Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1536125
June/July 2025| maconmagazine.com 71 $200 microphone? They have some for 50 bucks. Well, you plug 'em up and you tell me why. DAVIS: Or it's just a giant brick echo box. If your customer base is drifting away from original music, it's like, well why would I invest in the sound reinforcement if a DJ is just fine? MORRISON: What are the most common misunderstandings that venues or audiences have when it comes to paying artists? WRATH: Generally devaluing the artists because they're local. Yeah, we get the benefit of cheaper cost of living, but not the benefit of being a musician in a so-called music town. KILCREASE: I don't think they realize how little the money is actually going to us… It's like there's a base standard when I feel like there may be an opportunity. I don't know, just nothing goes up. I feel like everything's been minimum his… He is definitely in the right headspace, right mentality, and just a good supporter. MELVIN: I booked for JBA for quite a while, six months or so. And man, you put an original band in there, nobody shows up. You put a DJ in there – the place is packed. MIMS: But you could go to Milledgeville. The [college] kids come and they'll be right at the front of the stage and they dance, they love life. DAVIS: If the sound reinforcement is inadequate, no one has a good time. First and foremost, if you're a bar before you're a venue instead of a venue before a bar, then your priorities are totally different. MORETTI: A lot of the time, these small places will have the sound way too loud for the space. MELVIN: Most business owners, especially venue owners, are not sound engineers, and have no idea about why should I buy this wage, everything's the same. Everything else is going up – as other prices are coming up, and it's staying the standard. MELVIN: And I don't want to pay $20 to go see a local show. I want to pay $10 and the fucking band should get a cut of the bar sales right? There's 300 people in here drinking… and you'll get more people in there, which in turn will give you more bar sales, which in turn increases your chances of selling merch and people enjoying the show. DAVIS: I don't measure my success or happiness with how much money I make. That's the reason why I don't leave Macon, because I love my friends and my family and the community. That might change my music, and I don't want to do that. I love what I do. MELVIN: I think there's something to the starving artist aspect, for sure. When you get too comfy, you start losing some of your inspiration. I've never ABOVE A Macon Pops concert features co-founder Steve Moretti, bottom right, on percussion. Photo courtesy of Steve Moretti.