I found myself at the crux of a moral dilemma a few nights ago. As most of you know, Krewella underhandedly baited over 40,000 fans to watch their livestream and were met with only a new track. Many felt jilted or betrayed, but more to the point of this article, many met the new track with instant hate and criticism.
I liked the track. A lot. It reminded me of live D&B, like Pendulum’s In Silico or The Qemists’s Join The Q. Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, I’m not saying that “Say Goodbye” could even compare to those albums. I’m only saying that the style of the tune was pleasant to my ears. (In fact, the comparisons to Linkin Park, Evanescence or Flyleaf were even more on point.)
That night, I experienced what it felt like to be “on the other side”. You can normally find me among the throngs of elitists (ironic, right?) decrying DVBBS or Caked Up, yet last night I found myself at figurative gunpoint with those who would rather criticize than analyze. I know many people had technical reasons for disliking the track, but for the majority of people, it seemed like they had already made up their mind long before the stream started. For the Krewella lovers, nothing they could do would be bad. For those who hated them, for whatever miniscule reason, nothing they could do would sound good.
To be on the other side felt depressing; I can see why some people would want to immediately leave the scene when they’re asked “What else can I find that sounds like DVBBS?” and they’re met with only criticism, not of the constructive type. Moreso than any other genre like Rock or R&B, EDM lovers take their music personally. I think this is largely in part because it isn’t just music to us, it’s a culture and our culture defines us. So when we see someone becoming interested in an artist that we believe to be detrimental to our culture, we take it personally.
The “Say Goodbye” discussion lingers on today, as people still voice their displeasure with the track, for no reason other than to see who agrees. I don’t want this article to seem like I’m begging people to try listening to the track again, or to seem like I’m whining that no one else likes it. I’m trying to bring attention to the fact that people’s preconceived notions of an artist or group directly influence their perceptions of any new material.
Case in point, the hate for Krewella clearly reached a crescendo after the news of the legal battle with former member Kris Trindl became public. It became an issue of peer pressure, where there were so many people hating the Yousaf sisters that others didn’t want to be on the other side of the issue. The same goes for Caked Up after the numerous reports of stolen tracks, or DVBBS after the numerous reports of ghost producers. To like these artists goes directly against the opinions of what might be the majority, and that’s honestly scary.
I love electronic music, and I started working in the industry because I felt a desire to be closer to the music, at the source. I think everyone feels that way when they first begin discovering new artists and sounds, but somewhere along the way you discover what you like and that desire for exploration grows weaker. At the same time, the distaste for what you don’t like grows stronger. Simultaneously, you gain knowledge of the culture and form your own opinions.
Wouldn’t it be nice to just start over with a clean slate? Wouldn’t it be nice to experience electronic music the way you did when you first started listening? I think a lot of us have lost that magic and innocence. I think it would be nice to experience it once again.
Photo Credit: Rukes.com
The day I finished production on my first EDM track the magic was gone, the illusion fell away, and I lost all respect for the artists in the genre. I point-and-clicked my way to a fairly respectable dance track that sounded exactly like everything people were listening to.
The spark disappeared. I went back to electronica and indie. EDM is a vapid wasteland. People get defensive about EDM because they know it’s less substantial than the music their parents grew up on. People don’t listen to tracks from last YEAR anymore.
It only counts what tracks are out right now. The old ones are forgotten. People today are literally producing tomorrow’s garbage EDM.
And it’s not like we’re ever going to get back to the 90’s or early 2000’s, just like I’ll never be 21 again.
