tag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:/blogs/blog?p=1Blog2022-05-18T09:56:36-05:00Jon James Is Deadfalsetag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/62656842020-03-29T14:58:43-05:002021-11-17T05:52:51-06:00The Voices<p><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/f26ebd9f5e88336e943d926ed4e6cdbe79a886ba/original/rilke.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_none" alt="" /><strong>The Voices</strong><br>by Rainer Maria Rilke<br><br>It's OK for the rich and the lucky to keep still,<br>no one wants to know about them anyway.<br>But those in need have to step forward,<br>have to say: I am blind,<br>or: nothing is going well with me,<br>or: I have a child who is sick,<br>or: right there I'm sort of glued together...<br><br>And probably that doesn't do anything either.<br><br>They have to sing, if they didn't sing, everyone<br>would walk past, as if they were fences or trees.<br><br>That's where you can hear good singing.<br><br>People really are strange: they prefer<br>to hear castratos in boychoirs.<br><br>But God himself comes and stays a long time<br>when the world of half-people start to bore him.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989912019-09-16T19:00:00-05:002021-12-07T05:17:49-06:00A 45 for 45, or "Love Letter to a Hollow Masculine Icon"
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/24e8c8abb03ba31ae0bc70eb783f403273f392a9/original/orangeheap.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="OrangeHeap" height="300" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />A question I’ve tended to ask since being absent here for quite a few moons: why even “blog?” It‘s certainly not as though there's any sort of viable business model in terms of creating and/or trying to peddle one's musical wares.<br><br>I guess the answer to that is: there are things of late that have come to capture my attention, my concern and my imagination even more than music – even as music has <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">always</em> been my go-to outlet. For one, I do wax nostalgic for the days when "45" referred to RPMs. Brimful of asha there, baby.<br><br>For two, I’ve pretty much fallen in love with Gabor Maté. But that’s another love story for another love time.<br><br>As to love, a dear person did once suggest my heart was located primarily in my forehead.<br><br>As to precisely such cerebral diversions, why not release a single?<br><br>Since <a href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Clutching At Straws</a> I’ve written a large handful of songs. Some largely complete, some more largely works-in-progress. Either way, it’s good exercise in getting the lead out. By and large.<br><br>Speaking of all that heft, not to mention my complete inability to stay on point without redirecting, sidetracking and outright obfuscating, I can assure you my hands definitely aren’t small. But what if they were? Or what if they were merely – *gasp* – <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">average</em>?<br><br>In any event. No overarching themes seem to be emerging yet with the overall batch of songs. But <a href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__one_eyed_fat_man_single___sep_19/" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>this</strong></a> one seems timely. Maybe even well past due (dad always used to say, “Jonathan, you were <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">born</em> late”). Which, technically, I was – by one week (sorry, mom). But I don’t think he meant it in the technical way. Or even the nice way, really.<br><br>As with most ventures into song – historically speaking, at least – I began with it on acoustic guitar. But, after having dabbled late last year with an <a href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__vairagya_2018/" target="_blank" data-imported="1">album’s full of electronic instrumental music</a>, I wanted to see how things might play out if I crossed the singer-songwriter thingamajig over into the electronic medium.<br><br>Which brings me, quite obviously and directly, to our current Commander-in-thief.<br><br>But first, I digress. Again.<br><br>In therapy, Therapy Guy and I often chat, with both jest and inquisitiveness, about John Wayne as an archetypal representation of the American male and, indeed, America's ostensible infallibility overall. Rugged, stoic, incorruptible, tenaciously self-sufficient, always on the side of righteousness and integrity – you know the drill. Strong and silent, too, of course. You may even buy into it. Because <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">how dare you</em> subject the wholesome romanticism of America’s self-image to scrutiny or question.<br><br>It's akin to defiling a corpse.<br><br>Me? I do some internal battle. I can, at times, fall prey to that romanticism, and the surrounding expectations. Even when it doesn’t necessarily resonate with some of the things I hold nearer and dearer in my heart (head), these ideas – constructions though they are – exert tremendously strong pull on the psyche; indeed, on the culture at large.</p>
<p><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/7484005dc0fed97ec1b66c80eafebacc3b89e8a1/original/john-trough.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDM3NyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="John_Trough" height="377" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />Recently, I stumbled across <a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/john-wayne-john-ford/544113/" target="_blank" data-imported="1">this article</a>, which scrutinizes the creative relationship between Wayne and director John Ford, and how meticulously Ford shaped the image we now take as gospel truth. It asserts Wayne’s fabricated male modes are a reflection of Ford’s own fakeness; Ford being a man ashamed of his own femininity (some affirm he was gay – and no, I don’t personally equate homosexuality with femininity, but I do understand how rife that notion is) who hoisted onto Wayne an ideal to which no man could realistically live up – “a by-product of nostalgia, a maudlin elegy for something that never existed – or worse, a masquerade that allows no man, not even John Wayne, to be comfortable in his own skin.”<br><br>Marion. That was Wayne’s given name. A fellow who Ford saw as doughy, naïve and stupid in his youth. Pliable. Someone capable of being molded. It portrays Wayne as a sycophant, and Ford as a cruel pretender trying to put across a rigid standard about which he actually knew nothing. And, as the author notes – Ford was “savage in his mistreatment of Wayne” – it does make me wonder how such a strong and self-assured Wayne would have ever acquiesced to such a thing.<br><br>It goes on to articulate, “toxic overcompensation and status jockeying – this is what’s unleashed when masculinity no longer has an obvious function." At that, American masculinity itself becomes propagandist kindling for the fiery rhetoric of patriotism and ultra-nationalism. Either you’re with us, or you’re against us. Naturally. No room whatsoever for nuanced debate.<br><br>“John Wayne the icon has always appealed to men who are smaller than they think they deserve to be.”<br><br>Do I spy the letters <strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">e-n-t-i-t-l-e-m-e-n-t</strong> sequentially enumerated therein? “As men become less socially relevant, they become recognition-starved; and it is here that ‘being a man’ expresses itself most primitively, as violence.”<br><br>I won’t delve too deeply into guns here, other than to reference <a href="%20https://www.mosaicvoices.org/the-march-of-violence?fbclid=IwAR2LzBUZ-qYxNQGIAw-DAocnd0e4qbVJJgxED9zYycQKzRf3ECZIdpgIQ5g" target="_blank" data-imported="1">this</a>, and the quote therein:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The ancient Irish had a saying: “You don't give a man a weapon until you've taught him how to dance." In other words, a different kind of learning is required before someone can be truly trusted with social power and potent things like weapons<em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">. If a man does not know the wounds of his own soul, he can deny not just his own pain, but also be unmoved by the suffering of other people. More than that, he will tend to put his wound onto others. He may only be able to see the wound that secretly troubles him when he forcefully projects it into someone else, in forms of abuse or violence.</em> (itals mine)</p>
<p>Besides round and round, where am I going with all this?<br><br>(Advance apology for not being a “straight shooter.”)<br><br>Ah, yes. <a href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__one_eyed_fat_man_single___sep_19/" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>The </strong></a><a href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__one_eyed_fat_man_single___sep_19/" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><strong>song</strong></a>. Recently, as part of my personal John Wayne symposium, I watched <strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">True Grit</strong> (to be clear this particular film was directed by Henry Hathaway, <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">not </em>John Ford). And there’s this line directed at Wayne’s character, Rooster Cogburn, by one of the story’s antagonists, Ned Pepper: “I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”<br><br>It stuck with me. And somehow, my mind made the instantaneous leap to Orange Heap #45. What unfolded rather quickly were the lyrics to today’s featured ditty. Or oddity. However you prefer to frame it.<br><br>Yes, it is a clear and contemptuous slam. And, unlike this here potentially tedious discourse, fairly tidily stated.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/0cb5fd8e8f54d8bea6f0838c57372a078472becb/original/johndon2.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDE1OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="JohnDon2" height="158" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />When it comes to 45, we hear the word narcissism bandied about quite a lot. I understand research also tends to indicate narcissism as a whole is on the social rise. I’ll openly disclose it was indicated to me a few years back that <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">even I</em><em> might be</em> somewhat of a narcissistic sort. Which was a rather painful thing to consider because, seeing how certain things played out in my household growing up, I had to confront the manners in which I had absorbed certain toxic qualities myself. When you’re a kid in the midst of a turbulent family dynamic, you insist, “I’ll never be like that when I’m older.” But apples, as a rule, don’t fall far from trees. A Law of Gravity thing; something I've come to ponder with... substantial gravity.<br><br>I don’t honestly think I have NPD. I’ve had to learn both healthy and unhealthy narcissism exist; each of them on a spectrum. And I’ve had to learn unhealthy narcissism stems largely from deep-seated shame. And I tell you when you grow up in an environment where the alcohol flows, the codependency follows – and shame is an ever-present specter.<br><br>If anything, it's been suggested to me I exhibit a high degree of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/romance-redux/201809/what-makes-person-echoist" target="_blank" data-imported="1">echoism</a>. Which may sound musically cool, but I assure you it's rife with problems all its own.<br><br>Back to Trumpery (a word I'd heartily encourage you to look up). While I cannot deny my disdain for this man (feelings of revulsion arise automatically in my body; something over which I have fundamentally little control), I want to proceed with care surrounding the ways I nurture that anger. I want to be careful about allowing it to spin into a sense of my own self-righteousness.<br><br>I do feel one of the primary gauges of his particular variety of pathology (and my armchair diagnosis: he is indeed pathological) is his utter incapacity to self-examine. I attribute this tendency to both him and perhaps more than a few who offer him their seemingly credulous support. There is a vast difference between actual, principled strength of consistent character and an unyielding, grandiose sense of one’s fundamental rightness. In this regard, I see a certain destructiveness on all sides of the political arena. I see anger fueling anger and hatred fueling hatred. Discord leading to more discord.<br><br>We become <a href="https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/pema-chodron-getting-hooked/" target="_blank" data-imported="1">hooked</a>, in the Pema Chödrön sense of the term. Snake devouring its own tail.<br><br>It’s difficult for me to even speak with authority toward this without acknowledging certain vast personal shortcomings. Still, I feel strongly that it’s true.<br><br>I’m not talking about the type of anger that is rooted in an immense desire for justice. That is productive anger, proactive anger, transformative anger. But I do see it’s come to a point where the mere back-and-forth of our daily communication itself is plagued with violence.<br><br>Seeing we’ve spent <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/us-spent-six-trillion-wars-killed-half-million-1215588" target="_blank" data-imported="1">$6 trillion on war since 9/11, to the tune of 500,000 lives lost</a>, I’m asking my fellow fellows in particular to consider what a non-destructive masculinity might look like?