Mini-project #4

Gina Carrano
Mini-project #4

When asked to determine who, out of all the people I know, I think should be famous, I didn't have to consider the question for very long before arriving at an immediate answer. My boyfriend, Jeff, is an accomplished musician who has been playing various instruments practically since he was old enough to talk, and has a very diverse set of musical skills. He can do anything from playing a brass instrument in a jazz or reggae band to shredding heavy metal riffs on the guitar to using studio programs to lay down hip-hop beats, and he's also an excellent songwriter. I had only known him for a few weeks when I first determined that he should be famous, and shortly after we started dating I told him only half-jokingly that I expected to be a rock star's wife within a few years (His preferred style of music to play is metal.)

Although I have told him in passing before that he should be famous, for the purposes of this mini-project, we sat down and had a longer conversation about his hypothetical career as a rock star.

I started it off by asking Jeff point-blank if he'd like to be famous. Because he is a fairly reality-based person and doesn't often imagine the world in hypotheticals, his initial response was to look at me and say, only half-jokingly, "Why? Are you offering me a record deal?" After that initial hurdle, though, I learned that for Jeff, becoming famous might be a happy accident in certain circumstances, but it isn't a conscious goal of his. His sole musical aspiration is to be able to make a comfortable living from his talents, not to become famous for them. He wouldn't turn down fame if it were offered to him on a silver platter, he said, but he'd much prefer to become a career studio guitarist whose name was not known outside the immediate music industry. That way, he said, he could spend the rest of his life doing what he loves and is good at--playing guitar--but he wouldn't have to deal with the negative aspects of fame.

To Jeff, the negative aspects of fame outweigh the positive ones. First of all, he is a pretty private person, and being famous would compromise the anonymity that he craves. Also, he fears that the modern-day "big business" ethics of music might force him to compromise his musical integrity, which is something he takes very seriously. There are a couple of different types of music that he feels require no talent whatsoever to play on the guitar, and he wouldn't want to be known nationally, or even regionally, as someone who plays the same type of music that he and I often mock mercilessly in the privacy of our own home.

Basically, Jeff says the only reason he would want to become famous is for the money. Recognition and admiration are not factors for him; in fact, he'd prefer not to receive those things from anyone besides other musicians, and he said it would bother him if people admired him for playing a type of music that he himself doesn't even respect.

He does admit, though, that "money is a major issue" (to borrow a line from Miami-based reggaeton artist Pitbull.) Although he would prefer to make his money as a studio musician, as mentioned above, when I asked him if he would be willing to become famous in exchange for a large amount of money--even if he had to be famous for playing a type of music he didn't like-- he said yes. However, his one stipulation was that he would do what the Sex Pistols did in the '70's: sign a huge record deal, record an album, tour enough to make himself and the label some money, and then retire from music while laughing all the way to the bank. He also said that while he would voluntarily become rich and famous as the guitarist of a metal band, he wouldn't actually try to do so--get famous, that is--but that he would probably go with it if it happened. In conclusion, Jeff doesn't have much regard for the admiration and recognition that come with fame. At the risk of sounding trite, to him it is all about the music--and, of course, the money.