#the great unknown

[blendereels]

I'm going to try to make my own designs for all the creatures in asoue/atwq. Here's my interpretation of The Great Unknown :)

design notes ↓

[snicketstrange]

I'll talk about some things regarding the allegorical interpretation of The Great Unknown (TGU) at the end of "The End" (TE). I don't particularly enjoy discussing allegorical interpretations because anyone can come up with their own, and to me, that makes me lose the boundaries I prefer to impose on myself when theorizing about ASOUE. But I'll make an exception with one rule (a rule I don't usually follow in other cases): What was the author's intention?

Generally, I prefer to stick to what was written rather than what the intention was (especially since Daniel Handler's intentions varied greatly throughout the writing of ASOUE, which is totally acceptable and good, but leaves traces. Thus, among my personal rules, what he wrote holds more weight than what he intended while writing). But in TE, since it's the last of the main ASOUE books, his intentions at the end of the story don't alter ASOUE's future much because that future only exists in our imagination. (Which makes me both sad and happy at the same time).

Many believe that the author's intention was for TGU to represent death itself, which I disagree with. What TGU represents is a question, and the very question mark shape is strong evidence of what I just said. The question is "What happens after the end?" This question has thematic similarities to the event of death, but it is not the same as death. "End" and "death" can be synonymous in some contexts, but not always. In the case of ASOUE, the last book is literally called "The End," and the question "What happens after the end?" becomes poetically interesting. (At this stage of life, Daniel Handler was fascinated by wordplay. Poetry that heavily plays with the semantics of words and expressions has always been very present in Daniel Handler's life).

Thus, physically representing the question "What happens after the end?" with a mysterious entity that takes away the characters we love is a very interesting way to end the 13 books. "What happens after the end?" is basically Daniel Handler asking his readers to write fanfics and headcanons. He handed us the pen and told us, "You can continue the story."

I've read many books, but the only ones that moved me to theorize and write fanfics were those in the ASOUE universe. So, I think that question mark truly entered my soul and never left.

[unfortunatetheorist]

What happened to the statue of The Bombinating Beast? - Part 1: ATWQ to ASOUE

This theory is dedicated to @ven10, whose post depicting the statue in the episode of The End (https://www.tumblr.com/unfortunatetheorist/758594891663212544/it-certainly-is-ven10-it-certainly-is?source=share), inspired my thoughts. There are also inferences made by @snicketsleuth (and @snicketstrange) which are used.

So, by the end of WITNDFAON (which I admit I haven't read yet but will get round to), we know that The Bombinating Beast statue is of great importance, as well as:

"Snicket fed Armstrong to the creature, and then wandered into the Clusterous Forest with the statue. It is unknown what he did with the statue and what happened to that beast, or its siblings, after this" ~ Snicket Wiki.

The only hint we have of The Bombinating Beast is that Lemony wanders into the Clusterous Forest with it's statue. Therefore it is important to take into consideration an extra detail about the Clusterous Forest, which links the ATWQ universe to ASOUE:

Lucky Smells Lumbermill gets its green timber from The Clusterous Forest.

This is my line of reasoning as to what happened:

1. Despite being an agent of VFD, Lemony is still a child, so there is a chance he feels some remorse for killing Armstrong Feint/Hangfire.

2. It is out of said remorse that Lemony decides to have nothing to do with the Beast again, burying the statue of the Beast deep in the forest... or so he thinks.

3. During ASOUE (just before TMM) a worker (e.g. Evander) chopping trees for Lucky Smells Lumbermill comes across the statue.

4. Not knowing what to do with it, and being under hypnotic influence, the worker promptly hands it to the foreman, who gives it to Sir.

5. It is extremely likely that Sir (The Miserable Mill) and Wiley Smogface (FU:13SI, ATWQ) are in fact the same person; however, there is no reference of any connection whatsoever between Sir/Smogface and The Bombinating Beast's statue. This implies that he knows nothing about the Beast, which makes little sense given that he is from Stain'd-by-the-Sea.

