Video: Billie Eilish parody music video 'Gear Guy' is made for filmmakers and photographers

Two words, one up from monosyllabic, best you can come up with?
Sensitive much?

ok boomer

I just turn 40, far from a boomer. I'm just a life long musician, I play three instruments and played in a gigging band for almost 20 years.

You don't have to be a boomer to hate mumble rap and whatever you would call Billie Eilish.

"I miss the days when musicians mastered the art and tried to push the art further." What days were those?
The following groups just copied music from the past to create their own: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. They were only able to master their music by making changes with the help of their managers and producers.

Sounds like somebody is jealous that they didn't make it big despite striving to "master the art".

When are musicians going to learn that, just like with all art, technical proficiency is only a tiny piece of the puzzle. People want something that makes them feel, and chances are that Billie Eilish does that for many more people than your art.

(btw, I dislike her music. However, that doesn't keep me from realizing that my preferences don't mean that her music isn't undeniably different and appealing to a LOT of people)

Jealous, I never even tried to make it big, I play in a cover band playing music I love. The 90's was an exciting time for music with Dr Dre, Eminem Nototious BIG, TuPac, Snoop, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Blink 182, as were the 60s,70's, and 80s. Now not caring is the main goal.

Technical proficiency, and studying artists in the past is what progresses anything. You can't get anywhere if you keep trying to recreate the wheel. But trying have an Intellectual discussion on here is a losing battle.

I'm just glad we have 40 years of amazing music, movies, and art, because todays trend of tattooing always tired on your face, duck taping a banana on a wall, reality tv, and Billie Eilish, Idiocracy has become a documentary.

Music critics would disagree with your assessment. Sounds like you're clinging to the past for the sake of clinging to the past, which is blinding you to what's innovative *now*.

Also, literally every member of Nirvana would have laughed at you for suggesting that musical proficiency is what makes music affecting or progressive.

Don't try and fool yourself into thinking that you're being the "intellectual" with your position that "all this new art from those dang kids is terrible, gimme the art from 30+ years ago" nonsense.

The 90s also gave us boy bands and Nickelback. Every decade has witnessed both amazing talent and bland pop music. You're focusing on reality TV instead of Breaking Bad, wall bananas instead of what's on show at MoMA, etc.

My guess is that you've stopped looking for new and innovative creative works, so you end up comparing past favorites to the junk that your friends make fun of on social media. I get it; enjoying that nostalgia rush is easier than sifting through current innovators for gold. But there's a whole creative world out there for you to experience once you take that first scary step.

This literally happens with every generation around your age, as tastes ossify and complex busy lives make the familiar more appealing than the good/bad of the new. It's fine to celebrate past artists, but trashing today's art based on the worst junk is following in the paths of the boomers and earlier generations.

@Brent
The biggest change to music comes from the way we listen to it. Spotify playlists, compression and the internet means some songs are designed differtly than they were yesterday. Is there good music out there? Yes of course, but I'd argue it's harder to find something you like today simply because of the environment it's in. It's easier just to run with what you know

I totally agree with OP. In fact, mastering the art can be a hindrance to recognition these days.

"Billie Eilish is the new generation of garbage music, that someone that owned an instrument for a month could play. "

FYI, Billie has been writing music since she was 7... so take that....
I salute any artist who dare to come out with a new style and even better if they can have a success with it.

That is total nonsense.

Some of the best artists that dominated culture in the 20th century started off with more enthusiasm than talent.

People have convinced themselves that their own taste is an objective measure of quality for as long as art has existed.

@BrentSchumer

You summed that up very well.

@princewolf

"mastering the art can be a hindrance to recognition these days."

Have an example of that?

Oh look, a Neo Boomer.

You use Blink 182 as an example of well crafted music? Brilliant. Granted they are at least a real band with real musicians but they are hardly virtuoso level with the possible exception of Travis.

Pretty much all the Hip Hop artists you mentioned were responsible for ushering in the creative death of the genre in later 90s. Even Eminem suffered from production that wasn't as groundbreaking as his rhyme skills. This was a time when intricate sampling and breakbeats gave way to soft drum patterns and lazy sampling of large portions of a song or even entire backing tracks.

People always think stuff was better in their day. Plenty of 40 year olds were saying Eminem and Nirvana were crap in the 90s.

This music wasn't meant for you and it doesn't have any relevance to your life.

Sometimes you have to ask yourself "is this crap or am I just getting old"

@princewolf

How on Earth is what you just said an example of somebody's career being *hindered* by being a master of their craft?

Are you suggesting that those actors would be better off if they were worse at acting? Because that's what is implied by saying, "mastering the art can be a hindrance to recognition these days."

"The 90's was an exciting time for music with Dr Dre, Eminem Nototious BIG, TuPac, Snoop, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Blink 182, as were the 60s,70's, and 80s."

I'm deeply offended that you tried to lump your 90's music in with my 70's and 80's music... that's an insult to the 70's and 80's 😊. Seriously, I'd say get over yourself. Billie Eilish might not be your cup of tea but she is far from what is wrong with music or the world and if you paid attention and had just a little bit of an open mind you'd realize that. It's always the "I played 3 instruments for 20 years" folks that can't see the forest for the trees. The problem here is that you give yourself too much credit for having the right definition of "master" or "musician" or "pushing the art further".

If you look beyond popular music of the currently reigning genres there are a ton of very talented musicians, many of whom are young enough to be my grandchildren (I'm 65).