<br><br>Further, I want to suggest how the people we perceive as our greatest foes can be our master teachers, because they mirror for us precisely what aspects of ourselves are most difficult to swallow. This offers us opportunities for our own growth and change. And this embodiment of <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">our own personal best</em> – not the endless chucking of feces within the safe confines of social media – is what will bring real growth and change in the world. I hope.<br><br>As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/09/despite-lies-donald-trump-potent-truth-teller-shakespearean-fool" target="_blank" data-imported="1">James S. Gordon from The Guardian wrote</a>: “Trump’s grand and vulgar self-absorption is inviting all of us to examine our own selfishness. His ignorance calls us to attend to our own blind spots. The fears that he stokes and the isolation he promotes goad us to be braver, more generous.”<br><br>For my part, life has demanded in the last few years that I ask several questions.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/4e1d5c567e542128c1c4a9b531acb00d9742493d/original/monkeymirror.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="MonkeyMirror" height="300" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />For one, in what ways have I adopted a persona – even if unconsciously – that collides with my own sense of inner truth? While “calm and composed” may represent an actual and commendable personal value, how often do I bury a certain degree of turbulence as a means of remaining disengaged, withdrawn, invulnerable? How do I adopt a certain “flat” expressiveness or aloof affect so as to remain hidden; to not stick out? How do I sometimes experience disdain surrounding certain people’s attention-seeking behavior, all the while remaining enigmatic myself so as to draw people in as a means of – you guessed it – garnering attention? How am I overly self-reliant and in what ways do I utterly refuse help, even when generously offered? In what ways were these simply instilled in me as boilerplate male ideals? In what ways were they adaptive behaviors in a dysfunctional, antagonistic household – conflict-avoidant strategies that helped me survive as a kid but no longer serve me as a complex adult who wishes to engage more expressively and more passionately with my cohorts and my community?<br><br>What’s more – what sort of arrogant self-narratives do I maintain as a means of propping myself up vis-à-vis others? When I argue, do I fight fair? Do I argue to augment understanding, or just to “win” at any cost? How am I callous, cold, calculating, controlling, cowardly? Per the lyrics of the song, in what ways have I participated in “locker room talk?” In what ways am I grotesque? Nay, sinful?<br><br>How do I behave and/or act from my feelings-of-the-moment, rather than proceeding from the deep wellspring of personal principle?<br><br>In sum, <em>in what ways am I the toxic person, too</em>?<br><br>Maybe my friends and family would be surprised to read this. I’d wager most of them think I’m fairly thoughtful, mostly considerate, well-measured, basically agreeable, sometimes witty. All of which are probably true, to degree.<br><br>Trump, however, is a guy with seemingly zero sense of his own limitations and obviously zero capacity for enduring criticism. To boot, he’s humorless and utterly incapable of taking a joke (although, admittedly, he seems to find his own penchant for insult exceedingly hilarious). He sleeps with porn stars then pays them to shut up about it. Meanwhile, astute women of courageousness and integrity speak up and he calls them “nasty” and “filthy.” I call that <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">projection</em>, sir.<br><br>He is not a leader. But he is most definitely, as Gordon maintains, someone who can serve as an “instrument of awareness.”<br><br>I've become of the general mind that the places from whence men's wounds stem are where they will find their gifts, even their genius. I suspect that’s precisely the place from which they will lend their most meaningful contributions to their respective communities.<br><br>If, as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32336167-wayne-and-ford" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Schoenberg writes</a>, Wayne’s brand of positive male energy – fabricated though it may have been – resides in qualities like stoicism, humility, gallantry, self-sufficiency and loyalty, at least those embody certain timeless virtues.<br><br>But Trump? He's not stoic, but regressively childlike in his volatility; not humble, but exceedingly boastful; not gallant but boorish and crude; not self-sufficient but a parasitic opportunist; not loyal but treacherously deceitful.<br><br>It’s time for those who would champion both Wayne and Trump in the same breath to take a somber look at themselves and what they claim to stand for. As fraudulence and dishonesty reside on such blatant display, let’s reconsider what comprises actual positive male authority in our world. Let’s champion men of intelligence and valor and sound mind, men of goodwill and generosity, men who listen and reflect and then act with decisiveness. Let’s agree that this is the sort of authority we can readily accept and champion for the best possible well-being of our communities and our land.</p>
<p>Am I that sort of dude? Oh, I doubt it. I mean, it was Rumi who said, "What you seek is seeking you." So there is that. At bare minimum, I'm working on some shit. But either way: I'm not your fucking President.<br><br>Too, it was Socrates who said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” This, duly noted, while undergoing a trial that resulted ultimately in his death (I’ve tended to notice we humans have an uncanny penchant for doing this to actual truth-tellers).<br><br>People. We can do so much better than this. It’s within us.<br><br>In the meantime: Donald, a.k.a. Mr. Locked-and-Loaded – you’re in my thoughts and prayers.</p>
Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989902019-09-15T19:00:00-05:002022-01-20T08:54:13-06:00Dyspeptic Poetry
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/c60ad3c1e6ad89c2ebb5cd430a8a420e243dfe8f/original/annoyingorange.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMzMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="AnnoyingOrange" height="330" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p><br><strong>ONE-EYED FAT MAN (PISS IN THE WIND)</strong></p>
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<p>What if I told you<br>Tired of your stories?<br>Your rambling glories:<br>Piss in the wind<br><br>A locker room talker<br>All sniff and anxiety<br>Come stiffin’ society<br>Words all a sin</p>
<p>Beneath the grotesque<br>Poetry of your body<br>The rhymes runnin’ shoddy</p>
<p>Gilded the tower<br>The power grab ruthless<br>Policy toothless<br>Strategy plain</p>
<p>Lust for the muscle<br>Cap and a feather<br>Strap on the leather<br>Pull on the reign [sic]</p>
<p>Deep in the black<br>Of a smokescreen cigarette<br>Shadow and silhouette</p>
<p>Deep in the black smokescreen</p>
<p>No shirt and no shoes now<br>Serfs gettin’ nervous<br>The emperor serve us<br>Piss in the wind</p>
<p>Bold, bold talk<br>From a one-eyed fat man</p>
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Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989882019-09-11T19:00:00-05:002021-11-06T07:03:19-05:00John and Don<p><br><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/0cb5fd8e8f54d8bea6f0838c57372a078472becb/original/johndon2.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDE1OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="JohnDon2" height="158" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />Promo copy for the single</strong><br><strong>@ <a data-imported="1" href="https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/jonjamesisdead" target="_blank">CD Baby Store</a></strong><br><strong>One-eyed Fat Man (Piss In The Wind)</strong><br><br>“I realize this whole business of people writing about themselves, promotionally, in 3rd person is all a bit preposterous,” says Benson.<br><br>So, let’s roll.<br><br>J.J. plays a fairly mean-and-loud electric guitar (although sometimes he plays it unfairly). In the parlance of repelling corporate jargon, “it’s in his wheelhouse.” Last year, he bucked that easy chair and released a marathon, intimate album of acoustically-based, lovelorn balladry (<a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/" style="" target="_blank">Clutching At Straws</a>). This, quick on the heels of a sample-heavy instrumental electronica record without a lick of guitar (<a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__vairagya_2018/" target="_blank">Vairagya</a>).<br><br>You might say he’s being difficult. He contends your actual marketplace is fraught with certain difficulties. It operates under the hornswoggle that people who create stuff ought best be put in reassuringly tidy cartons for easily digestible consumption. He thinks the crux of creative endeavor is more aptly about doing whatever the feck you want. Which is often about delving into the unknown. But rest assured he's becoming predictable in his orneriness surrounding such things.</p>
<p>As such. Here’s a recent rummage through the indefinite. Benson wrote it on acoustic guitar, then mapped it into electronic format, then sang into a microphone with the air conditioner whirring in the background. Then he ditched the guitar parts. Again.<br><br>It sounds like who-the-eff knows. Oscar the Grouch goes EDM. Loverboy meets TV on the Radio. Howard Jones meets Molecular. Beck in a synth-metal time warp. Peter Murphy if he was a soprano with a sinus infection. The singer-dude from Midnight Oil on a bad hair day. Richard Ashcroft doing a collab with that Scandinavian savant who came up with the epic earworm in <em>The Final Countdown</em>.<br><br>“<a data-imported="1" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-duke-and-the-trump-on_b_9024162" style="" target="_blank">Dedicated to Orange Heap #45</a>,” says Benson, “with the tagline: piss in the wind. Because you’re feeble, ineffectual, an empty excuse and an affront to actual human valor. ‘I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.’ Thanks, John Wayne. And thanks, Don, for your small hands and your indomitable shame complex.”</p>
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<p> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989892019-09-08T19:00:00-05:002019-09-13T08:01:23-05:00Monkey See, Monkey Do
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/4e1d5c567e542128c1c4a9b531acb00d9742493d/original/monkeymirror.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="MonkeyMirror" height="300" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" />I think I’ll release a single. Because.</p>
<p>Next week.</p>
Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989872019-01-08T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T21:03:42-05:00Doing What I Can To Save A Planet On Its Way To Hell In A Hand Basket<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/d813283176215aa13189ae4e4402c4bf59c3eb44/original/haberdasher.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDMwMyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="haberdasher" height="303" style="margin: 20px; " width="400" />Just in case you thought things here couldn’t get any more geeked-out, enter <em>musical pseudoscience</em>.<br><br>As I was in process writing <a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096277/haberdashery-soul" style="">Haberdashery Soul</a>, I’d captured a recording on my iPhone memos and it seemed to be just slightly below (lower than) standard guitar tuning. I'm guessing my guitar had probably dropped pitch due to decreasing humidity in the winter air.</p>
<p>For whatever reason, I liked the vibe of it.<br><br>Little did I know I’d soon be lending my own small contribution toward the betterment of our planet.</p>
<p>You see… at about the same time, I’d begun stumbling across information on 432Hz versus 440Hz tuning. This, probably amid YouTube adventures down the flat-earth and freemasonry rabbit holes. Understand I don’t <em>always</em> spend my sleepless nights recording loopy electronic ditties. Sometimes I delve instead into the gleeful realm of Satanic Illuminati mind programming and/or watching Alex Jones cry.</p>
<p>Anywho. The purely technical gist is that 432 is pitched just a notch below 440, but here’s an example of some of the <em>miraculous</em> sorts of things folks also claim about it; and there’s tons more factual evidence (finger quotes) out there should you wish to further probe:</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" href="https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz-healing/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz-healing/</a></p>
<p>Well. Heal the planet? Hallelujah. Being both an <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/2017/02/20/understanding-infp-feeling/" target="_blank">INFP</a> and an <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-4" target="_blank">Enneagram 4</a> (and therefore hopelessly prone to <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">magical thinking</em>), I thought, “<em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">what if I record the whole album at 432Hz?</em>”</p>
