my music was going. Have I been playing out? Jamming? She’s a drummer, so we are somewhat on the same page. I told her no, I don’t really play shows, I record everything at my house and upload it to Youtube. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing live, I do. The problem is that I have no connection to any scene here in Upstate New York at all. I haven’t explored it either. I know there are venues, I’ve been to some of them. The last live show I did here was at an Art show a few miles from here. It was ok. The lugging of the gear was the painful part. I’m not a fan of that. The reality is that to play live I would have to be doing that all the time. Unless (until) I reach the stage where a road crew will be doing all of it for me, I’d be doing it myself. This would most likely be to play in front of maybe 20 or 30 people in a dingy bar somewhere. I’ve done that. I don’t need to go back there. At the moment I just have to go downstairs and plug in a few things, and I’m good to go. The band doesn’t have to bring anything. The drummer has a kit set up. The bass player has an amp here. It’s as easy as anything could be. Furthermore, anyone in the world can see it on demand.
Come to my show anytime.
I started doing this before the fake pandemic drove everyone indoors. I also remember when people couldn’t go to see a live band unless they showed “proof of vaccination”. It’s not a fond memory. The bands themselves were demanding this. Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi shilled for the vax. Rod Stewart told everyone that unless they got vaxxed they were very bad people. The Rolling Stones, all of them became vax Nazis overnight. Why in the name of fuck would I want to have anything to do with these people? This is essentially the music business though. It’s a left wing establishment dystopian hell where everyone pretends to be a rebel, when they’re actually totalitarian assholes. They don’t believe in free speech, hell, they don’t believe in freedom even. It’s their way or the highway. Fuck that. Last week there was a lot of talk (probably in the alt media) about a new song called “Rich Men of North Richmond.” The artist is an unknown singer-songwriter called Oliver Anthony. The Youtube video has exceeded 18 million views.
“The Atlantic”, an extreme left wing magazine has just published a rambling hodge podge of an article in an attempt to calm the nervous hearts of progressives everywhere. It wasn’t so much an article a debate on the phenomenon of the song itself, with contributions from various sources. It was pretty much unreadable, although I was relieved that climate change didn’t get a mention for once. The singer himself has said that he didn’t want an $8 million recording contract that he was offered. “People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. I don’t want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t want to play stadium shows, I don’t want to be in the spotlight,” he said. It seems he wrote it because he was suffering from mental health issues and depression.
David Letterman’s son?
Other people have different ideas about the song. It’s been hailed as another Right Wing anthem, a rallying cry for the people who feel like the system and the media doesn’t represent their views. Much like Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town”, it no doubt screams racism and non-inclusion for some people. I don’t mind either songs. Good luck to both of them. It would be nice to get just a little bit of the same attention for what I do, that’s all. I’m not gonna hold my breath.
Serious Young Insects the ‘Jang
Oliver Anthony said he wanted to connect with others. Record company execs will probably find a suitable clone anyway, which is what they always do. I remember when the Slaughtermen started to get popular. I was amazed one day to see a music video of an Australian band where the singer was inexplicably wearing a dog collar! I felt like Hazel Motes when Onnie J Holy had tried to steal his ministry by replacing him with some old drunk in a hat. From memory I’m pretty sure it was Gangajang, but I could be wrong, but looking now at an old video of theirs I recognize that singer’s face.
I can’t find the video in question, but I found another one where they are pretending that they are preaching in a tent revival. This was smack bang in the middle of the time when the Slaughtermen were popular. It’s just a coincidence, I’m sure! The song is called “Initiation” if you don’t believe me. I looked up “list of Australian bands” on Wikipedia. Of course The Slaughtemen were absent from the list, but Gangajang were not. The Slaughtermen weren’t about wearing dog collars anyway. They had completely missed the point as usual. I know the the drummer and he’s a good guy, so there’s that.
Happy Friday
Here’s a song I wrote that is as anti-establishment as you can get — The world’s reaction? …..Crickets.. The location is probably wrong. I should be down a coal mine or something..