releases dance music album
Absolace Rocking the Region
Pink Floyd come together
Ja, Panik
Live at Sakia
An Experiment in Art The Birth of Rave
Mashrou’ Leila Bringing the mojo to C town
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David Lynch
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Contents & Staff
Page
4
Editor’s Note
Gonzo Journalism Page
6, 8
New Releases
Total Life Forever, Foals High Violet, The National Page
11
Interview:
with Nadim of Absolace Page
22
An Experiment in Art The Birth of Rave Page
28
Feature:Â
Ja, Panik Live at Sakia Page
32
Ababda
The nomads of the desert Page
36
With that laid out on the table
Publisher Managing Partner Director, Partner Editor in Chief, Partner
Gonzo Co. Nader Ahmed Sherif M. Zaazaa Walid Abouzeid
Editorial Department Regional Editor Noha El-Khatib
Art Department Art Director Mohamed Nabil Labib Photographers Ashraf El-Mahrouky - OJO Studios* Amira Kourtam
Marketing Department Marketing Manager Noura El Mahdi
Contributors Writers Omar Khairy Maya Wadnomery Research Ahmed El-Ghazouli
Legal Affairs Legal Consultant Abdel Latif Abdel Aziz
*Cover Photography Discord Music Magazine Zero Issue
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Editor’s Note
“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” Hunter S. Thompson
Journalism, whether it reports, documents or informs the general public via television, radio, newspapers or magazines, has traditionally aimed to present the news factually and without analysis or individual favouritism. In other words, the ideal product of such an activity is simple: to deliver the message across as best as one could, without distorting the so-called facts. The media hails the outcome of this activity (i.e., the piece of information reported,)as the actual, unaltered, untainted, course of events all of which they have read us to believe, is the absolute and supreme truth. This virgin truth, I’m afraid is a farce, a dishonor to human experience, understanding, awareness and development; a disgraceful circus side-show for the blind hunters. Why? Why is this problem being overlooked? Because it shamelessly and deviously places people in a difficult position to understand that an objective account is not sufficient enough, as it lacks the underlying message rendering the report less truthful.
“Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another.” Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936), British author. «On the Cryptic and the Elliptic,» All Things Considered (1908).
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So due to the circumstances discussed, Discord Magazine has embraced a particular style of reporting called Gonzo Journalism, founded by Hunter S. Thompson (a.k.a. The Doctor) This form of journalism was, and shall evermore be, the natural choice for us. We may go as far as to call it ‘literary natural selection,’ whereby this process would lead to the perpetuation of qualities best suited to delivering accurate coverage… by simply “telling it as it is,” however ugly or profane it is. And just as “Thompson›s writing technique requires hands on experience... whereby he lives what he writes.” So shall all of us at Discord. We at Discord find that understanding our existence is essential. Because once we find our situation or place within that existence... “The Self” becomes aware; it gives birth to beliefs, to hopes, even desires. It remarkably creates, within us, an urgent need to find a purpose. Most notably an unyielding will awakens... A will that is untamed and raw, knowing no boundaries. It is tremendously overpowering that it gives rise to an unfiltered subjective voice. A “voice” that not only defines us, as well as others, but of the topic or event being covered. Now when we apply this attitude and/or view on life, to our style of writing, you get much of what Gonzo Journalism is about.
Last Words The style of reporting is written in the form of an active first person observer whose subjective narrative styling not only depicts or delivers information of any given account, but also ingeniously serves to engage the reader by abducting them from the unnatural meaninglessness of the objective world of traditional reporting. In other words, it provides a story the reader can relate to. This is achieved by employing factual and fictional elements with the essential use of sarcasm, exaggeration, humor and profanity... All aspects found in the everyday human behavioral relations. Such as in the conversations we have with friends or strangers. We tend to exaggerate, swear, tell jokes, insult and so on. These interactions are real... It is how we live and base our existence and its meaning. And this, my fellow reader is what we believe to be the necessary ingredients, to delivering... the truth.
Walid Abouzeid Editor in Chief
Total Life Forever by Foals Omar Khairy
Indie bands commonly introduce their original characteristic sounds in their debut albums- sounds that are fresh, innovative and electrifying, hence exploring new unmarked territories under the indie genre. Most often, they create follow-ups that integrate the same music to assure fans that their sound remains untouched. This is certainly not the case with Foals.