<p>I didn’t take it quite that far; perhaps a good 33<strong>⅓ </strong>percent of the songs on Clutching At Straws are tuned slightly off-pitch and I assure you that’s quite enough to press any recording engineer (or, for that matter, fellow musician) toward the limits of temporary madness.</p>
<p>At that, <a data-imported="1" href="http://joebeier.com/" target="_blank">Joe Beier</a> – who engineered and mixed this track – has suffered greatly (in particular, his acutely-developed left brain) so that I may bring you musical stylings in sync with the harmonic vibration of Mother Nature herself.</p>
<p>So, friends – I do hope your body will soon be resonating in an altogether more intuitive, organic, holistic way. Peace and blessings be upon you.<br><br><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096277/haberdashery-soul" style="">LISTEN – Haberdashery Soul</a></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/6a4934be8406943291f01ce73123e8109051d894/original/truman.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDI4MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="Truman" height="280" style=" margin: 20px;" width="400" /></p>
<p>Semi-related numerological side notes:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><br>1. Did you know Harry S. Truman once worked as a haberdasher? Speaking of having one’s small hands on the doomsday button, I figure if a former suit salesman can authorize two atomic bomb drops a former reality TV star can build a piddling border wall. Also, a styling tip, Donnie: you wear your ties too long. This, listed as the final line item on the official public document otherwise known as <em>1,001 Things That Prove You’re A Dipshit</em>.<br><br>2. When I was growing up, I remembered AC/DC’s Highway to Hell being recorded at a slightly lower tuning – any pitch-perfect parties out there care to vouch for whether it may have been at 432Hz? If so, maybe this whole healing vibrations thing is bunk, I’ve been duped by the Devil and hey, momma, look at me, I’m on the way to the promised land.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">3. I guess this all means I’m going to have to write soon about one of my other tracks, <a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096287/the-new-math-lament" style="">The New Math Lament</a>.</p>
<p><br>Okay. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMmDMH8EUck" width="425"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
<p> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989862019-01-06T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T21:11:38-05:00Personal Branding: Cross-contamination<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/f99c0cb39818aa907c78dcbd3db8ed057ee443ae/original/lister.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDI2NyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Lister" height="267" style="margin: 20px; " width="400" />Continuing in the vein of my <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/blog/post_holiday_swag_and_the_unbounded_universe/">New Year’s Eve post</a>, I’m gonna keep riffing on contradiction and incongruity.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’d be helpful to try hoisting some affirmative structure upon my usual standard lack of methodology. Outlines were a big thing in elementary school. Do they teach this nowadays? I found them infuriating, which is probably why they stuck. Anger can be a splendid motivator. Ostensibly, it could look like this:<br> </p>
<p><strong>I.</strong> Yes, as acknowledged, I understand it’s confusing that after a lifetime of playing conventional rock-n-roll music I’m suddenly heaving this electronic stuff onto the pile.<br><br><strong>II.</strong> Last night, I couldn’t sleep.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> This is a long-standing challenge.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> I used to fret about it; lie in bed and cogitate about how I was going to get some rest before the morning.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>C.</strong> For those not in the know, I assure you extracurricular cogitation does not encourage quality slumber.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>D. </strong>Sometimes <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.teasource.com/products/evening-in-missoula-herbal-tea" target="_blank">Evening In Missoula</a> does.</p>
<p><strong>III.</strong> My solution to said insomnia is to get up and dabble in something creative.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> Sometimes, I write.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> You know – words and stuff.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> Sometimes, I tinker with electronic music.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> I find it gets me in the zen zone and time tends to scatter to the winds.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>2.</strong> Yes, I know the blue screen thing is counter-productive to sleep.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>3.</strong> But I tend to not care about that so much when I’ve mistakenly made it my specific aim to be productive at 3 AM.</p>
<p><strong>IV.</strong> Last week, an old friend (hi, Brian) suggested I upload some of my electronic stuff to a website.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> He said since there is some stylistic variance to the tracks I might try classifying each one by genre.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> I realized I have no frikkin' idea how to do this, since my knowledge of the medium is severely constricted.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>C.</strong> Alas, I just like playing around, building these things from the ground up and seeing what emerges.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>D.</strong> Last night’s song was further evidence of this trend, as I’m pretty sure I was confusing some sort of house music sounds with hip hop.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> Don’t quote me on that.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>2.</strong> It was mostly a gut feeling sort of thing anyways. Yes, I know we’re living in the age of facts (not feelings) because I read the news today, oh boy.</p>
<p><strong>V.</strong> Irrespective, the word <strong><em>cross-contamination</em></strong> popped into my head.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> Did you know <a data-imported="1" href="https://daily.jstor.org/joseph-lister-antiseptic-revolution/" target="_blank">Joseph Lister’s getting people on board with the idea of antiseptic surgery</a> was quite the undertaking?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> There was a lot of opposition from his colleagues, given the accepted methods of the time.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>C.</strong> Apparently, it was his <em>character</em> that eventually won over the establishment at large. He was considered a “moral exemplar” and “role model of the gentleman professional.”</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>D.</strong> This is something you don’t need to worry about with me.</p>
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/faac0e2f46c70e78a1a216fbb7594e44569fd251/original/sassymagcover.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDI3MSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="sassy" height="271" style="margin: 20px; " width="200" />VI.</strong> One of these statements is true:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> I’ll be featured on the cover of next month’s issue of <em>Sassy</em> magazine.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> Since the new electronic song is clearly cross-contaminated, I decided to name it <strong>Antiseptic</strong>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> If the latter statement is true, <a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096332/antiseptic" style="">you might opt to listen to it here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>VII.</strong> After I was done mixing it, I did a thorough cost-benefit analysis.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> My grade in managerial accounting, sophomore year, University of Iowa, Iowa City: <strong>D+</strong></p>
<p><strong>VIII.</strong> Then, I did a breakdown of potential long-term versus short-term gains.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> I decided, as with last week’s track – Don’t Give A Hoot – to also make <a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096332/antiseptic" style="">Antiseptic downloadable for free</a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> Don’t ask me why. Oscar Wilde already told you:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> “Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the market-place. It may not be purchased of the merchants, nor can it be weighted out in the balance for gold.”</p>
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/c1a8bbc94f8a374c1ab59ca5af67e22b3e9717c1/original/oscar-wilde.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDE2OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Oscar Wilde" height="168" style="margin: 20px; " width="200" />IX.</strong> Someday, I’ll compile a handful of these new tracks and release them for distribution. Maybe.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> Until then: legal looting for you. Woo-hoo.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> Also, I don’t want to deal with the distribution Arm of the Industry this particular week.</p>
<p><strong>X.</strong> Why?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> (You may ask.)</p>
<p><strong>XI.</strong> This is where I cross-contaminate not only between genres but also within a blog post.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> You see, my CD distributor contacted me last Friday (1/4/19), the purportedly slated release date for <em><a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/">Clutching At Straws</a>.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> I’m informed at this quite late date they cannot sell my physical CD online because it does not conform to packaging standards.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>C.</strong> This, after having two protracted online conversations with one of their resident experts about precisely what I’d be providing and them assuring me it would be perfectly acceptable.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/f0f6858258bcb9a80e5098ffd9fb80551ea50f1d/original/clutching-materials.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDM4OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="clutching_materials" height="388" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />D.</strong> Acceptable or not, the CD packaging is cool.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> It was designed by <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.behance.net/mikenovak" target="_blank">Mike Novak</a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>2.</strong> They are all hand assembled by <em>moi.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>3.</strong> They include, in addition to the disc:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 90px;"><strong>a.</strong> Mike’s foldout, replete with grand imagery.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 90px;"><strong>b.</strong> A sticker of a drawing by my son.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 120px;"><strong>i.</strong> It's an album emblem.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 120px;"><strong>ii.</strong> Say that 10 times fast.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 120px;"><strong>iii.</strong> Fashioned for/after the song Buzzsaw, versions <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/s/buzzsaw_no._1">one</a>, <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/s/buzzsaw_no._2">two</a> and <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/s/buzzsaw_no._3">three</a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 90px;"><strong>c.</strong> A download card for my recent electronic album, <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__vairagya_2018/"><em>Vairagya</em></a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 90px;"><strong>d.</strong> Each copy is hand-stamped with a unique number, 1 through 300, and sealed with a wafer sticker.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>E.</strong> So, I’m gonna have to figure out a different way to sell these online.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>1.</strong> Maybe Bandcamp.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>2.</strong> Maybe an Etsy shop.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>3.</strong> Maybe you have a suggestion.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>4.</strong> If so, hit me up.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>5.</strong> Or, if you want one, drop me a line – <a data-imported="1" href="mailto:helpdesk@jonjamesmusic.com">helpdesk@jonjamesmusic.com</a> – and we’ll work it out.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>F.</strong> Until then, <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/"><em>Clutching At Straws</em> is available, digitally, via numerous online retailers</a>.</p>
