A letter to friends, no Big Ideas.

It’s been hard to feel regular engagement with Substack is worthwhile, but outside of those I see and talk with on a daily basis, this is proof of life.

When you’re busy actually making art, you feel less of an urge to package up social media opinions about the making of art. There’s just not enough time.

My post from a while ago (“Liner Notes”), about a return to music and memories of my high school band, has spawned a screenplay. That’s been a lot of fun to develop. The tl;dr is that the surviving members of the band have been reunited as beneficiaries in the dead vocalist’s will. They stand to receive a princely sum of money each, provided they’ll get together and record the EP they never recorded in high school. It does not have to be good, it merely needs to be recorded. And so the Sad Dads retreat to a remote Blue Ridge Mountain studio to hash out the EP and rehash the past.

Two other screenplays are in the wind. One dark comedy feature dealing with AI/delusional tech titans with Hawaiian compounds, and one TV pilot which is probably the uneasy love child of a Stranger Things / Quantum Leap / true-crime-serial-killer-trucker thrupple. Perhaps news will come from distant shores. It beats other voids, to be sure.

My recent novel is DOA, no more on the way. Fortunately for me, I have friends who send me manuscripts that are skull-breakingly good and I am grateful for their work.

I’ve been running a small alternative Substack called Street Flyer SF, where I post, uh, flyers I find… on SF streets.

I served on a criminal jury where the cops were claiming the guy they beat up in jail assaulted them. Not guilty, your honor.

I also got married again. Small. City hall. Zuni Cafe after.

A Demo Song: “Soft Targets”

As for music, a lot of learning these days. For today, a demo track. I played this one live using the Arturia Polybrute and Minifreak, Korg Wavestate, and some Ableton drums. Call it “Soft Targets” for now:

Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra

Speaking of soft targets: I wrote a 3,000 word post I didn’t bother publishing about how Meta and Tesla were now effectively sub-brands of the emerging Trumpmerican autocracy. It went on to explore the civil unrest and potential for escalating violence which results when CEOs eagerly include their corporate logos on fascist armbands. Predictions in the piece are already unspooling as we see the desecration of Cybertrucks and burning of Tesla charging stations. This is the lowest level of unrest. Where it goes from here is so disgusting I didn’t see the need to publish much more about it. It’s not like the dystopia needs fresh ideas.

If you work for Meta, Tesla, and any of their associated sub-brands, you should quit. Stop trying to optimize your exit. You’re on the wrong side of this thing, and as more extreme people react to unreasonable provocation, the more likely you will be subject to unwanted and largely undeserved violence. This is the problem when ambient rage is given an unambiguous brand to target. You can’t wear the uniform and call it “something you do for the money” or “an opportunity to work on really interesting problems.” That era is long gone.

I would rather we all get along peacefully. You’re our neighbors and friends. And in the end, I would definitely like the U.S. military to stay away from the city of San Francisco under the auspices of “protecting” us from “anti-tech terrorists.” Best believe The Musky Doges would like nothing more than to come back and desecrate the city which effectively gave them a collective pink slip.

In Other Music

Recent highlights: First, seeing Kowloon Walled City at The Rickshaw Stop last Friday. They’re so solid live. If you like heavy music, and you’ve never listened to their albums Grievances (2015), Container Ships (2012), or Piecework (2021), I think you’re in for a treat. If you have time for only two songs, try “Piecework” and “Your Best Years.”

Electronically, I remain inspired by the small community of musicians on Discord servers I talk with on a daily basis. Really, the public internet is a wasteland. All of the best things are happening in small, walled gardens where people are permitted to be open human beings, mutually respectful, aware that membership is contingent upon generosity, contribution, and consideration.

As for recent electronic artists who’ve caught my ear, I’ve been deeply stuck on Recondite (Lorenz Brunner) from Berlin. With a lot of techno music, realms are hard or soft or generic, but Recondite seems to reinvent himself album to album while still maintaining a sound which I can only describe as essentially his. Though his music isn’t at all like Autechre, you’d almost certainly be able to identify an Autechre song if you heard one. This is what I mean about Recondite. Introspective. Melancholy. Energetic. Self-assured. Hopeful. His work rewards repeat listens, even if the initial impression leaves you a little cold. One of my favorite earlier albums on repeat these days is Placid (2015). Try the track “Subdue.”

Be well. Work on what you like. It’s the best way to jam their signal.