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Like Noah and the Whale’s successful attempt with First Day of Spring (2009), Foals move on with their second album, Total Life Forever (2010), to try out novel mellow sounds that take their fans to a real and unsympathetic world; an album denoting that ‘the fun is over, the affecting reality is here.’ The album’s opening track, “After Glow”, opens with “I know I could not last very long at all/ Without you here to break my fall,” and continues throughout to signify that whatever follows will be “better than whatever came before.”
also be attributed to a change of producers -while Antidotes was produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, Luke Smith produced Total Life Forever.
Antidotes, released in 2008, positioned Foals on the music map with their punk-funk, electronic-like sounds, an album that BBC referred to as “so far advanced of the UK indie pack. It’s as if front man, Yannis Philippakis, and his band mates are laughing at their contemporaries from outer space.” Songs like “Big Big Love (Fig.2)” with its combination of dance vocals and moving melodic instruments, “Olympic Airways”, “Cassius”, and fan-favorite “Hummer” are what distinguished Foals from other indie bands at the time. Be that as it may be, their sound changed with Total Life Forever, and even though the album is not as inimitable as their first, it certainly offers soother, more developed sounds, as well as some exceptionally poignant ballads. The band compared their previous album’s effort with the current and decided to give each instrument room to breathe, rather than pile on all the jewels at the same time as they did in the first album.
The album includes superior tracks, such as “Blue Blood” and “This Orient”, which would certainly satisfy fans of Antidotes’ sound, but the “Spanish Sahara” and the pulsating “2 Trees” are, without a doubt, the album’s highlights. “Spanish Sahara” is a bold 7-minute narrative of an epic story. The song is deeply moving and without doubt one of the best tracks they have ever recorded. It manifests elements of haunting visuals and builds up to an intense and prevailing climax, conveying the whole album to its worth. “2 Trees” is a wise and buoyant piece about hope; I believe it should have been used as the album’s finale instead of “What Remains”.
Still, elements from their previous songs can be heard in Total Life Forever, but with less angst-like undertones. It is remarkable how the band’s sound had altered so much in a time span of two years. Although this could
When asked if they were worried of losing fans, they said: “We don’t think we will alienate any fans, we have been quite up front about evolving. We have always been evolving as a band. But you can still hear parts of “Hummer” in our new album; it’s just used more sparingly, for a greater effect.”
While their 2008 debut album drew a lot of attention for its music that demonstrated the bands edgy side, Total Life Forever’s sound feels a lot more confident and verifies its appeal to being one of 2010’s Mercury Prize contenders along with Mumford and Sons’ excellent Sigh No More and The XX’s admired debut. Rating: 4/5
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High Violet
Expanded Edition by The National Omar Khairy Every once in a while, an album comes along that overshadows all the others. One that intertwines pain and hope and sheds light on how music can be therapeutic; a medium one surely can rely on while going through the toughest of times. The National did it with Alligator (2005), Boxer (2007), and once again with High Violet (2010). The Brooklyn-based band consists of identical twins (Bryce and Aaron Dessner), an additional set of brothers (Bryan and Scott Devendorf), and Matt Berninger, the lead singer whose deep, apologetic (sometimes even drunken-like) voice is without a doubt, the band’s foremost asset. In their previous albums, the band created some of the finest and most moving tracks ever to be released. Such songs include “Fake Empire”, “Slow Show”, and “About Today”, which Matt explained to The New York Times how with High Violet they tried making a “happy” album for a change, but failed miserably. Like Boxer, which made it to countless best-of-the-decade lists, High Violet helps its listeners to face their dilemmas and overcome them by planting seeds of great hope into the minds of peoples’ darkest miseries, where none seems to be growing or ever shall. It assures listeners that it is normal to feel miserable and wretched at times because this feeling of “drunken detachment,” is in fact a universal feeling that will peter out, or vanish in time. You will not, and do not need a professional, a medically licensed specialist, to talk to when you have the band’s therapeutic and moving lyrics that are so real and sincere, so truly heartfelt that you slowly begin healing. The album is peculiar, once you realize the band isn’t just singing, but rather digging deep into your own personal woes. The album compassionately guides you through it all, lifting the burdens as that a savior would. What makes the