<p><strong>XII. </strong>Recent developments have impressed upon me a personal tendency to do most things the hard way.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>A.</strong> As I consider the evolution of my personal brand, the words “convoluted eccentric” come to mind with ferocious immediacy.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>B.</strong> Or, as mom always used to say: “Jonathan, you’re incorrigible.”</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>C. </strong>Dear Lister would no doubt be dismayed.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>D.</strong> Hopefully you, Dear Listener, will not.</p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989852019-01-02T18:00:00-06:002022-05-18T09:56:36-05:00Finger Quotes<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/0997a5d03289c9fc09cabd0e724eaae03e838fb2/original/finger-quotes.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDE2OSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="finger quotes" height="169" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p><em>Clutching At Straws</em> drops tomorrow. I imagine it will be a largely quiet affair, and don’t think I ever really imagined it otherwise. There’s a whole lot of supplementary noise to contend with out there and, while it’s true I may suffer from intermittent bouts of logorrhea, I’ve never really been one to speak more loudly as means of getting my point across. Besides, China just landed on the dark side of the moon and I happen to understand this is infinitely more interesting. To both believers and conspiracy theorists alike.</p>
<p>For those of you who dabble in or take interest in such things, I’m an INFP (Myers-Briggs). Fairly quiet and reserved on the outside but lots of imaginative oddity and intense emotion on the inside. Guarded and private. It’s weird for me to do the social media thing; always has been. Much moreso spill in blog format. Let me be honest – I tend to get a little judgmental about people who ramble on about themselves. And then let me be brutally honest – my shrink says this is a projection onto others of my own desire to feel comfortable sharing myself in a more free and open fashion. He says this blog stuff is a good exercise for me. A learning experience, in finger quotes.</p>
<p>And then there’s the whole album thing. You can’t put out an album and then not talk about it, right? Well, technically, this is untrue. I’ve released two albums in years past and hardly said jack shit about either one. So I assure you this is infinitely possible. This year, as it turns out, I’m releasing two albums at once and blathering incessantly. Needle swinging hard in opposite direction.</p>
<p>In between said finger quotes, I’m finding a tendency to verge between desires at seeming odds: 1.) to be wholly sincere; and 2.) to be utterly impudent.</p>
<p>I suppose the sincerity stems from the fact <em>Clutching At Straws</em> really is a collection of the most heartfelt songs I’ve ever assembled. And the impudence is a longtime product of defensiveness and fear of being vulnerably exposed. Even if it’s me doing the exposing, voluntarily.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/c5cc2260fb6c7483f558f8bc22cb683ede8572c8/original/yeah-yeah.gif/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDMwOSJd.gif" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="yeah yeah" height="309" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" />Up until I was about 26 or 27, I didn’t write my own songs. I didn’t really sing either. Maybe some “yeah yeah” backup vocals here and there. I was always a sideman. At that time, I was in a band with another fellow, and started speaking of my newfound desire to write and sing. He quickly reprimanded me, insisting I should “know my role and stick to my strengths.”</p>
<p>Well, never tell me I can’t do something. This will be a nuclear-grade impetus for me to set about doing just that. Nevermind how it actually may be an awful idea. My mule-headedness will rule the day. In any event, and for better or worse, I jumped on board the songwriting thing with something of a fervor.</p>
<p>So I’ll talk a little bit about another one of these songs. And then I’ll offer a little bonus bit. And then I’ll say some more about being a sideman. In precisely that order. Consider yourselves effectively prepped.</p>
<p>Boy In The Bubble is, in one way, the oldest song on the record. I had a dream about it when I was 19. The only things I remember from the dream are A.) that I kept repeating the phrase “the boy in the bubble,” over and over, in a Dylan-esque style; and B.) that I was accompanied by a horn section. Oh, and it was in the key of B major. Nothing ever came of it beyond that. But it stuck with me for years.</p>
<p>Nothing, that is, until I started recording <em>Clutching At Straws</em>, whereupon I actually had the notion to try putting something together. I remembered John Travolta from 1976’s <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074236/" target="_blank">The Boy In The Plastic Bubble</a>. I went to research the story of <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.littlethings.com/boy-in-the-bubble/5" target="_blank">David Vetter</a>, upon whom the movie is based. I was simultaneously fascinated and appalled by the <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.houstonpress.com/news/bursting-the-bubble-6573830" target="_blank">culpability of the medical establishment </a>– David was conceived with the specific <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/813296e385ca095e16fb5f1a5909425e516c2fa9/original/bubble-boy.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDE3NiJd.png" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="bubble boy" height="176" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" />advance knowledge he’d need to live his life entirely within the bubble. I was particularly moved imagining the sense of isolation he experienced, and how psychologically detrimental that must have been; too, the lack of physical touch, given how important that is for nurturing healthy human development.</p>
<p>So I set about writing some lyrics – all of which I realized later could only be filtered through the lens of my own neurotic angst and attachment issues, of course. Here’s your chance, armchair psychologists. But I digress. And then I divert.</p>
<p>It ended up in the key of G. Guitar geeks might hear I employed the open G tuning, which is favored as <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.cleveland.com/music/index.ssf/2015/05/rolling_stones_secret_weapon_k.html" target="_blank">Keith Richards’ secret weapon</a> (although he stole it from Ry Cooder). If you really wanna dork out, take note that I kept the bottom string on and tuned it all the way down to a low C, which lends some extra, distinguishing bottom end boom.</p>
<p>No horns, ultimately, but drums were played by <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.peteshouseofgroove.com/" target="_blank">Pete Johnson</a>. I played with Pete for a long spell in ‘80s tribute band Brat Pack Radio, and it was a blast. One way Pete and I hit it off was via our mutual love of Cheap Trick – specifically, I was thrilled to hear about his admiration for Bun E. Carlos. I rarely if ever meet other drummers who cite Bun E. as an influence. I guess <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/28dd17da0298da30865e1d4e530fd3de279a5b25/original/bun-e.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDI1NiJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="Bun E" height="256" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" />the best way to describe the magical element here is “swing” – Bun E. has swing, as does Pete. Once upon a time I encountered someone saying (was it Keef?) that the problem with rock-n-roll nowadays is it’s all rock and no roll. It’s all aggression and attitude and drive (the “rock”), but none of the swing, or playing slightly behind / around the beat (the “roll”). Think Al Jackson, Jr. That’s the jazzy, R & B influence that makes things sound groovy, kids. And it’s been largely white-washed from modern music. Pete, thanks for keeping things imperfectly perfect.</p>
<p>As to other imperfections, this is a one take lead vocal. It was only meant as a scratch; a temporary place keeper. I figured if I sang it again I’d just fuck it up in other ways. So I kept it. That’s the other thing about modern records – every word, note and line is scrutinized to the point where it no longer sounds human. I’ve been missing humanity lately. And not just in music.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096271/boy-in-the-bubble" style="">LISTEN – Boy In The Bubble</a></p>
<p>As to other facets of humanity, here’s your bonus material. As noted in an earlier post, another thing I’m trying to embrace lately is what Jung would call the Shadow: those repressed, marginalized and/or disowned parts of ourselves we’ve pushed aside but need to actually integrate into our being to experience being wholly human. Make of the lyrics what you will. The musical basis of this song was a Wurlitzer piano, which I still think is one of the coolest sounds going on. It also includes some marimba, which reminds me of King of Pain by The Police. That wasn’t intentional theft. It only occurred to me after the fact. Call me a pickpocket if you wish. Then, send money. Just remember if it was a cowbell keeping the rhythm instead you’d be none the wiser.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/bd501e7582f5008182a930b0a403a1f37ce9147b/original/cowbell.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDE1MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="cowbell" height="150" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" /></p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096286/spit-electric" style="">LISTEN – Spit & Electric</a></p>
<p>Okay. On to something about which I can speak with considerably greater contentment and ease: being a sideman.</p>
<p>I’ve been doing this a long time – since I was about 18 in original bands (13 if you consider the even-earlier cover bands). I have always loved whatever sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction I’ve felt by virtue of contributing to a project where someone else was the primary writer and/or front person, yet I got to collaborate and impart my own stamp to the overall sound. Sometimes that’s been just by virtue of what I’ve played, and sometimes I’ve lent an actual hand in the writing process. To me, Mike Campbell once had just about the most enviable job in the world (R.I.P., Tom Petty).</p>
<p>Maybe this is that privacy-fixated INFP in me wanting to experience the satisfaction of being thoroughly musically involved in something bigger than myself but not wanting to be the primary focus of attention. Yes, as I’ve articulated here, I do have songs of my own to write but, at heart, what I value most is <em>being involved in the thing I love most</em>. I like playing in a group. I like feeling that I’m serving something. I like the synergy of what happens when people get together in the same space and play; you cannot duplicate than in many other mediums. It really is something special.</p>
<p>Within the past year (a little more than that, actually), I’ve had the opportunity to play in a band – <a data-imported="1" href="http://www.lolosghost.com/" target="_blank">Lolo’s Ghost</a>. It has been one of the more rewarding experiences in my musical life so I actually want to wrap what will likely be my last post about <em>Clutching At Straws</em> (before its release date tomorrow, at least) by saying something about another band entirely.</p>
<p>Lolo’s Ghost was looking for a new guitar player in the summer of 2017. James Loney (singer/writer) called me and I went into the studio to play a small handful of songs – which was great fun. But shortly thereafter he invited me to come play a full evening’s show. Outside of the few songs I’d heard in the studio, I had pretty much zero listening and/or learning time invested in their other material at that point. I decided to show up anyways.</p>
<p>I assure you standing on stage with a bunch of people I hadn’t yet met playing a bunch of songs I hadn’t yet heard constituted a sort of nerve-wracking plunge I’d never yet taken in this arena.</p>
<p>What unfolded has sort of turned my world around, ever since.</p>
<p>The short of it is that everything turned out just fine; more than fine, really. The long of it is harder to capture. But I will try.</p>
<p>It looks kind of like this: I never knew what was coming next, but somehow I knew what to do. What key is this in? I don’t know. Listen, and find out. Then: join in. Uh-oh – this feels like a spot where a new part may be coming along any moment. But what’s it going to do? I don’t know. Listen, and find out. Then: join in. Oh shit. James just pointed at me to take a solo. But what does the weather and terrain look like here? I don’t know. Well, jump off the cliff. Oh, look. <em>I’m flying</em>. But how is it all going to land? I don’t know. Listen, and find out. Okay, so maybe there was a scratch here and a bruise there, but I never got flattened like a pancake by the forces of gravity. Brush yourself off. Get back up. Try again.</p>
<p>To me – that paragraph has to do with so much more than music. My sister once told me, “J.J., music is the crucible through which you experience and come to understand everything else in life.”</p>