I have a relatively large album/CD collection going back 50+ years. But I love Spotify for the ability to access a multitude of musical genres and up-and-coming musicians who would have been denied their chance in the sun when record companies had a monopoly on music.

I have an eclectic selection of artists and albums saved so Spotify keeps alerting me to new artists and music. I take advantage of playlists/online radio so I can sample stuff I would never have the money to buy and isn't aired on commercial radio. When I hear about a new artist/band it takes no time at all to find their music.

The main downside I see is that most artists can't earn money from recorded music. And performing options are also limited. Streaming companies need to pay artists more so they don't need a day job into their 70s. . .

Tell me more stories gramps how you were so much better way back in your day!

I love how name calling replaces any type of intellectual conversations. The best is "boomer", then when that doesn't fit, all well "neo boomer". This level of intelligence goes well with your choice of music.

So to all you millennials, neo millennials, enjoy your rudimentary music, and go back to showing how much you don't care, in fact, tattoo that on your face. Teach all the boomers, neo boomers, bad people that don't get it, a lesson. I'm sure mumble rap and Billie Eilish will remain timeless classics just like disco music and techno music. Are you afraid of it?
No I just don't like techno. You would if you had robot ears.

Wow. That has to be the biggest pile of meaningless word salad I've witnessed on here yet.

Equating name calling to a lack of intelligence is a non sequitur argument but then you go on to do it yourself anyway but add some unfounded stereotyping/projection on top.

Every generation had good music and bad music.

The fact that mumble rap is terrible doesn't mean that all music these days is bad.

You just pointed out yourself that disco music didn't age well so by that reasoning, all 70s music must have been bad, right?

Oh and PS: Electronic music has been around since the late 1800s

fatdeeman, I think you won that one.. !

"Electronic music has been around since the late 1800s" Nice straw man argument,

electric guitar 1931
electric bass 1951
electric piano 1929
electric synthesizer 1983

Digital music got popular in the 1980s, before that electric instruments became popular in the 1950's.

Straw man argument?

Just because your knowledge of electronic music is poorly informed, blinkered and segmented!

Don't confuse electronic instruments with electronic music.

First synthesizer was 1957.

The point is you just tried to make out that "techno" music has aged as badly as disco music when in actual fact it has an infinitely bigger importance in the history of music. Just because you can't understand the evolution of it or how far back it reaches doesn't mean I have a straw man argument.

And just because you happen to dislike it doesn't take away from it's significance.

Yes, you don't know what a straw man argument is, when you take what I say about Billie Eilish, and lump it into "Electronic music has been around since the late 1800s" that is by definition a straw man argument.

"A straw man is a form of argument and an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent's argument, while actually refuting an argument that was not presented by that opponent. "

I'm done going in circles, have a nice day.

There are timeless classics from every decade since recording began. And there continue to be. I have no idea if Billie Eilish will withstand the test of time, but you don't either. I do know that she has a chance at a lasting musical legacy while somebody in a cover band does not, though.

You can continue to pretend that music peaked with the 70s, 80s, and 90s all you want. And there's nothing wrong with saying you like music from those decades better--there really isn't. What's wrong is when you start to justify your *preference* by saying things outside of your preference are a "new generation of garbage music".

Stop espousing personal preference as an objective measure of quality.

The saddest bit about this whole thread is that - Billy Eillish is actually a pretty good singer. See for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mlrwRHtMCQ

It's ok to not like her music. But as a musician - please do appreciate other people's ability. Putting people down is silly. (By and by - she does play piano and a couple instruments. Not to the level of her vocal quality, but alas.)

Arguing about musical taste is pointless. . . I'm more interested in hearing about what people enjoy so I can check out artists for myself.

My introduction to music began in the early 60s. My teenage brother was an odd duck: he preferred classical music and folk music. My folks were into Sinatra, Broadway musicals, etc. But in 1963 (9 years old) they took me to my first concert: newcomer Bill Cosby, Stan Getz with João Gilberto and headliners The Kingston Trio.

Fortunately, AM/FM radio was available to expose me to rock and roll, blues and more. The high-power Mexico-based stations and Wolf Man Jack were a big influence. A British lady friend played a Gregorian chant album for me: hooked! (I was a radio DJ during college and for a short period afterwards.)

People generally favor the music they were introduced to as young people. An open mind is your musical best friend. "End Of Watch" turned me onto Public Enemy's "Harder Than You Think" in 2012. Better Late Than Never! ;)

@expressivecanvas Your comment was really bad, I couldn't get past the 4th word.

Whilst not a fan, I have a lot of respect for Billie Eilish, who actually appears to be a pop star who is trying to do something differently (for a change).

"the last music video I listened to"

Ah the good ol' days when videos only had audio.

ok boomer

@Critical Thinker: "I am not young enough to know everything" - Oscar Wilde

Unfortunately "Bad Guy" is borderline vapid pop with only a beat and two catchy hooks. Billie Eilish's talent, however, truly sparkles in "I love you."

dtibi

No. He just has standards.

At 67 years sold, I completely agree. Lighten up
guys.

I'm 40 and that music sucks, I wouldn't judge people on their age.

I wanted to like it, and I watched the whole way through.
Laughter count: ..... Zero.
Cringefest.

or Olympus

What is this "Pentax" you speak of?

The first rule about Pentax is...