Our Artist of the Week, grandson, reflects on the value of artistic anger, confronting the issues of today and his connection with his fans. Read more below:
Since I began making noise as grandson, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with artists in different capacities to discuss our responsibility in the Trump era to make music that reflects the frustration, anger and uncertainty that hovers like a storm cloud over so many people. From these conversations a dichotomy emerges – confrontation vs escape.
With so many feeling disenfranchised, scared, and dissatisfied with the world that is reflected back at them, some of the biggest artists in the world provide fans with an escape – a window out of their environment into something more lavish, opulent, irreverent, simple. The longing for this has to do, I think, with the emotional fatigue that comes with attempting to keep up with this unprecedented shitstorm we hear about on the news every day. Another part is the disorienting feeling of not knowing who to trust to tell the objective truth (if there is one). It physically requires more brain power to sift through information, look for bias where it appears, take news with a grain of salt, fact check, search for corroborating sources. With all this cacophony, escape can feel like a sweet release. It’s cultural fast food- looks good, tastes good, completely devoid of substance or nutritional value. Won’t feel good in the morning, and not the path I’ve chosen to take.
For me, confronting the issues of today is empowering. It can feel uplifting to be reminded that we are part of a community that agrees change is needed, that is disgusted with the state of the world. When I write songs about feeling fed up, wanting to flip over a table or scream, I feel a deep sense of sweet, cathartic release. That feeling, for me, is even disconnected from how fans react – the process of writing confrontational art and feeling connected to the world around me is the gratification I seek. When I see how powerfully some of my more angry songs are received by my fans, it affirms that change is coming. It gives me a sort of dark optimism.
At each of my shows, I talk about the need to recognize systemic failure when the current system fails to best serve us, the need to hold our elected officials accountable to make change where change is needed, and the inevitable manifestations of karma that are coming if we do not change course. Sometimes people aren’t interested in hearing my opinions when they just came to get drunk and hear some guitar solos. They have every right to want to tune out – to seek to escape – and there are lots of places they can go to do that. A grandson show, however, is not one of them. I also encourage anybody listening at the show – or reading this article for that matter – to confront as I do. Pick up a pen, pick up a guitar, pick up drumsticks, and let it out if they feel angry or misunderstood in their own community. Taking a sense of helplessness and channeling it into constructive creative energy has changed my life forever.
This journey has also connected me to my fans in a way I never expected. When I began making music as grandson, I knew from the onset I wanted to confront the environment I was creating in, to talk about loss of innocence and the vices we turn to – addiction, self-loathing, greed. When I meet fans, we connect on such a deeper level than we could over a cool guitar riff or catchy hook. I’ve met survivors of school shootings, recovering addicts, survivors of abuse, of self-harm, all types of people who heard me through my music and felt understood. That sort of connection is by far the most rewarding part of doing what I do.
Making music for people to escape their reality can be comforting to both artist and fan; it’s easier in some ways. But, it could not provide me with the depth or fulfillment that comes from speaking my truth and cementing my place in this world as an artist that gives a shit. There is nowhere I would rather be than here fighting together with the grandkids.
Check out grandson’s EP on Spotify below:
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