band stand out from others is the fact that unlike many of today’s contemporary bands, The National does not care much for “high-pitched” voices or clichéd stories of broken hearts with repetitive lyrics. In fact, they even named themselves The National because they prefer the old and meaningless like The Smiths, instead of today’s over thought or smart-alecky ones like that of the Arctic Monkeys. Moreover, many of the lyrics are mumbled with phrases that often “run together and never make sense.” As a result, you get to listen to, and experience music that is closer to the true voice of the real world; cut up, interrupted and lost in translation… leaving you just the same, in a million little pieces, it is also here that the melodic harmony works to put you back together. Discord Music Magazine 08 Zero Issue
High Violet, a requiem-like sounding album opens up with the desolate “Terrible Love”, in which Matt sings, “I won’t follow you into the rabbit hole/ I said I would but then I saw your shivered bones/ They didn’t want me to.” The song is then followed by the heartrending song titled “Sorrow”, where Matt points out “Sorrow found me when I was young/ Sorrow waited, sorrow won/ Sorrow they put me on the pill/ It’s in my honey, it’s in my milk.” The whole album is flawless, which only The National can pull off. Solid examples of their abilities could be heard in songs like the humorous “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” and “Little Faith,” in which Matt mocks the constant tension between nuns and priests. As for “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and “Conversation 16”, Matt introduces life as a “love song about cannibalism.” Besides their witty demeanor, which I believe is far from being pretentious or forced, they are a perfect example of how the band’s music is unlike anything out there. In my opinion, the last two songs are some of the band’s strongest pieces of work up to this day. However, we cannot ignore the equally profound intensity of “Lemonworld” and “Afraid of Everyone,” where we hear Matt voicing what many believe to be the solution when he says, “I don’t have the drugs to sort it out.” The expanded edition of the album includes an alternative version of “Terrible Love,” which sounds much calmer than the original. Also included are two previously unreleased songs; “You Were a Kindness,” being my favorite of the two, as well two b-sides and live recordings. Although some may find difficulty in comprehending the totality of meaning in High Violet, you somehow find yourself relating to it more that way. This attachment, felt and formed, reawakens your mind to a new you; less distraught in this manufactured ugly world of ours. The reason for that is, their songs are chaotic and random, and in turn play out on feelings and emotions. Anyone who appreciates deep, touching music must own this album. High Violet is a comfortable sadness and, without a doubt, the album of the year by one of the greatest bands today. Rating: 4.5/5
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Rocking the Region: An interview with Nadim Jamal of Absolace Noha El-Khatib If you’re into music under the genres of alternative, progressive rock, indie, or any other variety that is excluded from the mainstream of TV/radio hits, then chances are you grew up feeling like a minority because of it. If you grew up in the Middle East then those chances can multiply because let’s face it, even the mainstream is a slim river overcrowded by Arabs in a collectivist culture. So how do you swim upstream and get your music heard in the region?
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“We’re not trying to get famous at all, we just want this to be what we do.”
This is very much the obstacle for newly launched UAE-based band Absolace. Fronted by vocalist Nadim Jamal, they are a collective of talent, passion, perseverance, and PR pragmatism.
up in the region. These guys are not just guys who grew up with dreams of performing live for big audiences; they are professional musicians who make it their business both day and night.
I caught Nadim one afternoon in Dubai as he was on his way to jam with his band and, while reconnecting as old college classmates, he shared with me his realistic perspective about his love of music, and how it led him to the big shows and publicity he is setting up in the UAE.
Greg Cargopoulos, founder, drummer, and bassist, and now sound engineer and music store owner, united with his old friend Jack Skinner, guitarist, and later joined forces with Kyle Roberts, who brings in keyboards, synths, and electronic influences. Kyle adds the diversity to their metal vibe. Having collaborated in the past with Aphex Twin in the UK, Kyle is a producer and will, if it flows naturally, bring in more industrial sounds in the next album. It didn’t take much for Nadim to impress them with his vocals before they recorded their debut album, Resolve[d]. Ben Harris is the newest addition to their band and is a professional performer full time, so when he is tied up with other commitments, they have another bassist who fills in.