This logical gap can be filled: if Sir/Smogface had a "very terrible childhood" as Charles has clearly stated during TMM, this could refer to his parents bouncing around from town to town as they seek different jobs with more and more money. Hence, Wiley is left by himself in his parents' latest job-stop - Stain'd-by-the-Sea - unaware of the legend of The Bombinating Beast.

6. Sir has no idea of the power he holds... but apparently, neither does Georgina! There's also no reference to Georgina knowing anything about the statue - she's just a VFD optometrist with a bad reputation who lives in Paltryville, even during the events of ATWQ.

This implies that the statue... well... just stood there, as an ornament, in Sir's office.

7. Someone took the statue from Sir's office at Lucky Smells Lumbermill. But who? Well, whoever it was must have known two things:

a) The importance of the statue

b) It's location

There are only 3 people who seem to fit the bill perfectly - Lemony, Ellington and Moxie.

We know that each of them have their reasons:

Lemony: To use its power to somehow help the Baudelaires.

Ellington: To end it all after falling into a depression from the loss of her father OR to claim revenge on Lemony after having gone through the grief mentioned above.

Moxie: For a great story and the Mallahan legacy; after all, Lady Mallahan allegedly slew the Original Bombinating Beast.

@snicketsleuth's post, 'What is The Great Unknown?' (Full post here: The Snicket Sleuth — What is “The Great Unknown”? (tumblr.com)), says the following:

"Following the events of “All The Wrong Questions”, Ellington eventually escaped from the prison cell with Kit Snicket thanks to the skeleton key in Ellington’s bag. Kit and Ellington, before going their own ways, exchanged a good deal of information. Kit Snicket could not help noticing Ellington acted extremely angry towards Lemony and VFD in general.

In the following years, Ellington worked tirelessly to recover her father’s remaining assets as well as uncovering the secrets of Inhumane Society. Though the book Caviar: Salty Jewel of the Tasty Sea was destroyed, she had had the opportunity to read some chapters Lemony hadn’t. No one knew about the CBB more than her. With some effort, she managed to find the animal hiding in the Clusterous Forest, as well as the Bombinating Beast statue that Lemony had buried there. With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine."

I agree with Ellington being the one who takes the statue...

...but I don't think she found it in the Clusterous Forest. Sorry, @snicketsleuth.

8. If Georgina's reputation was really as bad as Moxie made it out to be, there is a chance that Ellington would have visited the Lumbermill in disbelief - I think it is here that she stumbles upon the statue.

9. This happens:

"With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine.

The Queequeg eventually escaped from the clutches of the Carmelita. While making their way to the Hotel Denouement, Olaf, Esme and Carmelita Spats realized the Baudelaire orphans’ absence and were betrayed by Fernald and Fiona who let the imprisoned youngsters start a mutiny. Ellington followed the entire mutiny from afar. The youngsters were released. Esme, Olaf and Carmelita fled. The octopus-shaped submarine was eventually given back to Ellington Feint who promised to help Fernald and Fiona if they were ever in trouble."

10. Ellington had no further use for the CBB (as she already gained her father's submarine, which was the intention) so she [presumably, most likely] discarded the statue in the sea, before it washed up on the island, as @ven10 describes.

Part 2 (Post-ASOUE) coming soon,

~ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[locitapurplepink]

Princess Things // The Great Unknown

Bonus :

[snazzystarlight]

This was a nice song to work with! This is “The Great Unknown” by Rob Thomas as I see it because of synesthesia!

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Iron Maiden - The Great Unknown

[mijnmobielemoleskine]

That is happiness. To be dissolved into something complete and great.

Willa Cather

[snicketstrange]

The Great Unknown Theory (4.1)

I truly believe that Daniel Handler's original intention in TGG was that the submarine that Captain W fears is not actually shaped like a question mark. When Captain W explained what it could be, he compared it to a shadow. If we think about it more literally, when a shadow is projected against a wall, what we see is a two-dimensional projection of something three-dimensional. Sonar basically shows this two-dimensional projection on its display. Proof of this is the submarine Carmelita itself. On sonar, the two-dimensional projection is in the shape of an eye. It is true that many believe that this "eye" is the symbol for VFD, but this is not the case. This is just a coincidence.

