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rushingheadlong · 4 years ago

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God (Dream Is Over) Meta Post

Okay, I’ve been saying for literally months now that I was going to make a meta post about Brian’s cover of the John Lennon song “God” (though Brian’s version is usually called “Dream Is Over”) and I finally sat down and did it.

If you’re new to my ramblings, this is Very Long and there’s no tldr, and I’m only a little bit sorry for that. I also didn’t bother tracking down specific citations or quotes for things Brian has said about what the early 90s were like for him because I think most of that is common knowledge at this point anyway.

There’s a TW on this for discussions of Brian’s mental health issues in the early 90s and Freddie’s death. That should be obvious if you’ve heard the song, but if you haven’t listened to it before consider this your warning that there are sad feels ahead.

One final note before we dive in: I’m going to talk a lot in here about the “end of Queen” and I want to be clear that I don’t think the band in any way “died” or ended with Freddie. However in the years immediately following Freddie’s death Brian very much felt that the band was over and this is a sentiment that he, Roger, and John all maintained at least up until the mid-2000s and the start of the collaboration with Paul Rodgers.

So there’s a lot of mentions of “the end of Queen” coming up ahead, and please know that this is only a reflection on Brian’s feelings in the early 90s and not his feelings today (which are clearly different, and it’s absolutely his right to change his mind on this) and certainly not my own opinion on the matter.

Background Information

The original song “God” was written by John Lennon and was released on his first post-Beatles solo album. There’s a wikipedia article on the song <here> and you can listen to it <here> but the short summary of it is that it’s rejection of God and various religions/belief systems, ending with Lennon saying that he only believes in himself and Yoko Ono and distancing himself from who he was with the Beatles.

Brian’s version of the song is less of a cover and more of a total rewrite, if we’re being honest here. There’s two videos of him performing the song: the first is from a New Haven show in October 1993 and the second is from a Milwaukee show also in October 1993. (If the Milwaukee link doesn’t take you to the correct spot in the video, the song appears around 1:33:22 into it.)

AFAIK these are the only two performances of these songs currently out there, unless/until more of the old bootlegs are re-uploaded. The song was exclusively played on Brian’s Back to the Light tour at the beginning of his encore. However due to the set-up of the tour he didn’t always play an encore, so the song doesn’t appear to have been performed very often. Additionally, while Brian played the song at his Live at the Brixton Academy concert it was cut from the album and video release due to copyright issues so there’s no official recording of it.

Brian’s Lyrics and Music

The dream is over, what can I say The dream is over, yesterday We were the fab ones, but now it is gone I was the gentle one, but now I must be strong And so dear friends we'll just have to carry on The dream is over

The dream is over, no matter what they say The dream is over, it has to be this way We played in springtime, but now I play in fall We made the bigtime, but now we are small And our dear friend let's just hope he still has it all The dream is over

I don't believe in magic I don't believe in pain* I don't believe in heroes I don't believe in fame I don't believe the newsprint I don't believe we're free I don't believe in pressure ‘cause I don't believe we're right I don't believe in torture I don't believe in fight I don't believe in color I don't believe in white** I don't believe in history I don't believe in being Queen any more I just believe in me Just you guys and me And these guys and me*** And that's reality

The dream is over Dream on

Some quick notes on the lyrics:

*I’ve seen this line written to end with either “pain” or “games” and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure which one it is. I personally don’t hear the “s” at the end of “games” and lean towards it being “pain”, which is how I’ve interpreted it for this post, but I’ll openly admit that I could be wrong on this point.

**Similarly, I’ve seen this line written to end with “whites” in the plural but again I don’t hear Brian singing an “s” at the end of the word and I’m pretty sure it’s in the singular.

**Occasionally this line and the one before are reversed in written transcriptions of the lyrics, and in the New Haven video it’s hard to hear the “and these guys” line at all. It’s much clearer in the Milwaukee video and you can see him motion to the band better, so the correct order of the lyrics would be “you guys” [the audience] first and then “these guys” [his band] second.

If you listen to Lennon’s original song, the only lyrics that are really the same are, The dream is over, what can I say / The dream is over, yesterday as well as And so dear friends we'll just have to carry on / The dream is over although Brian changes Lennon’s “you just have to carry on” to “we’ll just have to carry on” - more on this later.

Brian also completely rearranges the song. He scraps Lennon’s opening section entirely, turns the final section into his first verse and extends it into two verses instead of just one, changes the song from being largely a piano piece into being guitar-driven and, in typical Brian May fashion, makes it go a bit heavier towards the middle. You can read the lyrics to Lennon’s song <here> to get a clearer idea of the changes that Brian made in his version.

Background Meta

The first thing to point out is that it makes a lot of sense for Brian to look to John Lennon as a source for this song. Besides the fact that he’s always said that Lennon is a huge musical inspiration for him, the parallels between when the original song was written and the state of Brian’s music career in the early 90s are pretty obvious. Although the circumstances of why Brian was launching his solo career are obviously different than what happened with the Beatles and Lennon, he was still striking out on his own and separating himself from the group that had defined his music up until that point.

It also makes a lot of sense for Brian to use someone else’s music to express his emotions during this time, even if he ultimately rewrote Lennon’s lyrics almost entirely. Brian has said that he always wrote his Queen music knowing that Freddie, specifically, would be singing it, and up until this point he has always been writing music with other people - neither of which were things that were possible with Brian’s new solo career. There’s also some evidence that Brian may have struggled to come up with enough original music on his own to fill his first solo album, since he rounded out the album with a cover song (Rollin’ Over) and added lyrics to two pieces of music written by Cozy Powell (Resurrection and Nothin’ But Blue).

And there's the added fact that Brian was dealing with mental health issues during the late 80s/early 90s, including depression that was so severe that he basically couldn’t function for days at a time. Brian has talked about being so depressed that he couldn’t get out of bed, that he became incredibly suicidal, and, relevant to this discussion, that he lost all ability to write new music for long stretches of time. Given that, it makes a lot of sense that Brian would turn to someone else’s music to help him express the feelings that he wanted to get out.

Finally, there’s the question of why did Brian felt the need to perform this song at all, and I think there’s two reasons for that.

The first is the obvious explanation that it was performed simply to give Brian an outlet for his emotions. Brian has said that his Back to the Light tour functioned as a sort of therapy for him, and even going back to the very beginning of Queen Brian has used his music as a way to express himself and his feelings (think about songs like “Keep Yourself Alive” or “Now I’m Here” as examples). His version of “God (Dream Is Over)” is very much keeping in line with this tendency to use music as a form of therapy.

The second reason is that this song gives Brian a way to distance himself from Queen, which was important to him as he said on multiple points immediately following Freddie’s death that he felt that Queen was over. In later years, he has acknowledged that he really just wasn’t emotionally prepared to deal with Queen matters after Freddie died and that he needed to distance himself from the band while he was grieving.

However, despite this, Brian didn’t have enough solo material to fill out an entire concert and since he was best known as being the “lead guitarist of Queen” it only made sense to fill out his shows with Queen songs. (I have an entire meta post about this subject <here>.) Performing this song was a way to acknowledge his history with and what had happened to Queen after a concert of playing their songs, while also reinforcing that in his mind the band was over and he was moving on from that.

Lyric Analysis - Opening Verses

So, let’s get into actually looking at these lyrics now and first off, we have to point out that while Lennon’s song was generally about a rejection of organized belief systems with a small footnote about him leaving the Beatles at the end, Brian’s song doesn’t mention religion at all and is instead almost entirely about the end of Queen. Brian absolutely poured his heart out into every single word of this song, and it’s not subtle at all.

The opening verses are very clearly and pretty explicitly about Freddie’s death and the resulting end of Queen. Apart from the obvious “the dream is over” being a reference to Queen being over, this also gets reinforced with lines such as We were the fab ones, but now it is gone and We made the bigtime, but now we are small.

It’s worth pointing out, though, that unlike in Lennon’s original song where he frames the ending of the Beatles through the changes in himself, Brian frames the ending of Queen around outside forces (i.e. Freddie’s death) and very clearly states that he feels that the band ending is unavoidable despite anyone’s feelings on the matter. (The dream is over, no matter what they say / The dream is over, it has to be this way)

Also unlike in Lennon’s song, Brian isn’t rejecting Queen even if he’s trying to distance himself from them. The band is over, yes, but Brian’s lyrics are rife with we statements - We were the fab ones and We hit the bigtime. Even when he acknowledges that he’s moved on, he’s still remembering the band as a unit and including himself in that history - We played in springtime, but now I play in fall.

And, as I mentioned before, there’s the very stark change from Lennon’s You just have to carry on into Brian’s we’ll just have to carry on. Brian doesn’t see himself as leaving a thriving band to “carry on” without him because, in his mind, Queen has already “died” and all of them need to move on with their lives.

I also want to acknowledge the lyric And our dear friend, let’s just hope he still has it all. This comes in the second verse, which Brian added to his version (Lennon only had one of these verses in the original song). Obviously it’s a callback to the And so dear friends from the first verse, but it says a lot about Brian’s state of mind and how Freddie was still at the forefront of his thoughts that he added an entire second verse to really hammer home the demise of Queen and then ends it with a bittersweet reflection that he hopes Freddie “still has it all” even after his death.

Finally, there’s the lyric, I was the gentle one, but now I must be strong which I think is a really interesting moment of self-reflection from Brian. When compared against the “chaos twins” of Roger and Freddie, and even John who got up to some wild shenanigans himself, it’s easy to see why Brian might characterize himself as the quiet and gentle one in the band (and he has been described as a sort of “gentle giant” by others around Queen over the years).

However it’s the second half of that that’s really striking, because it really shows the position that Brian was in following Freddie’s death where he (and Roger, and presumably also John though John stayed away from interviewers more) felt that he needed to stand up for Freddie’s legacy and needed to be “strong” in the face of everything that was said about Freddie and his final years. And, of course, given that he was extremely depressed and suicidal at the time, it’s also worth mentioning that he was being “strong” simply by continuing to live and move forward with his life even when he didn’t want to.

Lyric Analysis - Rejection Statements

Like I mentioned back at the beginning of this post, Lennon’s original song lyrics take the rough format of 1. Criticizing God as a concept 2. Rejecting various religions and belief systems 3. Affirming his belief in himself and Yoko Ono 4. Rejecting who he was with the Beatles. As we discussed in the last section, Brian’s song cuts out the religion entirely and he instead starts by confirming and discussing the end of Queen.

Following this, though, he returns to Lennon’s original structure with his own "I don’t believe in...” lyrics. His are completely different to Lennon’s, however just like Lennon’s rejections followed on from his opening statements about God I think Brian’s rejections follow from his open statements about Queen and continue to be largely about the band (while also allowing for broader societal interpretations, as many of Brian’s lyrics are designed to have several layers to them).

For the purposes of this post, though, we’re only going to talk about how these lyrics relate to Freddie, Queen in general, and Brian’s own mental health at the time.

I don’t believe in magic / I don’t believe in pain / I don’t believe in heroes / I don’t believe in fame are the four that I really feel are about Freddie. The first two I think are about his death. After seeing Freddie die in the way he did, Brian is stating that he doesn’t believe in magic (because there was no magic cure to save Freddie) and he doesn’t believe in pain (possibly that he doesn’t believe in prolonging someone’s pain, or that he doesn’t understand a world that allows for human suffering more broadly).

The next two lines I feel are Brian reflecting on how meaningless it is to be famous or to be someone’s “hero”. I think part of this is Brian mourning the loss of Freddie and trying to distance himself from what Freddie meant to him in order to distance himself from the grief he feels (because Brian absolutely considered Freddie his hero, as proven by his original plan for his second solo album). And paired with this is Brian’s criticism of “fame” as a concept, because being famous didn’t save Freddie either and, in fact, being hounded by the press only made his final months more difficult than they already were.

This leads into the next line, I don’t believe the newsprint, which is clearly a criticism of the lies the press printed (and were still printing) about Freddie. But the phrasing of this as “newsprint” also hearkens back to the music video for Scandal, and serves as a reminder that the press had been uncharitable towards all of them through the late 80s and early 90s.

The next line, I don’t believe we’re free may also be referring to Queen specifically (in addition to the broader societal implications). Given that Brian littered his open verses with “we” statements, he could be talking about how they still aren’t “free” from the press even though it’s been nearly two years since Freddie’s death or how they aren’t “free” from the shadow of Queen’s legacy.

Personally, the lyrics I don’t believe in pressure / ‘cause I don’t believe we’re right also make me think of Queen and I do wonder if the use of “pressure” is supposed to be an oblique reference to Under Pressure. Even if it’s not, the “pressure” he could be talking about may be the pressure to return and deal with his Queen obligations, including helping with Made In Heaven, which Brian wasn’t ready to do at this point.

The lyrics I don’t believe in color / I don’t believe in white I don’t think are entirely about race, especially since like I said before I don’t think he’s singing “whites” with an “s” to make it a noun. Personally, I can see this as another commentary on Brian’s mental state at the time and the dark depression he felt that left him feeling like he was living in a bleak and colorless world. (Even if Brian is singing “whites” though, given how his lyrics often have multiple layers of meaning I don’t think this excludes an interpretation of this with regards to his mental health even if it makes the race message more overt.)

The I don’t believe in fight line is another one that I think is about Brian’s depression. Although it certainly connects with the “torture” in the line before, he doesn’t say that he doesn’t believe in war or conflict just that he doesn’t believe in fighting, a sentiment that carries a very different meaning for a man who was depressed to the point of being suicidal.

Going back to the Queen references one more time, we get the one absolutely direct Queen lyric at the very end: I don’t believe in being Queen any more, I just believe in me. As I explained before, Brian is very firmly stating that he believes that Queen is over and he’s moved on from the band. Although these lyrics mirror Lennon’s I do think that there’s some truth to Brian’s statement of I just believe in me. He had some minor conflicts with at least Roger in the early 90s (both of them said uncharitable things about each other’s work outside Queen) and since Brian had walked away from helping them with the Made In Heaven tapes I do think that Brian felt that he was at least somewhat truly alone now.

Even the next line, Just you guys and me is very different from Lennon believing in himself and Yoko Ono. Brian doesn’t tie himself to a relationship, he ties himself to his audience - and, more importantly, he adds an extra line tying himself to his band as well. While I think part of this serves as a general final acknowledgement of the Brian May Band after the larger band introductions earlier in the show, I also think this is Brian’s way of acknowledging that he’s been able to move forward because he has the support of people like Cozy, Spike, Neil, Jamie, etc. even if he doesn’t feel that he has Queen in his corner anymore.

Finally, Brian ends his song by repeating The dream is over one last time but he also adds, Dream on which isn’t in the original Lennon song. Even though Brian has acknowledged Freddie’s death and the end of the Queen dream, his final message is to keep dreaming anyway. It’s possible that he means this as the dream of his solo career, or to keep the dream of Queen’s music alive even after the end of the band… but it’s also possible that he means this as a much more literal dream, since Brian has talked a few times about having dreams of Freddie following his death, and of waking up and just wanting to go back to dreaming of his friend.

Given the ambiguity of the earlier lyric And our dear friend, let’s just hope he still has it all this may be another moment of heartache from Brian who wants to keep “dream[ing] on” about his lost friend because that’s the last connection that he has to Freddie.

And with that, the song ends, and Brian launches into the rest of his encore and the final song of the show with “Hammer to Fall”... but a discussion about that particular song choice is, I think, a meta post for another day.

#brian may #text #ramblings #brian #long post //#no one asked for this but you get it anyway so !! here it is !! 3k of niche and sad ramblings about Brian May in the early 90s !!!!

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 5 years ago

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DELAIN: Chillin’ As Doomsday Approaches

In the band’s press release, you state that Apocalypse & Chill will surprise your listeners. What are some of these surprises you have in store for them?

We always write our music pretty organically, so we set out with every album to make it bigger, better, and louder. But it’s not like we’re going to completely change. We just go with whatever inspiration brings us. However, on this album there are some new elements. We’ve got a real choir, we’ve got Timo screaming, and we have full instrumental tracks, which we’ve never done before. There are definitely some parts where we really explored what we could do differently. And then what I mainly think will surprise our listeners is, especially in the first half of the record, the sound is very electronic, without going away from sounding like Delain. They’re all very much from a pop and electronic side of the spectrum. And I think that some of our fans who like us for our previous material, they will kind of be scratching their heads during the first half. But towards the second half of the album, it picks up on the orchestral elements again and becomes more symphonic. There’s plenty of new things on the record, but I definitely think that our fans will be able to appreciate what we’ve done.

How did these electronic influences creep in? Was there something specific you were listening to or interested in that made you want to incorporate it into your music?

I don’t know. I think that within the writing team, Martijn comes up with really 80s synth parts and I often come up with kind of like 90s dance parts. Those two mix well in our music. But it’s not like we said, “We’re going to incorporate this.” When we meet up to write, we all take some ideas with us, like a verse or a chorus or a theme or whatever. We sit down and listen to it and see what we want to work on all together. That’s how those ideas work themselves into the music.

With these ideas, themes, and lyrical inspirations, was there anything going on in your life or the world in general that catapulted these ideas into the songs?

Yeah, I think so. One thing that’s relevant for the way that we’d written this album is the fact that we’ve recorded it very fragmented. Martijn is a producer who really spearheaded this idea of “let’s do everything in several blocks of just a couple of songs” instead of in one go. Because first of all, we didn’t have enough time to have one big block for writing and recording and mixing the entire album because we’ve been touring like crazy. So, this gave us a lot of flexibility, but also the chance to go back on the songs now. All these ideas come from different places as well. But I must say that over the last few years, definitely a lot of it has been inspired by the concerns about the world today. If you open up a newspaper, if you turn on the TV, you see the world quite literally being on fire. And then if you open your socials, you’ll see everyone living their most perfect lives. There is this great contrast between the two where you wonder how can these actually exist at the same time and is this even the same world? And I think that contrast is also visible in the songs on our album.

The visual of the album cover and the promo photos have a 1950s cinematic movie star theme. Is that the concept or theme behind it?

