Waiting for the breakfast room to open
Gate slides wide and the people come out of the woodwork
European buffet brings all types around
Business men and Vacation groups
Sleepless roadies, liars
Families of the modern Muslim age
With women in different degrees of traditional garb
Hijab, leggings, long sleeve shirt
Subtle patterned scarves
Dark top to bottom Jilbab
Sometimes simple jeans
Designer sunglasses on their covered heads
The men less traditional, almost slovenly
Shorts, untucked shirts, baseball caps
Could be road crew without the family in tow
The children, vacation casual
Polo shirts and Bermudas
Then throw in an Italian fashion plate business women
And she looks like a porno star
Parading her snug ensemble and gold frames
Confident with what the lord gave her
The cream jacketed staff hovers, practicing the few English phrases that they’ve been served
Cued by the fat, the blatant appearance
Managers circling, steering, glad to have busboys to correct
Back to the wall, all the little dances are visible
The initial seat fine until a wife finds fault
With ventilation or sunshine
Businessmen who give the better seat to their luggage
Daughters following mothers like toilet paper on a shoe
Old couples filling remaining days, making up for wasted ones now that the clock ticks louder
To hide behind a bush
Ziplock full of Splenda & green sauce
The endless ferry of espresso
Eyes casing the room
Strange pleasure draped over
The tired bruised body
And the destructive default mind.
I woke up this morning thinking about how loss changes with age in many ways. What was once unthinkable for a young person has become acceptable; the levels in between are interesting progressions from one end of the spectrum to the other. This is triggered by the news of Clarence Clemons passing away last evening, after a very serious stroke knocked him down one last time. The sense of loss was different from losing Danny or even my brother Sam. I think it is because of my own aging and actually having been in the process of grieving in the past 6 years or so.
I’m gonna elaborate a little on the first idea. As a child the thought of a friend or a relative being gone forever starts off as not even a possibility. You have forever and they are ten feet tall and bulletproof. As feelings and emotions develop the concept intensifies. Not only for those close to you but the odd connection to celebrity, an emotional closeness created by media or art. People are very different in how they process and carry these losses, bearing them like full-sized monuments tied to their backs or stuffing the grief inside, the venom oozing out of the person in other forms. This is not to say that the loss of a child, a sibling, a parent, a spouse is not a major and consuming thing; it can alter your whole life with or without some proper handling.
I often wondered what else people are grieving when they become immobilized by the loss of a celebrity or an outright stranger, their only connection through the TV or media outlet. I tend to vacillate between thinking I am partially sociopathic or they are drama hungry, feeding on the sadness like the thirsty drinking tears. Could the bond created by a single song or a repeated sequence of still photos from a tabloid news show make an authentic connection or does it represent something else? Marilyn Monroe,Elvis, John Lennon, Princess Di… they were big but became bigger with the death cults, martyrs for something missing in everyone’s everyday life. Better to focus on that than 100,000 unseen victims in a far off war or a second cousin withering away in a hospital room. The fear of being close to it, like you could catch it, easier to manage with the patron saints and their merchandise.
shot by Jo Lopez
As I approach 50 rapidly, the emails come more often and find myself thinking of Facebook as “Deathbook”, the speed and frequency of the obits increasing. I visit my parents and older relatives, hear stories of being sick for months, see the oxygen tanks, the slowing down. For those who suffer, often for a long time, the end is actually leaning more towards welcome than not. When I began working with the ESB in 2002, Clarence had physical ailments which required him to prepare mentally, physically and spiritually before every show. His knees, his hips, his back, they were all a mess. He was in pain so much of the time. The toll on that massive frame radiated off of him. It didn’t get any easier between then and the last-go-round. You could see that pain in his big beautiful eyes but very little would slip ungrateful from his lip in front of us. He was an incredible example of love and spirit persisting when the body had no business carrying on.
So, I guess this little post is about the path between denial and acceptance. Beginning with death not existing and ending with it being the only conclusion, the act of growing up and letting go of these temporal temporary bodies, it always has been what we made of the time between the beginning and the end. In the Middle Ages, Sunday was put aside for church and the idea that things would be better in the afterlife, because life was so hard for so many. Many philosophies focus on being in the moment, the act of finding “heaven on earth”. As a pretty typical human being shifting between the selfish “woe-is-me” headspace and the slivered moments of Eden found in a flower pushing through the concrete, time lately has been on my side.