<p>Music can be a hard path. I’ve seen so many of my peers struggle with anything from their finances to their personal demons. But that is universal; not particular to the trade. What happened is I had the <em>felt experience</em> of what it’s like to A.) lean into others; and B.) really, truly trust myself. To me, that is huge. I wish you all a similar experience. Hoist your sails. Let the winds take you where they may. Whatever your path, have faith you are right where you need to be. The universe has your back.</p>
<p>Thanks James, Joe, Paul, Colleen, Jim, Terry and G.R. Happy new year. It’s been a great ride.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b07m4RK-AGA" width="425"></iframe></div></div></div></div>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989842018-12-30T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T21:07:55-05:00Post-Holiday Swag and the Unbounded Universe<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/0a727400a21513b402e0b32b4f6fe48c85ad8ec2/original/universe.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDI3MiJd.png" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="universe" height="272" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>I’ve been thinking a lot about this whole blogging deal. To boot – with two albums recently in the marketplace – selling oneself.</p>
<p>I think I’ve avoided that “selling” mentality, lifelong. In fact, I’ve been so averse to it I’ve probably made counterproductive decisions, at least in terms of that ideology known as consumer capitalism. Lots of bullet holes in the feet.</p>
<p>Perhaps the impetus of this is the notion that, to find success in the music marketplace, there are rules that need to be followed. Formalities. Proper avenues. Ladders to climb. Parameters. And, I suppose, <a data-imported="1" href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4480" target="_blank">living in a bounded universe</a>, there is truth to all of that.</p>
<p>I have been reminded of this recently by multiple friends, who’ve noted releasing both electronic and more traditional rock stylings under the same name is confusing. And I guess maybe it is. Take that, foot.</p>
<p>But what I have sometimes tended to find happening is whenever I get a creative idea – a spark in my mind where I say, “ooh, yes, I need to do <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that</em>” – is a counter-thought arising next: “well, that’s not very viable in terms of smart branding. How on earth are you gonna sell that??” And sometimes, when that counter-thought arises, I end up not even pursuing the creative idea. Because something in me intuits it won’t <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">bear fruit</em>.</p>
<p>Maybe the pattern looks like this: fun idea >> excitement >> critical deliberation ensues >> reconsider >> disengage.</p>
<p>This is cyclically disheartening.</p>
<p>It has taken me half a lifetime to understand the most liberating thing one can do is detach from any potential results. This is not to say one can’t or shouldn’t be hopeful. All I’ve ever dreamt about since being a kid – every fantasy, vision or desire that really set my mind and heart on fire – has been about music. The idea that I could make it my livelihood was firmly implanted at an early age.</p>
<p>Never have I managed to make it my livelihood.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/ccec1d53d07d77359b1b3806d9aa2fd49fa6498d/original/chi.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDE4NCJd.png" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="chi" height="184" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" />Yet here I am, still doing it; perhaps more doggedly than ever. And still feeling the intoxication of creative fervor.</p>
<p>Maybe we have wrong notions about livelihood. Being a word nerd, I went to look up the etymology. The old English has to do with “way of life” or “life course” or “means of keeping alive.” Of course we all need some dough to survive. But, outside of that, what brings one to life? If having an idea lights up one’s excitement or imagination, the generative energy of that force is life-affirming, not whatever potential outcome or external result one ties to it. Ch’i. Prana. The force that permeates all reality. If it puts a spring in your step, to coin someone else’s marketing tagline, just do it. That is honoring one’s joy. The creativity itself is what counts. <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Joy is the fruit</em>.</p>
<p>What does that have to do with blogging? Dunno yet. <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfAWMrYg7is" target="_blank">Still figuring that one</a>.</p>
<p>Meantime, I put out this <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/">epic glam-folk effort</a> (official release: Jan 4, 2019), and this <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__vairagya_2018/">electronic departure</a>. Both, virtually on the heels of one another. Two utterly different stylistic things. Why? Simple: because that was the idea that excited me.</p>
<p>I’ve been continuing in the electronic vein and recorded this one over the holidays. I like it. I always like whatever I’m working on at the moment because it’s super-fresh in my mind. You can download it <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/rotating_gallery/">here, for free</a>. The token musical wisdom is, “don’t give away your stuff; it undervalues your worth.”</p>
<p>Maybe so. But I’m gonna give the unbounded universe a try for a little while and see how things fit. Roomy, I'm betting.</p>
<p>I hope you like it, too. It’s called Don’t Give A Hoot.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096335/don-t-give-a-hoot" style="">LISTEN / DOWNLOAD – DON'T GIVE A HOOT</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989832018-12-18T18:00:00-06:002022-04-22T00:15:52-05:00Gemini Twinkies<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/6b05808df5e51a6768e2fc787d0961e3db4a2cb0/original/twinkies.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Twinkies" height="225" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>I considered the blog title Two For Wednesday, but it just doesn’t have the same ring, does it? As my dad always said: “a day late and a dollar short.”</p>
<p>He also used to tell me I was “born late.” Which, technically I was. I arrived a week overdue, putting me squarely within the <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.tarot.com/astrology/cusps/gemini-cancer" target="_blank">Cusp of Magic</a>.</p>
<p>I don’t think his assessment of my late tendencies was rooted in any magical basis. Oh, well. Being resilient, I carry on.</p>
<p>I have a buddy through whom I’ve tended to vet a lot of songs over the years. He told me Rule This Heart is the “hit” of the record. “My new favorite,” he said. “Perfect mix of your unique thing plus mainstream.” The clear-cut single, presumably. To test that theory, I’ll be sending it to KDWB later today. Stay tuned to hear how things fare.</p>
<p>It’s all rather bittersweet proposition. Up until this track, I’d never written a proper love song before. Perhaps it’s to do with all the other ways I’ve been fixated on improprieties. To be sure there’s even a flirty wink and a nod in this one. In any event, I wrote this for a specific woman, specifically. One evening, I sat her in her living room chair and gave it a go.</p>
<p>She broke things off with me the very next morning.</p>
<p>Of course, Mr. Airy Gemini would be prone to quip, “that’ll teach you to lay your heart on the line.” Truth is, Mr. Cusp-of-Magic has Cancerian proclivities and is actually a sensitive sort. That shit hurt like heckfire and I didn’t end up dealing with it very well. That’s the downside, of course. The upside is it ended up informing half the other material on this record. Lemonade. Lemons.</p>
<p>Anywho. I like it. It’s affirmative and a little frisky, and the piano is out of tune at the end, lending charm.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/af7c3f6e97d062088e07f949f065b21353755535/original/gemini-janus.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDI5MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="Gemini Janus" height="290" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" />Naturally, in terms of sequencing the record, I chose to follow Rule This Heart with what probably constitutes the most dismal and pathologically self-reproachful tune on the record – Sailor’s Son.</p>
<p>My friend ALSO said <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">this</em> was his “new favorite” song. While logic informs me it’s implausible to have two favorites at the same time – especially two things so diametrically opposed – astrological inclinations inform me otherwise. Two things I know: A.) he can’t be trusted on either account; B.) because he’s a Gemini, too. <a data-imported="1" href="https://nylon.com/articles/geminis-low-key-psychopaths-zodiac" target="_blank">Sweet. Sour.</a></p>
<p><a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/s/rule_this_heart">LISTEN </a><a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/music__clutching_at_straws_2019/s/rule_this_heart">– Rule This Heart</a></p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096285/sailor-s-son" style="">LISTEN – Sailor's Son</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989822018-12-17T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:57:58-05:00Getting Stoked<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/3f02524785bb915f8850c85955eddbf3f0d29f6a/original/philly-soul-94.jpeg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="philly soul" height="300" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>A few days ago, I was nerding out to Smithsonian Mag and came across an <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-fire-makes-us-human-72989884/" target="_blank">article</a> on how <em>control of fire</em> was a turning point in human evolution. That’s something I remember hearing about while growing up but, outside of whatever basics I might have gleaned in grade school, it was pretty cool to read just how the advent of learning to control fire had ramifications for brain development overall. The article also cites how Darwin posited fire and language as the two most significant achievements in the history of humanity.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know this is all a totally roundabout way of approaching the topic of pop songery, but welcome to the weird world of cognition, ADHD-style.</p>
<p>This here tune happens to be my favorite on <em>Clutching At Straws</em>.</p>
<p>As to language, the lyrics to Heat are probably among the more straightforward ones on the record. That’s probably appropriate, given the primitive timelessness of its topic; when I inquire “heat – can you feel it rise?” I assure you we’re not talking about open flames per se here, unless it’s in the vein of Jimi similarly declaring “let me stand next to your fire.”</p>
<p>It’s true fact I’ve always had a bit of a problem playing with fire but my Molotov Cocktail Story is one for another time.</p>
<p>What’s getting me more hot & bothered at present is thinking about how songs evolve.</p>
<p>As noted in an earlier post, all the songs on the forthcoming album originated with the intention of being just a vocal with accompanying acoustic guitar. I wrote almost a whopping 70 songs in preparation for this record, wanting to pare it down to what I thought really were the best ones – and part of the thrust there was trying to ensure the songs stood well on their own, with no embellishments.</p>
<p>Even so – and although some of the final recordings did wind up being precisely that threadbare – it seemed 18 songs all with such similar treatment might be a little one-dimensional. Heat wound up being one of the more elaborately orchestrated tunes, and I’m attributing that, with much glee and gratitude, to <a data-imported="1" href="https://patriktanner.com/" target="_blank">Patrik Tanner</a>.</p>
<p>For starters, I thought you might enjoy hearing what my original demo sounded like:</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" href="/files/662542/03-heat-demo-v-1.m4a">03_Heat_-_Demo_V.1.m4a</a></p>
<p>Once we got it off the ground in the studio, it was still pretty basic – vocals, drums, bass, acoustic guitar, 12-string electric and a little bit of droning <a data-imported="1" href="http://www.ebow.com/home.php" target="_blank">secret sauce</a>. It was simple and had a lot of breath and wide-openness to it, and I really liked it already by the time it’d reached that point.</p>
<p>When it came time to mix, I invited Patrik to adorn it with whatever else he thought it might need in terms of finishing touches.</p>
<p>Boy, was I <a data-imported="1" href="http://jonjamesisdead.com/blog/but_first__how_i_lost_the_plot/">surprised and delighted</a> with what came back my way.</p>
<p>While I’ll take my due credit for writing the song, it’s Patrik who really raised it to the next level. All sorts of juiciness, from lush background vocals to chorus-y guitar and sitar bits. He said the song was evocative of ‘70s Philly Soul. His Producer Mind is always encyclopedic like that. I didn’t know a whole lot about Philly Soul but I went to look it up and so can you. <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-philly-soul-2522013" target="_blank">Look how easy I make it for you</a>.</p>
