Delusions of Randeur

I reject modernity. I play a guitar, into a pedal, through an amp. I don't rely on AI or apps to make my music. Do I record my songs onto tape anymore? No, that really isn't convenient for me. I record into a DAW, but in my defense my software of choice is Audacity, and has been for over 20 years. I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. Hypocrites have been around since the dawn of time, so that's totally retro and not very modern at all. The concept of modernity in its current form seems to be a propaganda tool, wielded against people with ideas and values such as mine. What are my ideas? Well, they're rooted in a deep respect for self-expression. What are my values? Artistic integrity and personal autonomy are at the top of the list. These things inform my music, and drive me to create deeply personal songs, if not poetically baffling at first. I do not seek to relate to anyone or anything, save for those who sincerely pick up what I'm putting down. 

"You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you!" they bark.  This banal retort generally follows the exasperated phrase "I don't care about politics."  We live in an era of generalizations and blanket statements. This is where nuance goes to die. Of course we care about politics. We understand on a basic level the relationship between our personal prosperity and our political choices, but we as citizens don't always wish to explain or defend ourselves against an increasingly nosey and radicalized society. The same goes for musicians who choose not to insert political messages into their songs. I've always seen political discourse as a creative dead end. I'm simply not interested in showing the world every card in my ideological deck, and you can't make me.  This refusal to engage doesn't mean I'm not engaged, it merely means that my beliefs are none of your business, unless I wish them to be. That's the power of the in...