I’ve reviewed very few indie musicians/movies/artists.
This is not because I don’t want to.
Nor is it because I don’t think they’re worth it.
The main reason I have not reviewed many indie artists (music, movies, etc) is that indie artists are inherently harder to find.
The co-main reason is that VERY few indie artists – given the opportunity – have expressed ANY interest in me reviewing their work.
And in terms of “supporting” new/indie artists…how the fck can I support something when I haven’t even seen it?
It’s just as possible that the person behind an indie is a greedy sonofab1tch as a mainstream. It’s just as possible they’re just in it for the money (TRYING to get the money, that is…churning out stuff they know is sh1t but they ALSO know is generally popular): hoping to make money off a name, get signed by a mainstream, pander to a market, etc…
Being indie doesn’t make you noble. Just like being “mainstream” doesn’t make you ignoble. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
So, after babbling a bit, I AM TOTALLY WILLING to review movies/music/comics/any other form of art I find interesting, REGARDLESS of who it’s from/how popular it is/if it’s indie or mainstream/etc, etc etc…
The PROBLEM is:
I don’t support something just BECAUSE it’s indie.
I’m not going to say “Hey, check out X!” just BECAUSE they’re indie and ask me for a plug. I’m not, sorry.
If someone ASKS me to review something/support them, I’ll do what I think ANY critic (and I am, albeit an unprofessional one) SHOULD do:
I’ll look briefly at the subject. If I know I’m gonna hate it, I’ll decline…because I DON’T GIVE FREE PUBLICITY. I *PAY* for this site. I make NOTHING from it. I never have, I never will.
Only the most blithering of idiots couldn’t see why saying “Sure, I’ll pay money to view/listen to something I know I’ll hate so I can give you free publicity” is RIGHT OUT.
HOWEVER…
If I think I MIGHT like it, I will almost certainly agree to watch/listen to it, and review it. I’m not gonna PAY to do this, of course. Just like I don’t get paid TO DO it.
And my review will come after watching/listening to THE WHOLE THING. Critical integrity, you know.
And my review will have nothing to do with how nice you are…you have to separate the artist and the art.
Critical integrity, you know.
So, basically, I am a means of gaining free publicity. Even a bad review is a review.
The problem is…while *I* am quite willing to do this, VERY FEW people are willing to agree to this. They want a free plug, or a guarantee that I’ll review it positively, etc…and I don’t do that.
Why? Same reason you (hopefully) don’t sell out the first chance you get: artistic integrity.
My reviews are art. Perhaps not very GOOD art, but art, in my opinion. Putting aside the fact that if I gave EVERYTHING a positive review, NOONE would care about my reviews, EVER…I just personally, myself, don’t want to. I want to be – as every artist should – genuine.
SO…if you want YOUR art reviewed – be it a short film, a comic, an article, a poem, WHATEVER…all you have to do is ask. And the worst I will do is say no.
And to close, of course, two quotes:
“…The only thing that matters is what actually winds up on the big screen, not how you got it there. You could make a cartoon in crayons about a red square that falls in unrequited love with a blue circle, and there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house if you know how to tell a story…”
“…You never want to lie to your audience… you can trick them, you can disturb them, you can annoy them, but you can never lie to them. To me commercials are nothing but lies.”
I consider honesty one of my virtues.