Among the musical acts to perform at yesterday’s Shadow Art Fair was band called Druid Perfume. I know Brewery management wasn’t too happy about the volume, but I found them to be a nice change of pace from the other, decidedly quieter, bands on the bill. (All the bands that I saw were great, by the way, and I think Ian Fulcher is to be commended for putting together another inspired, eclectic lineup that ran the gamut from country to punk and back again.) At any rate, I thought that I’d pass along the following video that I shot of Druid Perfume performing last night before an enthusiastic crowd.
And, with that by way of background, I’d now like to share an interview that I conducted with my friend Andy Claydon shortly after we both watched Druid Perfume perform, on the subject of “what’s wrong with kids today.” I’d encourage you to check it out, as I think a lot of really interesting points are made on the apparent complacency of the younger generation. Hopefully it generates a healthy debate in the comments section.
And, here, for those of you who are unable to make sense of moving images, is an abbreviated transcript:
MARK: We just watched a band called Druid Perfume, and it struck me that I haven’t seen that kind of energy in a long time. And, as you’d mentioned to me, they’re older guys, who had been around for a while… I guess my question is this. Why don’t kids invest the same amount of energy that we used to invest (when we were in bands)?
ANDY: I don’t know the answer to that. That is so awkward. I don’t want to feel old and say, “kids today just don’t have what we had”…
MARK: But it’s true, though, right?
ANDY: It was the 90′s. We had nothing to care about. It was good times. There were jobs. And yet the energy was just over the top.
MARK: But, now, they should be angry. There’s really something to be angry about.
ANDY: They don’t. They don’t. Now they should be angry and they just don’t care. They just noodle and stand there. I detest the bands of today. They have now raw power. And, unfortunately, it’s why I’ve turned to metal these days… I don’t know why (people in bands) don’t get upset. They’re not going to find jobs… I don’t know what it is. It’s what’s happening. It’s what they’re liking. There will be a re-lash. There will be a bam back.
MARK: I don’t know that it’ll happen.
ANDY: …I’m hoping that it’ll happen again soon. I’m hoping that it’ll kick into gear. Because kids rebel. And somebody’s going to rebel against the crap that’s happening now. But (kids today) are rebelling against what was happening right before. It’s always a rebellion. Billy Childish said it best – “punk rock is a crab – it crawls sideways” – it never grows, or gets bigger. Punk bands never get big. Once they get big, they’re done. It crawls sideways, like a crab…
MARK: We’re in an environment now where things suck. For young kids coming up today, I’d be pissed the fuck off. I’ve got a job – I’m alright. But, where are the angry fucking kids? Are you seeing them anywhere?
ANDY: We are the last generation that can fall into jobs like we’ve fallen into. This is it. Essentially, they’re going to be fighting over service jobs.
MARK: Do they not realize that? Why aren’t we seeing anger on their part?
ANDY: I think they’re cocky. I think they just don’t understand. I don’t think they’ve grasped it… We grew up at a time when you could work at a coffee shop and pay rent. And that was acceptable. That’s gone. You’re not going to be able to work at a coffee shop and pay rent anymore. And you’re not going to be able to fall into work like we’ve fallen into. I don’t know… (Maybe it’s) denial. Who knows?
update: I knew this post would be contentious when I posted it. I thought, however, that it would be a good thing for us to discuss… Before we go any further, though, I’d like to apologize for being somewhat less than artful in how I presented the subject. I kind of conflated a few different things that I was thinking about, and I’m afraid that, as a result, a lot of my meaning was lost.
Let’s start with what I wasn’t saying.
I wasn’t saying that Druid Perfume was political. And I wasn’t saying that music had to be loud to express anger. And, perhaps most importantly, I wasn’t saying that a band had to have a “message” to be worth a damn. Most good songs, after all, are just about the biological urge to unite moist sex organs. And I think that’s fine. What’s important, it seems to me, is that people are engaged in the creative process, and working to express their thoughts in some way.
What I was trying to express in this short video clip wasn’t so much about music as about youth culture in general. I just don’t get that kids aren’t in the streets, yelling their asses off, like they are in Egypt. Druid Perfume just provided the spark to get the conversation going.
Anyway, I just think it’s good to get people talking about his shit.
Oh, and here’s my favorite comment, left by someone on Facebook, where links to this video are being shared.
“What I think is pathetic, is old guys who landed in good jobs thinking youth should lead a rebellion. Thinking that because they (old guys) pierced or ripped something in the 90s they did their part to inspire deep, lasting cultural change.”
This, of course, is completely wrong, but I like being called a pathetic old guy.
For the record, I don’t think that I’ve done anything in my life that inspired cultural change, either lasting or fleeting. I was just wondering about why kids today don’t seem to play with the same intensity. And, what’s so bad about a guy with a job urging kids to rebel? Would you rather have a pathetic old guy urging kids to be complacent?
Anyway, I love you guys, and I welcome your criticism. In fact, I thrive on it… Now if you could just channel some of that passion into your music.