<p>What’s awesome about hanging around this Whirlwind-Called-Music long enough is, after awhile, your stubborn streaks start to disintegrate. My first album was a control freak level proposition. Mr. Independence wanted to assert he could do it all. As it turns out, letting go, handing things over or even (God forbid) accepting help from others is the stuff of windfall most rich.</p>
<p>I love everything Patrik did on this. I can’t imagine a cooler outcome.</p>
<p>(Kids: I know you’re out there with your puffy egos and your laptops and your indie ethics but here’s my way of saying via run-on sentence I know you’re not reading this but if you were you’d already be hiring this dude to make your songs vastly more awesome.)</p>
<p>Clutching At Straws will be widely available on Jan 4, 2019.<br><br><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096278/heat" style="">LISTEN – Heat</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989812018-12-12T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:45:58-05:00Musical Metaphysics. And Keef.<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/ee7f64cbe93bc20491694ab705bdd2dac3e08352/original/keef.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDE5NSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Keef" height="195" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>Somebody once told me Keith Richards said all the songs in the universe had already been written; one just had to channel and tap into them. I don’t know whether he truly said that, or whether it’s a false attribution (tried to find it online – if anyone can refer me to it, I’d be glad to know it’s an actual, factual thing).</p>
<p>For whatever reason – and whether true or not – that notion stuck with me. What I do know: some songs really do come in a virtual flash. You sit down with a notion and, 30 minutes later, <em>voilà</em> – the whole thing is done. This was certainly the case with Sad Solo Violin, which I posted yesterday.</p>
<p>It was, in fact, the case with many of the songs on <em>Clutching At Straws</em>. I might tend to have an initial knee-jerk that songs coming from somewhere “out in the universe” is suspect notion; they can seem so intensely personal and rooted in inner experience. Then I’m reminded of everything from Vedic cosmology to new age-y notions ("you are the universe"); <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/27/alan-watts-taboo/" target="_blank">Alan Watts</a> to things closer to my own tradition (“the kingdom of God is within you” – KJV, Luke 17:21).</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/6b63f9c389c599ab5b1c62c3df0fc455ca25ea0a/original/you-the-universe.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAweDE5NCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="you_the_universe" height="194" style=" margin: 20px;" width="200" />But then – and this always happens – you step away from your songs for awhile and, when you return to them, you witness a multitude of meanings and symbolic strata residing underneath whatever it was you thought you were trying to express at the time. Gee, and here I thought I was just trying to carry out some dexterous wordplay and tidy rhyme schemes. As it turns out – and largely oblivious as I may be at that present moment – I’m combing the depths of my unconscious. And, most certainly, murky shadows.</p>
<p>Therein, maybe your unconscious, too? Beneath the surface of these songs – which I tended to initially think were about love and sensuality and loss and destitution – what I now see are certain pathologies and perversions. And, most definitely – something that’s been borne out in more recent moon phases – the ways I’m something of a codependent basket case. Once upon a time, I might have been ashamed to openly admit such a thing. Nowadays, I’m in on a comforting little secret. It’s called: we’re all neurotic somehow. <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrbUfYSt0E" target="_blank">Solidarity, brothers and sisters</a>.</p>
<p>As to Project Instant Songs: Just Add Water, our little track here constitutes anything but. This baby was like steel cut oats; took a virtual forever of patient stirring over low simmer. Months of setting aside and returning. Nipping and tucking of lyrics that were never quite hitting the bullseye. Musically, it originated on guitar and I think it was my love of the chord progression that kept things afloat. I’d been monkeying with an alternate tuning that was one part Joni Mitchell and two parts Johnny Marr. But then one day I sat down at a piano and everything began to gel.</p>
<p>The whole initial thrust of <em>Clutching At Straws</em> was to capture the immediacy of an intimate performance. I wanted them to sound how they sounded to me when I was sitting in bed and quietly strumming, late at night. As with yesterday’s Sad Solo Violin, many of them were recorded singing and playing guitar at the same time (that sort of synergy simply can’t be captured with a multi-track approach). Trying to capture one “take” with the right vibe was one of the operative objectives at hand. As it turned out, for some of the tracks, we ended up layering a lot over them and lending all sorts of stylistic variance, from ’70s Philly Soul to T-Rexian swagger. And I’ll have something to say about those in upcoming days.</p>
<p>But, for now, a song stripped threadbare to nothing but one solo vocal and two shaky piano hands? Never had done that before. Though guitar is my main instrument, I actually started on piano at 6 years old. Coming full circle in that fashion really wound up being something of a delightful surprise.</p>
<p>At that, allow me to present you with the first of its kind. In my universe, at least.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096289/violetmelvina" style="">LISTEN – #violetmelvina</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>“About myself I have no great illusions. I know what I am.</strong><br><strong>I know what I'm good at. I know what I ain't. I'm always hoping</strong><br><strong>to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love</strong><br><strong>to communicate it, and that's the best I can do, really."</strong><br><strong>- Keith Richards</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>As to other things piano playing and metaphysical rumination, enjoy:</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B7ufX3VaTJc" width="320"></iframe></div></div></div></div>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989802018-12-11T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:46:50-05:00Obfuscation<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/ba03d31181bbf0b35e358186a1ce2eb771a44ec0/original/confucius.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMxMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="confucius" height="310" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>Let me be really honest. Let me preface said honesty by saying honesty is not something I’ve always tended to come by all that… well, honestly.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to suggest I’m an outright <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">liar</em> (although I’m certainly reminded recently of the tenet “adult children of alcoholics lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth”).</p>
<p>Small lies. Little white lies. Things you say because you learn when you’re young that speaking your truth gets you in trouble whereas telling-what-you’ve-been-taught-is-appropriate might get you what you want. Maybe. Or, at the very least, it will keep you out of trouble. Sometimes. Flip a coin.</p>
<p>In spinning their yarns, songwriters stretch truths. I suppose that’s part of the job. It used to be there was a buffer of sorts between musician and audience. Or, at least that’s how I imagined things to be when I was a kid. If you asked Bob Dylan what this-or-that song was about, he would have steered you on an impenetrably wild goose chase. Once upon a time, I tended to find that more captivating than straight answers. To boot, I didn’t want to know about, say, David Bowie’s personal life; it would have killed the mystery for me, and the mystery was part of the allure. But I suppose even then there were folks who were dying to know what brand of underwear he wore. You know – private stuff like that.</p>
<p>Well, if you derive pleasure from the mystery, here’s a good place to stop reading.</p>
<p>Otherwise, here’s one for all you insatiably curious types. It’s the first song I’m sharing off the forthcoming <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Clutching At Straws</em> LP. For those of you not yet as grizzled as me, that means “long-playing” in the parlance of record albums. And, at 18 songs long, I feel within my rights attaching such antiquated terms. Yeah, it’s a behemoth.</p>
<p>And, with the share, I also expose the lie. You see, the protagonist of our tale in Sad Solo Violin isn’t some imaginary girl. <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our she is a me</em>. And why, pray tell, might I choose to feminize myself? Perhaps because openly saying I’ve struggled with facets of depression, loneliness and despair at many life junctures feels – well, let’s just spit it out, shall we? Unmasculine.</p>
<p>Back when I’d begun recording these songs, I played this for a very talented female songwriter friend in town. She said, “I don’t know why; I just started crying as I listened.”</p>
<p>Understand I’m not here to deliberately push anyone’s emotional buttons. But I will say something I maybe wasn’t expressly ready to say back when I wrote this: “dudes – it’s okay to be sad and lonely sometimes.” Even David Lee Roth used to say so, in between snorting lines of coke.</p>
<p>Another lie I used to tell, when people would ask me what sort of music I used to play: I’d say, “oh, dumb three-chord rock songs.” Having grown up in a household where my musical inclinations were often frowned upon as frivolous at best and a waste-of-time at worst, it really comes as no surprise I’d devalue it in such away.</p>
<p>As it turns out, and as I’m coming to discover the hard way, devaluing the things we love and value most really does constitute an abysmal state of affairs.</p>
<p>It’s pretty much taken me a lifetime to get on a forum like this and muster the nerve to talk about what I do and the ways it makes me tick. Perhaps that’s because I’ve been operating under the supposition I lacked something worthwhile to say; something valuable to offer. And perhaps, in actuality, that’s accurate. In any event, perpetuating mysteries is becoming less and less a tenable proposition. Instead, I’m coming to find the dudes I treasure the most in this world are the ones who wear their hearts on their sleeves.</p>
<p>No matter whether you like this song (though, of course, I hope you do). No matter whether it stirs something in you. Some song somewhere did once; maybe many songs, more than once. This has happened for you just as it’s happened for me. Music is important – mine, yours, anyone’s. It’s essential to our humanity.</p>
<p>I know this to be a truth of the ages. No lie.</p>
<p>(And make no mistake – this song has <em>five</em> chords. Math tells me that’s two better than three.)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong>“Music produces a kind of pleasure<br>which human nature cannot do without.”<br>– Confucius</strong></p>
<p><em>Clutching At Straws</em> available January 4, 2019.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096284/sad-solo-violin" style="">LISTEN – Sad Solo Violin</a></p>
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<p> </p>
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<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ui-zBq-f5XA" style="float: left;" width="320"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
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<p> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989792018-12-07T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:55:28-05:00Transfiguration<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/b9e3dad9a94dafa3467cbbef12ff7b83763ee716/original/dylan-motorcycle.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNiJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="dylan_motorcycle" height="226" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>Here I am, marking the day of the release of <em>Vairagya</em> by musing about Bob Dylan.</p>
<p>It’s impossible to either estimate or underestimate the impact he’s had on me as a songwriter. There’s nothing inherently special in this; I know a zillion other people would be quick to claim the same. I’m not a die-hard adherent, like some, and I wouldn’t claim to possess the sort of encyclopedic knowledge about him some folks do. But I definitely went through my Dylan phase, and I’ve definitely drawn a comparison here or there in terms of either this-or-that turn of phrase or, at the very least, the nasality of my voice. I could pass the buck on that, saying, “thanks, shitty sinuses” but the truth is some of those things were pretty well-studied.</p>
<p>And, even after <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.med.unc.edu/ent/patient-care/clinical-services/sinus-and-allergy-1/functional-endoscopic-sinus-surgery/" target="_blank">FESS</a>, I can still be something of a snot.</p>
<p>So the irony of celebrating an all-instrumental/electronic record by paying a nod to Bob is hardly lost on me. Then again, <em>Clutching At Straws</em> is coming next out of the chute. Perhaps we can talk about lyrics then. Perhaps we can even explore some Stephen Sondheim together.</p>
