Backstage Pass

The CMJ Music Marathon, which opened its 26th annual conference yesterday at Lincoln Center and in 50 clubs across the New York area, has always had a strong do-it-yourself attitude, as more than 1,000 bands try to get attention almost any way they can.

Chuck D., however, proposed a whole new level of D.I.Y. yesterday at a panel discussion on musical activism that kicked off the five-day event. The Public Enemy rapper said that instead of spending time “looking for a fantastic recording artist, be one.”

He urged the audience to be vigilant about their beliefs. “I have never seen the level of disrespect for young adults higher than right now,” Chuck D. said. “Older people are leading them to the grave.”

It’s a concept that moderator Janeane Garofalo and alt-country singer Steve Earle echoed throughout the panel, applying it to politics, as well as music. Earle said the majority of the country gave its tacit approval for the Iraq War. “If you weren’t saying something against it, you were saying it was OK,” said Earle.

The panel was trying to encourage attendees to get informed and speak their minds, instead of simply accepting what their leaders tell them. “They are trying to get people to be crash test dummies for consumption,” said Chuck D. “Make sure someone else doesn’t make up your mind.”