It was really that contrast between the impending doom that you sense when you look at the news these days and then at the same time the complete projections that is very much the majority of things you see on socials. That was very interesting. Since it is so much about zeitgeist, Netflix and chill, it’s a very 2019 thing. So, we felt like the play on words was really fitting for this album. And then when I was playing with the idea of that title…it’s not like I think of a song first and then the title and then the artwork. Usually when you think of a title, there is an image in your head. Or when you think of the music, you see something, like you can imagine it. And for this title right away, I could imagine someone lounging while the world is on fire. I actually put this image together in Photoshop, but I am not a very practiced designer. We really liked that image. We’ve been also looking for images that were more towards the kind of covers that we usually have, like the more art nouveau/romantic/goth imagery, but it just didn’t fit the theme and the title as well as this one. What we eventually did to give it that identity and authenticity that my mockup was lacking, is we gave it to this collage artist. She works really analog. She cuts up images and papers and she reworked the image into what is now the cover and also continued that for the promo photos in the inside. Inside of the booklet you’ll find all of us wearing sunglasses and having different natural disasters reflected in our sunglasses. We put that topic throughout the entire artwork. Not that a lot of people get to see CD booklets these days, but for those who do buy the physical thing, we always try to give it something extra.

How did getting Beast in Black’s Yannis Papadopoulos to sing on “One Second” come about? Did you specifically write his part or realized after the fact that he’d be a good fit?

We realized afterwards that it would be a good fit. We really like working with guest musicians. It’s always a very nice surprise to see what other people, other creatives come up with when they listen to your music. Yannis, we’ve been in touch with him for a while. We met him in Greece. I remember during an after party at a show he taught me a bunch of Greek curse words! We had a few songs where we thought we could really use a guest here, we could really imagine his voice there. Then we were at a festival this summer and they played there as well, and that’s I think when the deal was struck. We gave him a choice. We had three songs where he could imagine it. We always try to give our guests an amount of freedom, so they can really make it their own.

The video for “Burning Bridges” has such cool visuals and beautiful scenery. Where was that shot, and how did the concept and the characters come about?

It was filmed in Snowdonia, which is a gorgeous part of Wales. We filmed it with the company Video Inc., which is a company that we’ve actually worked with for four different videos in one year. In 2019, we did four videos with them, including “Ghost House Heart.” The idea behind “Burning Bridges” for me lyrically was really that the protagonist of the song keeps leaving his surroundings in order to get away from the negative energy there—the negative energies are following him. The real question is, are those negative energies actually coming from your surroundings or are you the one bringing them? And then leaving and burning your bridges behind you will solve absolutely nothing. That was the idea that we wanted to work with for the video as well. What I really like about Video Inc. and how they work is we’ve had in the past where we pitched a song to other video companies and they came up with all these ideas that didn’t fit the song at all. And then we thought, “Oh, we have to give him some more input.” So, any images or ideas that we have with the themes, we send them over, but sometimes then people just say, “Okay, we’ll do that.” And what I really like about Video Inc. is they take the idea and then they go over it. They’re the video makers, that’s their expertise, and they give their own twist to it. “Burning Bridges” is definitely one of the most dramatic ones of the four videos, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

You’re the frontwoman and the main focal point of the band, but the album closer “Combustion” is a cool instrumental that gives the rest of the band a chance to shine. Was this a song specifically created as an instrumental or music that you had trouble finding words for it?

It wasn’t meant to be a song with lyrics ever. Actually, this song was written by Timo and I’m sure that Joey also had a say in it because his drumming parts are very prominent. They actually started performing this song as a showpiece Joey had at his graduation at music school, and they performed it there. We really loved that song and that performance. Another thing is when we write songs for Delain, we really like pop structured songs. None of us in the band are ego trippers, none of us try to show off what we can do. We just do what the song needs, but on this track, they really get to shine. And I think that it’s really cool to give them that moment to shine because we have some really fantastic musicians in the band and they play very functional parts in the regular songs. So, I think that this is a great opportunity for them to show what they’ve got. Also, this is an egocentric reasoning, but for me, a lot of the songs have become much harder to sing. I really appreciate the two minutes of taking a breath during the shows! I think that on the album Apocalypse & Chill, that song for me, represents the explosion, the combustion, the apocalypse itself, if you will. I think it’s got a very symbolic function on this record.

What’s the music scene like in the Netherlands? You’re a very well known international touring band, but what was your humble beginning like?

Delain is a little bit of an odd example in that case because Martijn had rolled out of Within Temptation, who were at their breakthrough, and he had so many well known guests on this album that he wrote and that took a long time. There was a lot of work that went into that, and he had a whole big business plan that he used to get to the labels as well. But we got into that label straightaway for the first record because of all that hard work that Martijn had already put into it and the planning he did and the whole set up of the project. But, if I look at the scene that I was in before I got involved with that, the Dutch metal scene is a very small scene. Everyone knows each other, everyone is in everybody’s bands. I was I think in four bands at that moment. I was in a band, a guitarist in that band was doing a project, and I was in that project and then Martijn did arrangements for that project. And that’s where he heard me. So, he asked me for his project. I know that’s a very confusing sentence, but that may be a good representation of the Dutch music scene. It’s very interesting because a lot of metal comes from the Netherlands and actually a lot of symphonic metal comes from the Netherlands. But you would never tell if you looked at the Dutch mainstream music media. I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s not exotic enough for us, or maybe it’s because it’s too exotic. The Dutch popular music is basically just dance and hip-hop. And I have nothing against dance and hip-hop, but sometimes it’s weird to me. I do these Dutch guest things and there will be people from multiple genres, and I will always be the one with the most followers on Instagram and Facebook. And they will be like, “But we don’t know you!” And that’s very typical for Holland, I think. Music that is very well known internationally is not really well known in the Netherlands itself. On the other hand, it also has its benefits because I bet that even if Delain would have a massive hit in the genre that I could still go grocery shopping without people recognizing me!

Delain has been around for 18 years and you have this new album out and upcoming gigs for the next few years. What are you looking forward to the most in the near future?

We have already reached so many things that we wanted to reach with Delain. It’s been really amazing. It’s been an absolute roller coaster. Martijn and I do most of the work behind the scenes, and we’re a really tight team and we both have started talking about how we might want to start doing some things outside of Delain every now and then. I think our biggest goal for now is to really find a balance and do anything in order to keep making beautiful music together. Because if I look at what we’ve done in the past, if I look at the album that we made now, I’m just really, really proud. It is really a product of our team. The sum is more than its parts, so to speak. I just really hope that we can keep doing that and make a lot more beautiful music and hope that people keep enjoying it. Delain has been around for 18 years and you have this new album out and upcoming gigs for the next few years. What are you looking forward to the most in the near future? We have already reached so many things that we wanted to reach with Delain. It’s been really amazing. It’s been an absolute roller coaster. Martijn and I do most of the work behind the scenes, and we’re a really tight team and we both have started talking about how we might want to start doing some things outside of Delain every now and then. I think our biggest goal for now is to really find a balance and do anything in order to keep making beautiful music together. Because if I look at what we’ve done in the past, if I look at the album that we made now, I’m just really, really proud. It is really a product of our team. The sum is more than its parts, so to speak. I just really hope that we can keep doing that and make a lot more beautiful music and hope that people keep enjoying it.

#Charlotte Wessels #Delain #2020 interviews

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seoftheart · 6 years ago

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100 things i love about johnny

“his english name means “god is gracious” and it’s derived from hebrew words יוֹ (yo) which is the hebrew god and חָנַן (chanan) which means “to be gracious” and i mean,, true

his korean name is written as 英浩 in hanja characters and they can mean “flower, petal, brave, hero” and “great, numerous, vast” - also true

his lisp

his bad puns and pickup lines

how he donated his voice by recording audio guides to aid artists with development disabilities

how much he loves haechan and taeil :((

how much he loves nct in general

his love for yoona

how he never fails to include both female and male fans when he’s talking so nobody gets excluded

his silky hair

the way he furrows his eyebrows and one side of his upper lip goes up when he says something sassy or tries sounding smart

the little, cute wrinkles that appear on the sides of his mouth when he’s smiling

how hard he works on his chinese and tries to communicate with chinese members in their native language grfsregkajeg

the way he discreetly comforted yeri on enana when she was sick

how he noticed that on the vlive commentary function it said “say something nice” and found it really nice

how he’s really humble about the things he does and his qualities, oh my god !!

he thought his selfies weren’t good and asked for advice and didn’t believe jaehyun and doyoung when they told him his selfies are really good indeed, he was so surprised when they told him!!

his wannabe raps LMAO that rap he wrote in high school still haunts me

he stayed in sm for so long, ever since 2008, but he didn’t give up and made it to debut with nct! he had to watch his friends from exo debut before him while he was left behind but that didn’t discourage him one bit ;((

how he always finds a way to play on enana during the commercial break, and it’s usually playing with the cameras, which is really cute

his smile when he’s talking with the fans

how he always does that dance where he swings his arms left to right constantly while doing the same with hips, in sync with the arm swing and embarrasses others but does it anyway

he always thinks of nct’s international fans!! he always adds a sentence of two in english so everybody understands what’s going on

he has a lot of trouble learning japanese but he still tries so hard ;((

his “boku wa johnny desu”

he’s really shy when someone compliments him, but never fails to compliment others

he has such a nice relationship with enana staff members and always helps them and encourages them

“to everyone out there, i just want to say that whoever’s listening to this is absolutely beautiful, and there’s nothing you need to change about your appearance, you’re already as perfect and unique as you are. don’t let anyone tell you differently. if you ever feel like you’re not worth anything, seek help or change your environment, don’t let the bullies get to you. life is long, life is beautiful. don’t stop right here because of these mean people. live for yourself, live happily, and show them you’re stronger than them.”

saying “bless you” when people sneeze a lot of people overlook, but he finds it meaningful

he always encourages either the nct members or complete strangers when they’re speaking english even though they make mistakes and makes them feel confident about their language skills

that one time he started randomly meowing on enana and made jaehyun laugh

ok but on a serious note tho. johnny likes to,,,meow around. idk if it grew into a (weird) habit of his but he just,,,meows. he meows around jaehyun, he meows around mark, he probably meows around everyone in nct. can i pls get this limited-edition cat too

his super broccoli and super corn t-shirts

his singing voice ;–;

how he never hesitates to do aegyo but regrets it straight afterward so he lowers his head and covers his face with his hands

he said he loves running through the rain when it’s raining and it’s so unusual but cute!

lmao he’s such a hopeless romantic tho, i bet he got that running-in-the-rain idea from a romance film or smth

“to do and regret, rather than not to do and regret”

his hobby is photography and he takes really nice photos which he posts on nct’s instagram!!

his signature is really pretty!! it’s one of the most beautiful signatures i’ve seen an idol have tbh

he plays the piano really well and he used to play it together with jaehyun in their room when they were roommates

during the time he shared the room with jaehyun, jaehyun used to always light up scented candles and it sometimes bothered johnny but he never said anything about it so jaehyun wouldn’t feel bad

also,, he sleeps naked?? but like,, he’s so open with it. he’s like oh? clothes? i don’t wear clothes when i sleep lol and taeil is ????? so c o n f u s e d but johnny is just there, with a big grin on his face lmao

he’s a bit clumsy but it makes him adorable ;-;

his laugh!! it goes from a simple giggle to a high pitched laughter and it’s so recognisable and funny to hear, but it never makes you tired of hearing it

the dimples that appear on his face when he’s smiling, #help

he always gives other members the chance to speak in english if they want to or if they’re confident but never forces them if they don’t want to

how he’s so passionate about photography and he uses his camera more to capture the nature and his members than to take pictures of himself

also. that one photo of a smiley face written on a foggy car window (probably?) that he took is so, so, so important.

seriously, i love the style of photography he is going for!!

how he always participates when nct does volunteer work, like how he went to that school and made meals for children or how he went to a p.e. class and taught the kids how to dance

the way he laughs!! he always laughs in little fits, like, it goes hahaha hahahaha hahaha and it’s a d o r a b l e

how he’s secretly a meme king and loves sharing memes with nct members on their gc but they never reply to him and it’s so sad but so cute fsdjkghs

the way he looks at cameras like they’re the most precious things in the world

he never fails to hype a nct member up!!

how much he loves his family. he doesn’t talk about them a lot but when he does you can see it in his eyes how much he misses his parents. also when he cried when they sent him a video message for his birthday during his smrookies days!!

also when he was so surprised and teared up when his mum sent an audio message to enana back in 2018

“love starts with a smile” - johnny, 170327

he always sees beauty in some things that would usually get overlooked or wouldn’t be seen as beautiful and pretty and he never fails to express how he finds them nice!!

his relationship with mark. it’s not only that they’re english speakers so they’re close, you can see just how much johnny cares for mark. mark is like johnny’s little brother

he has a tendency to say things in a tone someone could find sarcastic but he really means it. he uses these phrases that have grown to be seen as sarcastic only to convey his true feelings and i find it so unique and beautiful (like when he said “it’s beautiful, mark” in the first relay vlive when mark, jaemin, winwin and kun were making standees for the sprouts - one would think he’s saying it just so that he wouldn’t hurt mark’s feelings but if you listen closely enough, you can hear the sincerity in his voice)

how he uses “your one and only” when writing to the fans

also the message on a photocard for the regular-irregular album where he wrote “from your one and only to my one and only” i literally blushed okay.

seriously though, the messages he writes on photocards are so thoughtful and cute, for example on the regulate pc he wrote: “simon says... smile!” and like,, i might have cried.

his face with no makeup on!!!

his thighs that are both muscular and soft, you can’t really tell if he’s really fit or a bit chubby and it makes my heart go whoosh whoosh bc!! my bias!!! is chubby!!!!! and i love it!! !!!!

seriously though, the songs he recommends and/or plays on enana

he says he’s a really clumsy person or it’s just his height so he always bumps into things and i find it adorable even though it must hurt him but how can you not love these small things about this giant man shjsjs

how he sleeps with so many plushies and gives them names and always changes the one he’s hugging at night om g

“pandas. OmG PANDAS” - johnny in ikea

have i already said this but he’s so empathic and compassionate and conscientious and always tries to make people around him feel comfortable with his jokes and warm smiles

he’s also so patient and laid-back and doesn’t get angry so easily, like, someone would probably get angry with yuta were it his phone number that was exposed (even by accident) but johnny was just liek,,,yah it’s okay and forgave yuta and sgjdjsh he’s just so nice :(

how he thinks make-up shouldn’t be limited to girls only and doesn’t believe in gender roles!!

in addition to that, he even appeared in an episode of netflix’s bill nye saves the world that touches on the topic of sexuality & identity and it’s such a big thing for an idol, especially a rookie idol to talk about how kpop is changing the traditional ideas of what gender norms are in such a conservative country??

“just be yourself. i feel like that’s a big point” - johnny in bill nye saves the world

*serious, with a smile on his face* “do you have a boyfriend?” *serious* *can’t contain the cringe and laughter* *turns away in an adorable way*

johnny’s fashion evaluation much?? it’s just him giving weird names to nct’s outfits and pretending to be an expert by giving them star ratings but it’s all just random and it’s so funny shjsh

while we’re at being funny! god of humour!! right there!!!! johnny suh invented humour ok i don’t make the rules

like,, his humour is not the normal kind, i saw many people actually say he’s not funny but LMAO joke’s on you, his humour is the galaxy brain type of humour, it’s like,, a bit dry but it’s so funny if you’re on the same page as him

when he went to ikea with jaehyun to buy a lamp but they only ended up looking at plushies and johnny immediately made friends with two snake plushies, fred and jason. “fred, what are you doing here??” “jason, jason! no, he’s my friend, jason. jason, he’s my friend.” - johnny in ikea, after saving jaehyun from jason’s bite. like that’s so random but it’s working because i’ve melted

him wearing hoodies and putting them over his head while taking photos of his members is so precious and soft!!

the way his pinky kind of drifts away from the rest of his fingers when he’s waving or covering his mouth or doing anything with his hand really

his plump lips and the way they curl upwards a bit and it makes them look so c u t e but they’re also a bit sexy???

he has these scars on his face (a lot of them on his chin) that are almost invisible because of the makeup but i think they’re from pimples, perhaps? but they’re so beautiful and precious and i love them when he smiles and they get a different shape and it’s art?? on someone’s face?????

he speaks so confidently in korean even though it’s not his native language! one would think it is by the way he never stutters or has a loss for words but it’s just because of his never-ending friendliness and confidence that’s a part of his personality

remember the rolling paper event during the 127 1st anniversary party? all of johnny’s messages were the longest ones and were so heartfelt and sincere. he really poured his entire heart while writing those and that only shows just how much he loves his members

his role inside the group may seem unimportant but he’s one of the few people holding the group together. there is taeyong as the leader, but johnny is like a leader from the shadows who puts everyone before himself first - and it is not easy to do

he cares for the foreign members so, so much. out of all the nct members, he’s been in sm the longest and as a foreigner he understands and knows what it’s like to suddenly be in a completely new country surrounded by nothing but strangers. he kept on conversing with ten, both in english and in korean, so ten would feel more comfortable and he’s the main reason ten’s korean has gotten so much better. also, he takes so much patience with the chinese members who have language barriers with both him and the rest of nct and never fails to correct them when they say something wrong or when they can’t think of a word/phrase to say. when they were touring seoul, he was always next to lucas and closely listening to how lucas speaks so that he can help him learn better!!

johnny knows how to flirt and seduce but what he doesn’t know is how to act afterwards so the embarrassment that comes after he says something cringy is just the most adorable think ever (take “do you have a boyfriend?” ig video for an example). he’s just so awkward and he can’t compliment someone without blushing ;(

also oh boy, johnny is just so bad at lying like fksjshksh he can’t keep a secret to save a life. were we, nctzens, not so dumb, we’d get so many spoilers he accidentally gave lmao

while we’re at this, he also can’t have a nice phone because he literally doesn’t care about it, hE THREW IT IN THE FLOOR in that one video, isn’t that enough as it IS

also,,,,,,he put a metal fidget spinner on its screen and somehow expected it not to break?????? just how lovable this idiot is.

he’s so,,,,awkward and cute around girls,,,like,,,,,,,help me. him confessing to yoona (kind of?) is the cutest thing ever and it just fills my heart with love and i!! wanna protect!!!!!

the thing i always look at when i watch enana are his ears because he always fiddles with them and touches the earring(s) and it’s cuuuute

but lmAO somehow the earring(s) always fall out when he does touch them and it’s somehow so,,endearing because he’s so cute jfc

he once said he tries using “thank you” and "i love you” a lot because those words are so powerful and he seems to always want to bring smile to other people’s faces..

also!! his parents call him prince as a nickname and,,well. i might be crying because that’s s o f t

do you know that johnny always tries to wear colourful clothes on rainy days so that he breaks the monotony and the nostalgia of rain?? fdkjhsrgahkdsg

“you can overcome everything with laughter”

also,, have you noticed how he always makes a double peace sign when he’s embarrassed? cute.