I met Nadim in our freshman year at college in 2002. I was new in town but he already had established himself as a reliable leader among the music-lovers in Beirut, so much so that when elections came up he was elected as president of the American University of Beirut’s bustling Music Club. And he was only a freshman. Four years later the college days are over and Nadim knows the music scene in Lebanon inside and out. Cut to another four years later and he’s used his skills to make a living doing freelance events organization and management so that he can focus on his real love: music. His current enterprise is his collaboration with a bunch of ambitious metal-loving guys with diverse backgrounds who grew Discord Music Magazine 012 Zero Issue
They are only beginning, and have their name associated with some influential people in the progressive rock/metal scene. Fans of Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Alice in Chains, and maybe even Tool, will recognize the influences on Absolace’s sound. So imagine what an experience it must have been for Absolace to have their album mixed and mastered by
none other than Jens Bogren of Fascination Street studios in Sweden. Yes. The Opeth guy. “When you wanna do it right, it’s so much work.” He takes a deep breath and rubs his forehead. “We’ve all been doing this a long time even if it wasn’t with Absolace, and we just planned it well and we did it well and we had friends who were helping us, and people who have skills we don’t have and contacts we don’t have.” But none of this implies that they’ve had it easy, they are just grateful and realize that it takes more than just what they can offer. Nadim himself uses his time off from work to make the right contacts and promote the band. “I’ve spent the majority of this summer working almost from when I wake up to when the sun goes down, sending emails and making calls for the band… radios, distributors, event organizers, sound guys, writers.” So what happens when his day job starts to take up most of his time again? They’ve luckily found themselves a full time manager. He is a guitarist named Braegen Russell, who will join them in their live performances. Funnily enough when I mentioned that Discord would be published out of Egypt, Nadim told me that he had just had a meeting with a distribution company,
Daxar, insisting that their album is distributed in Egypt. “People have contacted us [via MySpace] from Egypt saying ‘I heard the band, I love it, when are you gonna come play here’…” So he is looking into the music-scene in Egypt and is curious and optimistic about the crowd there. In Dubai it’s tough because the crowds that love their music are not usually the big spenders who are willing to sponsor them the way they are willing to sponsor mainstream acts. So he knows they have to do it the hard way, and they have already traveled a long road. I asked him what he would say to the ambitious young musicians who want to rock the region with their music and make it against all odds. He smiled and lowered his head. “If you’ve got it, do it, but set the stage to have a day job. It’s not an easy life.” He continues, “Learn how to be a studio engineer, an audio tech (which pays a lot of money if you’re good), work in a music store, work in a radio station, work at a rock magazine, write! Engage yourself in a professional path in the industry, while also pushing yourself as a musician – OR accept that you’re taking a huge risk, and realize how many OTHER bands are out there on MySpace also trying to make it just like you.” On September 18, 2010, Absolace opened for UK band Anathema, seasoned and well known for their transition from death metal to melodic/progressive rock, in Nadim’s hometown, Beirut, Lebanon.
“If somebody’s serious enough
to drop out of college or quit
their jobs and do this, then
they have to be serious enough
to read this book.”
Sivers’ E-Book.
On Derik
Links: www.myspace.com/absolace www.facebook.com/absolace
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The Pink Floyd Reunion
The fans were ecstatic as the remaining members of the band played together for the first time since Live8 in 2005. It was a surprise for everyone that showed up at O2 on the 12th of May to see Roger Waters perform The Wall live, as soon as “Comfortably Numb” kicked in; the audiences were stunned as David Gilmour appeared on stage. Nick Mason later joined his former band mates to perform the last track of the set, “Outside the Wall.” Many rumors had been around ever since regarding a possible reunion but nothing officially has been announced by the band’s website yet.
Bjork launches multimedia project: Biophillia
More than just applications, music, live shows and Internet feeds, Biophillia is a website based on Bjork’s latest release Volta in 2007. It’s a highly interactive page that explores the relation between music and nature. According to a press release “Biophilia celebrates how sound works in nature, exploring the infinite expanse of the universe, from planetary systems to atomic structure. For the best results, its recommended to view it using either Google Chrome or Safari browsers, anything else would not allow you to view the site’s full features. Discord Music Magazine 014 Zero Issue
Red Hot Chilli Peppers return with new album
Red Hot Chilli Peppers will release the first single from their next album I’m With You next week. “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” will be the first taste of the album, coming late August. Last week, Red Hot Chilli Peppers launched a Facebook page where fans will receive updates about the new goings on in the Chilli Pepper camp before the release of the album. I’m With You is the band’s first album since Stadium Arcadium. It is also their first album with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. It will be released on August 27, 2011.
David Lynch, from super weird movies to Dance music
Legendary filmmaker David Lynch made a huge transformation in expression as he released, last December, his first single “Good Day Today” on DJ Rob da Bank’s Sunday Best Label. He talked back then about finding his way to electronic music, and according to a press release he has completed an entire album that should be out anytime soon.
