Got a mail about a benefit show for the Midnight to Dawn shows on 2MBS-FM. This is Australia’s first FM station, dedicated to what they call ‘Fine Music’. That’s a very clever description which allows for more than Classical music – I heard my first Stockhausen on 2MBS back in 1970 something and stayed listening for the extreme music that started after midnight (but might have given up before dawn). I DJ’d Indian movie music for a few hours in the early 1980’s but didn’t say much, as I was scared of sounding as ignorant as I actually was.
Early Severed Heads was entwined with 2MBS – we appeared on the shows and some cassettes the MTD crew produced … anyway it seems justified that I contribute to their benefit in 2023. But in what form?
Let me sum it bluntly – I’m burned out. Sitting in the studio, everything switched on, weighted down by decades of already did this or that. I might not have written 3000 songs like Dolly Parton, but then how many Dolly Parton songs can you name? (Hint – she’s made 60 albums). So everything feels like an addendum to some previous thing. This being for radio, you could tuck it in after Beautiful Arabic Surface or it could be a memory of Barbara Island. It tends to sound like a hybrid of the two – grimy old 78’s and shortwave. I don’t know if that’s just self plagiarism, I suspect it is.
Friday, May 26th at Marrickville Bowling Club.
Thinking about David Bowie, not because I have anything in common but he was supposed to be the chameleon who could re-invent himself and career. Which started to get shaky around Lodger, managed to stumble along a bit until he crapped out Tonight after which he re-invented himself as Nine Inch Nails which wasn’t exactly citing original sources. Should he have retired? I don’t think Blackstar (26th album) was nearly as good as the funeral that advertised it. I also wouldn’t want that to be the way I promoted my work.
Sometimes you just record it all and let God sort it out. This is effective when you’ve had a tour or a lobotomy and maybe all that remaking of music for the tours in 2015-2019 has had a negative effect. I hope this is the way to go for this show. But I don’t have any desire to release any more music, the people have spoken and they have said they wish for it be 198X for ever. If Ebolaball wasn’t a success then fuck it. That was the way to go out. Although between you and me things have unfolded in Florida in a way that might allow the trio to continue as a duo – collaboration might be the answer to all life’s ills.
I empathise, although in my case I suppose I have about 5-10% of your burden. I make ‘new’ sounds quite a lot but using none of my small collection of hardware. I consider selling the h/w on a daily basis, as I don’t have any desire to play live in the UK, Europe, America, Eastern Europe…with the world as it is now….and use software to make my tracks, which only a handful of people buy. The ratio of plays to buys on Bandcamp is telling. Maybe 100:1 – people want to hear it but not generally pay for it.
Live in Asia, possibly, one day…and that’s why I’m hanging on to my hardware…but I may change my mind again next week.
Getting older has suddenly presented brick walls to be climbed over, which were not in our plans. Dodging bullets is the phrase I’ve used occasionally.
Anyway, I for one am keen to hear anything new you make, whatever its source, and find your rantings comforting, although I know you’re not here to make me feel better 🙂
Keep well, sir.
So I’ve been trying to get back into making music and overcoming the related burnout recently – my main obstacle was the nagging voice in my head telling me that whatever I was working on wasn’t good or innovative enough, that I should be capable of better, that I’m doing things that I’m criticising other musicians for doing (e.g. poor lyrics or mixing). Ultimately the overthinking became an obstacle to actually doing the work and I was much more productive when I let go and said “fuck it, today I’m going to bounce a demo, doesn’t matter if it’s imperfect cos we can come back to it later, it’s just having something to show”. I found that very helpful for music making, but I’m very young and not weighed down by the same history as you obviously are. The demos might now be the end product, because at a point you have to let go (to move on to new projects, not to sell out or bask in nostalgia).
I’ve also started some collaboration, which brings new challenges and possibilities – definitely think that’s the new way of working you could benefit from. ButchCrutch, another remix comp…
I also think the best publicity for Severed Heads has been other bands like Orbital and Boards Of Canada using your tracks in DJ sets and constantly citing you as a major influence (along with the stories of technological innovation and humour and so on). Scott Walker benefitted in a similar way – David Bowie and so many other people idolized him, to a point that their own fans’ curiosity was piqued. This is how I first heard of both yourself and Scott Walker. Maybe a talking heads documentary would be a good primer. (I know, I know, but there could be a twist on this…)
As for the radio broadcast, that’s a tricky one. I don’t know how much it can be overthought… nothing wrong with a NTS-style DJ set, interspersed maybe with other soundbites that suit the music tonally? Or ‘Seance’ remixes/deconstructions of the old material into something completely unrecognisable – like ‘Aversion’ but with your own music? I dunno if me liating all these ideas is helpful… Appreciate you wanting to make it artistically valid though. But is that something you were similarly fretting about when you first started making music?
Sorry to hear audiences haven’t been receptive to EBOLABALL and other new releases… If it weren’t for the branding and customers being careful with money and lacking patience, they’d see it’s actually the soft reboot of Rotund or Rhine they’d probably want, the perfect balance of old and new, not trying too hard. This reminds me of Lindsay Anderson, a British film director who never escaped his small cult status because, to paraphrase him, his films asked audiences to think, and they don’t actually want to do that.
Looking forward to whatever you do, which will probably be more sensible than my ideas.
As always, you’ve shared thoughts that prompt a good bit of mulling over. Which I enjoy, but first I’m off to play some Ebolaball tracks, even more fun.
Hi Tom
I can understand that you feel burned out. I watched a couple of your interviews and understand that your main motivation, originally, was screaming against the establishment. Then you became a commercial success which is exactly what you did not really want because then you are chained to the establishment. I really admire what I have
seen of your career and, although your music is not of my genre, I do like the lyrics to “Dead Eyes Open”.
Would it be possible for you to contact me regarding an historic meet up of out NBPS classmates please?