I don’t want my friends to go but they’re gonna. I don’t want anyone to truly suffer but some will. Some defy the odds and others are struck down by space debris. Nobody gets out of here alive.
The lessons that those who have gone before left us are still here, good and bad. It’s our job to share them, keep the memories alive and hope that someone else gains something from these people who no longer walk the earth. Lessons about passion and sharing, selfishness and self-destruction, creating and destroying. Like road signs or myths, they can guide another generation to choose between doing something while they’re here or rushing headlong into the abyss, dragging the innocent along with them.
After the last breath, it’s up to those remaining to let go. What we let go of, well, is up to us. I hope that those who suffered in life are released once they cross the threshold. Perhaps the thought of that can give us peace even if we’re not in the Middle Ages. Perhaps we can find the grace to live a better life by holding the memory of our fallen Blood Brothers close to our hearts.
In my last post, I drew a line between Indian classical music through Miles to Misha Mansoor. Yeah, I’m still trying to decide if that was a good idea considering the response. Well, I knew it was a narrow rabbit hole I was going down. I’m gonna go tighter in some crazy idea that it will become even more universal. I threatened to talk about drummers and by God, that’s what I’m gonna do.
Drums are a very primitive, cellular-level thing. Because of the initial rhythm-based nature, they were used for communication in early times, for synchronization still (think marching) and truly social interaction (dancing). Hand drumming has evolved to complex drum kits that use all limbs, hardware, sticks, mallets, electronics and computers. The truly remarkable technology is not in hardware but in the evolution of human software. The ability for a human to use 4 limbs, both in sync or independently, with an interactive layer in realtime is pushing beyond imagined possibility 20 years ago. The technical aspect of creating the physical coordination and power has to be connected to the mental processing of the math involved as well as the intangible “musical” element in the interaction with other performers. The use of memory (the drum parts), interaction (listening, reacting) and execution (movement and coordination) can be more than just “keepin’ a beat”.
Drummers have been the brunt of jokes probably for as long as logs have been hollowed out or skins stretched; yet some of the world’s greatest musicians also turn out to be good drummers. Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Stevie Wonder, Jan Hammer… they all could play and usually insisted on having great drummers in their bands. To me it added to the way they composed and arranged their songs, the rhythms natural and weaved deep. Check out how a guitarist/pianist like Ralph Towner or Mike Keneally brings a unique voice to their other instrument. The jokes often tell of how the band is comprised of “4 musicians..and a drummer”; this is not always true.
Heavy music created some interesting challenges for the percussive; the tempos and aggression that came with the music require certain shifts in order to play. The physicality of drumming can be obvious; just watch Animal on the Muppets. It’s often like a long distance race combined with a mixed martial arts match that lasts a few hours. Drummers have to build extreme endurance into their ability for heavy music. When a band is coming up, they can get used to playing a 30 or 40 minute opening set, their energy expended in one furious burst. When they shift to headlining I’ve seen whole bands totally flatten out after the 50 minute mark and poop out before the hour.
Faster is often done by playing lighter; will the music lose its force and energy? The speed also will cause drummers to simplify parts just out of economy or ability. What else will suffer from the nature of the music? Many subtleties are lost; sometimes the simpler pats make it easier for the rest of the band to play and for the audience to listen. There is always someone stronger, faster and hungrier coming up behind you. What will this next generation of drummers be able to do?
Throughout my working career I have been on the lookout for the up and comers, not only because of my enjoyment of their playing but to see where drumming is going. I started out as a drummer and something happened to me in my early 20’s that stopped me from pursuing that dream I began at 13. I always referred to it as a dosing of a flame, a part of me that no longer burned. I didn’t have the natural gifts or the discipline needed to get to the next level. I heard something in my head that my hands and feet couldn’t do. I decided to watch closely as others tried and to help them get there if I could.