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The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin
Mick Jagger initially thought the idea of being in a supergroup was ‘mad’
The Flaming Lips currently recorded a video for their live performance songs of their The Soft Bulletin live. According to a press release it will be available on a USB drive inside of a “gummi skull” and will be sold as a limited edition package that also includes free tickets to two of their upcoming concerts in LA.
Buzzcocks releases A Different Compilation
A Different Compilation is a studio album released by Cooking Vinyl on the 6th of June, where the Buzzcocks take their most influential Pop-punk tunes, re-mastered and recorded on a 24-track compilation.
The Rolling Stones frontman has decided to expand his horizons by working with a host of talented musicians including Eurythmics star Dave Stewart, British jazz singer Joss Stone, Bob Marley’s son Damian and award-winning Indian musicianand-producer A.R. Rahman. The stars have created eclectic band SuperHeavy together. Dave, who came up with the idea of creating the group alongside Mick, has revealed the musician was unsure about the collaboration in the initial stages. “I said, ‘Hey, look, we’re going to try this experiment,’” he told USA Today. “Everyone turned up without knowing what it was. Mick said, ‘This is mad. We haven’t written any songs.’ We started jamming, and it was amazing. It got to certain peaks where it was, whoa, this is happening.” The group recorded the 17 tracks in Los Angeles over a three week period. The songs range from dance tracks to a Rahman composition that sees Mick singing in Urdu. Discord Music Magazine Zero Issue
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Walid Abouzeid
Somehow Man has dismissed those frequently repeated phrases and/or opinions. Those, by definition, that lack in originality, which we commonly refer to as clichéd statements… Why have the once wise, now become the mundane, obvious, boring…? When the very fact of them having survived 100’s of years testifies to the power they possess. Those almighty oneliners, the so-called clichés serve those who respect them with great insight, particularly into the minds of others.
Today, we teach and praise those who can read between the lines, where underlying meaning or hidden intention rests. Unfortunately, the majority, whose inability to read in-between the unnecessary and suffocating lines, have grow tired and fed up with reading altogether… Preferring the four lines, very well know as The TV!
Case #1 Although, some may be indeed obvious, however the genius behind it isn’t as apparent. For instance, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” ironically enough, reveals pages, even volumes, about a person who does judge a book by its cover… What else does (s)he judge by its cover? Once we begin that chain of thought, the concept of possibilities regarding this person and their actions… makes food a gourmet for thought.
I say, we look back, observe and realize the complexity behind the art of a perfect sentence, which can conquer any army of sentences put together, and that testifies that the concept of reading between the lines... is the very Cliché. Which ironically, Man would only realize on his deathbed, when asked whether he has any last words.
Before I proceed, it is best I state what I mean when I speak of that which is possible… It does not entail that it is certain or a fact, it only indicates that it may happen, it may be true. Only, chance, time and silent observing, can we come to seek out what truth we may find behind a person’s simple actions. In this case, the person, who may very well be your friend, has unknowingly revealed a worst-case possibility about themselves; not a fact, but certainly not an impossibility… for instance, that they may very well be racist… judging those by the colour of their skin. Case #2
Highly Recommended Read: An Experiment in Criticism (1961) by C.S. Lewis.
Dedicated to Budreya “Good Times in Ajman” Faisal
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Mashrou Leila I took Hamed Sinno, frontman of Mashrou’ Leila, aside after his first concert in Dubai to ask him specifically about the mysterious woman in his band’s name. While I’d heard and read many takes on who she really was, I wanted to hear it for myself...
Catch the exclusive interview with Mashrou’ Leila in our upcoming first issue...
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An Experiment in Art Nader Ahmed
From right to left Alan Eramus, Tony Wilson and a friend
During the mid 1990s there was a low profile rave scene in Egypt. It started in Agamy or Sharm, I’m not quite sure where. Either way, it had branched out into Cairo, attracting such entities as Ministry Of Sound, and later on, in 2000 the infamous Gatecrasher’s Millennium Party, which gave birth to an unprecedented number of events that where held everywhere. A whole new cult of people that truly grasped the concept was growing strong, it was perfect… that is, until things got big enough that it caught everyone’s attention (including the radio stations and of course, the police.) Between 2004 & 2005 after the public media discussed many cases concerning a rise of drug trafficking, it was all as very well expected to end… and it did. It fell apart leaving behind an awful scene of an over-ratted, profit oriented, non-genuine industry of fools on parade. Well this is not the point obviously, but I find it worth mentioning.
