' shows where people who just want to be famous get their chance performing some mindless, uncreative, uninspired crap without a band and amazing how much violence is on TV. Something I'm happy to live without.
I should state that I'm actually an optimist and always tend to look on the bright side but am aware of the darker side too. I guess it's all to do with balance. Money is something we all need; it's a necessary tool for survival. It goes wrong when people get too greedy and self-centered. It`s important to share things in life, although you must keep something for yourself too.
Learn more about Steve and view his amazing gong and cymbal work:http://sites.google.com/site/hubbackmetalcraft/www.hubgong.dse.nl/www.myspace.com/stevehubbackmetalmoves