Working with Vinnie early in my career was like space exploration; there seemed to be no bounds to his ability or imagination. There are people who you work with that you learn their go-to licks, their fall backs; I never ever in 2 years got to that point. Bruce Carter’s groove was a force of nature that in another setting away from Kenny G may have been more appreciated. Steve Gadd revolutionized the modern drum kit and I was able to see him on and off over 20 years finesse, groove and play his way through every song put in front of him. So many of the next generation seemed like younger versions with a little more horsepower and little else; who would step up?
Seeing someone like Mike Mangini with Steve Vai was a clue. Toss Panos and Joe Travers came from the Zappa school, fiery and chops to burn. Abe Laboriel Jr. brought power and an open lope to both fusion and pop. Dennis Leeflang from the Netherlands makes great records with Bumblefoot. Björn Fryklund from the Swedish band Freak Kitchen, blends metal and fusion well.
Heavy drummers like Tomas Haake (Meshuggah) and Gene Hoglan (Devin Townsend, Dark Angel, Death, Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad,Testament,Fear Factory)showed up on my radar in the mid-90’s and I was like “Is this possible?” Where heavy extended into programming and samples, I was really never quite sure what was real, until I saw it with my own eyes. Even Terry Bozzio, in the last phase of Missing Persons, programmed “Rhyme and Reason” rather than going through the expense of recording the drums live. I had no question he could play his parts; it seemed like simple economics to me, not cheating.
The past few years touring with a few new support acts every few weeks I have seen some really good drummers who I wasn’t clued in on, either because I didn’t like the general style or sound of their band or just was never exposed to them before. Chris Adler from Lamb of God and Mario Duplantier with Gojira come to mind immediately. Igor Cavalera, from Sepultura originally and now with the Calavera Conspiracy,was finding ways to blend metal and Brazilian drumming into heavy music.
A few weeks ago I was exposed to Navene Koperweis, currently with Animals As Leaders and Matt Halpern with Periphery. This was a leap, like Gene and Tomas, just beyond what I expected. I came to find out that Misha Mansoor (remember him?) started out as a drummer and programmed the drums for both the initial Periphery tracks and the Animals As Leaders album, both of which he produced. Programming drums can be tricky, despite what people might think.
The programmer has to think drumistically, which, as a semi-made up word means to be done in a drum-like way. You can have all the crazy ideas you want but it tends to sound better if it is arranged the way a drummer might (or could) play it. I mentioned guitarist/pianists earlier; have you ever heard a synthetic guitar part that just doesn’t jibe? It’s usually because a keyboard player has voiced it in a keyboard way. If you voice it as a guitar player would, it sounds more natural. A great example of that is Dave Grusin playing the classical guitar parts on a synth for songs from “The Milagro Beanfield War“. Grusin’s voicings are in chord shapes a guitarist would play. When Pepe Romero played the parts in the movie soundtrack, it’s as the composer wrote them, despite being a pianist.
The same goes for drums, even if they are not chordal. There are voices limb to limb and register to register. Perhaps the bass drum parts are locked with the bass guitar part. The cymbals accent the hits the rhythm guitar part. The hi hat drives the groove and the snare dances between pulse and the accents. It this is totally ignored the parts can sound like machines that the band happen to be playing along with, not a part of the composition or the band. Nit picky muso stuff? Maybe, but even the average listener can hear something’s off.
The music from both of these albums are rather complex and for a drummer, physically challenging. To learn music like this it would help to read music (if it was ever written out; a drummer who can transcribe the parts either traditionally or in his own way would be better off) or to have the ability to learn by ear. The fact that Misha on a level thinks and programs like a drummer make the feat a lot more natural.
Periphery has vocals and lyrics imposed over the dense wave of each song. They have a talented singer who both can both bellow and croon over a song. Misha released a version of their debut release as an instrumental as well, removing the vocal tracks and remixing it (I’m just guessing here, but it sure seems that way). I prefer this version as my attraction to the music is the craft and production of guitars, drums and atmospherics. I go back and forth between the albums but listen to the vocal free one much more. Animals As Leaders is an instrumental band, a trio with 2 guitars and drums. Thanks to YouTube, you can see a few examples of how these young musicians are accomplishing this music live.