#johnny #nct #johnny seo #johnny suh #seo youngho #nct 127 #john suh #john seo #happybirthdayjohnny #happyjohnnyday #100 things i love about #my text #mytext #i love this one man and that man is johnny #i put so much thought into this okay ;(((((#i'll post it on twitter too so know that it's not someone stealing!#<333

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kyotakumrau · 5 years ago

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MIND-V vol.13 sukekiyo interview

to infinity

sukekiyo = a super talented group led by Kyo from DIR EN GREY will release a new audio and video collection ‘INFINITUM’.

As at the time of the interview for our magazine they were just finishing the work on the new material, we would like to deliver you the words of the 5 members who will tell you about the real image of the band at the moment as we will touch upon the outline of new work.

We would like to let you feel through this interview the atmosphere perfectly overflowing with the creativity of sukekiyo - that functions purely as a band, not as a unit or a project.

original text: Yousuke Hayakawa

photos: Takao Ogata

hair and make up: Jun Yamaguchi (EKYQ)

translation: kyotaku

(if you notice any mistakes, typos and so on please let me know 😅)

I wonder if it will become an album that doesn’t get old, place where you want to find yourself again when requiring stimuli.

－ Having in mind that at present your new audio and video collection 'INFINITUM’ is in the production stage (*interview took place mid March), I’d like to discuss the latest band image. In an earlier interview you have said that 'in case of sukekiyo, we start from breaking first’, how about this time?

Kyo: This time as well there were songs like that. For example the case of 'アナタヨリウエ -anata yori ue-’, we were doing a cover of 'Gerbera’ for MUCC’s tribute album, we have removed MUCC’s component and remade the song in our own colour at the time. I don’t think you will get that from listening, but originally the start was there.

－ It’s a song that shows sukekiyo’s peculiarity!

YUCHI: But it’s not like we’re flipping tables in anger (laughing), I think that’s the idea as well, that this band can try and rewrite the structure of the song to such extend.

－ sukekiyo members need to have really great adapting skills. You have to feel fine even when being driven into a sadistic situation.

Takumi: Yeah, it’s all very sadistic (laughing).

Kyo: Everyone in sukekiyo is pretty flexible so it’s not like everything has to be done certain way. That’s why I think the experimentation is greater this time, having songs like '沙羅螺 -sharara-’ from when we just formed and we didn’t question any ideas (everything was okay).

Takumi: 'kisses’ is a song that we were coerced to start playing live and it was also coercibly completed (laughing).

YUCHI: It was a song that we didn’t even touch during the rehearsal, but we played it on the first day, right?

Kyo: While we were on the move [to the venue] I was listening to our songs and the demo version came on, and I ended up coercing them 'this song is good. Can’t we do it?’

－ As I thought, [in sukekiyo] you have to be tough to survive (laughing).

Kyo: It was the first time I wrote the song composition down and sang while looking at it during the performance. When the intro started 'oh, A melody here’ and so on.

Mika: At the rehearsal just before the concert I made very simple notes [about tempo] like '4’ or '8’.

utA: Aah, yeah I saw that! Things like that tend to stop later during the tour, but many interesting ideas come like that.

Takumi: A way too 'early’ premiere (laughing).

－ How would you describe your new work?

Kyo: I’m hoping it will become an album that doesn’t get old. That there’s nothing quite like that… something that’s hard to classify as one genre, something that doesn’t get old, something you can’t plan to create. Something where you want to find yourself again when requiring stimuli.

－ When you create high quality music or concerts it wouldn’t be surprising if there were some disagreements during the creative process, but in case of sukekiyo I don’t think there is a negative tense feeling.

Kyo: Even when when something totally different comes up the reaction is 'I see, there’s a view like this as well’… everyone is mature so while taking in the good parts we try 'why not inserting this too?’, there is no fighting.

YUCHI: That’s why there’s no strange reservation. Enjoying our own version like 'it’s okay, let’s do it’ we’re able to create daring arrangements. We’re always sharing the stimulus/excitement.

Mika: Yeah. When first submitting songs there’s always element of surprise, and when we make arrangements it’s like mysterious cosmos/space…

－ Cosmos!

Mika: Yup (laughing). When we are exchanging data files, sounds and their sections start to appear during brushing up work. I’d think 'woah… it has an incredible space/vibe’.

Kyo: It has, hasn’t it.

YUCHI: It will just suddenly appear.

Mika: It turns out very cool, makes you like it.

Kyo: Even now there are many times when I get surprised 'woah something like that came out?!’. It’s… it’s like when playing shogi (Japanese chess) - 'where should I move next?’

Mika: It’s like deciding the next move. But instead going sideways (laughing).

Takumi: Like 'woah, going there!?’

Kyo: And like 'huh, so going there is the only option’ (laughing).

utA: That is exactly what it is like.

－ Quite a thrilling offence and defense (laughing).

Kyo: True. And recently subtracting is quite hard.

Mika: Basically, we just want to add more instead.

Kyo: Suddenly I’d notice that there are too many sounds and I’d try to listen objectively like 'this shout is unnecessary’; the last work to remove [sound/parts] is unexpectedly tough.

－ It is unheard of that you would run out of ideas. Kyo, do you feel the weight of responsibility coming from the position of the leader?

Kyo: Nope, I don’t think I’m the leader. I’m leaving that role to Takumi (laughing).

Takumi: (laughing) but I only [take charge] of the production details.

Kyo: I just expand my antenna (to collect info/data), absorb various things and present it to everyone, I want the world to know more about each good part… I have more of a promotional role.

－ A promotional role! But at the same time there’s also a position of the producer.

Kyo: A producer… maybe a half-baked producer.

Everyone: Hahahaha!

Kyo: I just make suggestions through images like 'could we veil in more emotion here?’.

Takumi: I find it helpful that we get words like those as a hint on a regular basis. Then, upon members digesting it, we can bring good side from Kyo and have sukekiyo do something new. Also, I think that the points we were strangely self-conscious about at the time of band’s formation are gone. Kyo had an image built until that point, trying to do something different… we were conscious about various things like that, but Kyo said 'people involved [in either band] are different’, and one thing that has changed is the point when I thought it’s fine not to think too much about things like that.

Kyo: About since we’ve released ADORATIO everyone stopped being concerned about various things. I kept saying on various occasions that 'sukekiyo is a band’. So it can be said that finally in all aspects it became true, that every member is even. I think fans and people who come to our concerts understand this.

－ That is true.

YUCHI: It feels like the band is becoming better and better, including the atmosphere.

utA: Talking about the point of being even, at the very beginning of the band I was submitting various types of songs, but now I only bring songs from my field of expertise. It’s not that I hate pop style songs, we do have the style of songs from YUCHI or Takumi. But thanks to that I don’t have to do it, and from now on as well I’d like to continue creating mysterious dark songs for the rest of my life. Deep inside I’m a really really dark person (laughing).

Mika: (laughing) It’s true that we have freedom to have any ideas for songs and videos, we can solely pursue what we are enthusiastic about… thanks to that we can roll in an incredibly good direction.

－ That enthusiastic mindset to pursue things is also a must.

Mika: But there’s something warm there when doing so instead of desperation. It’s not like there are restrictions or we have to do it no matter what… but we do have to make it by the deadlines (laughing).

YUCHI: It doesn’t feel like a strange obligation.

Mika: It doesn’t. There’s still this soft feeling that was there when we just started the band. It’s soft but super intense.

Kyo: That 'soft’ part as well, everyone (other people) probably cut it down. If you do that a band would become too inflexible, it wouldn’t be fun, the relations between band member would be stiff/cold, but we want to avoid that.

－ That means you can expand the possibilities of the band.

Kyo: With that feeling, I think that sukekiyo’s ideal shape from the start of the band is continuing until present. Even as the band keeps changing that’s okay as long as everyone is enjoying themselves.

－ As we talked before, it’s about the shape a band should naturally have.

Kyo: Yes. Isn’t it usually impossible for everyone to just freely pursue what they like? I think my most important job is to have everyone focus on that part, and to introduce it to various people. I’m thinking every day about what to do to be able to tell more people about it.

－ That doesn’t sound like you would be a 'band that everyone would go for’.

Kyo: Yeah. I often hear that [as a band] we’re hard to approach, but it’s not like that. There’s just one thing - it’s best to come to our concerts wearing black clothes.

Everyone: Hahahaha!

Kyo: In the venue it will be quiet. So if anything I think it is easy for people who come for the first time. You just have to stand and keep looking at the stage, there are no special moves during songs and so on, so I think it is easy. There are no things like special timing to raise hands or sing together. There might be many deterrents like feeling alienated or that it’s hard to go as there are many regular fans (fans who go to all concerts). With sukekiyo it’s absolutely okay to ignore that. Just for the hall performances, please watch the concert staying seated.

－ It’s a conversation that awakens us to the truth…! There will be sukekiyo TOUR2019 FORTY where you can experience the performance, but I have to say that the simplicity of the tour title is unexpected and mysterious.

Kyo: That’s the number of added band members birthdays. At the moment we’re working on the album jacket, it also has a geometric pattern created by combined figures of the band members birthdays and so on. It came from wanting to include more of the band members potential. I would like you to look forward to the final release, including this part.

#sukekiyo #kyo #京 #匠 #未架 #takumi #mika #uta #mind v #interview #translation

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inktank-thinktank · 5 years ago

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Splatocalypse Now

My friends, the final Splatfest is upon us. And you know what that means. Plot implications for Splatoon 3.

We have been looking over the material released for Splatocalypse, and have prepared some analysis and interpretation, to not only help you make what you deem is the correct choice for the Splatfest, but also to prepare you for what is to come.

I’m warning you now, if you click into the Read More, there will be major spoilers for nearly every aspect of the Final Fest: Splatocalypse event, INCLUDING datamined material. Enter at your own risk.

First, we should note the theming. 'Splatocalypse'. This theme of a Splatoon apocalypse pops up in many places in the material we are to observe, and seems an almost overbearing theme. Nintendo is being direct this time - what happens is going to deeply impact the world of Splatoon.

Indeed, the music that plays during the trailer, according to the Live in Makuhari album coming out three days after the Splatfest ends, is called 'Haikara (Inkopolis) Memorial Mixtape', by DJ Octavio.

EDIT: OatmealDome has informed me that Haikara Memorial Mixtape is likely a NEW song that we have not heard yet! The song in the trailer is most likely ‘SPLATOCALYPSE （ファイナルフェス告知映像BGM）’ (SPLATOCALYPSE - Final Splatfest Announcement Video BGM), the immediately previous track on the album.

After a brief summary of Splatfests to-date, we open to Pearl and Marina. When Pearl is on-screen, we get a sound effect of rushing flames, while Marina is accompanied by sounds reminiscent of computers and technology. This is notable, especially when viewed in combination with other material, giving us an... 'inkling', of what is to come. The first thing that I think needs considering in combination with this is the Splatfest gear.

What we see is quite telling.

In English, the gear names are ‘Jetflame Crest’ (the motorbike helmet), ‘Fierce Fishskull’ (the fish skull, obviously), ‘Eye of Justice’ (the helmet with the screen on it), and ‘Hivemind Antenna’ (the shades).

As per this Reddit post, which we will be referencing a lot going forward, the names are ‘Burning Broiler’, ‘Giga Fishbone’, ‘Justice Brain’, and ‘Cosmic Antenna’.

Team Chaos’ gear puts off an air of being very ‘Mad Max’-inspired, very befitting of both ‘chaos’ and the apocalyptic themes. It is also worth noting that the helmet containing the word ‘broiler’ in the name is a connection to the Salmonids, who we know from the Splatoon 2 Ikasu Art Book use cooking implements as weaponry because they see life and death and consumption of other living things as all part of a cycle.

Similarly, we know that sunglasses of the shape the Hivemind Antenna / Cosmic Antenna take have historically been linked to Octarian mind control technology, such as the hypnoshades worn by Callie and the Octolings you fight in Hero Mode 2.

It is not difficult then to surmise that Team Chaos ties in to the concept of a Mad Max style apocalyptic wasteland, somehow related to the Salmonids, while Team Order ties in to the concept of a false utopian society controlled by mechanisms of technological oppression.

Now, moving back to the trailer...

Over the course of the trailer, we are shown who is on each side, out of the major characters. I will summarize our beliefs as to why each character is on each side, as this will influence later covered topics.

TEAM CHAOS

Starting with Team Chaos, we have the Salmonids. This is quite obvious. The Salmonids have always been agents of chaos, chiefly known for overrunning early Inkling settlements and even going as far as consuming the Inklings within.

There is also Iso Padre, which may come as a surprise to some. However, as a former test subject of TARTAR’s, it is clear he would want as little to do with ‘order’ as possible when presented the option. He seems okay with Kamabo Co. in Octo Expansion, but in a way that seems...detached, wistful, almost like he’s given up on a life free of oppression.

Spyke is another obvious one, being a gangster and someone who, y’know, steals stuff and runs an actual pyramid scheme.

Agent 4 is also fairly obvious; official art depicting Agent 4 has always shown her to be a trickster of sorts, and less serious than her predecessor, Agent 3.

Callie is also an obvious one, being the spontaneous, excitable, freedom-and-fun-loving one out of the Squid Sisters.

Flow, being a ‘hippie’ of sorts, likely is on chaos in terms of ‘personal freedom’. And, y’know. Being able to be high all the time most likely.

For Annie, the first game implies that out of her and Moe, Moe is the one really ‘in charge’ of things, and, well... Moe is hard chaos. Play Splatoon Wii U, guys.

Li’l Judd is Team Chaos because as we know, he has an inferiority complex and resentment for Judd, being his clone, and generally is more of a tricksterish character. Also, being a kitten, Li’l Judd would likely be more playful, again ‘chaos’ as in ‘freedom’.

Pearl lays out her motivation for being Team Chaos rather starkly in the Splatfest announcement (which we will get to later).

And, I saved this one for last, because it’s somewhat surprising... Despite the Octarians being Team Order, Octavio is Team Chaos. This could be due to a thinking that he must win at any cost, and a willingness to use manipulation tactics to move his people towards supporting his war on Inkopolis. It could also be due to a mental slippage from so many repeated losses.

“But wait!” I hear you say. “If Octavio is Team Chaos, why are the shades, ostensibly tied to hypnosis, a Team Order gear piece?”

I would argue there that the hypnoshades, while used by Octavio, fit more into the Octarians’ wheelhouse of order through technology and regimentation.

TEAM NEUTRAL

Judd being Team Neutral is obvious. He judges the Splatfests, and unlike Li’l Judd, is generally more ‘neutral’ in tone.

Sheldon is probably Team Neutral because, well, he sells you weapons no matter what side you’re on in Splatfest, so...

And Mr. Grizz is Team Neutral because he’s out for his own interests, which exist apart from all other teams (note he’s apart from the rest of Team Neutral, and upside-down).

TEAM ORDER

Cap’n Cuttlefish is Team Order for having been part of the military, as well as actively fighting for the safety and security of Inklings.

Marie is Team Order being the more relaxed yet traditional one of the Squid Sisters.

Agent 8 is Team Order being an Octarian, and thus a part of their regimented society.

This brings us to the Octarians in general, who are Team Order being a regimented technocracy where large focus is put on people serving a specific function (see Marina’s Chat Room), as well as again the technological oppression aspects. They may also be simply following Marina, as we know that Agent 8 idolizes her, and that the Octolings who escaped to Inkopolis did so because they were inspired by her.

C.Q. Cumber is Team Order because, as Nintendo has stated, he really wasn’t concerned with what TARTAR was up to, he was just doing his job. Order at its finest.

TARTAR is Team Order for obvious reasons. It desires ‘order’ in the sense of purging the capricious, impulsive Inklings and petty, warlike Octarians, instead replacing them with a new ‘superior’ race of beings, created from its successful test subjects.

Agent 3 is Order because, well, she made the idea of ‘being the hero’ a central part of her identity, see adopting the ‘3′ cape into her outfit (something she had no reason to do).

Jelfonzo being Team Order makes sense, given that Nogami has stated that the Jellyfishes are all actually a large hivemind organism, who may have a significant hand in sponsoring Turf War, suggesting since Turf War is according to the Splatoon Ikasu Art Book largely subsidized by the government, the Jellyfish hivemind has a significant hand in Inkopolis’ government as well.

As with Pearl, we will discuss Marina’s choice more in-depth later, as it is looked at rather deeply in the Splatfest dialogue.

The only ones who we cannot seem to figure out are Murch, Bisk, and Crusty Sean, however we know that Sean has some...strangeness to him, only accepting tickets and getting defensive when you point this out, and the ‘Crustwear XXL’ shirt, a shirt advertising his food truck, being Grizzco gear. Perhaps he supports Team Order because of an involvement with corporate bureaucracy?

Similarly, my best guess with Murch is that, since he only engaged in the gear scrubbing and ordering scheme because he idolized Spyke, he realized at some point that Spyke was a criminal, and wanted to distance himself.

Now on to the leading ladies themselves. Pearl’s reasons for being Team Chaos run VERY deep, and a larger overall analysis is necessary.