Nice article man you hit it right on the nose
Everyone loves to lump the phrase “EDM” around. I think that’s more of an issue than anything else. People say that “EDM” is shit, yet always bring up the same exact genre of music. House Music. Not all of house music, but the mainstream stuff. That’s what’s really the issue here. No other genre of “EDM” is in any kind of crisis. But when people say “EDM”, they generically mean Big Festival House. That’s the funny part to me, is that this “crisis” exists with only one style of music. Everything else is fresh, alive, and constantly pumps out new artists and new music. So when you say “EDM”, excuse me if I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Everyone’s a critic these days, and if you have such a big problem with a style of music or a group, just listen to something else. It’s not that hard to do.
this is far from EDM im sorry. I enjoy krewella but this is total pop rock at best.
anyone not a fan of this song was clearly expecting another beatbort top ten mainstream bullshit song from Krewella, and this song definitely strays far away from that with some heavy shit and I love it!
To touch on your conclusion, that’s exactly why I kept my turntables and all my vinyl after so many years and still buy vinyl occasionally. Reminds me where and why I started with electronic music.
My younger brother hates Krewella for no reason. He doesn’t even know about the whole Rain Man debacle, but he just pretty much exclaimed “I fucking hate this crap what is that singing and shit” when I was watching the music video for Killin It (around the time I had only just discovered Krewella) and this was the first time he even heard the name Krewella. He just up and made a judgment about the group, especially about the sisters, just by hearing a little snippet of one of their songs. Then again me and him really have nothing in common, but we have an unspoken agreement of not judging each others’ tastes in music. Weird.
I personally am no mega fan, but I don’t hate them by no means. I listen to their music and some tracks I find better than others, but I’ll judge whether or not I like their songs solely by the music and whether it sounds good to me or not, and not because it is popular to hate on Krewella right now.
Krewella hasn’t been good since Alive. If you feel EDM is in a crisis state, listen to things that aren’t EDM, like Tchami, Mat Zo, Above & Beyond, Porter Robinson, Elderbrook, or Alex Young. There are so many I could list that are keeping this genre alive.
I was expecting a pretty shit article based on the title, but there are some good points. What I’ve personally noticed about the scene is that the edm fans who don’t like electro (mainstream edm) tend to rip on it solely for being mainstream. They base their biases on what they hear from other people who like the same exact music they do without giving the artists a chance. It’s a shame because even though I love Krewella and love the majority of their music, most people will continue to ridicule them even when they go outside of their norm and create amazing tracks! I def didn’t expect DnB!!!! It also reminded me of Pendulum and for everyone that doesn’t think so; go listen to Watercolour or Witchcraft.
I think it’s pretty absurd that Krewella has been getting this much attention over this whole scandal. While I do think you make a good point on the fact that we should touch back on why we love this music as much as we do, I don’t think Krewella/RainMan should be the ones causing this debate to occur. There are so many more talented artists who are actual producers and DJs and not an EDM pop group that stand in front of turntables and have other people producing their songs. These real artists should be the ones getting attention and exposure from the blogs, not a couple of overly dramatic girls breaking up with their group mate.
if you havin originality problems i feel bad for you son i got 99 artists but a hack ain’t one! all i have to say is GRiZ or Big Gigantic, classically trained artists who know music and spend a lot of time making original music with character.
Bullshitt track . Go be a pop star gtfo the stage. Go dj with parris Hilton lol
I’ve been doing the dance music thing for well over a decade, and I still find new tracks that get me as zazzed and excited as I felt in the old days… and producing new and fun tracks feels even more like that. So outside of a few moments of early distaste for some new genres (which I overcame and learned to embrace), I never feel a real distaste for whole genres. And I sure don’t feel burned out on the whole dance music thing.
The issue I see a lot of, is people compartmentalize their tastes too narrowly, and then burn out when they explore all the possibilities of one subgenre. Lotta people in the psytrance and Trance scenes did/ do that.
I started out on Trance, Hands Up, Goa Trance, Breaks, Electro, and Techno back around 2001-2004, and over the years have migrated through House, Hardstyle, Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Psytrance, Progressive, Downtempo, Moombahcore, Hardcore, and just about everything in between. Via adding those new sounds to my collection. I didn’t switch from genre to genre constantly. I just kept adding new sounds to what I have, ’cause they’re fucking COOL.
