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Wanker
So, this goes way back. I'm not exactly sure when, but shortly after Shaun and I became friends, the word wanker entered our vocabulary. Us both being "musicians" is how the madness began. Having discovered we had similar tastes, influences, and attitudes toward music and gear, we decided we should get together to see what madness would ensue. It's been a wacky ride.
Anyhoo, we both have a strong Progressive Rock influence and it shows in our playing. Technique and musical showmanship are vital to our playing and emanate rather uncontrollably most of the time. Now, we both also agree that these displays of technique have two extremes, and performances fall somewhere in between. One extreme is tastefulness. Using restraint, dramatics, and overall just good musicianship, you can use good technique to really accentuate music. Basically, tactfulness. The other extreme is a display of technique for no other reason than to display the technique. To show off. "Too many notes", as can be quoted from the movie Amadeus. This will usually sound like madness, confusion, or just plain rapid fire successions of notes. It has been referred to as "Musical Masturbation" as well.
That reference right there is pretty much where it came from. Someone who performs "Musical Masturbation" became in our day to day vocabulary a "Wanker". However, being as that both Shaun and I have spent much time practicing music independently, and are very much solo performers in our own right, we are both rather guilty of "Musical Masturbation". Since we are both able to criticize ourselves harshly without offense (often unjustifiably as well, but hell, THAT'S where the fun is...), we began to refer to each other as Wankers. And our music as Wankage. And our computer "empire" as Wankertopia.
The damage is done, so there's no turning back now. I'd say "Be Afraid", but if you're not already by now, then you should be fine. Bloody wanker...
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