I have spent a long time working in the live music business and rarely get excited by “baby” bands or the unknown support act. Honestly, taking the time to focus on them within a work day can distract me from my duties, which can be bad. This stuff has just cut through that professional filter and sent me into Fan-Land. Sure, I get a chance to sneak away and stand behind Gene Hoglan or Dave Lombardo until my remaining hair is on fire but those treats are few and far between.
These two young drummers have jumped out immediately not only for their abilities but because of the music they are performing. It’s not typical shredophilia or Scream-o rock; it contains elements of its lineage and pushes the line forward a ways. Navene is also a guitar player as his project Fleshwrought shows. Matt from Periphery repeats that “groove” is really important to him. Both men play on small kits with big results; Navene’s kit is a 4 piece while Matt plays a 3 piece (kick, snare, floor).The focus on double kick is not only a genre thing but the act of locking with the complex rhythms with traditional voicings. There is not much room for anything else!
All that said, here’s a pair of guys who are going to be the influencers of the next “next” generation along with the others I mentioned. They make their place in the music exciting, cool and different from previous players. They deserve a listen. Besides, it’s more than likely that an old fart like me is telling kids old news and there are others already who are coming up behind that I’m too lame to have heard of yet.
UPDATE: I could have spent another month writing this, as I knew I was gonna leave some people out who deserved to be mentioned. Yes Mom, you’re one of them, though Russ Kunkel didn’t shred much in those days. First would be Charlie Benante, who I just met with the Big 4 shows we’ve done and Mike Portnoy , who I finally met in Indio. They need to be mentioned in this article with their direct influence on Thrash and Progressive. Richie Hayward, Charley Drayton, Simon Phillips, Bill Bruford and even ex-drummer Phil Collins should be included. Check back in another week and I bet you see some more names!!!
All things come from somewhere. The history of the path from a common ancestor is not always of interest to people trying out on their own, but it still exists. For the topic of this post I’m talking about musical lineage. Even purists have a line to follow, those who came before gave each musician a jumping off point. How far they jumped, and to where, is where it gets interesting. Growing up I had some pretty diverse influences. That, along with the incredible need to be different, pushed me to seek out things that were not as popular as what my classmates were listening to. My father played Indian Classical Music, Latin Jazz and BeBop around the house, as he played both the tablas and the congas with other musicians. My mother, in that period of the mellow rock sounds,listened to James Taylor, Carly Simon, Carole King.
Looking at the charts for lets say 1978, you’ll see Queen, the Bee Gees, Meatloaf, Kansas and other FM staples. The Ramones, Talking Heads and Paul Simon are on that same list of radio favorites. By then I was listening to Jeff Beck, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Genesis, Yes and the Dixie Dregs. Not liking Kiss or Olivia Newton John made me a pariah in high school, though Zeppelin, ZZ Top and the Southern Rock bands filled my needs. I still leaned toward fusions of different things, blues/rock, rock/jazz, etc. Finding a way to meld those different likes into one thing was very pleasing, even to an immature drummer of 15.
I also was fortunate enough to have other family member who played at a high level, my uncle, Peter Donald. His musical career carried him from gigs with pop acts who paid (Olivia Newton John, Peter Allen, Paul Williams, Helen Reddy, The Osmond Brothers) and jazz acts(The Toshiko/Tabackin Big Band, The Bob Florence Big Band, The John Abercrombie Quartet, 3 Prime) who pushed the envelope. Another drummer, his excellence was something I studied from an early age. His path to Boston and Berklee is something I ended up following in time. Between him, my father and others who listened to more challenging music (both listening and playing wise) my tastes began to lean towards those who not only play their instruments really well but were doing new things built on a history and a vocabulary.
Very few players live entirely in a vacuum; the ones who say they don’t listen to anyone else and are influenced by even less, I don’t trust them. I know people who assemble their ability, choose a direction and then avoid being influenced by people on their path, trying to listen to the voice inside and maybe be unique. I tend to steer towards people who are still fans, still love music and learning something new. In this day and age, you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism, either intentional or unconscious ; it’s much better to outright steal what you like and make it your own, in a good way.
