I’m about to leave for the Boston Media Makers.. in less then a half hour. I haven’t been able to make it for ages.. cause I haven’t been able to afford the gas to come into the city.. and.. well cause its so freaking early in the morning that normally I can’t pull myself out of bed / be at all cognizant for the event…
The big issue now.. for me and the Media Makers.. is my sever social anxiety. We go around the room.. and there’s a crap load of people in the room.. and we talk about what we do or who we are or something or other.. and or maybe give a demonstration… with only a few exceptions.. my anxiety has made this exercise.. painful for me… a bit of an understatement…
Well #1 this will be something like only the second time I will have gone through it on anxiety meds.. and #2 I think I’ve worked out some kinda of an idea about what I’ll say of myself.. which will be to focus on the music part of my equation.. and never mind trying to get at any of the sorta madness I normally might try and reach for.
So.. with this in mind.. (and perhaps to help prepare me for speaking)
Lets talk about the Music
So before you listen to this.. well try and get really good headphones on or the best speakers you can get.. because this is music that’s… really engineered to sound great on great systems..
Here’s the track that I normally show folks:
So.. what’s this madness all about?
I suppose there’s two things to talk about here.. one is the “style” of the music, or something like that.. and the other is the subject…
Style
Music theory is really a kind of schema system, or like.. a theoretical frame work for how to organize sound into music. The sorta conceptual tradition of this music comes from like.. Jazz into the Avant Guard.. folks like John Cage.. and takes various ideas from painting and modern art more broadly.. as well as a hell of a lot of other places.. particularly Jungian Psychology.. and lets say the rest of psychology.
The way I would describe it.. versus a more conventional music.. is that it’s a bit like going from newtonian physics to sub atomic particles.
In a way.. I think of it like social media.. this idea that what we are experiencing is fundamentally a shift in how we categorize stuff.. this is a power shift.. that is dramatically more democratic.. so that the organizing principles via which we compartmentalize knowledge.. the way we frame reality.. is fundamentally exploded (kinda like how Piccaso painted accept it’s sorta post post modern)
Err.. this would take a kind of philosophical treatise to fully explain.. but basically what we are hearing in the music is something like the future… it’s how technology, the internet, and what have you.. is fundamentally changing society and culture.. and it parallels the structural systemic shift.. in terms of it’s schema system.. the music we are used to is like modern air craft.. this is a flying saucer.
Subject
It’s a dream I had.. that for told my future.. which is now my present… a kind of warning of the challenges to come.. I’ll leave it at that.. for a future post… But lets say it has to do with commercial challenges of this conceptual radicalism
And another piece of music
At the time I created this.. a fellow had gotten really excited about my music.. wanted to sign me to a recording / management contract.. I guess a 360 deal.. and one of the things he suggested…. as a means of both building my reputation and making some money was to do remixes.. and this bit with Steven Cobert and Lawrence Lessig was one suggestion.
The trouble turned out.. that about this time.. it would take me about a month to finish a track.. and considering that when you do a remix.. you generally don’t own the music.. can’t put it out.. or there’s various copyright issues.. it sorta made remix competitions.. unrealistic.
At any rate.. after I had mostly finished it.. and posted it.. I didn’t really think of much of it.. didn’t think it was up to the standards of my work… or what I would like my standards to be.. and so I hadn’t really thought about it for a while.
Well then said fellow.. a couple weeks ago I guess.. emailed me. He had been looking for Lawrence Lessig when he came upon the track.. really dug it.. and wondered how I was doing.
I’ve often been sorta suspicious of why he would like my work.. I’m terrible with compliments don’t cha know.. but it caused me to revisit it.. and wow.. yeah.. I really like it.
Older work
If you’re interested.. I have a lot of older work online to.. I think mostly available for free download.. here’s a link to much of it on my last.fm account.
[I may be taking this down sometime in the not too distant future on account of a project to commercially put some music, so you know.. while supplies last and all that...]
This old work.. a lot of it is rather rushed.. as a part of a challenge to finish a record inside of a month.. kinda deal.. and so its not really well curated as far as.. well there’s crap in there with the gems I’d say….
If you’d like to use my work
If you’d like to use my work for something you’re doing.. say a youtube video or whatever.. well.. I think most of this is under creative commons.. but if you want to use it for commercial / profit kinds stuff.. well just contact me.. leave a message for me here.. or hit me up on twitter.. twitter.com/mattsearles.. Generally all I ask is to be credited and a link back to this web site.
Err.. I guess this wasn’t too bad a post? Yeah.. I’n not sure.. but screw it.. I gotta race out the door for #BMM