The "eye" shape is due to the projection of the submarine's tentacles that make the two-dimensional projection look like an oval surrounded by eyelashes, and this resembles the shape of an eye.

Look:

Chapter 4 TGG:

"What was that third shape?” Violet asked. The captain shook his head again. “Something very bad,” he said. “Even worse than Olaf, probably. I told you Baudelaires that there is evil you cannot even imagine.” “We don’t have to imagine it,” Klaus said. “We saw it there on the screen.” "That screen is nothing,” the captain said. “It’s just a piece of equipment, aye? There was a philosopher who said that all of life is just shadows. He said that people were just sitting in a cave, watching shadows on the cave wall. Aye—shadows of something much bigger and grander than themselves. Well, that sonar detector is like our cave wall, showing us the shape of things much more powerful and terrifying.”

•••

The second submarine was in the shape of a giant octopus, with an enormous metal dome for a head and two wide portholes for eyes. A real octopus, of course, has eight legs, but this submarine had many more. What had appeared to be eyelashes on the sonar screen were really small metal tubes, protruding from the body of the octopus and circling in the water, making thousands of bubbles that hurried toward the surface as if they were frightened of the underwater craft.

Chapter 5

Think of the crafts we saw on the sonar screen! Think of Count Olaf’s enormous submarine, and the even more enormous one that chased it away! Aye! There’s always something more enormous and more terrifying on our tails!

So, it is clear how the sonar display works. The display shows a two-dimensional projection, and Captain W, when comparing it to the shadow of a wall, was talking about this. So, the submarine that appears on the sonar as a question mark does not have the three-dimensional shape of a question mark, and that is what the captain meant. The real shape is much more frightening. The sea serpent BB, when seen on a sonar, may or may not appear in this shape, depending on its relative position. In any case, the Baudelaires had partial visual contact with the creature: they saw the silhouette of a sea serpent. So, what was near the submarine near the end of TGG was the serpent. Captain W himself also had visual contact with the serpent at the end of TE. Kit herself also saw and described it as having the shape of a question mark. So, these visual contacts were certainly with the sea serpent BB and not with the submarine. Which is surprisingly good news. The hostile entity is the submarine, not the serpent.

After all, the sea serpent maintained visual contact with the Q submarine, but did not attack it. (Probably the fact that the children remained quiet did not scare the sea monster).

Who was chasing the submarine Carmelita at the beginning of the TGG story? It is not possible to know for sure, but both Olaf and Captain W believed it was the submarine and not the monster. Both showed fear of someone worse than Olaf and more powerful than Olaf.Of course, in my headcanon this person would be Eligtin Feint. But, that's just my fan heart speaking louder.

[unfortunatetheorist]

What happened to the statue of The Bombinating Beast? - Part 2: Post-ASOUE

In order to understand this post, it's important to understand the Verifiable Former Discussion on the subject: (https://www.tumblr.com/unfortunatetheorist/758787979321950208/what-happened-to-the-statue-of-the-bombinating?source=share)

At the end of Part 1, we come to the ultimate conclusion that the statue of The Bombinating Beast ends up on the island, by the time the events of ASOUE are over.

We know that Lemony is narrating this story in the present, and that ASOUE occurred in the past. From this - in addition to the information in TBL - we know that Lemony went to the island after the events, and stayed long enough to gather fragments of what once belonged to the Baudelaires.

I think that it is not guaranteed, but entirely possible, that Lemony discovered the statue on the island. He is then direly haunted of his tragic past, and his usage of it to kill Hangfire/Armstrong Feint.

Then, Lemony makes the ultimate decision, and he is the only one on the island, so he can.

Everyone is free by the time Lemony meets Beatrice II at Old Ed's Soda Shop:

• Lemony is free from the authorities, else he would have told Beatrice to be quiet when referring to him as "Mr Snicket"... unless he poses as Jacques... (again...)