So as a teen I was listening to Fusion, Progressive and flat-out Jazz while others were supping from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. A diet of Zappa, odd time signatures and high tempos probably caused my brain to swell and misshape. Don’t let these descriptions convince you I became a complete snob musically; there was plenty of room for good, simple or sloppy tunes, as long as the performers were real. As time went by I actually made more room for the less technical stuff, the less-is-more school finally made sense not only economically but spiritually.
OK, where is this going? At one point in the 90’s I was working for a musician who I felt lacked a bit in the history department about his own instrument. His immediate influences went back 5-10 years and really just broke the surface in the levels of possibility. Like my father, I tend to step into an educator position with music, drawing lines from one person to another, one style or period. I am compelled to expand the musical vocabulary of some and therefore the understanding of the performance or logic within it. Most people are not only reluctant but completely uninterested in being challenged by what they are hearing. I understand; the familiar and the easily consumed can be background, a comfort zone, a recognized vehicle to calm, to propel, to work out, to release.
Music isn’t always beautiful or soothing. It can be sad, angry, uplifting, dissonant, polished, raw, sickeningly cheerful… just about anything. Everybody has their personal tastes, not only with genres but with mood, tempo, instrumentation and the like. I also tend to believe that a limited musical vocabulary tends to make certain music unlistenable because the listener doesn’t really understand what they are hearing. I’ve written about this before and can’t honestly remember where it is posted (or if it is), to this little abbreviated thing will suffice, as it isn’t really the point of this post but an important tenant of where I’m going. So at some point some listeners say to themselves “I want to do that!” Not all motivations begin or end the same; ranging between “I want to be the greatest guitar player ever” to ” I just want chicks to dig me” is a thousand levels of “I want to be a part of that”. Begging for an instrument from your parents, borrowing, stealing, building…learning chords or beats, playing with others, going from nothing to something, the progression from imitation to creation. This is where the personal lineage begins.
The simple songs my first garage band (the actual thing, not the software) played were easy chord progressions to copy and all the subtleties and detail would come later. I can remember “Evil Ways” by Santana, “Hymn 43” by Jethro Tull, maybe “Funk 49” by the James Gang… (as the drummer, I was at the mercy of what the guitar players could pull off!) You begin to realize that your ability and the ability of your bandmates limit your song choices. Practice, practice, practice…maybe. If you’re lucky you become a big fish in a little pond, then make the jump to a larger pond and realize how small you are. You grow or get ate; most people just get the hell out of the pond. You study the guys you admire and maybe pay attention to who they say influenced them.
Shadowy figures and unknown names get repeated; why would rock guys mention old blues guys, dead jazz guys and classical composers? At first you don’t see the connection; how would a sax player influence a metal guitar player? How could the guitar player on “Miss You” have wanted to be Robert Johnson? Lineage is a good word, but realize that very few people come from a single line anymore. Even purist forms, “classic” styles such as gospel, bluegrass, classical of all forms, they are becoming more hybrid and mutant, blending outside influences and creating more personal music.As I’m writing this, I started with a linear list and it is quickly becoming a cloud or multiple rays coming toward a series of self-centric nodes.
Trying to decide if I should pause and create a graphic to insert into this post at this point… Ugh, not a good idea. I’ll look at it later, as a truly incestuous ancestry hairball that needs some clearer thought. I want the Org chart to go backwards and it just doesn’t wanna.
LOTS of crossed nodes.
What inspired this post was the discovery of a branch of the tree now known as “Djent” (said to be coined by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah) which gives me another one of those “YES! YES!” moments that I had when I first heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ combination of rock and funk. One of the bands I played with in Boston during the early 80’s attempted to blend the genres in the same way and didn’t quite nail it. When I heard the Chilis, all I thought was, “Yup, that was what we were trying to do.” I called my old band mates and they all nodded for me over the phone. This music nicknamed “Djent” just hit me in the musical solar plexus the same way, perhaps as it took elements of many of my favorite styles and nailed it. It’s heavy, it’s technical, it’s truly DIY in that it has such limited interest the guy who started the band could have only created it with the wide reach of the internet.
