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Failing is fun

The relationship between music and other forms of art – painting, video art and cinema most importantly - has become increasingly important. How do you see this relationship yourself and in how far, do you feel, does music relate to other senses than hearing alone? 

I love multi-media art. But I can’t say it’s become more important. Not by a long shot, actually. Though the machine gun style switching between genres and eras and threads and puppies and Vietnam War photos and music scenes and arts and architectures that took eternities to create is fascinating for sure! But firing between bits of info is bringing us somewhere new. There’s only so many hours in a day after you do the Facebook thing. It seems important to get your culture fix synced up with those same hours. I believe this will morph into an art form. It’s the only thing I see that resembles the kind of musical loss of direction that preceded the scenes I watched happen before.

There seem to be two fundamental tendencies in music today: On the one hand, a move towards complete virtualisation, where tracks and albums are merely released as digital files. And, on the other, an even closer union between music, artwork, packaging and physical presentation. Where do you stand between these poles?  

It’s important that as many people as possible find the music and art and literature that give us a “home” in the world. It doesn’t matter how they find it. Besides the quandary of what it will change when genuine artists can’t tour anymore or record beyond the quality of a cassette tape, the biggest problem with downloading is that most people never see the credits. We don’t know who played the music except maybe the singer or John Zorn or whatever. That completely sucks if you know how much people do to make this stuff and for how little. Not to mention the aspect of the family tree. We’re losing that natural introduction to all the artists associated with the artists and so on…..so fun to follow! 

The role of an artist is always subject to change. What's your view on the (e.g. political/social/creative) tasks of artists today and how do you try to meet these goals in your work?

All I care about in this life is love and a bunch of leftwing political shit but my songs end up just being about boys on motorcycles.

Music-sharing sites and -blogs as well as a flood of releases in general are presenting both listeners and artists with challenging questions. What's your view on the value of music today? In what way does the abundance of music change our perception of it?

Don’t allow shit into your consciousness if you can help it. If you can relax and judge for yourself, it’s quickly obvious you don’t like everything you hear on mainstream indie websites. Nothing is good for everyone. Except maybe Terry Riley, T Rex and X-Ray Spex.

How, would you say, could non-mainstream forms of music reach wider audiences?

Money from tampon commercials. Seriously, the music that “everyone” seems to have heard now… Dead Boys, Henry Cow, Bush Tetras, Half Japanese… they were not “big” in their day. They couldn’t afford to tour any easier than Dead Western, from Sacramento, California can today. The audience for underground music was a fraction of what it is now but people were in the streets coming from gigs looking wild. My point is that it’s kinda luck and even “failing” is fun if you don’t expect too much and you maintain your own strange way of being. Perhaps waiting 20 years will do the trick. Or maybe you’ll score now. But besides the 1980's, I can’t say what would give you a hand up.

Usually, it is considered that it is the job of the artist to win over an audience. But listening is also an active, rather than just a passive process. How do you see the role of the listener in the musical communication process?

I see listening as the main responsibility of the artist. Listening to each other when we play is more important than the audience listening to us. Also, for an audience to be dull and disinterested is bullshit fear. If you don’t like it that’s strong and totally cool. But you better be sure you wanna miss this. We only have an hour to give you the real shit. I flip out when I feel music moving. It’s up to you if you let these moments blow right by you. Get up front. Move if you want. Be the dork. Do it.

Reaching audiences usually involves reaching out to the press and possibly working with a PR company. What's your perspective on the promo system? In which way do music journalism and PR companies  change the way music is perceived by the public?

We have something now that disguises mainstream as underground. We can’t be lazy. We have to examine our true taste. Grab for it. Maybe it’s good to be challenged that way. 

Please recommend two artists to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.

Father Murphy — keeper of the stories moving under churchyard dirt, through choking, laughing air, straight into me every time I hear them. 

Blue Willa —  wild art pop with twists and turns and panther burns. disclaimer: I produced their eponymous album. That don’t change that I’m still astonished by their wicked sound.

Visit Carla Bozulich's website at carlabozulich.com

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