• The Baudelaires are not free, but safe, in the same way Lemony was when he was on the lam.

• Beatrice II is free (well, as far as we know) from the banking authorities; no-one is trying to force her to be with a guardian, as Mr Poe was with the Baudelaires.

• The volunteers and villains alike from the Hotel Denouement are (presumably) free from life itself.

• Ink and the other animals are free from being used by either side of the V.F.D. schism. Apart from, perhaps, the eagles when one assumes The Sinister Duo to be alive.

(• Even The Daily Punctilio is free from corruption, as Eleanora Poe has been jailed and the paper discontinued.)

The only thing that isn't free is The Bombinating Beast.

I think Lemony decides to change that - he irreversibly breaks the statue on the island, setting the animal free, and leaving the submarine to perish, just as so many other people, animals and objects have done in this miserably lonely universe.

Open to interpretation,

~ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[poprocklyrics]

We build it up, we tear it down We leave our pieces on the ground We see no end, we don't know how We are lost and we're falling Hold onto me You're all I have

Pieces, Rob Thomas

[akashvani]

This is Lemony Snicket coded

?

[first-into-the-great-unknown]

Reviving a blog that I've held and never touched.

It feels like the right time to start posting on it because I've been despairing at the state of the world recently. Except that even saying that feels unbelievably arrogant, there are people in far worse situations than mine.

Maybe part of the problem is that every bit of breaking news is beamed into our retinas instantly, all the time. It's not that I want to suddenly not care or empathise with everything that's happening, but it's just a bit exhausting.

Even that feels bad to say, because they are in situations far worse than mine.

So this blog is going to be a place to post whatever I want and rant into the great unknown, and anyone who'd like to join me in that.

Happy to chat with folk, although will probably need to earn that right starting a whole new blog.

Cheers👍

[gwydionmisha]

This wasn’t remotely his kind of music, but it always FELT like him to me, from the first time I heard it, back when he was still alive.

[jonbatesiloveyou]

Big Black Delta

The Great Unknown

Jan 16, 2012 BIG BLACK DELTA By Laura Studarus

Former Mellowdrone frontman Jonathan Bates has stepped out on his own as Big Black Delta. While his debut full-length—the appropriately named Bbdlp1—defies categorization (Ambient? Danceable? Loud?)—it’s difficult to deny its potent blend of heavy beats, scream-along choruses, and eerie electronics. Sandwiched somewhere between otherworldly aspirations and childhood memories, Big Black Delta makes a strong case for looking ahead while continuing to learn from the past.

Under the Radar joined Bates in Echo Park, CA for a cup of tea and a conversation that wound from making music alone, to the effects of color and shape on music, to the tricky business of enlightenment, to just about everywhere in between.

Laura Studarus (Under the Radar): Most important question first: Who would win in a fight, you or Anthony Gonzalez from M83?

Jonathan Bates: Anthony! He’s a lot more athletic than I am. I remember when I went on tour with him; there was a ping-pong table backstage. I had all this vibrato, and I said, “Let’s do this.” He was like, “Okay.” And then he just killed me. I was like, ‘All right, from now on I won’t challenge him to any physical thing.’

Have a lot of people found out about Big Black Delta through the M83/Big Black Delta Daft Punk remix?

Absolutely, yeah. Also just friends that I’ve met. I worked with [White Sea’s Morgan Kibby] on her stuff. I’ve met a lot of different people through Anthony. The Daft Punk thing, you can see on Google alerts or whatever. It just pops up all the time. So I would have never had that otherwise.

And you used to perform as Mellowdrone. How do you draw a line between that project and your current music?

Mellowdrone became a band after awhile. I loved it. It was great. We ended up on several different labels. This was the early 2000s, when labels were trying to figure out that there was no use for them any more. There was a lot of painful times that we went through towards the end of that. When we finally left Columbia, we made a record afterwards, and I was like, ‘I don’t even know if I want to do this shit anymore. Should I just make music, or should I hang drywall?’ It was a lot of fun, but it was also not what I wanted.