I stumbled upon an article about Misha Mansoor and his current band, Periphery. I usually take guitar mag articles with a grain of salt, the flavor of the month either manufactured or rehashed.Though I have a certain weakness for “chops” music, not much of recent tips have produced any lasting interest to me. Older, more established players finally getting the distribution that the internet provides usually are more my speed. The one exception is a few bands who play heavy music that have some remarkable talent and that stand out audibly from the pack. Meshuggah and any Devin Townsend-related projects come to mind. Though brash and aggressive, there is more than meets the ear.
Periphery started with Misha posting clips of his ideas online to a service called Soundclick. He also participated in forums about Meshuggah & John Petrucci, the guitarist of the band Dream Theater. As Misha also played 7 string guitar he posted to sevenstring.org. The modern 7 string is like a typical guitar with an extra bass string, extending the range lower. Guitar player Steve Vai, who played with Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth made them popular in the 80’s; the group Korn really got the kids excited about them during the mid-90’s. With lower tunings and the extended range, they became quite common in heavy music.
Louder and faster, more angular, the heavy scene may have lacked some of the finesse of some other genres both technically and harmonically. There is no doubt of the veracity and ferocity of many players, there just wasn’t always much substance. In the same way that BeBop jazz and Fusion took tremendous ability in the players, the compositional complexity fed another level, the one that requires an extended vocabulary to realize that what is being performed is beyond the textural and temporal character.
Lineage calls when I hear a number of bells ring within me, both of the familiar and the new. As I listen to a song like “Racecar “, I hear direct influences and then secondary ones that Misha might now even be conciously aware of. These are the ones who inspired the people he listened to.
Misha wasn’t the only one who saw the compositional complexity, the tempo and heavy texture as the next step. Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders, Chimp Spanner, TesseracT, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Scale The Summit and Fleshwrought all carry elements of this extreme music that is firing on so many levels that my recent immersion is by no means total and comprehensive. In the same way that BeBop and Free Jazz had limited appeal (heck, still do) but were created as a reaction to a staid and undynamic music scene, Djent and other heavy paths challenge the ear, the brain and the central nervous system.
It gives me hope, as well as some of those who went before, who keep pushing both the creative possibility as well as their audience to listen and enjoy their efforts.
Here are a few examples of this music if you’re interested:
Periphery- Racecar (instrumental)
Animals As Leaders- CAFO
I fear the next post will be a Lineage pt. 2 post with a direct focus on drummers…
This time of the year is filled with convergences. As the winter loses its bite and nature begins incubating the bursts of buds and brightness, there are changes within communities, within people themselves. Maybe after the holidays and the gray swath of cold a mental Mardi Gras is needed, not a trade show of fractured attempts but a chance to hear what others are saying on and off the page. There are plenty of metaphors that could be used for spring, for this part of the cycle, for when there is a need for realignment.
It’s not just about prepping the beds for the next set of flowers or for the summers work load. It seems to be across the board, some form of universal need for a chiropractic POP! to be delivered. Is it merely seasonal or is there a growing awareness beyond me?
I guess it’s time for a slight disclaimer in that some of this is clearly personal as I write it. I have recently been through a period of depression that was debilitating as far as thought or progress was concerned. The only difference this time as compared to any previous bouts since the mid-1970’s is I actually sought professional treatment. Earlier in my life I either self medicated or did the Eeyore until the cloud lifted. This time with the watchful and caring eye of my wife and the seemingly gargantuan dose of dispair I had the docs tinker until there was some improvement. There may not have been a blinding return to Technicolor but certainly a sense of an unread pile of books and a full DVR.
Have you ever been off the network or engaged in something that has taken you away from the modern lifestream for any period of time? Did you have a sense when you returned that you missed something or that you’d never recapture it because of the linear nature of the services you currently use? Similar to missing an important meeting at work or the season finale of a drama, you know down deep you can get the information but have missed the moment. This may not be a universal experience, even for heavy internet users or social media types. I have experienced it while traveling and also when life conspired to keep me from staring at the screen. For many, Real Time is not important. I think for those who have experienced it during an event or been part of a spirited discussion can understand.
