© Stephan Flad
It hasn’t been a long time ago since we wrote something on the whole vanity of Coachella’s fashion pool. Of course that was something that didn’t affect us – or so we want to believe. Indio, California is so far away from Germany. Last weekend, though, we attended the Berlin Festival and in case you thought that we would chicken to share our thoughts on the topic then you don’t know us that well…
It’s true that life goes on, eras change – we, constantly, change and life has got so fast that it’s not easy to keep up with everything. It’s also true that ‘icons’ or ‘idols’ don’t exist anymore. This is probably happening because the attention span got so short that even the capitalistic wheels are starting losing track. I can imagine that kids are like ‘Fuck the guitar, I’ll read about marketing’. Because knowing what’s trending and how to use it for your own purposes/activities/sake makes you instantly ‘cool’. If you spot the trend before it ‘breaks’, then you’re the king of trending. You’re so ‘ahead of your era’! Do we follow the trends or do the follow us, though?
Music is more or less in everyone’s lives. Internet, TV, radio, writeups about music, posters about live shows, live shows, festivals – and so it goes. Music slides in our lives without not even realizing it. It has entered our subconscious in a way that I don’t think that we could make it without it. At least, here, in the western world. Imagine how it would be without music. Boring, right?
Festivals have turned into amusement parks
We could all agree that it’s absolutely subjective how someone personalizes his/her taste and picks to listen to the ‘X’ instead of the ‘Z’ music. Same goes for the interview that we pick to read, the show that we attend and of course the festivals that we buy tickets for. I don’t know how people decide to go to festivals – I can only talk about myself. I check the acts and if I want to see more than 6 acts then -easy, peasy- I am going for it. Aren’t most of the people like this? What I basically expect from a festival is good sound, easy-going vibe, security and of course a cool lineup where I’d enjoy the older and discover the younger acts. Maybe that’s a very classic way of thinking, but when everything is so complicated and there’s so much information all around us, festivals should be where we unload, discharge from the routine life. Festivals should be the place where we relax and enjoy the magic of the music.
Do we all share the same feelings? It seems that the festival promoters have other ideas and wishes for us. Festivals have turned into amusement parks for people who mainly worry about being cool and want to drink to forget that they have debts and/or things to do on Monday. In this coolness wave, there is music – somewhere in the background but the sound is so messy and most of the acts sound exactly the same. Conformity is the new key. In this coolness wave, we all start to look the same, becoming the clones of someone else who’s cooler than we are. In this coolness wave, we miss the point of why we paid money to go to that (music) festival. We spend our money to buy booze and food. We spend our money for whatever other activities that we ain’t going to remember the next morning because we drank our asses off. And we missed the act that we wanted to see. Because we were caught up with something else, somewhere else.
If we really want to talk about fashion icons. Roisin Murphy, ladies and gentlemen. © Stephan Flad
What’s happening with our generation? How did we turn into this? Till some years ago, the concept was to put on the T-shirt of your favorite band, find your spot in front of the stage and be there for the first support act. The trick was not to drink much so that you wouldn’t have to pee. You’d be the last one to leave – exhausted and with your ears buzzing. But you’d talk about that day for the rest of the month.
How the idea of individuality turned into conformity
These are just thoughts. It’s not exactly a fashion report. There were many girls with flower crowns and many guys with the same sunglasses, if that’s enough to say. Many people went for the face painting and the temporary tattoos- there were stands to get these at many corners in the festival area. You don’t even see the extremes anymore. What’s the alternative of 2015? What’s this culture of a humble bumblebee that’s following the swarm? There should be no buzzing when the others are not buzzing! Maybe there’s something that we missed. Maybe there’s something that I’m missing. I never understood what means ‘cool’ anyway. Shouldn’t we want to be ‘warm’?
To conclude. We make the trends, we make the fashion. Obviously, there is a need for all this kindergarten mentality. Even if that’s true, personalize it like the way you put on your favorite song when nobody’s around. If you want to be cool and fashionable, be yourself. Individuality should finally become the new mainstream. When will you freakin’ get it?
Note: We know that not everyone is like this. We know that you’re different. In case you that you have an objection and/or something to cite on the matter please contact us! We’ll be more than happy to hear you.
© Stephan Flad