Pearl’s motivation for Team Chaos seems to be primarily rooted in wanting a world that is ever-changing and not static, finding a world that stays the same boring and uneappealing. She also seems to act somewhat as an agent of chaos, declaring in the Splatfest dialogue both in English and Japanese that whichever side wins the Splatfest will be the form the world takes going forward.

In the English dialogue, she invokes ‘Splatfest law’, which is something created wholesale by Nintendo of America, however the implication either way is that whoever wins will remake the world in their own team’s image.

Additionally, in the Japanese dialogue, Pearl states “all I know is I don't want a world that's always like this!“, spoken in the same sort of way as when someone says things like ‘I wish things would be like this forever’.

Marina’s reasons for being Team Order as well are somewhat complex. She is primarily worried about stability and control over her life and her situation.

In fact, Pearl’s statements about Team Chaos, in the Japanese dialogue, are replied to in ways that show that she’s worried that Pearl would eventually even grow bored with Off the Hook, and flippantly want that to be over and ‘change’ as well.

It’s worth noting that Marina’s theming shows an erring towards technology, and technological order as we’ve seen before usually is something dangerous in the Splatoon universe. This may hint at what direction ‘her world’ would go in if she wins the final Splatfest.

Marina does, however, express trepidation in the Japanese dialogue about reshaping the world in the winner’s image, only doing so because Pearl is pushing things in that direction.

Moving forward, we will be addressing the assets and imagery the game has been preparing for the Splatocalypse event, and how that ties into the theming of a Splatoon apocalypse.

First, and the elephant in the room... ‘Dear Senpai’, or as it’s being called by Nintendo of America, ‘MC.Princess Diaries’, the new Shifty Station stage.

The stage is quite obviously based on another brush Inkopolis has had with the apocalypse, that being the NILS Statue fight from the Octo Expansion, where Pearl and Marina, with the help of Agent 8, narrowly stopped TARTAR from destroying Inkopolis. The fight, and indeed all Turf Wars in the Final Fest event, come complete with the discordant Turf War intro sound from Octo Expansion, and Dear Senpai comes with Hyperbombs and the ‘Princess Cannon’ (the Killer Wail from the first game). Information from OatmealDome states that three sets of Hyperbombs each appear throughout the match, each time consisting of two per team, while the Princess Cannon is spawned once per match for one player to use in the form of Pearl coming down from the helicopter outside the stage.

We know that Team Chaos is strongly coded to involve Salmonids, and we know Team Order is strongly coded to involve technological oppression, but again per OatmealDome we have our first look at how this would play out.

The stage chronologically takes place after the NILS Statue fight, with the wreckage of the NILS Statue seen in the background, being tended to and examined by Jellyfish, who again are part of the Inkopolis government. And, if you recall during the final fight, the NILS Statue is utterly swimming in TARTAR’s corruptive ooze, as well as the remains of TARTAR itself. Could we perhaps see the return of TARTAR via the Jellyfish hivemind? This would explain also how it would be Team Order despite being ostensibly dead.

You may wonder why I haven’t discussed the actual terrain of Dear Senpai, or the post-Splatfest dialogue. In fact, Nintendo pushed invalid dummy data in its place to prevent data mining. In the case of Dear Senpai, they pushed the Shifty Station from Frostyfest, and in the case of the post-Splatfest dialogue, barebones dialogue with nothing beyond a winning team announcement.

As most should already know, the Final Splatfest will have all 23 previous Shifty Stations on a rotation, two every two hours like the other maps, before running Dear Senpai for the final 24 hours. Interestingly, while we know that Dear Senpai is to take up the full final 24 hours , the two hours immediately preceding it also have only a single Shifty Station stage: Tentacle Warning / Sweet Valley Tentacles, the Shifty Station from the Squid vs. Octopus Splatfest. As a brief aside, all of the Shifty Station names in Japanese are puns on manga titles, and all the ones in English are puns on novels.

This is what the Inkopolis Square skybox will look like during the Final Fest. A video showing the Square with this skybox and Splatfest mode on can be found here. We don’t know what the Square‘s event decorations will be, if any, but this immediately brings something to mind: Blade Runner 2049.

Screenshot from the relevant point in the movie for reference.

Furthermore, at this screen when you press ZL+ZR, this sound plays. Sound familiar? It sounds to me like the clock tower bell in Majora’s Mask. In fact, both are the same note, a C4.

Additionally, we know that the music for the Final Fest is a combination of Off the Hook and Squid Sisters music. Per OatmealDome:

New battle music for Final Fest!

Ink Me Up by Squid Sisters (Splatoon 1)

Shark Bytes

Calamari Inkantation

Fly Octo Fly

New 1 minute left music!

Now or Never! by Off the Hook, feat Squid Sisters

Now or Never! by Squid Sisters

This suggests that the Squid Sisters are to play a major role; however they do not appear in any of the Final Fest assets, meaning this likely is hinting at them playing some role in the Final Fest’s impact on Splatoon 3. This is corroborated by their appearance in the Splatocalypse trailer, wearing Pearl and Marina’s signature crown and headphones, respectively.

In closing, I think it can be easily surmised just what is going on. Team Chaos has strong ties to Salmonids and a theme of Inkopolis being overrun or falling to ruin. Team Order has strong ties to TARTAR and themes of technological oppression and control. The Splatfest announcement dialogue implicates Pearl or Marina respectively as bringing on a possibly related, possibly simply additional, chaotic or orderly world for each bad outcome to exist in. And the strong focus on the Squid Sisters implicates that, yet again, Callie and Marie will be pitted against each other.

It is truly a matter of ‘pick your villain’. Except unlike Splatoon 1, where the loser was the one who was turned against us, and instead of being against her will... This time the winner, or at least the winning side, is the one who will turn wicked.

Who and what form will this take? Only time will tell.

#Splatoon #Splatoon 2 #splatocalypse #splatfest #final fest #theory #video games #author math #author shinygirafarig #author slimeade

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japanessie · 6 years ago

Note

Hello! So I know Nori is MFS' music producer but what does he actually do? I'm not entirely familiar with the technicalities of the music industry (hell, i dont even know the difference between an arranger and composer) and I tried the magic wizard otherwise known as google and it said music producers can have a variety of parts they play in a project so that wasnt very helpful or specific. Has MFS ever clarified how Nori helps them? I know he recruited members, especially Hiro and Teru. Thanks!

Hello 😊

Hi. Sorry I almost forgot to answer this question because suddenly I got a series of “Asks” about the Moriuchi brothers. Gomen ne!

Google is right. A “Producer” can play various roles depending on the situation.

Producer

Generally the person who oversees the overall management and runnings of a project till the final outcome.

NORIHIRO OTANI

In Nori’s case, he can best be described as the guy who turned MY FIRST STORY from an idea into a reality and coordinates the overall management of the band. This includes financing, logistics, human resource, merchandising, marketing, publicity etc.

The one thing Nori doesn’t touch or probably very minimally, as far as I know, is the music. MFS members are fully responsible for that. At least based on what I understand from their older interviews.

It doesn’t mean that MFS was manufactured. Nori expressed a keen interest to do a band together when he met Sho and liked the music Sho was making. But as Sho said in Zenshin Documentary, Nori was more interested in the band management side. Not being a musician.

This was Nori once upon a time 😊

I will outline some of his major functions. This could be lengthy but who knows some of you might want to try a career in artists’ management, eh 😃?

1. Financing

He was responsible to source for the money needed to launch the band in the beginning. Since he was barely out of university himself with not much to his name, he pitched the idea to none other than the one who could i.e GEN who was at the helm of Subciety clothing label at the time.

Besides GEN starting INTACT Records for this purpose, I also think MFS had to give up some publishing rights to their earlier songs to bigger companies in exchange for the financial support. Don’t take my words totally as I could be wrong here but TV ASAHI Music Co. Ltd* does hold a part of the copyrights to the first TWO albums. MFS started to hold full copyrights starting only from the 3rd CD 最終回STORY.

* Refer to the Band Scores from Yamaha Music Media

Being an indie band allows MFS to retain most of the royalties to themselves. STORYTELLER Fan Club is not exactly just a sweet secret space for exclusive fans BUT a fan-supported crowd-funding is what it really is. I am sure Nori is the mastermind behind this as well.

2. Logistics

Arrangement for travels, accommodation, transportation and the crew as well. The paperwork, who does this and that and dealings with booking agents/promoters/venues. Nori may not do all these himself but he can appoint people to handle these under his directions. MFS works closely with JMS for this and the current MFS Tour Manager as I’m writing this is Yuuki Tanimura (iTONY Entertainment which is a JMS subsidiary).

Here are screenshots of Tanimura-san checking out venue availability 😊. With him were Nori & KTR.

Though I’m sure they went as buddies to Australia but I’m not surprised if Tanimura handled the travel matters 🤔

3. Human Resource

Salaries, bonus (if any), insurances, taxes among others. Visas & permits for overseas performances. All these not just for band members but also whoever the crew they employ for any project.

4. Merchandising

Besides discussing with the band members on concepts and designs, Nori would be the one arranging for those items to be manufactured and delivered by the suppliers.　In Nori’s case, he has experienced people like GEN and Kentaro Suzuki a.k.a KTR who know the ins & outs of the industry to show him the rope 😄.

Those who are STORTELLER members can also read Nori’s blog post explaining the decision to come up with Maifasu-kun 2.0 as well. He then set up an online shop at the Official Goods Store for MFS.

5. Marketing & Publicity

MFS basically has been engaging JMS for promotions & distributions from the start BUT when it comes to maximizing what the band can make from every project, you can bet Nori is behind it.

For examples:

i. Those endless Limited Editions & bonuses that make hardcore fans buy 6 copies of the same CD 😱😂!

ii. Also those extras at the Tour Finals. With MFS name being “stamped” on everything from food stalls to fun fair games. I honestly think Nori learned this from watching HYDE organizing the Halloween Party 🤔.

All in all, Nori is also the one or at least one of those in the team responsible for turning MFS into the money-making juggernaut that they are now.

How much power/influence does Nori have over MFS?

Well, when MFS dedicated an entire encore of their Tour Final for him to propose to his girlfriend and subsequently deprived the fans of the 3-song performance from the DVD to keep his privacy, then you can pretty much draw your own conclusions there. BIG!

Sorry Nori, I’m still so bummed about the Encore from MMA getting cut out. Especially when watching Teru’s speech and hearing him say, “It has only been THREE songs so far. We have TWENTY MORE songs coming!“. Then we got only SEVENTEEN more songs. The rest would be the sounds of my heart breaking 😭💔.

Okay.

SHO TSUCHIYA ~ The Sound Producer

Nori being called “MFS Producer” is NOT to be confused with the person at the control console during recording. The band leader Sho Tsuchiya has always been that person from the start.

However, before his hiatus, the music production credit was usually listed as “produced by MY FIRST STORY”. After his hiatus, they have started listing it with “Sound Producer : Sho Tsuchiya”.

Here is an old photo from the early days of MFS. Look at Sho being hard at work with Nori by his side 😊. The one sleeping is Hiro, still in his school uniform 😃.

GEN ~ Executive Producer

To understand why this man has always been listed in the credits that way, please refer to the “Financing” part about Nori. At the time, GEN was the business savvy one who had the means and capacity to start a record company. He’s responsible for the payrolls of some MFS staff since they are employed under INTACT Records. To the fans, we like to refer to GEN as The Boss 😁.

#reply #my first story #maifasu #マイファス #Sho Tsuchiya #sho my first story

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fmdjulien · 7 years ago

Photo

idolized. → the interview, featuring julien shin.

barely twelve hours have passed since julien landed in incheon after nearly twenty hours of traveling and while his body shows hints of exhaustion, there’s something about his aura that seems to make him as lively and lovely as ever. with skin kissed a golden hue from the rays of the mexican sun and cheeks tinged rosy from the wintry breeze, he looks to be completely out of place in the gold star media building like a tropical bird in the north. but as he enters the cozy room to greet both the cameraman and his manager, there's something about him that seems a bit different. "ah, hello. thank you for taking care of me tonight," julien greeted, giving a polite bow to the other two in the room. "i'll work hard to get the interview done as quickly as possible." the response he received was a simple nod of the head from the cameraman as julien shrugged off his coat and set his caffeinated drink down on the counter, soon enough moving to take a seat in front of the camera.

he's done these countless amounts of times already, enough to be able to do an interview like this in his sleep, but this particular interview does seem to be one that requires more of his attention. the idea of idolized giving the public a chance to see more of what happens behind the scenes for the idol industry is an example of companies purposely letting people in to see the less glamorous side; julien finds this to make his job a little more difficult in being able to keep a positive impression of himself while also showcasing his vulnerabilities. media workshops and refresher courses seemed like a waste of time to him, if he had to be honest, but if anything they seemed to cement the fact more to him that he needed to be extremely careful while still being comfortable. of course, it doesn't help that the dangerous mix of jet lag and lack of sleep has left julien's brain barely able to keep his synapses firing. but he pushes through with it, quickly fixing a loose strand of his hair the shade of espresso to at least look put together, despite the way his body feels. with a clearing of his throat, he smiles. "okay, shall we begin?"

what is life as an idol like? what are the hardships? what is rewarding?

"as an idol, life can be a bit crazy," julien stated, letting himself begin with that particular point. "when you're having a comeback, you'll have to begin preparations weeks, sometimes months in advance. songs need to be written and composed, and not every song that's written make it to the final product. from there, the songs need to be recorded by the idols in the studio. while recording the album, there also will be a music video that will need to be filmed for the single, as well as choreography for said single. while preparing for the comeback release, idols would need to shoot concept photos and teaser videos, which most likely requires them to change their hairstyle or appearances in some way. and when the comeback single is released, idols need to go to music shows, concerts, radio shows, and variety shows to promote their music. they'll even attend fan meetings and have schedules pop up on their calendar with barely any notice that they still will need to attend. when comebacks aren't happening, idols are either touring, keeping busy with being on different shows or having a side gig as an mc or actor, or would be prepping for things with the next comeback." pausing to take a breath, julien smiled. "it can be a bit difficult, and some hardships that idols endure include being able to function without much, or any sleep, going under strict dieting or workouts in preparation for comebacks, among other things. while we all are aware of these things when we sign up to be idols, it's still something that can take us by surprise. but despite all of the sleepless nights and the stress that may come with the career, the most rewarding thing in the world for me is to perform for my fans. nothing beats the feeling of singing your song in front of people and these people singing your songs back to you. it's such a wonderful feeling to meet people from all over who have come all this way just to see me, that the least i can do is put on the best performance i can and thank them for all of their hard work. it's a lot of hard work for this job, but the rewards far outweigh the stress."

how would you feel if your future child wanted to be an idol?

being faced with a question about children, julien's already trying to reel his mind back in before it races off at a mile a minute. it's not something he's really thought about, but his tired mind is working on its own, selecting what avenues of the question it wants to explore. before his mind starts thinking about his future children and his life as a father, julien lets out a sound of surprise. "ah, if sometime down the line when i'm older and have a family, i wouldn't be surprised if my future child would have a conversation with me about wanting to be an idol. there would at least be some sort of curiosity in their mind, i would be sure of it. but if i were to have that conversation with my child, i feel as if there would be a lot of things to consider. for starters, the idol industry is forever changing; has the industry changed for the better or no? and then there's the part where i would have a talk with them about how serious they would be about this. becoming an idol isn't easy and requires a lot of dedication and hard work, and debut may not even be guaranteed on top of that. i wouldn't want to set them up for failure, but i would want them to know what they would potentially be getting themselves into." the question itself already brought up memories of his own conversation with his parents about wanting to pursue music; oh, how disastrous that was. of course, he ended up doing it anyway, dropping out of college and flying across the pacific ocean, but what could his parents have expected? at that realization, julien let out a breath, sighing. "well, at the end of the day, though, i would want to support my child in whatever they want to do. if they want to become an idol, i would support them as much as i can, and be there as someone they can lean on or look to for advice."

do you think the words “artist” and “idol” mean the same thing?

"there has been a lot of discourse on the term used to describe performers like me and what we do; are we artists or are we idols?" pausing for dramatic effect, julien continues. "an artist, by definition, is someone skilled at a particular occupation; in this case, it'd be someone skilled at performing. an idol, however, is defined as one who is greatly admired or loved. if we go purely be definition, these terms cannot be used interchangeably, but they cannot be mutually exclusive, either. someone can be both an idol and an artist because they're skilled, but also greatly admired. the idol industry is filled with those who are skilled at performing and making music, and are also well loved. so while i say they do not mean the same thing, it does not mean that an idol must be one or the other; rather, they can be both. interesting concept, isn't it?" finishing his thought, julien remains quiet for a few seconds, realizing that his words may have been a bit like a persuasive speech, he giggles. "i'm sorry, i tend to sometimes speak out my thought process as my mind works through it."

are there sides to you your fans don’t see?

hearing the words spoken by his manager, julien tries not to snort. a trick question, of course. if you answer 'no', then the audience will already write you off as a liar and potentially not believe anything else that comes out of your mouth. if you answer 'yes', you'll have to be prepared with concrete examples or risk sacrificing your image due to viewers that get too curious at the lack of response. damned if you do, damned if you don't. letting a few seconds pass by to gather his thoughts into his best crafted answer, julien parted his lips. "i believe everyone has sides to themselves that they keep from others, and i am no different. i am human, after all. however, even though my fans don't see some sides of me, i do want to slowly show my other sides to them over time. my fans have been by my side for five years now; i have grown with them and they have grown with me. i would love to open myself up to them, but i am constantly working to improve myself and don't want to show sides of myself that needs lot of improvement. maybe i'd show the emotional side of me that curls up and cries with his cat when he's sad, or the impulsive side of me that doesn't do the smartest things like enter churro eating contests. so many sides of me i'd like to reveal, but i have to become confident in showing those sides. please anticipate seeing a new julien, yes?"

what do you hope viewers will see through the airing of this show?