I took time off making music, just doing other people’s music, playing in M83, stuff like that that wasn’t the creative side; it was just other people’s stuff. It wasn’t until I got home after the last tour with them. I was working with my buddy Alessandro, who used to be in Nine Inch Nails. I had been making music the really really old fashioned way. He was like, “Here, do you want to borrow my laptop and see what that’s like?” I ended up buying it off of him. To be able to make music without having a manager, label, or structure or anything other thing—that’s what it initially started as.

Why it’s called Big Black Delta, my favorite past time is Ufology. I found this one video where it’s just Dan Aykroyd foaming at the mouth talking about these things. I’m like, ‘That’s fucking awesome, I’ll just use that.’ That was it. Musically there’s a huge difference. Everything’s on the laptop. It’s just me making sounds.

It sounds like you were dealing with a lot of burnout on your last band. Is there a way you’re protecting yourself against that now?

I think I’m stronger. When you’re 24, 25, 26, you’re lucky enough, you’re blessed enough to be making money off of music, you can’t help but be serious and take shit personally. I think I’m tougher now and I’ve seen some crazy shit. From violence to where life can lead you. Now it’s okay, shit’s cool, man. As long as I keep that attitude I think I’m going to be fine, regardless.

Big Black Delta is a solo project, yet you have collaborators like Morgan Kibby on a track, or your two drummers. How easy is it to let other people into the process?

It’s hard. With [drummers] Mahsa [Zargaran] and Amy [Wood]—who again I’m very blessed to have— they’re playing parts that I designed. I played those, I played everything. So far, everyone who has ever done anything for me—except for Alessandro—has done what I’ve asked them to do. Morgan came in and it was, “Here, can you sing it like this, and do that?” But that’s a learning process. It’s like being in love with somebody. To be truly in love with them you’ve got to trust them and be like, “Whatever you’re going to do you’re going to do.” You can’t always be sitting there. If I find somebody I can do that with, I would love to do that. I just haven’t found that person yet. I’m open to anything, because all I care about is something cool. I want to make something cool or be part of something cool. If that requires 30 people, I’d love to be number 27.

You could turn Big Black Delta into The Polyphonic Spree.

I know, right? Can you imagine the rider for that band? It’s not even socks or liquor, it’s like, ‘We need six hundred square feet, please.’

How much thought do you put into performing?

That’s one of my favorite bits. I built a lighting rig, this huge LED panel thing. I have dueling drummers. With Mellowdrone it was guitar pedals and playing the instruments. We did everything live and tried to recreate everything. We were concentrating. I was playing three instruments and singing at the same time. With this, I just have a laptop making sounds and a chaos pad that I can control my voice live with. The rest of it is me running around. Like when you’re vacuuming and listening to George Michael. That kinda feeling. I’ll just do that in front of people. I enjoy it; I love it, because being backlit is cool too. No one can tell what’s going on. It’s just like, ‘Wow!’

How easy is it for you to get into an uninhibited headspace?

Now it’s no problem. When I was younger I was more timid. You have that voice in your head that we all have. It’s, ‘You suck’ or ‘You’re going to fail,’ or ‘Don’t do this.’ I realize that’s just self-preservation. If you’re going to make something, and you’re going to go off and perform it, and you want people to give back to you, you can’t be scared. It took time to realize that. It’s a neat thing once you break it.

Was there an external catalyst that helped you come to that realization? Or was it just time passing?

Time. And there was a couple of times, like I said, that I saw some crazy shit violence. Seeing people almost die, that kinda thing. When you see that, and you realize that [snaps], it’s so hokey, I know. Things just go, they happen regardless. That kinda shit opens your eyes up. You’re just, ‘What am I afraid of? I’m not a doctor, if I fuck up, no one’s going to die. Or an engineer, the building won’t collapse. I’m just making songs. Don’t be fucking afraid.’ That might sound reasonably obvious. It wasn’t for me for a long time.

