Soon Isn’t Anything
This is a purely personal article. Highly subjective musings to follow without a structure or much of a point. Enjoy at your own discretion.
There’s this thing that happens when you research the past. For my next Sets And The CD project, I’ve had to immerse myself in the early ’90s. I have read countless articles and op-eds from NME and watched poorly lit video interviews from 1991, and all of a sudden, I can feel myself there.
The passage of time plays a pretty important role in this new and ambitious passion project. I’ve waited long enough to develop the production skills and commitment to fully dedicate myself to a labor of love for music I absolutely adore. I was previously very scared to do this because I thought I had to wait to be “good” in order to talk about things that I love. That’s why my first, poorly-lit video was on Chillwave. I don’t love chillwave. I don’t think anyone does, really. And, if for some reason, you, reading this, love chillwave, then I pass my baton to you: please make a new chillwave video. It’s funny because time has rarely meant so little in my life, or anyone else’s, for that matter. I can only speak for myself, but time only exists in my mind lately. Everything is measured by little chunks of actions and thoughts. It’s like my life is becoming a weird collection of activities, and if you put them together, they’re a measurable unit. Like an equation. And I abhor the idea of living in math.
You know what I do like? Living in phases, in moods, in unquantifiable ~atmospheres~ made up of distinct soundtracks, arty interests, lofty goals, dietary obsessions… I was so enamored with the idea of tracking my life this way that, ten years ago, I used to make charts that would track every “phase” of my life. I have the Moleskine to prove it.
Maybe part of this is growing up, but when I approach interviews and press material and artists explaining away at their art, I can relate. I don’t see them as far removed or all-knowing, or lose respect when I realize this image has been shattered. Instead, I find myself thinking “yeah, that’s where it’s at.” I don’t know, I’m probably biased. But when you consume enough material to take you in a parallel dimension where no time has passed and all pop culture is forever frozen— and this did happen even during the making of the chillwave video of all things —you start to realize that that’s all time is. The present just is. The atmosphere is the only thing you have the power to change at any moment, and if the atmosphere changes your mood, then you’ve got the secret juice to a great life itself. Maybe, that’s why I love music. That’s why I’m content spending days on end, researching the year 1991 for my 95 subscribers. Because putting myself in that present, if only intermittently, has the power to enrich my reality a lot more than the micromanaged mundanity of everyday life.
And, I guess, that makes me a better person.
If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a treat.
Join me on May 3rd to find out how My Bloody Valentine Made Music Timeless.