"for the viewers out there watching the show, i would hope or them to see that at the end of the day we are people, just like them." as soon as julien speaks this out into the universe, he's well-aware that it'd be important to clarify exactly what he meant, leaving no room for interpretation. "everyone grows up and sees idols and grow to, well, idolize them and look up to them. but we're not really different from everyone else. viewers will be able to catch a glimpse of us off-stage and out of makeup and see that we're just like them. we wake up and go to work, just like everyone else. we have hobbies, we pursue different interests, and we go home just like them. yes, there is a slight difference in what we do professionally, but we have more similarities than differences."

what do you hope you’ll get out of the experience of the show? are there any other groups or idols you hope to get the chance to meet more through the show?

fighting back a yawn from escaping, julien took a moment to compose himself before chuckling softly. "being a part of this show is going to be a huge learning experience for me," he began, "and i hope to gain a lot from this experience, but the most important thing to me that i hope to get out of this is getting to meet and interact with so many other idols and groups that i don't normally see at schedules. speaking of..." he trails off, humming softly in thought with a finger to his chin. "you know, there are many other groups and idols that i hope to meet up with. there are some new groups and artists that i haven't been able to speak to yet, like vice or caleb. there's also groups and artists that i know but haven't spoken to for a long time, like the members of unity and WISH. and then there's even the idols that i am close with but just enjoy talking to them so much that this show will let me reunite with them more, like yuddy, element, sooah, and even members from knight and BEE. i've had the opportunity to befriend so many amazing people in this profession, that i hope to meet more or see them all again."

how do you feel about the upcoming hallyu triple fantasy concert in jeju city?

if he had to be honest, talk of the triple fantasy concert always left julien with anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach. the event itself was wonderful, and julien thought the idea was genius and profitable; it was more so the events that he associated with the concert that left him with a bad taste in his month. while most of his peers think of packed stadiums and performing alongside fellow artists from different companies, julien was reminded of shouting matches and tearful arguments that resulted in sleepless nights and mental exhaustion. things did not exactly turn out well during the japan trip for julien, but as much as it pains him to think about the triple fantasy concert in general, hopefully this time around he'll be able to associate it with happier thoughts. but still, he throws the thoughts to the back of his mind, opting for a wide grin. "with the hallyu triple fantasy concert happening again, i'm already extremely excited about it!" julien exclaimed, a burst of energy coming out of him. "the concert was a success in japan, and it was a really fun time to be able to have so many people under one roof. i also think it's great for our fans, because they get to see all these acts in one place instead of having to buy separate tickets for each agency or artist, you know? the triple fantasy concert brought about camaraderie because all of us got to come together and do what we love best, and i'm so excited to bring the concert back to korea. i've never been to jeju yet, believe it or not! i've always wanted to go, but timing never worked out for me. being able to go and perform in jeju and our fans for the first time is something i'm very excited about, and i also cannot wait to learn more about jeju itself while i'm there! i've heard the tangerines are delicious, and i've been wanting to see all the beautiful things in jeju, like the dol hareubang and hallasan, and the people, of course." taking a few moments to show off his knowledge, julien flashes a smile; he's always the type to do his research before an interview, and this is no different.

do you have any worries about being followed by cameras for the show?

worries? even in his barely conscious mind, julien could already think of several things off the top of his head to worry about if he were to have a camera crew following him around for the show. what if he slipped up when no one was around? what if there was a tiny flash of weakness the caught the attention of the viewers? he had already had scenarios playing in his head, things that would come up just because he wasn't careful. but before he could let himself get too immersed into the idea, the best option for julien was to simply keep his cool. smile, keep a pleasant face, act like nothing in the world is wrong... and that was exactly what he was going to do, feeling the corners of his lips turn up. "i can't help but be honest and say that even though i'm excited to show all of you a different side of me, i do have a few worries about the camera following me around," he started, letting his expression turn a little bashful as he dipped his head shyly before returning his gaze to the camera. "i mean, could you imagine if i fell asleep and you had to deal with listening to me snore? or if i ate an entire pizza out of the camera like a mukbang bj? it's definitely something i'll have to get used to, but i am looking forward to the show, so please watch and support us!"

a few seconds lapse after julien finishes his sentence before the cameraman ends the recording and gives a thumbs up. with a breath of relief exiting his lungs, julien already feels his eyelids grow heavy and his shoulders sag. his exhaustion is catching up to him, and it nearly drains him just to even stand up and trudge over to his americano sitting on the counter and waiting for him. but as tired as he is, he still remembers everything he's learned about pleasantries in the workplace. turning to the cameraman, he flashes a pleasant yet tired smile, pearly teeth showing as he bends into a bow. "thank you for filming interview, you've worked hard. please have a nice rest of your night." it's the last he says, really, as he grabs his drink and coat and exits the room with his manager, only for her to nudge him into the car parked outside the building. the second julien climbs into the car, he's already let his eyes fall close, soon enough falling into a dreamless sleep until he gets to the next place on his schedule.

word count: 2,757.

#fmdidolizedpre #&&. event;#&&. event: idolized;#&&. interview;#( sorry for my absence! i flew home last week for work and to visit my mom )#( i also was catching up on work because i was gone for four work days )#( in other news i'm seeing my actual dad jay park and hoody in concert next week i'm so sTOKED )#( anyway here have my baby jules in his interview )#( SO MUCH TO PREP FOR WITH HIS COMEBACK I'M SO ESSITED )

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bb-loves-boys · 7 years ago

Text

Soon You’ll Come Home Chapter 18

Summary: Blaine and Kurt are married with two kids and at the point of their lives they would never imagine having another child. But then Blaine meets a young girl in the most unlikely way and after he learns about the abuse she suffered he can’t help but want to give her the family that loves and care’s for her like she needs.

Warning: mentioned child abuse, and Bullying, and self harm (nothing graphic), depression

Notes: I do not claim to know about the actual laws that deal with situations like this. It is merely used as fiction and to create a situation for the story. It’s not fact. It’s fiction. The symptoms of depression and anxiety relate to my own experiences.

Fanfiction.net

AO3

Other Chapters on Tumblr

The school agrees to let Oliver finish the rest of year at home, without penalty. It's mostly to avoid the threat of Kurt going to the press about what happened in addition to a lawsuit. They haven't told Oliver yet about Riley missing, though he probably knows something is wrong because Blaine is shattered by the news. He barely gets dressed and pretty much sits watching the news all day with his phone in his hand, waiting for it to ring.

Kurt forces himself to be the strong one out of the group and keep everything together. He forces the reassuring smiles on his face when they're needed and makes sure to handle everything with the lawyer. It lasts about two weeks, and then he decides Blaine needs to start living again. It's late, Oliver is already asleep, and Blaine is still sitting there with the television on when Kurt hands him his therapist's card.

"Your son and family need you," is all he says. His voice isn't harsh like Blaine probably deserves, but more understanding. Blaine blinks and nods once. "I'm going to sleep," Kurt says with a kiss to Blaine's temple before heading to their room. Blaine debates if he should call the emergency line listed on the card or wait until tomorrow morning to make an appointment. He puts both the card and phone on the coffee table and heads into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He pauses when he looks in the mirror. He hasn't shaved since they got the news, and his hair looks grayer than he remembers it being. His eyes are dark from his lack sleep, and it reminds him how tired Riley looked when he first met her. He pushes the thought out of his head and washes up before getting ready for bed. He tries to sleep, but his mind won't settle down enough for him to fall asleep. Soon his tossing and turning wake Kurt, so he vacates the bed to allow him to get more sleep, especially since he is the only one functioning out of the group.

Blaine is mindlessly flipping through the channels when he comes across one of Coopers television movies, he pauses thinking, and that's when he gets the idea. He jumps up with new energy and begins to clean himself up. He shaves, gels his hair back, and grabs a shirt from the wash to dress from the waist up. He tries to settle down his anxiety as he enters his and Kurt's dark bedroom, where Kurt is sound asleep. He bites his lip nervously and almost debates waking Kurt.

"Kurt," he says softly shaking his shoulder lightly. He repeats it twice before Kurt stirs. "Blaine?" Kurt says, eyes barely open, and voice full of sleep. "I need you to get up and film me," Blaine answers not waiting for Kurt to wake up. Kurt grumbles and looks at the clock on his nightstand, "It's two thirty in the morning." "It won't take long," Blaine insists, bouncing from foot to foot. "Can't it wait till a decent hour?" Kurt begs, pulling the covers over his head in an attempt to ignore Blaine. "No, I need you do it now." Blaine knows he sounds like a child. Kurt lets out a loud aggravated sigh and gets out of bed following Blaine into his office. "Okay," Kurt says yawning, "What am I filming?" "I want to play a song," Blaine says looking for his sheet music, reading over it one last time, making some last-minute edits. "The one no one, including me, has heard before?" Kurt asks a little more awake. "Yeah, it needs to be heard," Blaine answers getting ready at his piano. Kurt waits for Blaine's signal before recording. It feels good to play again, to let this emotion out of him. He knows he hasn't played in a while, but it still feels like he's always done it. It's comforting. When he finishes singing, he and Kurt both need a tissue to wipes their tears. "You shaved," Kurt says after he dries his eyes. "uh yeah," Blaine says, mostly concentrating on sending the video to his agent before posting it on social media. "Blaine," Kurt says trying to get his full attention. "What are you doing?" "I'm working on finding and getting Riley back," Blaine answers. Kurt just watches him with an expression that Blaine can't entirely read. "Are you sure about this?" Kurt asks. Blaine first instinct is to accuse Kurt he doesn't want Riley, but he knows it's not true that Kurt is only looking out for him. "It's time for you to take a break," Blaine says slowly. "Being a stay at home dad is not a break," Kurt corrects. "It's the only way I thought of getting her back. I release an album or at least a few songs, and then I put an alert out, and everyone will be looking for her. I can get Cooper to do the same, and he probably knows some people who will also help," Blaine explains, knowing he probably sounds crazy. "I'm not sure if this is the best reason to go back into the music world, but if it's what you want then I will support you," Kurt says taking both Blaine's hands in his own and giving them a light kiss. "I just want her back home, with her family, where she belongs," Blaine answers, not listening to Kurt fully. "Okay, well let's try to get some sleep so we can try to function tomorrow," Kurt says, realizing trying to reason with Blaine will be a wasted effort. "I want to stay and work on my music for a little bit," Blaine says turning back to his folders of sheet music. "No, no, no I will not let you go into that spiral without sleep and food," Kurt orders, pulling Blaine out of his office and making him try to sleep. "Kurt," Blaine tries to argue, but shushes him again and forces him to lay down. Kurt then settles in and cuddles close to him, hugging him tightly and placing his head on Blaine's chest. "What are you doing?" Blaine asks amusedly. "Cuddling you, so you fall asleep and don't get back up," Kurt explains. "Now, stop talking." "Kurt this isn't," Blaine starts but is interrupted by Kurt's shushing again. "I'm sleeping," Kurt whines.

Blaine doesn't say anything, knowing there is no room for argument, so he just lays there with Kurt, stroking Kurt's hair. It takes no time for Kurt to fall back to sleep, but Blaine's brain won't settle enough for him to sleep. Blaine debates on trying to get back up but he knows Kurt is a light sleeper, and waking him up a second time will not end well for him. So, he stays put and lets his mind wander to places it shouldn't, like where Riley might be, like Oliver almost hurting himself, like Kurt leaving him and taking Oliver if he can't pull himself together. He feels Kurt pull at his shirt and kick him swiftly in the shins as if he is somehow able to read his thoughts. He gives Kurt an annoyed look until he hears him whispering no, then he just gives him a gentle kiss on the temple and holds him tightly, sighing as their closeness puts him at ease.

He knows restarting his music career to get attention and find Riley isn't the best decision he has made, but he knows it will help and he needs to be proactive and stop waiting. He reasons with himself that Kurt has wanted him to go back and that he does miss his music, and they could use the extra money if they are going to send Oliver to a private school.

Blaine sleeps for maybe three hours, but he is up in an instant when he hears his cell phone ringing. He accidentally wakes Kurt in his haste to get it and quickly apologizes as he hears his better half grumble angrily at being tossed aside. "Hello," he says breathlessly, not even checking whose number had shown up on the caller ID. "Dude!" Sam yells excitedly into the phone. "Oh, hey Sam," Blaine greets, not hiding his disappointment. "Dude," Sam repeats, this time offended. "Sorry, I was just hoping it was someone else," Blaine apologizes. "We'll talk about that in a second," Sam dismisses, wanting to cover his topic first, "Did you know you are trending?!" Blaine gets a sense of deja vu from when he first started his career. "I mean I hoped, eventually, I would be, but I didn't expect it to happen in a matter of hours." "You didn't even explain anything … you just put it out there," Sam says. "I don't know anything, I haven't even talked to my agent, I just needed it out there" Blaine tries explaining without sharing too much information behind his thinking. "Not that I don't appreciate the phone call, but it is still early, and Oliver and Kurt are still asleep … so," Blaine hints trying to get Sam off the phone before he can ask more questions. "Oh right, sorry. We'll just meet up later for me to get details," Sam says in a whisper like if he's quiet, Kurt and Oliver won't hear him." "I promise to give you more details when I get them," Blaine assures before saying his goodbyes and hanging up.

He quickly then checks his social media accounts, and sure enough, his video is everywhere. It makes him feel guilty that it was so easy to get back out there. He thought it would take a lot more effort and pushing. He fears that Kurt's jealousy is going to come out again after he's been turned away and told everything is wrong with him for every part he tries. That's when he gets his next idea. He rushes back into the bedroom to wake Kurt and tell him about his plan. He forgets how early it still is, that Kurt has only slept a little longer than Blaine, and that Kurt is never in a good mood when he gets anything less than eight hours of sleep.

"No, no, no, no" Kurt cries, burying his head under the pillow when Blaine tries to wake him up again. "Come on, honey, I need you to hear my idea," Blaine pouts. "I'm sleeping, Blaine," Kurt mumbles, thoroughly annoyed with him now. "You can sleep later, we need to talk about it before my agent calls," Blaine explains, diving under the covers to look for Kurt. Kurt groans loudly and Blaine knows pushing further will only result in a death wish, so he lets Kurt sleep and little longer and heads into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

Blaine hasn't even measured out the coffee beans when an angry, sleep deprived, Kurt appears in the doorway. Blaine looks at him with an expression of surprise and questioning but doesn't say anything. "I can't sleep," Kurt groans. "You have me curious and you know I can't stand, not knowing something." "Kurt, I will do anything to make this up you," Blaine says rushing over to where Kurt is standing and holding his hands gently. "Anything?" Kurt asks slowly, raising an eyebrow and sly smile. "Anything," Blaine confirms his voice is becoming breathy when Kurt leans in to kiss behind his ear and nibbling his lobe lightly. "Clean the bathrooms and kitchen for six weeks of my choosing," Kurt whisper hotly in the ear. Blaine jerks back giving him a betrayed look, but he can tell Kurt isn't going to negotiate the deal. "fine," he pouts turning back to his coffee. "Now," Kurt says seriously, sitting at their small kitchen table and crossing one leg over the other, folding his hands together over his knee. "What is so important that you needed to wake me up to discuss with me?" Blaine sighs a little; he knows getting Kurt on board with the idea is going to be hard. "You, remember the video I posted last night?" Kurt nods, keep his face expressionless. "Well it's trending," Blaine says nervously, not sure how Kurt will react. Kurt's eyes widen comically before jumping up and hugging Blaine tightly, "That's wonderful!" "Wait," Kurt says pulling away enough to give him a confused look, "what does this have to do with me?" "I want to make a duet album with you," Blaine says sincerely, his eyes full of love for Kurt and how amazing he is. "Blaine," Kurt says with a sigh, taking a couple of steps backward. "You know we don't work well together." "We used to sing all the time together," Blaine quickly points out. "We can also include a few solo tracks from each of us." Kurt sits and looks thoughtfully at Blaine. He doesn't say anything, so he continues. "I'm not saying become singing partners or form a band. Just one album and then maybe do a few appearances with me if need be," Blaine further explains. "I'll think about it and give you my answer after you get some real sleep, see your therapist, and talk to your agent," Kurt suggests, "deal?" Blaine's first instinct is to apologize to Kurt for going into a downward spiral, but they agreed after they got married they wouldn't apologize for things like this, only fights with each other. They each understand by now sometimes it's uncontrollable. "Yeah, yeah, I'll set up a meeting today," Blaine promises, turning back to his coffee. "Blaine, I'm just worried about you," Kurt says sincerely. "You're rushing into things before we deal with everything else and I don't want that to be the reason you go back to work because once you officially begin, it's going to be a lot harder to get out of." Blaine knows Kurt's right, but he also wants this for them. He wants something good and optimistic in their lives. "I'll make the coffee and breakfast. You go call your therapist and get an appointment." Kurt decides, moving over to the cabinet to pull out a mixing bowl. "I'll get you when it's ready."

Blaine's therapist makes room for Blaine to come in later that afternoon for a two-hour session. She seems to think he will need the extra time with her. Blaine takes his time getting ready to go, and rather than organize topics he wants to cover in his session he gets in contact with his agent, who loves the idea of making an album with Kurt. She immediately works out a timeline for Blaine to follow and produce the album as well as work on setting up appearances and interviews.

On his way to his therapist's office, Blaine stops at an office supply store and picks out a couple of different notebooks, a plain leather one for himself, one with a modern design for Kurt, and one bound in a purple cover for them to share. He also grabs some more blank sheet music, a sketchbook for Kurt, knowing Kurt hasn't sketched in a while. The girl at the check-out counter is young. Her eyes go wide as he approaches and she giggles slightly, for no reason, but she's professional and rings up his items quickly. Blaine doesn't like to assume she has seen the video, he never wants to think it's because someone recognizes him that they act like that, but he decides he is allowed to be hopeful about it if only it will give himself better chances of finding Riley.