And so UFOS are a hobby for you?

It’s beyond a hobby. Politics is ultimately, to me, is boring. We know how human beings are. Politically you can see how things usually have an arc to them. Science is cool, I enjoy science and astronomy and things like that. I guess that’s my version of religion. You want to believe in something that you don’t have evidence of. So I can see how that would be viewed that way. The reason that I like it so much is the possibility that there’s something out there that’s way evolved beyond us.

Let’s say, for example, that there are things out there that don’t even speak anymore. It’s just too rudimentary. They’re telepathic. Meaning that I could read your mind. Meaning that things like lying are no longer in existence. It’s not something you can even fathom, but if you could live in an existence where you didn’t have to lie or pretend, or all these things that you and I spend so much energy and money on, on a daily basis, just to survive, who would you be then? That kinda shit makes me happy. I don’t know why. Just to think that there’s always more.

Are you an idealist? Do you believe we could evolve to that point?

If we’re given the chance. I believe in evolution, so I believe it’s not even up to us.

Do you feel like the human race is going in a positive direction? Or are we devolving?

Positive is a humanistic term. Are we getting rid of shit that we don’t need? Yes. That will always happen. I think there’s always been church verses state, red verses blue, there’s always going to be a ‘My team is better than your team.’ I’m thinking that once you do away with all these semantics that you and I have to do, how intelligent would you be? You could spend all that energy probably just on self-growth and shit like that. You’d probably be the most amazing human being on earth. I want to believe that that’s possible on some level.

Do you think that’s only possible through an external catalyst, like another race coming in?

No, not an external catalyst. I just like the idea that we’re going to grow. We’re not going to be fucking throwing sticks and stones at each other for fucking forever. There’s things out there. There’s so much shit that you don’t know, that I don’t know. People were convinced the Earth was flat. Convinced! That’s the biggest buzz I get in life, is learning something. Learning a secret, learning how they press this metal [hits the table]. I get nothing but fucking joy from shit like that.

Do you trying to bring some of that into your music?

Absolutely. I think that’s why it’s dirty, it’s really fast. I don’t think it’s hiding behind anything. If you like it, cool, if you don’t, fuck it. That, what we’re talking about, I try to do musically. That’s why the UFO thing comes to play. I use it to remind myself of that kinda shit. It’s like how some people will have a Virgin Mary saint to remind them to be a good person. I’ll think about this shit and be like, ‘Hey there’s more out there.’ Keep going, you might find something. Was that nerdy?

Ha! Not at all. Way more interesting than the traditional line of questioning. “How did you make your album?”

[laughs] Right, right. On a laptop!

It reminds me of the concept of Situationism—where art isn’t separate from your life, it’s an extension of you.

Yeah. You asked what the difference between Mellowdrone and this was. At some point, and I can’t tell you at what, Mellowdrone became a thing I had to do. When you start doing that as an artist, you’ll end up making a lot of shit that you can’t stand behind. I agree with that school of thought, that I’m not smart enough, or I can’t separate the sides of my brain enough. I’ve got to live it, I have to live it. If I try to fake it, there are just so many dudes out there who are doing it way better.

You’ve made a lot of music independently, and without that pretense. If someone came to you and wanted to use it a car commercial, would you let them?

They did. In Mellowdrone they used it in a car commercial, which was interesting and an experience in itself. I got to see it through. Big Black Delta, if someone wanted to use my music, it would depend on who it was and what for. If Texaco was like, “Here’s half a million, we want to use ‘Ifuckingloveyou’ to help lobby drilling offshore,” I’d be like, “Fuck, that sounds really nice, but no.” Every scenario presents itself. I make money off of other things as well. Luckily Big Black Delta, as long as I can keep it, is just going to be what it’s going to be. I won’t interfere with that shit. I am a capable musician. I can do a lot of other things that no one will ever know about.

I find it funny that your project is so well thought out, and there’s so many themes going on, and yet the title of your LP is so basic.

