I feel a personal artistic need to express my reflections of the world.
“I’ve played a whole bunch of notes in my life and I’d rather play a lot less, I’d rather play more impactful notes. This art has totally been driven by you and your heart. If you don’t put that out there to the universe, the universe is actually losing. If you don’t give your gift, someone else won’t be blessed. Get past ego, trust in the process that what you put out there to the universe is what everybody else was needing.” - Keyon Harrold on Go with Elmo
“If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because [of] their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes [them] aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.” - JFK’s remarks at Amherst College
“In the Majorca of the time, Romantic literature was in decline, the island was becoming modernized[. . .]and political Catalanism was starting to gain prominence in the island. All this moved him to broaden his literary horizons, to join a wider movement and to make ties[. . . ]This move guided him towards a new perception of art and literature, whose sense was no longer ingeniousness and the entertaining easy game, but a social involvement: he believed that poetry must have a resonance and that it must serve a useful purpose in the collective from which it drew its inspiration and whom it served.” - from Wiki on my ancestor, Joan Alcover
I realize by not sharing my own ideas in writing, I have not been giving the universe a piece of what I believe it needs. The nation is clearly falling short of its potential and I intend to participate through written and musical resistance - against social ignorance, hate, and un-nuanced thinking. I mean to offer my perspectives in written form for the benefit of others.
“We need new myths. Or old ones remembered in new ways. We need rituals of refusal and reimagining. We need music that cracks through despair. We need solidarity that doesn’t just look like resistance but feels like family.” - Aaron Parks
The current social media landscape has ostracized artists, while Substack has welcomed them.
“If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it's just business. But if you take a moment, then the tension[. . .]can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time, you just get numb.
“We have a word for that in Japanese,” he said. “It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally.”" - Hayao Miyazaki interview with Roger Ebert
Most social media platforms don’t make themselves particularly useful to artists who work in mediums other than reels and posts. Posting formats are a set of conditions many artists deal with to be visible on a given platform. The bottom line of these media companies is audience retention, which presents artists with the primary question of the 21st century landscape: whether to compromise with the release formats of each app, or not. These platforms are now more for advertising for musicians and other long-form artists, whose mediums are more accessible elsewhere, such as Bandcamp or Substack.
Social media demands only the most exciting and stimulating moments, which means no breathing room or artistic flow, and not much space for reflection – what Miyazaki calls “ma” in the quote above. In other words, the moments artists intentionally leave to allow the audience time to understand what their art means are being taken from you. In a way, the musicians’ mass migration to Substack is the logical opposite to the faster-paced, clip-oriented landscape of social media. It represents the space where artists of all kinds can cement their artistic perspectives concurrently with the presentation of their art.
Here, I can tell my own story.
“We need new myths. Or old ones remembered in new ways. We need rituals of refusal and reimagining. We need music that cracks through despair. We need solidarity that doesn’t just look like resistance but feels like family.” - Aaron Parks
“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and to expose lies.” - Noam Chomsky
Substack represents a space where I feel I can express myself freely, for the sake of my readers, without feeling like I’m bothering uninterested people. Additionally, when I feel that some truth needs to see the light of day or some perspective may put a useful twist on a story, I intend to share those moments with you through writing.
If you’re here, I’m hopeful you’ll find some benefit from subscribing. It is free of course, but I encourage you to support my work for as little as $5 per month. There is a year-long subscription available for $50, if you’d like to save a few dollars.
If you do subscribe, you will come to learn a bit of who I am, what I care about, and how I think.
WHO I AM (a short list)
Lived more than 20 years in the California Bluegrass music community – have played professionally since 2014, taught professionally since 2017.
Completed a first-of-its-kind five-year program at my University, earning Bachelor and Master’s degrees in jazz music.
From there, I became a teacher, and taught math and science while finding my footing out of grad school.
I received a dual-diagnosis of Autism and ADHD in the fall of 2023.
WHAT I CARE ABOUT:
Engaging in politics to discuss actionable steps for the Democratic party
Finding and highlighting good teachers – these could also be journalists, artists, or politicians, not only literal teachers – to show what the American capitalist agenda does to affect the teachability of our society and what brave people do to fight against ignorance and bigotry
Telling stories that will encourage internal reflection and community discussions.
Thanks for reading Substack #1 — article #2 will be available soon.
Peace and bass wishes,
Max :)