I became interested in Real Time through the Gillmor Gang and one of its timely spin offs, News Gang Live. For many, the discussions and dissections performed by “Dr.” Gillmor and his team were often obtuse, repetitive ,techno-wonky and obscured by clouds (even before clouds were hip). Listening to these group conversations were not a destination, a product or answer to a question, they were often the process of finding the question so the listeners could think about the answer, both around the table and by the speaker. In a society where people prefer to be spoon fed, jerked off or told they are pretty, the show is a challenge even to regular listeners, because it can’t be absorbed casually. People want answers, not questions.
Over the past 5 years with the advent of status and location check-ins, the streaming of personal and professional information and the act of sharing or “liking” items of interest, many people have turned to devices other than their TV or radio for information and entertainment. The traditional outlets have scurried into the fray, attempting to maintain a presence and generate revenue for their corporate boards, while protecting their interests. What’s more, affinity groups and activists have bypassed the blockade that their governments and media outlets have created. The speed and (current) self determination of information sharing have created situations and outcomes that no one saw coming.
Current events have made much of this strikingly clear. Egypt, Libya, Wisconsin and Japan have been remarkable things to watch unfold online. As we have always been dependent on organizations for news, they start being an obvious choice but individuals with mobile devices have become our new news teams. How do I find these individuals? Not by the recommendation of a news gathering company but from friends and their friends. A government will stop a camera crew at a border but a native with a smartphone can send us, within seconds, images of what is happening, now.
Gillmor during the 2008 election run up would mix tech and politics and when both the listeners and the participants would say “Why Obama, why Twitter?” and he would answer “There’s no difference.” That’s a huge chunk of WTF for most people to sit down with. I think a lot of us nodded because of him being the embodiment of Oscar the Grouch, George Martin and Yoda for us but we learned after a few snout smacks that we often just talked until we figured out what we were talking about and then produced the question.
For the past two weeks I’m getting that event horizon/ convergence feeling again and I’m not sure it’s because I’m pulling my head out of my own ass or if there is something at play here. Wisconsin was telling because what we saw on Twitter was not what we were seeing on the TV networks. There was some serious high end message manipulation going on that most people who live here probably don’t think is possible, or would be un-American. How would they know, unless they used the other, newer network? Would they actually believe that public school teachers caused the Wall St. meltdown? Did the major media outlets think that no one would be interested in 100,000 people gathering to voice their opposition to legislation (as opposed to a sporting event or an American Idol audition?)
Maybe someone somewhere honestly thinks that iPads and iPhones are only gonna be used for Angry Birds and watching trailers for CSI: Tishamingo. There are plenty of people who don’t want to see the scale of the suffering in Japan or the theories why unions are saving or killing our country. They have the right to be uninformed; they should just have the choice of not being misinformed.
So, as individuals with access to the network (in most countries) we can sift through more information than we ever could if we did it every second for the rest of our lives. We count on others (reliable sources, friends, F.O.F.’s) to parse what is important. Even algorithms get involved. We can look at a map and see which people are actually there to experience it. We either have to trust these people, suspend our disbelief or not care if it’s true, content to parrot headlines to be “first!” or some other form of cool.
I began writing this article because of a feeling that’s been nameless and directionless for the past few weeks. I can feel and hear something coming but I’m not sure from which direction. Like a gunshot in a canyon the echo bounces off the cliffs and fakes the ear out, making the need for other senses to get involved in the location factor. Part of it may be our instinct for where the sniper should be, rather than any clue see or unseen. A glint of glass, a puff of smoke, they would be helpful but all I have is that echo bouncing around my head.
In that echo I hear a few things that might have something to do with it or not; identity and integrity, the continuing idea of having a single unified identity online and how some would be surprised how few people actually want that; that people want the layers of the onion and some kind of protection from being exposed as being human, flawed, weird, kinky, criminal, selfish, greedy, stupid, dishonest, gullible; the Asian concept of “Face” and how universal it is, like it or not; how “Groups” never really work, that “Circles” might, the intersections dangerous, exciting, promising, somehow being able to juggle your life in orbits you could manage; new roundtables, fresh energy and angles, new ears to listen to the clues, the ability to triangulate, find where the echo is coming from, find the sniper before we feel the sting of what’s coming next.