My old staples are still my first loves, and variations of those are what I still make. But I love listening to and absorbing influences from everything else.
…And I also listen to non-dance music on a regular basis, so it keeps tunes I’ve had for a decade fresh too.
Maybe people need to learn to diversify, rather than narrow, their musical palettes. Works for me.
You know, people always want to hate something because it’s in our nature. But when the th let that get the best of them, they turn into something they hated in the first place. Music in every sense and genre is a culture. It’s in everything we do, everywhere we go. People fail to realize something as simple as that. It’s a way of life that many are not fit to live but are welcome to try. In EDM, our family grows larger by the day. We get people with different views and opinions from around the world that want to experience our love. Unfortunately some experience this love with the wrong people and in the wrong manner. These are the ones that loose their way. The rest of us loved like this before EDM was so large so instead of criticizing others for doing something they love, why not just love them for giving us something to love? That’s what EDM is about, the love of music and the love of our brothers and sisters. Not to criticize and demean Them to the point of breaking. Isn’t that what we as a growing culture set out to destroy? What krewella is going through with rain man is something tragic. Obviusly things are tough for them so why don’t we try to support them so they can rememeber what it was they set out to do in the first place. To spread love with their music.
if anyone has seen krewella live you would understand how much passion goes into their music. Looking forward to hearing more of their new stuff. I’m so tired of people ripping on each others music! seriously people have different taste just because someone doesn’t like your music doesn’t mean they listen to ‘crap music’ its just different from your own!! for example people can like eating pizza and some people could prefer hot dogs. Music is music, stop ripping on other peoples taste just because they are different from your own. This whole mainstream music not being cool is ridiculous, it wouldn’t be mainstream if it wasn’t popular.
There are no “elitists” I’m so tired of that word, there are simply people who know all of the genres and people who couldn’t even tell you what breakbeat is… There are smart ass punks that think they know everything just because they have an Internet connection. We regarded older people as wise back before google, kids nowadays learn everything about EDM from youtube and call anyone that tries to guide them “elitist”.. That’s what this shit really boils down to.
I am honestly just disappointed. I LOVE(d) Krewella and I always will listen to their stuff made up until now. My problem is that literally days after they slander Kris and say he made little to no work on anything after Alive, they release this track which is NOWHERE NEAR the quality of their previous work – it’s absolutely contradictory and sad.
Beautiful article! Nice hook about krewella, you provided examples, similes, metaphors, personal experience, and at the end a very nice conclusion that contained a broader vision, a universal thought. And the amazing thing is that you wrote it with passion.
the phenomenon isnt unique to edm, or music in general. humans at large inherently reject what they arent familiar with. give a person an opinion, and they’ll immediately create a counter opinion. you cant believe one thing without simultaneously rejecting its opposite. its just what we do.
I don’t judge music, whatever you feel you feel
I make drug music, whatever I deal I deal
-Vinnie Paz, i think about this quote alot when i see people hating on music, also you’re legit taking a shit on someone creative expression, even if there not good there having fun
this sounds alot like drum and bass to me with some sort of pop rock riffs
At least this song has some decent production value, and they have found someone that can actually track vocals and tune them properly…
This isn’t exclusive to this genre. See it just as much with metal, jam bands, and pretty much anywhere else.
They have left the realm of EDM, this is just pop rock. Nickelback, creed, and especially evanescence have all done it better… In the 90s
Thank you! i’ve been waiting for someone to put out a more human article about the whole situation. I love Krewella and hate to see all the shit-slinging
But, the track is watered down Dnb that I find extremely impossible to even fathom they produced.
It is crap.
Great article, many points brought up that are relatable to everyone in the scene
Say goodbye lol I’ve seen them live they fucking suck from edm
It’s like compition… 🙁 and produce music FAST as possible
I…kinda dig the track.
EMD version of flyleaf.
i honestly like it 🙂
Well said…