<p>Until then, let’s veer hard into Carl Jung for a moment, because I’ve always had strong proclivities there, too. Archetype, Anima, Animus. Alchemy. Collective Unconscious. The Complex and The Shadow. And, yes, Synchronicity.</p>
<p>There were many forces colluding and colliding that prompted my switch to the whole “Jon James Is Dead” thing. I wrote about a couple of them in past posts. Let me tell you, when you traverse the subterranean indie underground, trying to get all those business-y ducks in a row (website, distribution, etc.) can be an outright hemorrhoid. It’s not like you can just have your management people do all the grunt work, John Cougar Melonballer.</p>
<p>As I also noted in a previous post, part of the challenge of being a creative sort means making certain you show up. Consistently. Merely waiting for inspiration to strike won’t quite fill the bill. But then, there are moments of inspiration. Or, if we’re talking about synchronicities, then there’s also conspiration (yeah, I know that’s not a word). You know — <em>things conspiring</em>. And, for me, there’s always this little voice whispering in my ear, whether the angel on the right shoulder or the devil on the left: “follow the crumbs.”</p>
<p>As such, and as I was in the process of bemusing my own death, I came across <a data-imported="1" href="https://rockandrollphilosopher.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/bob-dylans-transfiguration/" target="_blank">this article on Bob</a>. And it kind of blew my mind.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">“As Dylan asserts, he can never go back to being Bobby Zimmerman no matter how much he might want to revisit his former self, for this is apparently the price one must pay for Transfiguration: it is impossible to unknow something once it has been deeply experienced. Or as Heraclitus expressed it: ‘You cannot step into the same river twice.’”</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Or, as my friend Courtney once proffered, <a data-imported="1" href="https://courtneyyasmineh.bandcamp.com/track/ballad-to-my-other-self" target="_blank">in a fantastic song of her own</a>, “it’s the way of the world, and maybe they’re right when they say you can never go home again.”</p>
<p>Thus, as I listened to this oddball instrumental track, struggling to find a title for something that sounded a bit akin to Yacht Rock — a genre into which I’ve assuredly never before dipped my toes — I considered all the strange, baptismal places life takes us; how far we can traverse from anything we once thought we knew, about ourselves, about others, about anything. Simultaneously, here was that Dylan article. And I thought, “yeah — Transfiguration.”</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096267/transfiguration" style="">LISTEN — Transfiguration</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989782018-12-06T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:54:33-05:00Arjuna, In The Rough<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/f44c60bc76474a142d8edf5f1714e3c00d08cb24/original/bollywood.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDQzMSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="bollywood" height="431" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>Todd also told me this song has a good “drop.” I didn’t know what that was, but apparently it happens at 2:17 in.</p>
<p>Isn’t it fun doing things you don’t even know you’re doing?</p>
<p>As to other things I don’t know about, let’s try Bollywood. My son is a film buff and he says Bollywood cinema is largely musical and characterized by a lot of song-and-dance. I can say incontrovertibly, I don’t foresee anyone dancing or singing to this track but I do imagine it having something of a romantic/melodramatic flair. Star-crossed lovers – yeah, perhaps I can speak more directly to that.</p>
<p>Truth told, the seed of this song’s title was a book by Stephen Cope called <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Great Work of Your Life</em>. If you are a person who’s always searching (as I am) it’s something I’d happily recommend. Or if you’re less bookworm and more podcast junkie, you can <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.soundstrue.com/store/weeklywisdom?page=single&category=IATE&episode=13405" target="_blank">learn more about it here</a>.</p>
<p>Or Arjuna, <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Arjuna/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>In any event, I’m starting a club for Minnesotans who’ve also written songs inspired by the Bhagavad Gita. I sense the club will be quite small. Hit me up, spiritual warriors, if you enjoy esoteric things both far-flung and lonely.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096258/arjuna-in-the-rough" style="">LISTEN – Arjuna, In The Rough</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989772018-12-05T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:53:36-05:00Jackboots<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/6f37edbf2d3a1d95a141ec015befdcd74a1a574e/original/pyongyang.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="pyongyang" height="225" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>I probably could have titled this one “The IT Department’s Lament” because I can’t even begin to tell you the technical problems that unfolded while putting this one together. I won’t weary you with the details but if your curiosity just can’t be quelled, feel free to drop a line to helpdesk@jonjamesisdead.com.</p>
<p>Outside that, Todd Lester says this is his favorite track on the record, and I appreciate that feedback because his tastes are better than mine, objectively, across the board. Also, I couldn’t get the vision of the North Korean military marching lockstep through Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, out of my head. My son is pretty slick with Adobe Premiere Pro so I was thinking he ought to pull himself up by his jackboot straps and make something for me in the vein of totalitarian montage.</p>
<p>But he's busy recording his own album, "The Ballads of a Gamer," under the pseudonym "G.I. Bro." He'll be doing a digital release of his own this spring. 14-year old fun and hooks galore. Not kidding.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096261/jackboots" style="">LISTEN – Jackboots</a></p>
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<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe align="left" class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u2qCD_tjjBQ" width="320"></iframe></div></div></div></div>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989762018-12-04T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:52:28-05:00What's In The Box?<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/1de123be1f01a749c1cf00974c8a550b8f381063/original/sterling-box.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="sterling_box" height="225" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>As I hear told, Pandora opened it, and all the tribulations and miseries of the world fluttered out to afflict humankind.</p>
<p>I’m fairly sure that won’t be happening here but you may have to suffer through what will surely constitute my lengthiest blog post in a very long time. Remember – <a data-imported="1" href="https://carm.org/the-four-noble-truths" target="_blank">you can always opt out</a>.</p>
<p>I want to speak a bit to my experience of putting this record together. First, I’d never before ventured firsthand into the realm of digital recording; lifelong, I’ve always gone into others’ studios and had them do all the engineering. With <em>Vairagya</em>, I took the leap at long last of getting in and getting my own fingers dirty with this stuff. That was a learning curve all its own.</p>
<p>Unlike my usual process of songwriting, wherein large portions of data (lyrics, chord changes, melodic figures) seem to materialize from somewhere in the ether (a mysterious phenomenon in its own right), with each of these songs I came to the table with literally nothing; started at the zero point. I would rifle through a voluminous bank of loops in search of this-or-that to somehow capture my imagination (listen to these things over and again, and I assure you they become earworms in their own right). Then I’d listen for other loops that might layer over them in an attention-grabbing fashion, or start building my own beats or complementary melodic figures.</p>
<p>Long story longer, even all that becomes mind-numbingly repetitive after a spell. Where to take it next? Sometimes, I didn’t know. I’d step away and approach it the next day. Maybe a new idea would present itself. Perhaps a key change or modulation. Or perhaps I’d get into some of the loops and slice & dice them; manipulate certain notes and pitch them up or down. Or maybe it was a matter of stripping certain things away. It's amazing how important and effective subtraction can be.</p>
<p>In each case, I still didn’t know where the songs were going (or even, granted, if they were going anywhere good), but they still grew a little more every day. At some point, a light at the end of the tunnel would appear and – after some varying unfolding of time – it was, “huh. I guess this one’s done.”</p>
<p>Tiny seeds – germinating, sprouting, burgeoning, reaching full bloom.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to convey to you what a cool feeling that is, though that’s precisely why I share it. One song became 13 (fifteen, actually – two didn’t make the cut).</p>
<p>It’s something one hears sometimes – the importance of simply “showing up.” I’ve always understood the thrust of that in an intellectual sort of way. But this record was like a little crucible wherein I was able to directly observe and gain a felt experience of precisely what that meant. The songs are the songs, and you may or may not enjoy them but, for me, the real takeaway of this grand DIY experiment wasn’t ultimately about the songs; rather, what I learned along the way.</p>
<p>If you have creative inclinations – in whatever vein – that’s the word of encouragement I want to share:</p>
<p><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Show up. Throw stuff at the wall. Daily. See what sticks. Even if you feel unsure – <strong>trust the process.</strong></em></p>
<p>Okay…</p>
<p>As to this particular song here – What’s In The Box? – it’s my favorite one on the record.</p>
<p>Sorry… did I say “favorite?” What I must have meant was “longest.” Let’s call it a fitting audio accompaniment to this particular post.</p>
<p>To me, there seem to be elements both sweet and sinister at play. As to sweetness, I originally thought to name it Honeytree, but then remembered Trip Shakespeare had a similarly titled song; and I didn’t dare tread on such sacred territory.</p>
<p>I seemed to have some vague recollection of a “honey tree” being part of the Winnie The Pooh catalogue. I looked it up, affirming this to be true. Then I remembered how my dad always used to tell me Pooh was voiced by this fellow, Sterling Holloway. I looked him up, too, to find he also did the voice of Kaa in The Jungle Book (take a listen and you’ll find this immediately apparent – Kaa sounds like Pooh with a lisp). I saw his acting credits included an appearance in an episode of The Twilight Zone, which – as so happens – my kid had just begun enjoying on Netflix.</p>
<p>We checked out the Holloway episode, entitled “What’s In The Box?” Sinister element, indeed.</p>
<p>The song’s title was hereby sealed.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096268/what-s-in-the-box" style="">LISTEN – What's In The Box?</a></p>
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<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe align="right" class="wrapped wrapped" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3HKzNp1KafY" style="float: left;" width="425"></iframe></div></div></div></div>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989752018-12-03T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:51:51-05:00So Good<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/c10f5dda0978df1709d8f2fbf7b24160666c1660/original/jaclyn.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDM4MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Jaclyn" height="380" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" />Sonically, this kind of reminds me (marginally) of Depeche Mode and OMD conceiving a love child on the Pacific Coast Highway, with the sound up and the top down.</p>
<p>But when I close my eyes, I see Charlie’s Angels. No, not the dreadful Drew Barrymore reboot. The original. Jaclyn Smith. Vroom.</p>