Oh, right. I get a lot of comments on that. That’s just because if you were to look at my music hard drive, there are just folders of sessions. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of things and ideas. Let’s say if right now I came up with a chord structure and a melody and a little ditty for you, what would I call it? What day is it today? Let’s call it that, that, that at that time. When I see that, the music will come back into my head. It’s just a form of catalogue. It was either that or a number or something, so that if you like the music, you can place your imprint on it. If I told you it was ‘John’s big bang boom boom boom,’ there would be the image for you. Caspar did the artwork exactly how it should have been, and I’m presenting you an image. I feel like it would be overkill to say, ‘and this is called ____’ You probably already have a word for that.

Is that another form of honesty for you? Leaving the title open like that?

It’s not honesty; it’s how I would like to be approached. I think it’s just manners. [laughs] I’m very thankful that anyone would listen to this. If you’re going to listen to this I’m not going to assume you’re an idiot.

There’s the title: Manners. The most well-mannered LP this year.

I’m actually going to rip you off on that one.

Do it!

Then we should start a band called Manners. It’s like, ‘What are you guys about?’ Are you serious? ‘How do you guys sound?’ Polite. [laughs]

There’s a lot of great sounds going on in the album. Is it my imagination or does “Dreary Moon” have a weird romanticism to it?

I love those old string scores, especially from mid-‘70s French films. Even in the first Friday the 13th. They would have these string sections. And when they would dub these string sections onto the movie reel, you’d have these canisters that were rolling it. So you had this inadvertent note that would go, ‘eeeeeee,’ and fluctuate because you had mechanics. There was nothing you could do about it. That brings back a nostalgia to me. That reminds me of being four or five years old, closing your eyes and the sun’s coming through and everything is bursting orange. That kinda, ‘I’m about to fall asleep and it’s five o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and I’m five-years-old’ kinda feeling. So it’s making everything purposely out of tune and random moments. Just a nice little song, dressed that way. “Dreary Moon” is just a little ditty on the guitar kinda thing.

Do you find nostalgia to be a driving force?

It’s one. I think of things in colors. Numbers and shapes, your personality—if you were to bring up any number I would tell you what color it is in my head.

Do you have synesthesia?

That’s what it’s called, yes. Smells and things like that I equate with colors and shapes. That’s my master. Whatever happened in 1979 or it happened yesterday, did that moment make me see colors? Can I make music that makes that moment pop up again? It’s really quite simple. Oh that—I’m going to make music that sounds like that.

I read that a lot of musicians have that association. There’s actually a list on Wikipedia.

I’d like to know that.

It’s 100% true if it’s on Wikipedia, right?

That’s what I’m talking about. Evolution, right? Do you remember when you had to go to the library? Now you don’t even call someone up and ask, ‘Hey how do you do this?’ Google it! I don’t fucking know. Twenty years from now it’s not even that any more. You’re already hooked up to it. You just have to think about it, you know what I mean? That’s what I’m taking about, those kind of possibilities. I would be a better person.

I know this is going to sound cheesy, like that show Caprica. But the human brain is only about 100 terabytes of information. Your memories and synapses and stuff like that. I have three terabyte drives in my house right now. It’s 2011. Two hundred years from now that will fit onto here [picks up his keychain]. This is you. Not only that, you don’t need this body any more. It’s like the Matrix, but it’s real though. This shit is happening. As long as we don’t blow each other up. As long as you’re connected in this web of shit are you really you anymore? No, you’re just part of this collective mass. I feel like that is going to bring us back together and make you realize, ‘Shit, I can’t be an asshole.’ I’ll open the door for you’ Know what I mean? ‘I am you; I’m attached to you.’

[laughs] Sorry. Should have brought weed and patchouli. Let’s start a new Occupy Echo Park!

We demand unity for all!

Sponsored by Ani DiFranco. [laughs] Hope I haven’t taken you too far off.

No I like it. You learn stuff.

Learning stuff is the coolest interaction there is.

Did you grow up listening to a lot of heavy synth-driven music?

