Whats up canna-curate fam, i love this group so much and hope everybody is good. Excited to pop seeds for this years outdoor grow, not sure what im running with this year but im sure it will be fun and overly exciting ;)
I had been writing a ton over the years but have been putting a bunch of time into my audio project Disposable Jazz.
I go out in public spaces with a folding table, mic stand, a loop pedal, a bong, a trumpet, a harmonica, a melodica, a mouth harp, a tiny xylophone, and a powered speaker.
Instead of writing songs i make sets like maybe a d.j. would. I think the genre is punk jazz but it has been compared to The Fat Boys and Jello Biafara meeting with Herb Alpert over hookah.
Its beatbox looped with an array of sounds to support improvised vocal in a number of styles. Its sets not songos and bongs not bongos.
Im less concerned with venues and fans and more with spending time being loud where most wouldnt dare. I also play trumpet and is better for neighborhood relationships at least, to not always be practicing at home.
I grew up in Boston where buskers were commonplace and so my whole life have enjoyed public perfomances.
Kurt Cobain's friend Mary Lou Lord
is probably the most well known of the past few decades of Boston buskers if not the current big dog Keytar Bear.
The idea is simple. A personal statement. A sort of " I can play an instrument (to some degree) and ill prove it. Hope you enjoy it if not .....sorry ;)" In my case, particularly I have a bong as part of the rhythymn section. It does get attention especially when playing in prohibitionist NH, and is absolutely part of the bong rock sound.
Bongs in music are nothing new and im breaking no new ground here. Easy Star Allstars Dubside of the Moon album features prominent bong playing early on the album.
80/90s Punk Band Murphys Law featured bong hits on their hit record Back with a Bong and their are many more instances of bong rocking in american popular music.
In quiet suburban neighborhoods the bong alarmism and potential disturbance piece is more of a factor than in urban areas where there's the constant whirring of a textured backdrop of ubiquitous city sounds.
Police are sometimes summoned to turn off sound equipment and investigate reports of loaded bongs within school zones in suburbia. In large city centers aint nobody got time for that.
In these strange times we are in the model has changed. Pay to play schemes for 10 minute sets are becoming the norm and streaming has proven to be a poor investment for artists and producers.
A culture of gatekeeping and I guesss, basic business principles in a post covid workd make it difficult to get in front of people and nobody buys music anymore. Cd players are old tech and basically obsolete and records are expensive to produce.
Grafitti artists and muralists have forever utilized the visual space of public places to express themselves. Art Galleries preventing access to their walls are the root cause of what has become Hip Hop Culture's beloved visual component.
In kind, music and its makers may soon have no other choice than to return to public spaces and participate in the long held tradition of disturbing the peace and upsetting neighbors. So stream a little stream, if you want to.....otherwise, gouge away.