His therapy session goes as well as he expected it to, she asks him some simple questions on how he is feeling, rating on a scale of one to ten on his feelings, and then they move onto to the more personal and difficult questions in the second hour. Blaine knows it takes time for progress to be made. He wishes he at least felt a little better after the session, but all he feels now is tired. "I want to see you every two weeks, for the next couple months, and we will go from there." She says opening her scheduling book to pick a few dates for their appointments. "I also want you to take home these pamphlets and read over them," she says after they made the next three appointments. Blaine scrunches his face, confused. There on the cover reads "finding the right prescription." They have never talked about medication before. "Medication?" he asks confused. "It's just an option to read about and look into, not something we have to do, but I want you to know about it before you decide you don't want it," She explains calmly.

The whole way home Blaine feels like he is somehow removed, the idea of taking medication echoing in his head. It means he has an illness, which he never thought of his depression as. It was always manageable, at least most of the time. When he gets home he toes off his shoes and leaves the bag of notebooks next to them, he leaves his coat and keys in appropriate spots and ignores Kurt's question of how it went in favor of locking himself in his office. "Blaine?" Kurt asks through the door, knocking softly. Blaine knows he's worried, but he feels nervous and unsure of telling Kurt about the possibility of needing medication. "Blaine, whatever it is we'll get through this," Kurt reassures. "I love you, and will always love you." Blaine still doesn't say anything or move towards the door. "I think you would know that after I popped that pimple on your ass," Kurt tries to joke, but only sighs when he knows he didn't work. "Okay, well I'll be waiting here for you when you're ready," Kurt decides. Blaine hears a small thump that makes him think Kurt is now leaning on the door. It quiet for a moment and then he hears Kurt begin the opening lines of Adele's "Hello." Blaine assumes it's Kurt's way to lighten the mood, and he's almost mad that it works. He slowly opens the door, careful that Kurt is leaning on it. Kurt smiles reassuringly and instantly pulls him into a tight hug, "You don't have to talk about it. I just needed you to know I wasn't going to let you go that easily." "She gave me these to read," Blaine confesses handing Kurt the pamphlets. Kurt looks at them thoughtfully but doesn't say anything. "She didn't say I needed it, just that it was an option to look into," Blaine explains slowly, sitting down on the piano bench. "Okay," Kurt says slowly, "Okay." "Okay, what?" Blaine asks, patience thinning. "We take everything one step at a time. The house, Oliver's new school, the duet album, and this," Kurt explains. "We move and step forward as It comes to us. It's too much to do everything at once, but little by little we can do this Blaine." "You think so?" Blaine asks unsurely. "Maybe it's all too much." "We've handled a lot of stress before," Kurt reasons. "We just need to be careful and not rush things or do something before we're ready." "Like my album idea," Blaine mentions lowly. "It isn't a bad idea Blaine, and maybe the reason for doing it shouldn't be to get fame and find Riley, but if you think it will make you happy I am willing to try it. I'm just worried because in the past we have tried working together and it hasn't ended well," Kurt reasons, wincing at the memory. "That was a show last time, this, this is a music and music is a big part of us, our relationship, and our history," Blaine explains. "It's more than finding Riley. It's something that would mean a lot to me, even if we don't publish it." "Alright so we need to just get organized and make a plan," Kurt said looking around for paper and pen his eyes lighting up slightly, probably at the idea of color coding. "Hey," Blaine said grabbing Kurt's hand. "What?" Kurt started to say but was cut off with a kiss. "I love you," Blaine answers after he pulls away. Kurt just hums in response, giving Blaine a quick kiss before turning back to looking for a pad and pen.

Chapter 19

#klaine #Klaine Fics #Klaine fic #klaine fanfiction #klaine angst #blangst #future!klaine #married!Klaine

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almostrocknroll-blog · 7 years ago

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The Art of Collecting Vinyl

How many records exactly do I own? Well, the last time I counted (which was some time ago) it was well over one-hundred. It’s taken me over six months to accumulate that many and let me tell ya, it happened pretty fast. At one point I was buying a few records a couple different times a week. So yeah, the collection process seems to speed up considerably once you get hooked on the great big world of vinyl.

Over the past few years, vinyl has been making a huge comeback, and recently that comeback has come on full force. Something that we used to laugh at our parents about as they would pull their vinyl collection out and show it off to us now has now become a huge trend especially with millennials such as myself.

Music junkies are catching back onto the theory that vinyl does, in fact, sound better than digital music. Is there any truth to this notion? Yes.Yes absolutely. If you do your research on the great world wide web then you’ll find more than enough evidence that this thought process is most likely not idiotic. However, I will admit I use to be one of those people who thought that vinyl was just outrageously expensive and used as a gimmick to get people to spend more money.

Bad Carrie!

In fact, did you know that the artist makes more money from vinyl sales than they would from say, iTunes or regular CD sales? I read an article recently that suggested iTunes keep most of the profit from the artists, which is pretty frigged up if you ask me. Apparently, artists only make a whopping 94 cents per song. Yep. Per song. While that’s pretty factual, it’s also a well-known fact that vinyl is considerably more expensive than digital music. So, collecting vinyl may not be for you. But in this post, I’ll be discussing a little more in depth with you on some mistakes I’ve made, how I usually obtain my records and helping you figure out whether or not you want to begin the great voyage into the eargasms vinyl offers. I’ve even taken the liberty of capturing some photographs of my personal array of records. It’s nothing spectacular, but bear with me here, it’s growing!

I first began collecting vinyl a little over six months ago and at first, I was under the impression that in order to collect vinyl I had to have a lot of money to invest in my collection. That was pretty dumb of me to assume, but again, costs do play a somewhat substantial part in this “hobby” if that’s what you want to call it. The reason I say I was not so much on the bright side when it came to assuming that I had to have a lot of money to collect music in the form of vinyl, I mean that there are such things as dollar bins people. At the time, I wasn’t aware of what a dollar bin even was. Sounded like a Wendy’s menu to me when I first heard about it. But now? I hear it and I get a pretty great rush of excitement because ya girl is about to rack up on the records.

What’s a dollar bin? You may ask. Well, youngins, it is exactly what it sounds like. Heaps and heaps, loads and loads, mountains and mountains of….VINYL! Okay, that was probably a tad bit exaggerated but I get excited, okay? In most record stores there is usually a place in the shop that is sectioned off particularly for this dollar bin or dollar section if you will. I hail from Ohio, and there’s a local little shop I go to that’s dubbed as Used Kids Records. It’s a small shop and certainly could be considered a hole in the wall but it’s pretty rad if you’re looking for a straight-up nostalgia trip. Kinda smells like Fritos and concrete if I’m being honest though. Respectively cool, however.

Used Kids Records has a pretty extensive selection of vinyl that ranges anywhere from $1-$3. As most record stores do. Now, the only problem with this is that if you’re looking for something in particular, well, your chances of finding a specific album or a newer one for that matter, are exceptionally slim. They are dollar bins for a reason. The records in these bins are usually damaged in one way or another, whether it be a surface scratch or a damaged cover. Or it could just be a bit dated. However, if you don’t care about those kinds of things and you are just looking to start racking up on the vinyl, then dollar bins are probably for you my friend. I personally love them, I think they’re fantastic and a majority of my records have come from bargain bins. If you’re super into classic rock like I am, then you’ll be thrilled to know that these majestic little cheap bins usually contain quite a few albums from that genre and then some.

Look! 45s are like CDs...only better.

Let’s talk systems. Ah, yes. When you hear record player you probably think of those cute little Crosley record players that Barnes and Nobles sell, right? Listen to me, my friend. Remove that thought from your mind right now and feast your imagination on something grander than any tiny little suitcase knock off you could ever fathom. They’re super cute, I know. Oh, and small. Sounds functional right? I had the same idea in mind when I bought my 1byone record player. Certainly not a Crosley but certainly not any less miserable sounding. I still have it, and I still play records on it. Why? Because good turntables cost money. The goal after awhile, way after an impulsive buy from Amazon, was to eventually invest in a turntable and speakers that would give me the full sound and quality that I knew vinyl could give. That I knew my scanty little 1Byone could not.

While it’s been a faithful little device, every time I play a record I die a little. Because I know, as I’m playing my brand new Lana Del Rey record or Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom that slowly and surely it’s destroying the wee little vinyl village that lives inside the grooves. Exaggeration? Hardly. Cheap record players are notorious for applying too much pressure to your disk. This is a no-no friend. I once watched a video where a guy performed a test on a cheap record player. He played the same vinyl about one-hundred times before you could hear the obvious distortion that the needle/player caused. Oh yeah. I felt pretty bad for my records at that point and had officially decided I would be getting a decent turntable as soon as possible. Luckily, that’s just around the corner for me. I’m aiming for an Audio Technica. They are priced very fairly considering they don’t ruin your records. If you go looking for an Audio Technica, keep in mind you will also need a pair of active speakers because most legitimate turntables don’t have speakers built in. There’s a wide selection of Youtube videos on turntables and active speakers as well, in case you want to broaden your options.

I will say that most people, including myself as I stated, start off with a less than perfect record player. There’s nothing wrong with having a beginner record player I suppose, but if you’re serious about getting into vinyl then you should probably go ahead and save yourself some money in the long run and buy a more legitimate system now. In a way, I kind of feel sorry for my poor little 1Byone. He’ll be sitting alone in my closet most likely when I get my upgrade. All alone. A reject. Oh well.

Storage is pretty important too. You shouldn’t lay your records flat on any surface for extended periods of time. It can cause sleeve damage and inflict death and despair upon the disk. You’re probably thinking this is all too much right? Or maybe you’re not. I don’t know you. But if you are, then relax. It’s really not. These are all things I wish I would’ve taken the time to do research on myself, so if you’re here before you’ve done all of your purchasing then congratulations, you’re smarter than I was. Once you figure out where you’re buying your records from, be it from your local record store, a thrift store or even Amazon, get yourself a decent system and find you a safe place for storage then you’re pretty much already there listening to the vinyl in all it’s warm and crisp glory. Best of luck.

#music blog #music blogger #blogposts #music #vinyl #vinyl collection #vinyl collector #vinyl blog #vinyl records #vintage vinyl

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upalldown · 5 years ago

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Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Fourth album from the Australian psych-rock outfit produced by frontman Kevin Parker

10/13

It’s not much of an exaggeration to call Currents one of the most important and seminal rock albums of the last ten years, but then, Tame Impala’s influence as a whole has been wildly acknowledged and applauded ever since their inception way back in 2008. Kevin Parker’s penchant for washy, colourful psychedelic soundscapes and distinctly retro production choices – which hearken back to the root of 60’s psychedelic rock – have played a large part in making Tame Impala the household name they are today. Of course, it’s plain to see that rock music has always been a veneer of sorts, to hide Kevin’s other musical passion: pop music. As such, Currents was a gradual and organic culmination of everything Kevin had strived towards, fully realised with a beautifully crisp and dynamic production that backed up the band’s heritage, but also nurtured the cordial championing of razor-sharp hooks and sugary pop melodies. The rest is history – and ever since Currents, Kevin Parker has become a much sought-after collaborator and producer, working with the likes of Rhianna, Lady Gaga and Kanye West. But for many of us, myself included, people have been clamouring for that new Tame Impala album, patiently waiting to see where Parker takes the next step in his band’s prestigious career. So yeah, that is the question isn’t it? Where does Kevin and company – the ostensible saviours of rock ‘n’ roll – take their sound after Currents? Anyone with a modicum of awareness should have seen it coming, of course. Currents was the harmonious bridge between psychedelic rock and electronic pop, so naturally the way forward is to make The Slow Rush double down on the latter portion of their current sound. Tame’s retrofitted electronic and pop influences are now the meat and potato here, and for some people yearning for those crunchy, trippy riffs, prepare to be a little disappointed going forward. The Slow Rush is a subtle synth-pop peregrination with a number of styles that range from R&B and soul to house and hip-hop; even though the album lends ideas, as well as the incredibly versatile production, from Currents, the rewards are far less immediate. It has the same kind of low-key presentation Arctic Monkeys’ contentious Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino had; a lack of clinching moments, overt and infectious hooks, or attention-grabbing musicality. In fact, on the first few listens, bar the precipitation of the last quarter of the LP, which heeds the whims of instant gratification, the whole experience feels long-winded and homogenized. The compositional consensus here seems to set up simple hip-hop-styled loops under a myriad of electronic styles, which is fine, but quite a few of these electronics function as background ambiences than as main attractions. I know what you’re thinking, because I’d have thought the same thing: surely, if Parker is heading down this nuanced path of tranquil soundscape forging, his vocals will have stepped up their game in some capacity? You would think so, wouldn’t you? And it’s not that his vocal performances here are bad, not at all, it’s just that they appear to be the only part of this sonic shift that are static and unwilling to adapt to the rest of the musical ambition here. In spite of the fact that Tame Impala is running with a dominant electronic and pop-heavy template, the pop detail ironically lacks its usual definition for the most part. Reverb-soaked croons are the typical order of the day, but there’s nothing particularly memorable, or new, about them. Sure, there’s catharsis to be found on the lamenting highs and melodic structuring of songs like “Instant Destiny” or “Lost in Yesterday”, but there’s just something soporific about how he handles “Posthumous Forgiveness” which lacks real staying power. And maybe that’s the point – the whole aesthetic and theme centres around lethargy and time, so it could well be an artistic choice. But in either case, for a record running at nearly an hour, it’s definitely the weakest aspect of The Slow Rush’s ambitious expression. With all that being said, I’m not trying to dump on The Slow Rush. As I briefly hinted at before, for all of Parker’s notorious perfectionism and the amount of time he’ll have put into this LP, the listener is seemingly required to put in the same amount of time to experience all it has to offer. As is to be expected at this point, the production is incredible; a densely packed world lays before you, where you’ll uncover a number of new facets and elements every time you go back to it – morphing your outlook with every listen. If it takes another five years to see a new Tame Impala album, it’s okay, because you’ll still be uncovering new things with The Slow Rush in that time. Musically, it’s a somnolent, relaxing adventure that effortlessly integrates styles with its authoritative arsenal of synths and piano. The journey is well worth going through again and again, as you venture through a labyrinth of subtle moods. The trickling, house-inspired electronic underlays, crisp rattling hi-hats and lyrical musings of “One More Year” are set to bolster their live set to legendary degrees, while the furious disco banger “Is It True” stands as the apex to The Slow Rush’s sound. It’s a Daft Punk homage – a bustling and punchy rhythmic loop with progressive electronic building blocks that scream with effectiveness by the time the chorus hits. For those aching to get a fix on Currents’ sensibilities, the likes of “Instant Destiny” and “Lost in Yesterday” should feed that hunger to some degree. The thing is, I don’t think Kevin Parker could have thought of a better name for The Slow Rush, because it’s the best way to sum up this ethereal and sluggish album. It’s not the type of record you can just hear a few times and have a definitive opinion on it; furthermore, you have to set time aside and listen to it in full to get the desired effect. It’ll take a long time to fully digest all this thing has to offer, and I commend such an impeccably produced and intricately woven project like this, considering what it’s aiming at. But with all that being said, the somewhat off vocal work from Parker and the occasionally stretched run-time to songs (I’m looking at you “Posthumous Forgiveness”) makes it an inferior product to its predecessors. I also don’t think the ‘guitars out, synths in’ approach to The Slow Rush will have a detrimental turn on Tame Impala’s older fanbase, but I do feel they would have benefited the songs and broken up some of the monotony, had they been included more. At the end of the day, Parker proves good songwriting can hold the basis of a band’s sound, and despite the lack of guitar here, The Slow Rush does just that. It’s not as pristine as previous entries, but it certainly holds up Tame Impala’s incredible reputation.

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https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/80873/Tame-Impala-The-Slow-Rush/

#tame impala #the slow rush

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believemevassago-blog · 7 years ago

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Today, you either need to get a great deal of solid connections within the industry or a fashion that nobody can ignore if you would like to find any further than turning tracks at home parties on your friends. Luckily, there is something you can do starting today so as to develop an unforgettable fashion using the best hip hop beats and also to make connections with those who can assist you...

First: Move Against the Grain

Standing out in any crowd always starts with looking at what everyone else is doing and going against the flow. Any aspiring celebrity knows that no one is ever going to take care of their music as much as they do. As a result of this, just about every DJ or artist that you run into is outside to help to market their own music. If you would like to be noticed, you want to put yourself apart from those other artists. This begins with helping out other men and women who you meet in this game that are also searching for the best hip hop beats. Introduce people to other people and work on being a man or woman who makes connections.

Be the person who is aware of what is happening from the clubs on the weekends and who's playing where. Once people come to understand you as an authority on subjects and matters of who is who and what is what, they will grow to trust you and come back to you for information and advice that will make you a more valuable player on the audio production and audio making spectacle.

Second: Create Publicity

Just about every artist you meet is trying to market them by making it obvious they're doing so. But, among the greatest entertainers in history, PT Barnum, marketed himself by making certain that he was constantly in the papers. Barnum was the owner of the Barnum and Bailey Circus and has been a genius in getting press exposure by whatever means necessary. Sometimes he'd even write negative reviews about himself and post them in the papers under a pen name. On one occasion he had among his managers arrested for a crime he didn't commit, which got them a story in the paper. Obviously the charges were dropped, and that night the PT Barnum and Bailey Circus was packed bringing Barnum huge gains.

Another good example is Eminem, whose controversial messages attracted him lots of attention in the press; and any type of publicity is usually great for record sales. Publicity doesn't always have to be good or bad. It may be anything that gets your face and name in the eye of the public. Each cloud has a silver lining and the most popular DJ's are generally not those that are spinning the best hip hop beats quietly in your home and sending out an occasional demo to producers or record labels. In case you have a good sound production program, a fashion which people can move to and also a few powerful tracks, then it is time to start going against the grain and producing some real noise. If you do this long enough and should youn't give up, you'll find that individuals cannot ignore you eternally.

Looking for a hip hop beat maker? Well, allow me to share with you a few fundamentals that you need to know before searching any further. You see, not all beats are created equal which is very much based on the 3 things below.

Okay, these are basic things but They're also the most important Components to check into when creating your hiphop beats or whenever you are looking for the right hip hop beat maker.

