Sunday, May 31, 2009

What Is A Rock Musician


Some people would have you believe that rock and roll is all about the ascending of the musician to a higher plane, controlled by Good and Dark forces who have designed a path of enlightenment, just like the lady in stairway to heaven. But what the hell does it all mean? Do you drift away into a drug induced holiday like Iggy Pop or become a defiant anti-fascist punk band like the Plasmatics , pushing forward like a crazy wind that refuses to abate until all is cleansed, and blowing your car up in the process only to get the pulp beaten out of you by the Milwaukee Police somewhere between anarchy and madness.

What is Rock N Roll, and why does the bubblegum music that seems so pervasive, ala American Idol and some self anointed British bad boy judge dictate who the band of tomorrow should be, it's Paramount to telling you which political affiliation should be prescribed. Rock n Roll is not about some carefully gloved innuendo, packaged in cellophane and delivered by some guy in brown shorts, it's about the force that goes forward from all of us, like a pack of wild animals, mowing you down where you stand. It isn't safe and the idea of danger is imminent and it doesn't wear Prada, go ask grandpa.

A rock musician isn't a carefully contrived and ordained entity that is propelled to greatness through artificial infomercial like a package full of lies. A Rock musician is an animal that embodies the music they play, with such force that on occasion, his or her own inspiration will burn so intensely that it will blind you, and when it's over, you can only wish that it would never end.