“An almost perfect album. Apart from one mistake – there's a joke song on it. I think jokes should never be on records, they just don't last.”
-Brian Eno
“At a certain point, it's not acceptable just to smoke weed and think your jams that night are good enough. You really have to be more rigorous.”
-Tim Hecker
“I swim until it hurts and then spend half an hour exchanging emails, checking NBA stats, discussing the fucking dismal state of Australian politics with my friends. Then march to the studio, fucking drink coffee, and hate everything that I do for eight hours.”
-Ben Frost
It would seem I’ve been living my whole musical life in defiance of these three quotes. I was raised on Frank Zappa, and though I don’t really smoke weed these days, I actually do like my own music, and don’t feel the need to agonize over it or get ensnared in the usual Protestant fetishising of labour. I’m not nearly as hunky as Ben Frost, and swimming is a wonderful pastime, but I tried that macho doom bro schtick for 15 years, and while self-loathing is a great short-term motivator, it doesn’t get you very deep.
My point here, beyond indulging in some snippiness, is that we’ve seen how things have gone with everyone taking themselves so damn seriously, so it might be time to chill out and have some fun. The world’s not going to lighten itself up for you - you’re gonna have to take matters into your own hands if you want to live somewhere less punishing than where we are currently.
But then, Ben Frost is a certified beefcake, he works with Michael Gira, and has scored both a series called Dark and a movie called Super Dark Times, so...what do I know? Darkness pays them bills and gets you into the deepest v-neck at the Rolex party!
But I have a sneaking suspicion that Tim Hecker still smokes weed and secretly likes his jams, and I’ll bet Roxy Music lizard queen Eno knew a thing or two about jokes.
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-Brian Eno
“At a certain point, it's not acceptable just to smoke weed and think your jams that night are good enough. You really have to be more rigorous.”
-Tim Hecker
“I swim until it hurts and then spend half an hour exchanging emails, checking NBA stats, discussing the fucking dismal state of Australian politics with my friends. Then march to the studio, fucking drink coffee, and hate everything that I do for eight hours.”
-Ben Frost
It would seem I’ve been living my whole musical life in defiance of these three quotes. I was raised on Frank Zappa, and though I don’t really smoke weed these days, I actually do like my own music, and don’t feel the need to agonize over it or get ensnared in the usual Protestant fetishising of labour. I’m not nearly as hunky as Ben Frost, and swimming is a wonderful pastime, but I tried that macho doom bro schtick for 15 years, and while self-loathing is a great short-term motivator, it doesn’t get you very deep.
My point here, beyond indulging in some snippiness, is that we’ve seen how things have gone with everyone taking themselves so damn seriously, so it might be time to chill out and have some fun. The world’s not going to lighten itself up for you - you’re gonna have to take matters into your own hands if you want to live somewhere less punishing than where we are currently.
But then, Ben Frost is a certified beefcake, he works with Michael Gira, and has scored both a series called Dark and a movie called Super Dark Times, so...what do I know? Darkness pays them bills and gets you into the deepest v-neck at the Rolex party!
But I have a sneaking suspicion that Tim Hecker still smokes weed and secretly likes his jams, and I’ll bet Roxy Music lizard queen Eno knew a thing or two about jokes.
