Keep Moving

It has been a month or more since the great split from SCR that left many of my fans scratching their heads wondering what happened, and what comes next. While most of the artist that left have remained quiet, I feel obligated to those that have supported me these last couple of years to present some sort or explaination. First allow me to lay the rumors to rest. I did not leave SC to pursue a music career with a major record label, and I did NOT leave so that I may start charging for my music. I plan to deliver my music for free as long as I am financially able to do so. So then why? It is not as simple as a one word answer, but rather a collection of things.

Allow me to begin at the reason I joined SC, which was to join a family atmosphere of artists helping each other and growing together. The message was to deliver quality music to like minded individuals for free. Spread the art, spread the message.  When I joined up the group was a small crew of close friends. I loved it, we were a family, all of our success was tied together, this mentality helped push me to better myself, not only for me, or the few fans I had, but for the sake of my brothers. Over time the atmosphere began to change, artists were being added by the week it seemed and when one signed on, another took off. It in effect became the revolving door of musicians. As more musicians filled the huge holes older artists left, it became less personal and more business. The business: Sign as many artists as possible, and we were good.

I began to voice my concerns to those in charge about the direction the label had taken, but my concern fell on deaf ears. But still, this was my family and you don't leave your family. But as time passed the family environment faded completely, and other concerns began to arise. I will not speak for any other artist involved, but just a few of my concerns included: 1) What I felt was a drop in our overall music quality/output  2)Increasingly stretched resources among an ever growing group of musicians  3)No oversight or check/balances of the community donations  4)Potentially Offensive messages being broadcast over the official SC social networks  5)Misleading wording of the donations statement.

Allow me to breifly address each:

1)At some point in the growth of the club, the focus switched from putting out the very BEST in nerd music, and instead went the way of putting out the very MOST. Now many of the artist have quite a long cycle in between releases, so came the necessity to constantly sign artists with releases done or near done to keep the rotations fresh.

2)The resource everyone needed and no one could get: Time. There is one person who can update the sites, shoot blurbs, send press releases, and as the face of SC, he could use that rep to get his artists the necessary services they needed. Sadly he is a very busy man, and with an ever growing force behind him, he became busier and busier. 

3)This speaks for itself, there was no way for any of the artists on SC to monitor if the donations being received were going to the central fund. All donations were received and we were told via monthly updates how much they were. This was never a problem for me personally, until the label grew and grew and it became all business.

4)After voicing my repeated concerns about posting messages about Politics, Religion, Creeds, Conpiracy Theories, Beef with other artists, etc. I grew very wary of explaining to my listeners that the views being expressed through the SCR account were not the views of all of the artists on the label. One such instance was the "beef" with MC LARS, which I publically opposed and was chastised for.

5)The statement placed on the download page for all of the albums on the site is rather misleading. First off and it is on the release of your favorite artists album it may appear that you are donating to that artist. This is false however. All money goes to the aforementioned unregulated fund. It also reads "Please make any size of donation to help all of our artists get new merch and promo items, book bigger shows, and get better equipment." This is a bit misleading, as the fund is used SC merch which all the proceeds go back into that pesky fund. And to my knowledge no artist has ever received new equipment with the fund money.

Now these things among many other things led to my eventual decision to part ways with the club. While it was not for me, I have a great amount of respect for all of the artists still affiliated with SCR. Many of the artists that left had their own motives, unique to each individual. One thing that remains constant among us is that it was not easy to say goodbye to partnerships that had changed our musical direction and, for me personally, helped me grow to be the artist I am today. I still loves those guys and gals like family, but as it became a business, I felt I'd rather work for myself, and deliver the product I want you (the listener) to hear. So we will keep moving and I hope you'll keep listening.

Much Love as Always

-Doc