Four Things #24
Four Things #24..
It's been a really interesting and engaging few months here at the 3024 HQ. In recent years I've continuously tried to expand my activities as an artist, by dj'ing/producing, running a label, making radio, write a bit, and more recently by teaching and mentoring. For a while that felt very fragmented and complicated, especially when, like any good impostor syndrome sufferer, you compare yourself to people who devote their time on singular activities - it's a recipe for disaster. But I must say that slowly but surely all these activities are starting to merge into one and reinforce each other. This feels very exciting and interesting, a sort of platform where all these activities have a place. The mentoring program's members releasing music on the label, and me playing that music out while they're in the room connecting with each other.. Feels very exciting to me! Can't wait to tell you more about it, this is just the beginning..
I did a nice podcast for Fabric in case you missed it, worth checking out. Also make sure you listen to Sister Zo's newest release on 3024!
Your thoughts, observations and feedback are always appreciated! Feel free to pass on the link to your friends, and check out the archive here https://tinyletter.com/Martyn-Deykers. Stay safe & healthy and be kind!
Martyn
Aug 9th, 2022
FIRST THING: CHANGE WITHOUT CHANGE
An 'invention' or 'technological advance' is often understood as something we need to adopt in order to achieve a better future. The sales pitch for an invention usually involves the fact that it simplifies, multiplies, connects or does something that would make our lives easier and provide us with more time for 'important things'. But inventions rarely do that, they often create newer (and bigger) problems. They're also not creating a better 'future', they are more likely a hyper extended version of our worst qualities. July's issue of The Baffler is about utopia/dystopia and the intro by Dave Denison talks about exactly this. So many initiatives in the music industry fall in this category - the idea that Spotify was going to make everyone discover more new music (we just listen to more of what we already know, and pay artists less for it), or the utopian idea of 'The Long Tail' that even the most niche artist can make a living if he just finds the right audience through a tech platform: pretty much debunked. Another one is the idea that Web3 is removing gatekeeping and financial barriers for underprivileged creators (some people may argue the jury isn't fully out on that one). Rather than jumping on the next new thing, maybe we should think about what has worked in the past, community, DIY, self financing, making human connections and translate that to the now, rather than waiting for what is going to be invented for us. The rest of the baffler issue is also very good so have a gander.
SECOND THING: PIRATE RADIO RAVE ADVERTS
I wish I had a couple more pre-internet era Pirate Radio notches on my belt but at least I did get to play on legendary London station KoolFM once! A friend and I obtained a DAT tape a couple days before and after we arrived in London in the early am we went to Music House to get the tunes cut. Our friend Dj Probe and his mates drove us to an undisclosed location in some industrial estate where we found a guy sitting in front of a large garage door listening to a small but very loud radio with the football scores on (to drown out the noise from the studio). Once we entered the building we went into a tiny room filled with weed smoke and heads - this was it! I was probably more nervous than for my first ever gig, but the set went well! There was a little Philips cell phone receiving texts with shoutouts - magic!! The label Death Is Not The End just put out this awesome collection of Pirate Radio rave adverts, on cassette and as a digital download. Every single one captures that nervous, getting ready for the weekend energy mixed with airwave static and bad tape quality - truly a treasure !! Check it out it's pay what you want so please support their noble cause.
THIRD THING: MARDI GRAS INDIANS
In the last newsletter I wrote about "The Dawn of Everything" and the idea that folklore across the world has a relationship not just with history and religion but with equality and political systems. And I came across this fascinating article in the Washington Post about the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. Signifying the final week before Lent (Catholic 40 day fasting period), the first American Mardi Gras ('Fat Tuesday' in French) was celebrated in 1699. In an era when black people in New Orleans weren't allowed to take part in Mardi Gras celebrations, the various black wards started their own tradition, incorporating slave history and a deep connection to Native American tribes (who often helped slave refugees). The costumes for the celebration are canvases for protest and storytelling and they are absolutely stunning. Check out the article here, A lot of old costumes as well as other artifacts relating to local black history (and jazz) are in the Backstreet Cultural Museum.
FOURTH THING: BEYUN ON VAULT WAX
Beyun's excellent music always sounds to me like it's 'in transit'. Via Boston and Atlanta, she and her label Vault Wax have now rooted in the city of Rotterdam, from which she crafts her enticing contemporary takes on classic techno. Check out the excellent "Spectral Calibration EP" on Bandcamp and I'll see you for the next Four Things!