Abandoning Mysticism: Alternative Music’s Innocence Lost (2012)
Guest post by Samuel Jones Lunsford, a musician, writer and creative force in Roanoke, Virginia's burgeoning artistic community.
Where once we shared ideas and used our individual talents co-operatively in an attempt to build an all-encompassing artistic shelter, we now fragment our complete musical selves into clique-ish segments and teams, as if in competition for untangible and invisible prizes of sporty ego.
Where once each individual held genuine interest in the creations and philosophies of all others within the collective, now the formerly united pack splinters into islands of desire, seperate towers that scramble to reach the highest point, fueled by their own jealous propulsions.
Where once the channels of unfiltered free expression and the deepest communications between each being flowed unstoppably, unhindered by the very concept of social power structures, we now transmit sporadic bursts of self-centered motions that fail to take any sort of upliftment into account beyond that of our own ego in all its distorted insecurity and paranoid aggression.
Where once we strove heroically to maximize our expressions and minimize our perceived differences of any kind, we now amplify our varying qualities and characteristics under the same judgemental microscopes with which we obsessively dissect our own selves, second-guessing each piece of our minds and bodies.
Where once we utilized our complete energies unjudgementally and a shared sense of optimism fueled an idealistic approach to life and music, we now infect each other and our selves with the very same hopeless cynicism and chronic doubt that drove us to seek sanctuary within oiur creativity in the first place.
Where once each other’s presence brought genuine ecstacy and unforced enthusiasm, now our presences clash fearfully if one is not adhering to the demands of the controller, whose unquenchable thirst for supreme power and domination poisons their well of compassion.
Where once we all worked diligently to bring ideas and support to the table, now we see how much we can take from the table until whomever put it there lashes out in anger. Then we condemn them for doing so, as if they are being unreasonable for feeling that way. It seems their ultimate happiness and true feelings are unimportant in comparison to our vicious quests for acceptance and a status we perceive as elevated – and we will take each other’s tools away, use them for our own pursuits, until they are broken and in states of disrepair, at which time we discard them, give them back to their owner for them to fix as we move on to the next person’s set of tools, never putting forth the effort to acquire our own equipment. We believe we don’t need it.
We are merely equipment to each other, parts to be taken and placed inside our own seperate machines – machines that desire, machines that won’t hesitate to destroy another’s property as they plow their own private land. We desire each other’s skills, longing selfishly to acquire the mechanical abilities of something we can’t even respect for what it is – a human being.
We abandon all mysticism, our tone of voice mutates, we consciously attempt to project images of whatever we respect – those foolish enough to respect anger and darkness will one day drown in their own. Their bodies twitch and tap endlessly, their faces contort in shock at their resolute powerlessness. Their hearts pound impatiently within a self-righteous state of toxicity. They accuse all other living beings of barging in on their own exclusive supremacy. They only see other people as potential takers and competition, for all they do is take from other people and compete with other people. They thrive on confrontation, they view themselves as the true and ultimate, they view contrasting opinions as argumentative. Their refusal to empathize, sympathize, or compromise drives them to an exiled state of aloneness where they can always be correct in all forms. They are secluded from all other living things, and it is here where the true battle rages internally, their own lack of fulfillment echoing constantly against the walls they built up around themselves.
Samuel Jones Lunsford has been a prolifically active musician and writer in Roanoke, Virginia since the early 2000's. Since 2005 he has been working with a tight-knit family of fellow musicians formerly known as The Magic Twig Community, self-producing and releasing numerous recordings created in The Mystic Fortress , their own recording studio. He currently has been uploading and sharing various music and writings he has done throughout the years on his blog. Here are a few of his most current musical projects:
- http://theyoungsinclairs.bandcamp.com/
- http://joneski.bandcamp.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/SammySuede
Wow – this is a beautifully-written piece, but my experience over a decade and a half has been kind of the reverse. Maybe it’s a function of my having matured a bit and now having found a community of supportive artists; but those “walling yourself off, because artistic achievement is a zero-sum game whereby any light that shines on your darkens me” was a phenomenon limited mostly to new band nights and a few overly self-important music critics. I’m mostly surrounded by awesome, creative people these days.
My experiences in the last 6 years collaborating with other musicians in various music communities have been the opposite of what is written above. I honestly believe that working with others, organizing and engaging within a community can result in a positive and productive experience for everyone involved. As a touring artist I get to meet and engage with musicians across the country and build relationships with others who are looking for resources, support and opportunities in their music journey. There are as many similarities as there are differences in the actions that musicians take to better their musical quests. The only reason we look back at our old ways of being is so that we can use them to shape and change our future.
how about we abandon this guy’s bullshit instead? this is too vague and general to be applied to anything other than whatever resides in his specific mental image of the things he describes. I agree with the above commenters; what I have experienced in person and seen record of online makes today the most encouraging, exciting and inspiring point in my life of being around and making music. the future is unwritten, wide open, and we have been given the keys to the castle which holds all the riches which we may exploit for our own growth and experience. people creating serves to inspire even more people to create, and while most art that exists matters only to those who have created it, it still leads to self discovery and growth, which can only lead to better things for individuals and the human race as a whole.
Of course different people have different experiences. Even one person’s experiences evolve over time. But Lundsford captured this time for him – and many other musicians eloquently. Applaud it and learn from it.
Unusually great damn writing, thanks for that.
Agree with Dan. It’s all about the company you keep, tech is just a tool like any other hammer.