Daydreams and Heroes

Sunday was probably one of the greatest days of my life. Flashback to age 15, I had just discovered hardcore, not the crap that most kids listen to today, the poor excuse for music that is labeled as "screamo", the needles pouring out of emotion through the most obvious of mediums. Minor Threat, Black Flag, Husker Du, The Meat Puppets, the names are endless. It intrigued me; the unrest, the straight forward brash expression, kids punching each other for no reason and smiling as they did it. Ian Mackaye is the symbol, the god father of the hardcore movement. His honesty, his unabashed need to inform and express his opinion, not giving a shit what you think. He spoke at St. Francis College was more than eloquent. He was everything I expected him to be, but I was able to experience within spitting distance of him, instead of on a DVD or the pages of a book.

Lets flash back to age 16. My aunt bought me a book containing events that occurred the year I was born. Among those events were albums released that same year. There was Daydream Nation by a New York band called Sonic Youth. I had no idea who they were, but I seemed to be drawn in by the cover; a lone candle below the title. I had to get it, the candle just draws you in. I had no idea what I was getting into. Sonic Youth that year became my favorite band, trumping The Clash.

Pre-panel, Kevin and I freaked out in our office, blasting random Sonic Youth songs along with Minor Threat songs, shaking, unable to feel our faces, cold sweat.

Sonic Youth are more relevant than ever. Thurston Moore is still a prolific song writer and guitarist and as I discovered probably one of the coolest people in the world. He is the human embodiment of cool. The fear of interviewing these musical/culture changing giants were apparent when Ian Mackaye approached me after the panel on Sunday and asked if I had any questions. I was afraid I'd have the immediate South Park response.

Their original topic at the panel was the link between independent music and independent publishing, but frankly it turned into Ian speaking seriously for most of it and Thurston pretty much making light of everything he said.

So now I'm stuck with the task of setting up a formal interview with one of my heroes, per his request.

This is relevant to our discussion on what is literature, does it still exist. The question of different formats of music was asked; digital music, mp3s, as compared to analog, i.e. vinyl and cassettes. As an avid music collector, especially vinyl collector, although I have unfortunately become a slave to the take over of the digital format as a portable medium of music distribution, I still love the smell and fell of feel of a record. Thurston Moore said that he loved vinyl for the sheer fact that it is a different experience every time he places the record on the turntable. The needle creates a new groove in the record creating a new experience. I made this association to different mediums for literature. For the last ten years or so, publications known as e-books began to populate the internet and portable devices. The argument that the aesthetic appeal of a book adds to the idea of it being literature. Of course one can argue that music in an digital format is no more music than music on a record.