No that’s the thing with Big Black Delta. If I could be in any band I’d be in Pantera. I grew up listening to a lot of metal and heavy, heavy bands. I graduated high school and learned about songwriting. Things like that. The only things I listened to like that, was The Lost Boys soundtrack. It’s never a conscience thing. I just like [that] with the synth, on a laptop, I can do any fucking thing I want. Like I was talking to you about going in and out of tune. I can do that way easier with a synth than I can do with an analogue instrument. It’s easier to become imperfect and fast with electronic equipment. And it’s cheaper too.

It’s like you were talking about with the storage space. It’s so easy to listen to your project and assume your influences—when there’s so much available; the truth is that we’re no longer the aggregate of your music collection. We’re like the aggregate of all music.

Right. And I love that, because when I was in high school, if you were a metal head, that’s it. You better not be caught listening to something else. Now you go to high school, and you see kids that have Madonna, next to Mastodon, next to Suga, next to Billy Ray Cyrus. There’s no shame in it. It’s like, ‘Fuck yes! Finally!’ Granted, they don’t realize how cool that is. I’m like that, and I think you’re like that. You don’t listen to one kind of music. So I’m going to make music like that as well. I’m not going to have any inhibitions. Today I’m going to listen to Ray Conniff. Tomorrow I might want to listen to Death.

Do you feel like with all that availability we’ve demolished the idea of the guilty pleasure?

No, there’s always going to be shame.

Until we reach unity.

Right. There’s always going to be shame. For example, did you hear about Nickelback that was going to play some game in Detroit? A million people signed a petition to get them off. That’s such a joke now, that if I bought a t-shirt you’d laugh. I’d get in the car and be like, ‘hey check out this song,’ and you’d be like ‘ahahhaha’ and then after awhile you’d be like, ‘Oh fuck, this guy really likes this shit.’ That will always be there. You know what I find? People are now attacking the way music is made as well. It’s not so much, ‘I like that guy,’ it’s ‘I don’t like his fucking shirt.’ That kinda thing. Maybe it’s always been that way.

With the experimental nature of your own project, do you see a clear line to the future and what you want to try next?

No. That’s the thing. I just put out this record and now I want to do another one. Two days ago I sat down to go over those little ideas I was telling you about. Holy shit, what do I want to hear right now? That’s where I have to start from. That’s quite a long process to get your mind quiet. All good songs come to you. You don’t write them. You have to put yourself in the right mind frame for it. But I don’t know what the next thing is going to be. Or if there’s going to be a next thing.

I don’t know, drywall could be calling.

If you’ve ever worked in drywall, you’ll know the powder builds up, and by the end of the day, the inside of your nose is completely caked. When you say that, I taste it in the back of my throat. I’m not knocking drywall hangers. You guys are tougher than I am. That’s not a bad thing. I’m coming across as elitist. No, I’m broke. That’s the thing. Every guy I know that hangs drywall for a living has a house and pays his bills on time, shit like that. So who’s the idiot?

I love the assumption that people who work in the music industry are instantly cool.

Right. That was my favorite thing, going to parties when Mellowdrone was doing really well, and people being like, “You drive a Honda Fit?” and it’s like, “Yeah, that’s all I could fucking afford dude.” I appreciate that you think things are going well. It took me six years to pay it off! [laughs]

There’s tradeoffs. I feel like I’ve got to see some amazing shit. Dude. I have seen parts of the human psyche that I would never give back. I would never give it back for a stable nine to five. Everyone’s got their purpose in life. Some people want that flat screen. They want to sit and enjoy their flat screen because they’ve been working for some other asshole all day. Mine is that buzz of, ‘Oh shit, I didn’t know that!’ That’s how you change your oil! You know what I mean? As long as I get a steady diet of those, I will always figure out how to pay rent.

Check out our exclusive Big Black Delta mixtape.

[safirefire]

feeling normal about this also

[faeorwizardorsmthn]

Two things are known about the afterlife:

There is a life after this one.

Nothing else is known about the afterlife.