(1) Audio Loops - This composed as one of the major ingredient of great hip hop beats. You should really take a little time and focus here when laying down your music loops as some tweaking will probably make the beats seem amazing and unique. You have to learn how make various editing on the loops by making compression, compression and adding effects on it with plugins. A good music producer manufacturer is going to have these functions.

(2) Midi Drum - Okay, this is another important factor to have in order to produce amazing hiphop beats. You'll need a right mixture of MIDI drum design to create the backing track for your hip hop beat. By right blend, I mean not having more than just one drum loop playing together but with variety of drum patterns that could complement one another to boost the beat. Otherwise, you hiphop beat is just another common hiphop. You will need to make tweaking to it by speeding up the tempo. This may sound complicated but with a good music beat maker, you will have the MIDI synthesizer and control included to make this job a breeze.

(3) Bassline - Maybe not all hip hop enthusiast attempted this but I find it to be a fantastic combination by adding a few bassline to the hiphop beats I created. Well, bassline that is also referred to as bassline home is a sub-genre of UK garage music that mixes elements of 4x4 garage, speed garage and R&B. It also shares characteristics with fellow sub-genres dubstep and grime that highlight on bass. In case you haven't try this, then you might choose to add this into your hiphop creation.

And a fantastic music beat maker will have this feature built in also. The one I am using also comes with MP3 export capability that permits me to save my hip hop beats to MP3 format that can be played with various media player. After trying numerous conquer manufacturers, I must say this really is the best hip hop beat maker that I have ever used. Click Here to view some sample defeats it created.

Trying to find the best hip hop beat making software can be a real challenge these days as there is so much of it accessible. If you're seeking to produce your own rap fashion and you want to make a living from it then you owe it to yourself to find the very best hip hop beat making software. This however does not mean you'll have to pay out thousands of dollars, nor does it mean you'll have to spend months searching and attempting each piece of beat making software out there.

The software that is available now makes it easy for anybody to begin creating skilled quality beats, although, granted, there are a number of which require you have a good understanding of music production before you begin. east coast rap wiki However, for the most part you will discover that it's relatively simple to create professional-sounding beats that will sell. The software available can be bought from shops, downloaded to a computer and even used online.

Here are 3 easy steps to help you pick the rappers from maryland best hip hop beat making software.

1. Make sure that the software has an amazing mixer port, equalizer and a fantastic library of technical sounds and musical instruments. These factors will enable you to produce very high quality beats.

2. Make sure that the interface is user friendly and doesn't require a degree in mathematics to understand how it all works. After all , you want to invest your time producing beats not studying how the program works.

3. Get testimonials and recommendations from individuals who actually use the applications you're best hip hop beats blog considering buying. This fact alone can help you pick the best hip hop making software.

How significant is it for you to develop your songwriting Abilities and to understand how to use the very best hip hop beats and other turnkey grooves so as to get on the fast track to success? You are likely already aware that you can purchase instrumentals off of the Internet and really use them to create your next hit album. However, in regards to developing the abilities that will make you a true master, you must be able to perform what the frequent artist can't or won't do. Otherwise, the wealth of alternatives available to you as an artist is only going to become a crutch for you. Here are a few suggestions which may allow you to become this type of craftsman so that you can use the best hip hop beats and other tools to become a master at song writing as well as audio creation.

Listen as Much as You Write

You might have heard it stated: no input, no output. If you aren't consistently listening to a number of music and exposing yourself to alternative tastes and fashions, you are most likely going to wind up producing music that all sound the same. And in addition, this is how a lot of artists and producers wind up purchasing inferior quality material. Much of what is sold online now are created by people who may not possess the professional cutting edge skills and tools to create the very best hip hop beats that stand up to today's' scrutinizing music industry standards. Nobody ever became great by way of fake and being a producer or songwriter is no exception. If you would like to develop your natural songwriting style, then you need to think of yourself as a sponge and soak up all of the creative input which you may. Spend as much time doing so as you spend writing and see just how well off you're one year from today.

Take Some Time to Improvise

If you have a look at any of those living legends like RZA, Dr Dre, Mix Master Mike or DJ Jazzy Jeff, all of them have the ability to crank out things on the fly which the majority of individuals would need to spend hours trying to produce. This is because they've practiced free styling and improvising for most of their careers, and have learned to come up with good ideas without having to rack their brains doing so. This ability to get at the flow without having to spend hours dreaming up tips can really help you loosen up your muscles so you can flex them at will. Therefore, until you get the very best hip hop beats to create your music, be certain that you build the capability to produce your own stream, style and one of a kind taste without needing to strain your cranium in the procedure.

Find Your Inner Nerd

You know that kid with the thick glasses that all (maybe even you) picked on in school? You may have called him the four-letter term: nerd. However, it's likely that either currently or years from now people will be calling him another four-letter term: boss. This is because the greater researched that someone is and the more knowledge that they have the more choices they need to achieve success. As a manufacturer or songwriter, this usually means that you spend an adequate quantity of time learning to utilize the tools what can allow you to make a presence on stage or at the studio which will turn your listener's heads. This doesn't mean you need to become something you're not. It only means that you need to get in touch with the part of you that can learn how to express your authentic inner artist in the greatest way. Even RZA, Dr Dre and DJ Jazzy Jeff had to take the opportunity to understand how to capture and communicate the essence of their artistic taste in order to whip the lyrics out and styles that we know them well for.

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lactuloser-blog · 8 years ago

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INTRODUCTION to LACTULOSER (the Blog).

(May 2017)

I am one of the unlucky people who experienced a horrible reaction to a prescription medication called Lactulose, used for treatment of constipation and hepatic encephalopathy. Wikipedia explains its mechanism of action thusly: “Lactulose is not absorbed in the small intestine nor broken down by human enzymes, thus stays in the digestive bolus through most of its course, causing retention of water through osmosis leading to softer, easier to pass stool. It has a secondary laxative effect in the colon, where it is fermented by the gut flora, producing metabolites which have osmotic powers and peristalsis-stimulating effects (such as acetate), but also methane associated with flatulence.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactulose)

After taking the recommended dosage one evening in November 2015, I experienced incapacitating full-body pain throughout the night as the medication interacted with my system. The next day around noon when I finally felt like I could get up, I could no longer feel fullness or hunger in my belly, just perpetual cramping and a ton of gas pressure pushing down on my belly that has not gone away. I didn’t realize it at the time, but overnight my body had turned into a science fiction movie and my life had turned into a nightmare.

About a month after this incident I began to feel pain in my legs, particularly in my thighs. The pain level increased until it became excruciating, and that pain has also continued to this day with no sign of abating. I became unable to sleep except for maybe an hour a night because it’s hard to sleep when you feel like your legs are being sliced up by chainsaws while a multi-level traffic jam of spaceships drives through the interstellar highway of your digestive system. I have sought medical help from a wide spectrum of sources, both conventional and alternative, physical and psychological, but nothing and no one has been able to alter the physical agony or the emotional distress of being in constant incurable pain.

When I medicated with Lactulose, I very naively and foolishly did not consider that it might be dangerous. I assumed that because it was approved by the FDA that it was safer to use than herbs, and that because it was prescribed for daily use it was more acceptable than over-the-counter laxatives that are only intended for occasional use. Obviously, I was dead wrong! Months later I discovered that the bottle I had was expired at the time I used it, and then I found a website called FactMed.com that that displays side effects of pharmaceutical medications including Lactulose, as reported to both the FDA and directly to FactMed (http://www.factmed.com/dashboard.php?drug=%5B%22lactulose%22%5D). I realized that Lactulose was an unsafe and unsavory medication to use even when it was not expired.

Publicized side effects mentioned by official Lactulose propaganda include abdominal bloating and cramps, vomiting and diarrhea (this is not actually a side effect, but the desired effect)--which should have been enough to deter me, had I done my research and really thought about how Lactulose worked on the body. But basic internet research does not reveal the more harrowing potential side effects of Lactulose, which are listed on FactMed.com. This extensive lists includes Cardiac Arrest, Multi-Organ Failure and Death! I NEVER would have taken Lactulose if I had known that it had been known to cause DEATH, let alone all the horrifying side effects that “lab rats” --who are actually human patients in the real world-- have had to LIVE WITH. In my case, the physical pain I contracted in my legs and digestive system feel like a fate worse than death.

SOMEONE knew this medication was dangerous. The FDA knew. FactMed knew. Thousands of patients were hurt by Lactulose before I was hurt. Thousands of family members have had to provide care to loved ones whose health was negatively affected by taking Lactulose, just like my family has. Thousands of medical professionals have had to deal with health crises caused by a medication that continues to be prescribed by physicians, dispensed by pharmacies and covered by health insurance! How many more people will have to suffer the same tragic fates in the future?!

After my traumatic inciting incident, many health practitioners told me "Don’t use Lactulose,” or that it is a “horrible medication” and “very irritating to the intestines.” NO SHIT. But did ANY of these people who KNEW that Lactulose is an undesirable medication make ANY attempt to stop the production, distribution and usage of Lactulose, or at least to WARN people like myself BEFORE they got hurt (even something as simple as posting a review on a medical website)? Did the doctors, nurses and pharmacists who I THOUGHT were on my team know about the dangers of Lactulose when they recommended, prescribed it and dispensed it without any word of warning? WHO is making money off of selling a toxic substance disguised as a health aid? WHO are the Lactulosers and why are we getting hurt?

The constant physical torture that I have experienced since taking the Lactulose in November 2015 has taken over my personal existence, and caused negative changes in my external life as well. I am writing about The Lactulose Effect here because I think about it all the time, and I have a lot more to explore. I feel an obligation to do something to warn people about Lactulose, the dangers of prescription medicine and the facade of the FDA, as well as a desire to share my insights into the way that pain and depression affects human functioning (everything from my sexuality to my dreams have been affected).

These are my objectives:

1. Lactulose is disapproved of by the FDA.

2. Or there is at least a warning label on the Lactulose bottles.

3. And, doctors and pharmacists are required to warn patients of the dangerous known side effects as well as the intended side effects.

4. Lactulose is not distributed in giant bottles, because it seems to get more dangerous as it ages. (I was given THREE big bottles about the size of large bottles of soda, all at the same time--could I really have been expected to use those up before the Lactulose was potent enough to kill me?)

5. There is a class-action lawsuit against Lactulose as the Lactulosers rise up.

6. Even if none of these official goals happen, there is enough anti-Lactulose publicity that there is a greater public awareness of the dangers, which will hopefully spread by mouth as well as media. Physicians will be less likely to prescribe Lactulose, and if it is recommended, people will be more likely to reject it.

7. At the very least, regular people who hear my story will have a greater appreciation for being able to feel hunger and fullness, and the ability to exercise, eliminate and sleep naturally, and the privilege of not being in chronic pain.

Some people say everything happens for a reason. I don’t believe that I was meant to make this mistake in my life. I believe that it was a random accident in a dangerous world in which innocent people get hurt all the time in many different ways. Shit happens, and in this case it happened to me. But since it DID happen, I want to make some shit happen. I can use my voice. I can write essays and play ukulele songs and make art about this. I want this blog to become a book. I want to record an album of my songs about pain, sickness and death. I want to share my story on talk shows and in magazines. I would much prefer to have a more enjoyable story, but I am a walking warning sign and people should see this before they try Lactulose at home!

JOIN THE ANTI-LACTULOSE BOWEL MOVEMENT! It may be too late to save me, but it’s not too late to save the NEXT girl who goes to Stanford Hospital with fibromyalgia and an eating disorder (more about those specifics later). I’m not sure how to go about spreading the message or affecting legal change, but I know I have to do something. What can YOU do to help?

PLEASE SHARE! What is your reaction to my story? What is your opinion of Lactulose specifically and pharmaceutical medications in general (especially if you are a medical professional)? Have you ever used Lactulose, and what was your experience? Have you or anyone you know been hurt by Lactulose or other pharmaceutical drugs? What are your ideas for creating change, dealing with physical and psychological pain, and raising awareness of chronic pain? What would you like to read more about in future posts? Please specify if it is okay to post what you write to me, or if you would prefer that I keep it confidential. Write to me at:

[email protected]

P.S. You can also read my poetry relating to these issues at https://brokenrecord3313.tumblr.com

#antilactulosebowelmovement #insanepain #chronicpainsabitch #shithappens

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failure-never-blogs · 8 years ago

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The Ghosts of Poems Past

I posted a new poems guys. You can find it here http://failure-never-blogs.tumblr.com/post/158013237664/the-ghost-of-you I would read it before moving any further into this post.

I’m really bad about taking time to sit down and type stuff up for here. Even my idea of giving commentary for poems has kinda fallen by the wayside as most of the time I don’t find anything that interesting to say about it for the most part, I mean the reason I’m sitting down today is a poem I’ve written but that’s more of an introspective look back at the title more so than the poem itself. I guess I’ll probably write about some other things in this post as well since I’m taking the time to post a blog post instead of just a commentary. But I’m not entirely sure what it is as I’m typing this all up. But for now let’s dig into the title theme for this post.

“The Ghost of You” is a poem I first wrote a long time ago. Honestly I would say it first goes back to 2010 which looking back isn’t that long ago but for me as a writer it’s a bit back there. I mean admittedly I’ve been writing since I was 13 years old and stories even longer but nothing from when I was a teenager has stuck around so much as the idea of this poem. The very first one is a very short poem which I’ll post right now

No matter what I do I can’t escape the ghost of you The electric touch of your skin The memory will never thin

I feel your presence right beside me You’re there even if I can’t see Your voice still haunts my mind It’s so lovely and kind

I still feel your lips on mine This must be some kind of sign No matter what I do I stay lost in the ghost of you

It dates back to 8/27/2010 which is the oldest date I can find on my computer. Honestly it’s not really aged well at all. It’s something that I can place mostly due to the fact that it has rhyming which is something I only started doing in 2009/2010. It’s also incredibly short for me. I’m a bit long winded when it comes to writing anything. I see potential in some of the individual lines which is probably why I ended up revising it sometime later. But I’ll get into that in a little bit. As to what drove me to write it? Well I’m not entirely sure I want to say it probably had something to do with a girl I was fawning over at the time.

Also at the time and still to this day I’m a big fan of My Chemical Romance. Now looking back at the poem it has nothing to do thematically with the song or even anything on the album. So I’m not entirely sure what it was that led into me working on the poem. Besides this post isn’t about the poem itself so much as it’s about an evolution of the poem’s title in what I wrote and how it morphed. This poem isn’t based around loss so much as it is in missing someone who isn’t there in the present moment. It’s more about infatuation and the feeling of that moment after you leave them. Let’s move onto the second iteration.

Once again I miss your touch But as always it’s far too much I can’t forget the feel of your skin It’s a memory that will never thin

The beautiful sound of your voice Has always been my music of choice But sadly, now it’s only in my head But the sweet memory isn’t dead

No matter where I go or what I do I just can’t escape the ghost of you In my heart you will always stay I cannot just walk away

From your spirit I cannot hide To you my soul is open wide You’ve made my head your home So I guess I’m never really alone

Your presence still haunts me But your face I cannot see Inside it’s dark and cold When did you get so bold?

So where do I go from here? I don’t know why you disappeared How long should I sit and wait? Or is it already far too late?

Even now your words haunt my mind I’m trying so hard to leave you behind But your ghost stays haunting me Will you ever let me go free?

It’s nearing the break of day And your spirit won’t go away So maybe you won’t drive me mad With memories of the love we had

This version is actually one that I ended up posting a while ago. It was written 9/18/2011 from what I can tell from the original word document. I posted it on facebook in it’s old “notes” function which isn’t used anymore and was honestly pretty awful even for what is was. But I’m not here to moan about where I used to post things I’m here to chronicle things.

This one is a revision of the original that I did to make it more about loss. I realized I wasn’t a huge fan of the original and ended up rewriting it to use in a story “The Water’s Edge: Alone” which I never published or posted anywhere, I actually abandoned that story I struggled with the ending of the story and never felt that great about the story as a whole.

I guess something good came out of the struggle of that abandoned story which was that poem. Speaking of those stories I actually wrote three of them but only ever did anything with one of them. I originally only submitted one (http://failure-never-blogs.tumblr.com/post/150328547354/the-waters-edge-the-pier) to a short story contest which I won then wrote two more. The second titled “The Song” I also never published because I felt like it was to formulaic and I never felt that great about it but felt good enough to share with a couple of my friends who volunteer as test subjects for my writing sometimes. Included in that “series” of my writing was a poem called “Mourning Sunrise” (http://failure-never-blogs.tumblr.com/post/150012138849/mourning-sunrise) which I’ve actually posted here before. But yeah basically I reworked for a story that I never went back to work on and eventually only posted the poem.

How I feel about the poem is unique, I really like the poem for what it is, a rough draft of something that could have been something better if I was more talented but honestly I’m pretty okay with it. I feel like I capture some of what I was going for when I was more raw intensity more than talent or skill. It was one that I debated with myself about reworking or editing heavily or maybe even rewriting. I’m fond of it but not overly so. It is what it is but it holds a special place in my heart for what it is. I don’t think I’ll ever really rework it or publish it on my blog by itself. I think this is how it will eventually be left, an interesting footnote to me and probably to me alone in my journey as an artist.

“Ghosts”

Now let’s move a little bit closer to “now” with the next couple poems. In my google drive I have a folder simply named “Ghosts” sitting beneath my poems folder. I don’t remember exactly what it was that made me segregate the poems into there but they all deal with some of the same themes. The Poem “Nightmares” (http://failure-never-blogs.tumblr.com/post/138045238229/nightmares) is there the most recent poem I published “Ghosts in Smoke” (http://failure-never-blogs.tumblr.com/post/156714447629/ghosts-in-smoke) is in there as well.

While that is mostly fictional it’s not the only one which holds those names and it’s actually known in the drive as “Smoke” which was originally written 8-29-15 and recently posted after sitting in my drafts queue for a while. It’s an interesting poem for me that I have an attachment for in some weird way. I actually really like the way it’s written and the way it flows but it’s a very different poem from the one I'm about to talk about which actually has the name “Ghost in Smoke (Ghost of You)” in the google drive folder.