<p>Yes, I know it was <a data-imported="1" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiggle_television" target="_blank">Jiggle Television</a> but I think she's pretty anyways. Conjure your own imagery if you like but please keep your eyes on the road.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096265/so-good" style="">LISTEN</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989742018-12-02T18:00:00-06:002021-06-29T21:38:29-05:00Yang Rising<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/bd144e6f40eb4fb882d0b58d42e781f2400dcc87/original/guzheng.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Guzheng" height="225" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" />Many moons ago, I went to a dance club in Shanghai. It was monstrously loud, and there was a giant bug suspended from the ceiling. Later that night we went to see the house band at the Hilton perform a heavy metal version of John Denver’s Country Roads. Next, of course, we stopped by a brothel, then hitchhiked a ride on the back of some dudes’ motorcycles, peeling through the streets at about 80 mph around 4:00 A.M. What any of that has to do with this particular track is beyond my actual comprehension – the narrative just seemed a little more exciting. In actuality, Yang Rising is a term having to do with Traditional Chinese Medicine, and who wants to hear about that when it comes to electronic music? But there is some guzheng (Chinese zither) herein and I guess that’s out-of-the-ordinary. Okay, off to visit my acupuncturist. We’re sorting out stuff with my <a data-imported="1" href="https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/chinese/traditional-chinese-medicine-internal-organ-syndromes4.htm">liver meridian</a>.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096270/yang-rising" style="">LISTEN</a></p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989732018-11-30T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:50:28-05:00Take One<p> </p>
<p>Here's the first track I recorded for <em>Vairagya</em>. Accordingly, it’s titled Take One.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/3cd21845811dc47281185976526fee816fef972d/original/clapboard.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMxMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Take One" height="310" style=" margin: 20px;" width="300" /></p>
<p>I really hadn't the faintest idea what I was doing yet. But my sister says this is her favorite on the record; which leads me to trust there's real merit to the notion of <a data-imported="1" href="https://zenhabits.net/beginner/">Beginner's Mind</a>.</p>
<p>There's a real <a data-imported="1" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111512/" style="">smashed up, drunken</a> feel to it. Woozy and lopsided.</p>
<p>Getting this one under my belt, and being really satisfied with the experience of doing something altogether outside normal habit, is what compelled me to try to assemble a whole collection.</p>
<p>More to come.</p>
<p><a data-imported="1" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://jonjamesisdead.com/track/2096266/take-one" style="">LISTEN</a></p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p>Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989722018-11-29T18:00:00-06:002020-01-14T12:08:26-06:00But First: How I Lost The Plot
<p></p>
<p><em>“That said – it’s finally coming. And I’m a-gonna kiss and tell a bit.”</em></p>
<p>This, said the flirt.</p>
<p>Okay. That album I told you about? The “expansive record documenting said disease and decline”?</p>
<p>It’s called <em>Clutching At Straws</em>. It’s done, and ready for your ears (ample fair warning, ears).<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/a974fceb63a2f92c3f3d3ff13054cb2e9379a450/original/vairagya-reverse.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="Vairagya cover" height="300" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>But if <em>Clutching At Straws</em> is all about the desperate ache of vanishing attachments, then something else quite different started happening after I was done recording it.</p>
<p>That something else is called <strong><em>Vairagya</em></strong>, and – yep – it’s the album that’s going to drop first. First as in, like, soon. December 8, 2018.</p>
<p>Perhaps you’ve read something about “surprise and delight” as an approach to marketing engagement. Please understand the very notion of music marketing tends to make me queasy and uneasy. So don’t go thinking I’m here to proselytize the wonders of free enterprise (if you need proof, remind yourself I’m the mastermind who just named his impending project after an imaginary dead guy).</p>
<p>Even so, something emerged for me this year that was pretty surprising and delightful.</p>
<p>Also? Completely unexpected.</p>
<p>From the silence of inexorable solitude sprang a collection of noisy songs. Electronic songs. 100% instrumentals, no less. Loops and blips and broken beats and such.</p>
<p>In case you missed it, the key takeaway here is – I don’t know a damn thing about electronic music.</p>
<p>So, I certainly didn’t see this coming. Musically speaking, I identify with playing a handful of different instruments; some of them, even, with some level of relative proficiency. Too, I have a certain love affair with lyrical meditations.</p>
<p>Where I’m going with all this: recording these songs was an absolute joy. I had no preconceived notion what any of it might sound like. The experience of discovery and witnessing it blossom had me feeling like a kid again.</p>
<p>Being super-green surrounding electronica in general – much less all the different genres – I have very few points of reference from which I can even speak about it. In the coming days, though, I will try. And perhaps you will have some feedback, too. Which I would gladly invite. I’d even say, “try to be nice.” But I know how this social media thing can tend to work nowadays.</p>
<p>In any event, why <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Vairagya</em>? (No, not Viagra.) Fellow yogis might know it has to do with not being attached to outcomes. And if <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Clutching At Straws</em> is all about the pain of having to let go of certain things, <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Vairagya</em> is about the joy of letting it all go. Everything. And then, throwing back in everything but the kitchen sink.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;"><strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aside:</strong> I said I’d talk about the Brothers Wilson. These fellows being Matt & Dan. When I was in college (and speaking of enigmatic marketing challenges), I’d follow <a href="https://music.avclub.com/a-wintry-ode-highlights-what-made-trip-shakespeare-marv-1798276881" data-imported="1">Trip Shakespeare</a> around like a lost puppy dog. Matt, I always thought, was wicked smart. I loved his wordplay and think their first two records were probably the primary incentive for me to begin toying with lyrics of my own. Sorry, though, Matt – no lyrics on <em>Vairagya</em>. Dan, I used to have dreams about. In one of them, I stumbled into him while we were both buying rakes at the hardware store. What this has to do with anything, I’ve no idea; just always thought it was funny. I did hear Dan say relatively recently that the human ear can only track about 2 or 3 melodic / countermelodic figures at any one given time.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 60px;">If that’s the case, <em>Vairagya</em> may pose challenges to humanity. I think for quite awhile now there’s been a trend toward minimalism in current popular music. It’s something I can appreciate… sometimes. Then there’s the other-times part of me that rejoins, “what about symphonic music? Isn’t there all kinds of stuff going on in there?” Possibly, this is my way of saying – especially given these songs all originated from loops (which are repetitive and minimalistic by design) – I have an inherent tendency to get convoluted. Caveat emptor. Unless you’re listening on Spotify or something. In which case, beware of complicated free shit.</p>
<p><strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Back-on-track: </strong>I’m an old dyed-in-the-wool guitar player type. I was playing a Les Paul through a Marshall stack when I was 13. I’ve got the hearing loss to prove it. And guitar player pals who will lament how I’ve certainly now lost the plot as well.</p>
<p>But I’m here to tell you (and them): I love this record.</p>
<p>So before I inflict the lovelorn diary otherwise known as <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Clutching At Straws</em> upon your tender ears, the first order of business will be offering this little slice of surprise and delight.</p>
<p>And if you don’t know what to make of it?</p>
<p>Great!</p>
<p>(Neither do I.)</p>
<p>I’ll post the first song tomorrow.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/505af6e329e2675403add1d07577e796a102f4a1/original/vairagya.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NTY0eDU1MiJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="552" width="564" /></p>
Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989712018-11-28T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T09:20:41-05:00Outstanding Re-branding, Part 1, or The Artsy-Fart Formerly Known as Milksop
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<p style="text-align: left;">I guess it had to happen eventually. When your name is Jonathan, people tend to take liberties. Growing up, I always chafed when people shortened it for sake of convenience.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">When I was in my 20s, I played bass in a band where the singer christened us with personas. I got coined “Jon James, from Sussex, U.K.” I don’t know what he saw in me that led him to the English associations. Perhaps the ruddy complexion and penchant for bitter ale.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">For whatever reason – and despite all prior objections – I let it stick. It seemed to have ring and concision. Its origin appealed to my fondness for all things Brit Invasion. I put out some solo records under the name. Friends and cohorts started calling me Jon James. They did so lovingly, and I’d never fault them for that. Thank you, loving friends and cohorts.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I’ve learned in the past few years a lot of us spend a whole lot of our lives erecting facades based upon the ways we imagine ourselves, or maybe the ways we think we’re <em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">supposed</em> to be. When you’re a kid who grew up in a household where there was a lot of disdain surrounding your rock-n-roll proclivities, I guess part of the embedded shame and confusion surrounding all that is to assume a stage name you don’t even really like. So much for self affirmation.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Too, divorce can really do a number on a fellow. I don’t go around imagining this makes me special. Half of us have gone through it. Some of us, more than once. Still, it’s a lot of heartache and a mind fuck. If it doesn’t bring you to fundamentally question who you are, well, you’re a better person than me. Or maybe just pathological.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">So when I proclaim Jon James Is Dead, it’s both ruse and twofold truth. Foremost, it was never more than certain artifice. Contrariwise, there’s this flesh and blood Jonathan fellow. No matter the ways he’s a shadow of his former self. We’re all dying to be reborn.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">A couple years back, said dead guy made a rather expansive record documenting said disease and decline. And he’s been sitting on it for a couple years now, wary of its brazen, honest neuroticism, and the daunting notion of putting such a thing in front of whatever imagined, anonymous audience – much less the aforementioned loving friends and cohorts.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">That said – it’s finally coming. And, next up, I’m a-gonna kiss and tell a bit.</p>
Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989702018-11-27T18:00:00-06:002018-12-06T02:57:30-06:00Truth Stranger Than Fiction
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<p>For those of you who’ve raised an eyebrow at the whole “Jon James Is Dead” thing –</p>
<p>Well, there’s an Actual Impetus of sorts.</p>
<p>As fortune/misfortune would have it there was, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/23/world/canadian-rapper-jon-james-mcmurray-dies-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1YmdF7rlaOMnM1t7uwPQVVE3TW8Zi7hyEqZ3j84Ja0shRNdt8baRnxNTA" data-imported="1">until recently</a>, this other fellow named Jon James, and if you search him out (Spotify, or Pandora, for example) you’ll likely find his music rather more quickly than you’ll find mine.</p>
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<p>And only weeks after deciding to, um, *rebrand* myself, I caught wind of this.</p>
<p>So, as with so many things in life (and death) the timing is uncanny.</p>
<p>In any event, that’s not the Actual Impetus; just peculiar trivia.</p>
<p>Aside from that, more to share tomorrow.</p>
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Jon James Is Deadtag:jonjamesisdead.com,2005:Post/60989692018-11-26T18:00:00-06:002021-06-02T20:47:08-05:00Rebranding, Quietly<p style="text-align: right;"> </p>
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<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/393096/4e91b859c44952c475fc1b2fc50166ce2b0b6f99/original/buzzsaw-sticker.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.png" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="EDOTU" height="300" style="margin: 20px; " width="300" /></p>
<p>"The Semi-professional Sideman Formerly Known as Jon James” just didn’t seem to have a sufficiently catchy ring to it.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> </p>
<p>So I kept the name simpler and opted for a new convoluted symbol instead.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> </p>
<p>From now on, I’m forcing the newspapers to print this in place of my name.</p>
<p> </p>Jon James Is Dead