There\u2019s a running joke in John Niven\u2019s novel \u2018The Second Coming\u2019 that Moses fucked up when he came down the mountain post his natter with God. The Big Man had given Moses one simple two word message to deliver, but suffering from the human frailty of ego Moses felt embarrassed at only having two words to share having given it the biggin going up there. So he sexed things up, devising the Ten Commandments on the hoof as he legged it down the mountain.<\/p>\n
That simple, clear, genius message Moses was meant to deliver was?<\/p>\n
BE NICE.<\/p>\n
Genius ey? So simple. So clear. So fucking obvious. Yet us homosapiens, we like to complicate things don\u2019t we? Thou shalt not this, thou shalt not that. Hey ho, at least 3000 odd years later he inspired our Nusic Commandments, I\u2019m sure that was his prophecy at the time (imagine if he had come down the mountain and proclaimed to the Twelve Tribes of Israel Thou Shalt Only Play New Music Born In The Great County of Nottinghamshire, it would\u2019ve been head scratch central).<\/p>\n
Anywho what\u2019s this got to do with Nottingham? Well back in Feb 2012 we pontificated that \u201cas a scene starts to succeed things can fracture, its easy to support each other when all huddled warmly at the bottom. As we see our peers climbing the music industry greasy pole, peers we may feel we are better than, we can start to get bitter.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a credit to Notts that two and a half years on there hasn\u2019t been much of this but we can sense it happening a wee bit, so we just wanted to say don\u2019t get your knickers in a twist if you weren\u2019t mentioned in the NME article, we wanted to name drop the spirit of that legendary Nottingham soiree \u2018Why Can\u2019t We All Get Along?\u2019 and we wanted to simply ask, can we all please remember to be nice?<\/p>\n
We get grief ourselves, we\u2019re questioned (that\u2019s putting it diplomatically) re our \u2018everything is amazing\u2019 approach, some of which potentially has justification now the context of an \u2018early scene\u2019 has evolved, now things are good is 100% positivity still necessary, justified and\/ or appropriate? Yes. Yes it is. Several biggies why.<\/p>\n
– Being positive is nice. We could stop right there couldn\u2019t we?<\/p>\n
– It\u2019s STILL an effective \u2018encouraging approach\u2019 when dealing with musicians at the start of their career, which is where our efforts remain focused. It has always been, and will continue to be, the case that the likelihood of our approach making you want to vom increases with every successful rotation round the sun.<\/p>\n
– Nusic is a supportive organisation that does some media, not the other way round. Appreciating that context hopefully addresses some concerns about media impartiality being undermined by always being positive. We set out to create positive and, hopefully for some, inspiring media content. Sorry if you find the word inspiring naff. Our editorial position is vivid and transparent. We do not seek to gratify our own egos via vindictive wordplay, yes we always focus on the positive but that does not mean we distort things. If our ears aren\u2019t rating someone, we try hard to be objective and pass over any personal musical prejudices. If we have nothing positive to say we will not lie, we\u2019ll simply stay stum. Being nasty about a musician is not \u2018honesty\u2019, it is a conscious choice to be aggressive with the intent of pissing all over the aspirations of the musical victim, it\u2019s a conscious decision to be a twat.<\/p>\n
So even if it doesn\u2019t come to you instinctively, even if your idea of spreading the love is spreading a highly contagious STD, a wee plea to do it (the love, not the std) for your own personal self interest, because\u2026 (increibly we\u2019ve managed to write 642 words before rolling out the classic line) \u201ca rising tide lifts all ships\u201d. Back in Oct 2011 we suggested… \u201c Imagine if clinical research showed all men from Nottingham were great in bed but the news article didn\u2019t mention you. Your ego may not have had a specific stroking (perhaps not the best word to use with this metaphor) but it would still be great news for you and your aspirations to get laid by the hordes of single women who then decide to deluge Notts, Lynx advert styley.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being nice, is, well, nice.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also effective, in your interests and might even get you laid.<\/p>\n
And if you can\u2019t manage nice, to quote the great Notts MC and philosopher KARIZMA<\/a><\/strong>, at the very least… <\/p>\n Don\u2019t be a dick.<\/p>\n Big Luv<\/p>\n Mark Del<\/p>\n