My soul is heavy tonight Staring at the candle light Tracing patterns in the smoke My heart beating in my throat

My roads as dim as the light I’m lost this early summer night I’m reaching for you hand But all that’s there is empty land

I forgot that you’re still a dream No matter how real it seemed But that doesn’t change a thing This old wound still stings

I’m still haunted by ghosts The things I regret the most For now all I can do is pray And wait for the dawn of a new day

Because I see you in the shadows Your presence is all I know You’re rooted so deep inside I can never truly hide

This is actually the older of the two poems and the vastly more personal one to me. It was written 7-16-15 and feels closer to the original title that “Smoke”. I’m not entirely sure of why I wrote what I did. I guess it was hearkening back to the death of an old relationship more than anything else. It’s one of the reasons I’ve never published it on my blog. It’s something of an interesting piece for me that part of me really likes and part of me really doesn’t. It’s an evolution for sure moving forward with idea and title of “The Ghost of You”.

What really separates the two of them is the theme, One is more of a regret of a broken relationship and the other the mourning of a lost loved one. There are aspects of both that I really like and both have stanzas and lines that I really honestly love. The first stanza of the above poem and this stanza from the linked poem “I swear I see you dancing/In the fire you’re enchanting/Floating up above the flames/where only memories remain/ I feel really nail some of what I was aiming for. A lot of the times I really write with a certain image or idea in mind and let it flow from there. Sometimes it’s even a line that really drives me to write something as in the case of some of my poems (Ashes and Embers, Willows and Reeds). Overall I’m happy with these two poems and how they ended up working out.

So why did I title both of them so similarly and confusingly? I wish I knew obviously smoke plays a very heavy theme in both of them, also a very heavy part of the poems and their settings. There are a few themes that push themselves through in my writing often and honestly a few settings. Smoke, the sea, and rain are all things that make frequent appearances. My muse is pretty apparent in that regard I suppose.

Which now brings us to the current poem that I have titled “The Ghost of You” and is what I now feel is the definitive version of the poem that holds the title. I have a hard time really talking a lot about how I feel about this one because I wrote it so recently. But the theme I really feel like nails down the title. The idea of being haunted by the memory of an old lover, one who has passed on and one who you still love really seems to hit the nail on the head. I had talked with someone recently who had lost a wife at young age and remarried sometime later. He talked about how he never really got over her and how he still loved her but also deeply loved his current wife. It was a conversation in passing with someone I’ll never see again. Those kind of conversations happen at times in my field. From a creative standpoint there are parts I’m fond of and I don’t really feel like I need to edit very much. I’ve as of this writing not shown it to anyone so I don’t know how it will be received going forward (today is 3-3-17 @ 0219) so we shall see. Until next time my friends

I’m willing to let it all go, So long as the words flow Joshua

#blog #poetry #poet #poem #short poem #fiction #ghosts

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ohhayshelby · 8 years ago

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One time in college...

I wrote on ideology in the scene and Alex Gaskarth along with friends helped me put it together.

Was feeling kind of down today, so I decided to share it with the world because this is honestly one of my most proud pieces of writing to exist ever.

Shelby Chargin

Eng 472

Heenan

6 May 2014

Musical Ideographs

When thinking about ideology in rhetoric, politics is the first thing that comes to mind. Most examples of ideographs and the ideology behind them are from political campaigns. One worded ideographs, like “liberty” “freedom”, and “equality” are seen in political discourse. In the beginning of the punk[1] scene, most music was an ideological representation of the political standpoint the scene was making at that time. Throughout the early stages of alternative, the ideology in music was representative of political discourse that people were used to. However, as the message of punk changed, the use of ideology, and words as ideographs to send a message through music, did not.

Michael McGee highlights the idea that ideographs are “basic structural elements, the building blocks of ideology” (McGee). He mostly argues that these are used in political discourses, but there are strong ideographs in social communities. The social context in ideology is much less discussed than the political one, however, you can have rhetorical ideology that is not political. The song titles, and catchy lyrics themselves in punk music have become ideographs for the ideology behind a musician’s message to their fans.

To understand the use of specific words and songs as ideographs better, go back to where the punk scene transitioned from being “politically” to “socially” charged. These changes began as the new age of grunge died out, and the ever-apparent “emo” quality set in. The first band to really come forth and take a stand against this “purely political” message in mainstream punk would be Green Day. “Punk ideals are presented as the opposite of American suburban ideals (i.e. conformity, success based on affluence, assimilation). Similar themes of a need for meaning rather than affluence, struggle against conformity and hypocrisy, and isolation are found within the literature focused on suburban life. These themes reveal what happens when adult rules and dreams take precedence over youthful needs. Suburban life appears to have provided a stage for punk rock to thrive upon,” (Chaung and Hart). Green Day’s ethos with the adolescents is established by implying that, yes, statements are made about marginalized youth, but it is about the personal experiences of the youth of today, rather than the contemporary political injustices and exploits. Chaung and Hart go on to discover that, “[t]he changing nature of subcultures has proven to be another challenge in the study of punk” (Chaung and Hart). The changing nature of the subculture of punk is changed, and that musicians can manipulate rhetorical theories through the rhythms and sounds they create, along with the lyrics of their songs (Chaung and Hart). The early era of “suburban punk rock” now has an established ethos with a fanbase, and the new age fans are able to connect with bands on a more personal and emotional level. Although the social ideologies and rhetoric in punk music can be traced all the way back to the 1970’s, it is in the 1990’s and early 2000’s that the true nature of the message of punk is defined.

They unify this new age of punk fans through the idea that it is okay to represent yourself and stand up for what is right within you. They have now changed the view of the current punk rock scene, paving the way for more artists to come. As the ideological nature in the music changed, and key words were less about rebellion and more about self-involvement, along with personal struggles in life, the political connotations behind the word “alternative” slowly dissipated. The punk scene has now become a beacon of hope, connecting adolescents from all different backgrounds, classes, races, and unifying gender under ideologies coined by popular bands in the scene, like All Time Low.

Especially popular in the new age pop punk scene is a band out of Baltimore, Maryland called “All Time Low.” Started in 2003, the line-up consists of Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Zack Merrick, and Rian Dawson. The group quickly gained popularity due to their unchanging devotion to fans, and their phenomenal ability to write songs that connected with a larger audience. Lead singer, and main songwriter for the band, Alex Gaskarth has quite the following. His innate ability to capture a moment or a feeling in a lyric has brought fans back time and time again. Gaskarth himself coined the ideograph of “Therapy” into a heart-wrenching song, which fans new and old can connect with on an extremely personal level. “I believe that music is the closest thing to magic that we can experience first hand, able to be conjured from nothing and having such a profound affect on those who experience it-- It is also the most easily relatable form of art, and continually changes in how the listener perceives it; something almost evolutionary,” Gaskarth states (Gaskarth). It is his firm belief that music “can affect the world on a large scale, as the right song, put together in the right way, with the right words, and emotions, can stir that same very same set of emotions in a listener,” (Gaskarth). Fans young and old are able to connect to the term “Therapy” through the idea that “Music becomes a vessel for every band out there, and carries the individual” (Gaskarth). Gaskarth providing the idea that the words, the music, and the general message are his ideograph. His ethos is established to his listeners much like Armstrong’s. His credentials are in the words of his songs, and are able to be manipulated by individuals to reflect their own lives.

Establishing ethos is imperative to creating an ideological concept in a community. Although ideological concepts exist in almost all realms of discourse, ideographs themselves are mostly referred to as political tools. Ideographs according to McGee are important because “they exist in real discourse, functioning clearly and evidently as agents of political consciousness. They are not invented by observers; they come to be as a part of the real lives of the people whose motives they articulate,” (McGee). McGee’s argument rings true in ideographs in the music scene, outside of the political realm. There are three large ideographs created in the scene directly linked to the band All Time Low. The exploration of the ideologies in the punk scene force a discourse in which ideographs are just as prominent in a musical performance as they would be in a political speech.

One of the biggest ideologies in the “scene” today, is the use of the word idea that therapy is not always necessary to improve mental health. Therapy has always had a stigma about it, and as punk rock has transitioned from a political to social context in the eyes of an ideological standpoint, so have its messages and meanings. Many youths of today would say they have suffered some sort of depression or anxiety, and that therapy itself was not a helpful factor in overcoming it. Therapy is something that people do not enjoy because they feel as though they do not have a connect to the world they are writing about or feeling around them. The goal of the punk rock scene is to have a community of support around you, rather than one person to talk to, is more helpful in dealing with an individual’s problems. The connection to others who are like you, the feeling of not being alone, and the knowledge that someone else has been there all create an ideological concept where therapy falls short, music can help, creating an ideograph out of the word “therapy” in the music scene. Coincidentally, one of All Time Low’s most popular and strongest statement songs is titled “Therapy.”

The song “Therapy” has been a ballad performed live by All Time Low for about 5 years now. It was first released of their album Nothing Personal in 2009, and has since become one of the staple songs in any set they play. “The song can only appeal to people who relate to it, and that tends to be people who have gone through a lot, those people tend to be in the punk music scene because of songs like 'Therapy'” comments Emily Muniz (Muniz). Muniz, a younger All Time low fan, has been listening to the band for a year and a half now. Suffering from certain disorders herself, Muniz has definitely seen a change in her life since listening to punk music. She says that becoming part of the scene “definitely changed my life for the better. It changed the way I looked at the world. It made me more opening and accepting” (Muniz). Her view on this is not uncommon, and among All Time Low fans, is a theme that spans across fans of all ages. “This band has brought me some of the best friends I could ask for. We've all grown up together, we've experienced the same things in life. The band included,” (Kaine) states Sammi Kaine, a long time All Time Low fan who has seen the band perform over 70 times in her 8 years of knowing them.

Through these experiences, Kaine has learned the value of music, and how it connects with the fans of bands. Her view on things rings true in her personal opinion of the song “Therapy.” “Music is an escape for a lot of people. All Time Low fans want to feel a connection to their idols, this song relates to so many of their fans. Everyone has a form of depression, everyone's had days where they fake smiles. We’re all human. Alex is showing that. He is letting people know, "hey I have bad days too. I feel like no one realizes I'm in a bad place because of my job. But here's the thing, I am." Fans finally see that the rockstar life style is not all fun and games. They're human, they have feelings too,” (Kaine). In her statement, Kaine is now directly linking Gaskarth’s life to her own, and other fans through the music. Thus Gaskarth’s ethos is still intact, reaffirmed, and his pathos is applies to lives of his listeners. He has now, whether he is aware of it, created an ideograph that spans a generation of listeners who were at one time seen as a rebellious group of individuals, rather than a community.

One of the largest differences between the rebellious scene, and the newer “social improvement” scenes ideological standards is the connection fans are now able to have with bands. Unlike before, musicians and their fans are able to break the barrier of “mystery” through the use of the Internet and social networking sites. “Undoubtedly, the biggest difference between this generation and any of the former is the level of world-wide access we all have to music and their associated "scenes" because of the Internet. The web has become a rich pool of music related information, and, in its current state, there is very little that anyone can do to control it or filter it. Therefore, online music communities have thrived, and as a result, bands propagate in much different ways than in previous generations,” believes Gaskarth. His use of the Internet for band purposes covers all social media sites. “The main difference now is the access fans have to bands. Past generations did not have the social networks we have today. The media has changed so much in our generation,” argues Kaine (Kaine).

These social media outlets allow bands are able to connect to their fans in a more intimate way, creating an entitlement that was not there before. “Kids these days feel extremely entitled to things. Not everyone, but enough people feel as though the bands job is not just to make music and put on a show. People want more, they want the interactions and get mad when they do not get it,” (Kaine) Kaine continues. It is the downside of such a strong interaction with the musicians themselves, but as Kaine speaks on the subject, she believes there are pro’s and cons to the new media, and the direct connection fans have with the band (Kaine).

Almost all parties involved agree that meeting the band brings about a better connection to the band and the music itself. Tasnim Kabir another newer and younger All Time Low fan from New York City, has never seen the band nor has she met them, but she believes meeting them “can definitely pull you in closer to the music, because once you see that they exist just as other people do, and are not just performers, it makes the music just more real. You see that they're going to the same things that you're going through,” (Kabir). Kabir’s opinion does not differ much from Kaine’s “You start looking at them as more than a band and thinking how proud you are of them… As for emotional content, it goes kind of with what I've said about Therapy and Vegas. If you can relate to songs more, you're going to be really into those songs,” (Kaine), and in these two opinions, a second ideograph is brought to light.

The term “real people” has been coined in this scene as a way to show people that those performing are really not that different than us. Gaskarth would agree that the social interaction has increased. “Growing up, there was much less social interaction between artists and fans. The level of mystique that surrounded bands was much greater, and in recent years, much of that has been stripped away. Growing up as an artists played a massive role in identifying with our fan base, and realizing that there is a greater call for social interaction now than ever before,” (Gaskarth). Gaskarth’s statement bring light to the idea that social interaction benefits bands as much as it does fans. “I always admired the artists who took the extra time to go out of their way for the people who put food on their plates by supporting the music and the culture,” he continues on the subject. The “real people” ideology helps connect the listener to the music in a way they haven’t before. They begin to see musicians as people to take advice from, or some even as people who can relate to their own problems. “As an artist who began writing music at a young age, and continues to write from a personal place, about issues that are significant in my own life, it is the sharing of that material and the noticeable connection fans have with it, that means the most to me,” Gaskarth elaborates upon the idea that the things in his life are able to be reflected upon in their music, and are proven to be useful in helping young kids through the struggles of their youth. His ability to relate to his fans provides validation that he is a “real person” or not just a “rockstar” like previously mentioned from Kaine. The idea that rockstars now live a somewhat “normal” at home life and that the only difference between them and their fans is a stage has now become a staple ideology in the scene. It is ideograph of “real people” is a short way to imply everyone is equal, everyone is accepted, and it opens the trail for a third ideological concept in this music scene.

This final ideological concept could easily be represented by the ideograph “it gets better.” The connection fans have with the music of the scene spans beyond just the scope of the band and their music into this concept. Fans often feel alone and alienated. The bands themselves are able to create a community in the scene. Gaskarth backs up this claim when asked about what he thinks keeps his fans coming back. “There is an intrinsic human need for community, and I feel that the social connections formed through the mutual experience of music, tends to form strong bonds, based on the emotionally stirring nature of music in general,” (Gaskarth). The basis of the need for acceptance is met in communities like this one. “…punk created a community and sense of belonging for generations of people who felt they did not fit in anywhere else,” (Scott). Scott’s chapter on community in the punk scene is a perfect example of the creation of a safe haven for people among many different kinds of people (Scott). He highlights some of the faults and the hypocrisy in the community, but is also able to reiterate that it is a community of an “unspoken bond” (Scott), and that the majority of the people in it are united.

It is a community in which people do not feel the need to be something they are not, a community where “it gets better” because they want people to have hope. “I really like the people. Before I got into the punk music scene, I never really felt like I belonged anywhere. Once I got into it, I found a group of people who were exactly like me. They're some of the kindest, least judgmental, people out there. We do not just have the music we listen to in common-we have the most random things in common and it is great because it makes you feel less crazy,” conveys Muniz. Muniz feels like she has a community, and that this has bettered her life.

The “it gets better” ideology is now applied to not only her life, but to the music that has helped her better it. On the other spectrum, Tasmin Kabir is at the beginning of her journey. “I actually come from a cultural background (Bangladeshi) where everyone is very involved with their family and friends. So no matter how hard I try, I will always be around a certain group of people throughout my life. Most of my friends were also from this circle, only as of recently though. We had a fallout, and now I'm trying to go out of my comfort zone to make more friends with people I wouldn't normally talk with,” (Kabir). She gives us proof that the “it gets better” ideology has a thorough and different effect on people’s lives. Kabir has yet to attend a concert, but still feels extremely connected to the scene, and the people in it (Kabir). This ideology can be felt through the fans dedication not only to the music, but also to the world around them at shows, and even in the online community. “I am often told that my music has helped change people for the better, or given them hope, or happiness, and that is something I could have never foreseen as a young artist,” reflects Gaskarth when asked what he would want to look back on doing for his fans. Scott in his article argues the personal affect that punk has on a person. How it is able to not only save lives, but create new beginnings for people as well. “This is exactly what I believe punk can do: it can give someone a reason to care and the energy needed to move forward, or to keep moving at all,” (Scott). Now having seen the direct effect of the “it gets better” that fans receive, and the want of bands to give them that feeling, it is obvious that the ideology behind this ideograph is felt throughout the entire community.

Ideology in the modern punk music scene may have seen a bit unrealistic because of the lack of political culture in the scene in contemporary times, but the ideologies of a better and more realized world are strong within the community. The efforts of musicians’ message may have changed, but the ability to have a long lasting affect on their audiences has not. Ideology is a hard concept to define and understand, but seeing it in everyday life outside politics, and the punk rock scene is one way of showing how the world can be ideologically affected outside the realm of politics.

Bibliography

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Gaskarth, Alex. “Interview with Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low.” E-mail interview. 3 May 2014.

Kabir, Tasnim. “Interview with Tasnim Kabir.” E-mail interview. 3 May 2014.

Kaine, Sammi. “Interview with Sammi Kaine.” E-mail interview. 1 May 2014.

Kristiansen, Lars J. Screaming for Change: Articulating a Unifying Philosophy of Punk Rock. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010. Print.

Matula, Theodore. "Pow! to the People: The make-Up's Reorganization of Punk Rhetoric." Popular Music and Society 30.1 (2007): 19-38. ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Michael Calvin McGee (1980) The “ideograph”: A link between rhetoric and ideology, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 66:1, 1-16.

Muniz, Emily. “Interview with Emily Muniz.” E-mail Interview. 4 May 2014.

Ngô, Fiona I.b. "Punk in the Shadow of War." Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 22.2-3 (2012): 203-32. Print.

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[1] Punk refers to all genres and sub-genres of punk music. I.e. pop punk, punk rock, ska punk, punk metal. However, mostly punk and pop punk references will be used.

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