Everyone that controlled the music business was still stuck on Bowie and Pink Floyd. Offering the “alternative” was simple, yet Tony’s vision was far from being ordinary, in the sense that it was an unorthodox approach to management. He started by arranging gigs at a local venue in Hulme, at the Russell Club. With the help of his partner, Alan Erasmus, he began recruiting some new talents with the intent to launch an independent record label, called Factory Records. Graphic designer Peter Saville soon joined in, taking charge of advertising and artwork/design. Finally, Martin Hannett, who had just finished producing the Buzzcock’s Spiral Scratch EP (1977), which was actually the first independent punk record, accepted Tony’s request to ditch Rabid Records (a fairly successful punk record label at the time) and join his crew as a record producer.
What had really interested me all along was where it all began. My curiosity somehow proved my self-proclaimed theory and assumption, that the most influential music had, and still does to some degree, come from the UK. To some extent I was proven right, however, after much research I had come to realize were it all exactly began, and the people behind it. To my surprise, it was not in London, but Manchester!
Martin Hannett, or ‘Martin Zero,’ was a man best known for his obsession with recording the sound(s) of silence, as well and his influential contribution with Advanced Music Systems, a manufacturer of professional studio equipment. AMS audio engineers, under his instruction, would attempt to imitate sounds that he hears in his own head. Whenever his name is mentioned or talked about, echoes of Joy Division’s “Insight” reverberate in my head. I remember thinking to myself “who would think of, or even consider producing a track like that in the fucking 1970s.” I was blown away by the drum arrangements, the song structure and that insanely filtered, highpitched synth’ sound, which is definitely “faster but slower.” Although it fails to make sense to the average music listener, it definitely succeeds at creating this unpleasant calling atmosphere. It is a bloody masterpiece!
“So It Goes...” A regional show on Grenada TV was hosted by a man who was later known as none other than “Mr. Manchester,” Anthony “Tony” Wilson: a part-time journalist and a full-time sucker for music. Surprisingly, he was all about punk music or post-punk, whatever it was called then. The point is, he gave bands such as the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Buzzcocks, Iggy Pop, and Joy Division, a platform to be heard on. They all made their first television appearances on his show. Tony seemed to have problems accepting the direction that popular music was heading during the mid 1970s. Discord Music Magazine 022 Zero Issue
Anyway, Hannett was asked to produce an album for the new and exciting Joy Division. In my opinion, apart from Ian Curtis’s holy vocal presence, Joy Division’s music wasn’t that special when compared to other bands at that time. However, their songs were well-structured and were produced in a way that gave the band a very significant and distinctive sound.
Hannett incorporated some unusual recording techniques, while producing their first album Unknown Pleasures. He used to loop the drum sounds, mix them with synthesizers then run them through digital filters, analogue delay units and other time modulators. Sometimes he’d replace parts of the drum kit with toilet appliances. It wasn’t very much expected from someone who had graduated with a degree in chemistry, then again he had picked up his uncle’s bass guitar when he was 14. In addition to signing with Joy Division a contract, which had been signed in his own blood, Tony, aka Mr. Manchester, got two new bands to sign with Factory records: A Certain Ratio and Durutti Column, but none rose to Joy Division’s success. The label finally released its very first LP, Unknown Pleasures (1979) by Joy Division. It received an overwhelmingly positive reception from fans, and the band instantly started touring locally. During this time, the band’s manager Rob Gretton became the fifth partner in the label and within months Factory Records released The Return of the Durutti Column (1979) by Durutti Column. Eventually Joy Division got their big break in the form of a two-week tour in the US to support their album’s release, but here enters the unplanned element of fate, destiny, or some kind of a divine slap in the face. It was never meant to be. It was May of 1980, while everyone was getting ready for the tour, Ian had other plans; actually, he had just the one plan. At the age of 24 Ian chose to turn away, in silence, by putting an end to his troubled life, the day before they were scheduled to take off. It was not the first time that Ian had attempted to kill himself. On 7 April, he attempted suicide by overdosing on phenobarbitone after being extremely depressed following his worsening epileptic condition. Either way Joy Division had already raised speculation in the press regarding their chosen band name (the name Joy division originally given to the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls.) It wasn’t long before they were bombarded by accusations of being fascists, and once Ian’s death was all over the news, the phrase “any publicity is good public-
ity” rings true. The media frenzy gave the band generous public exposure that only pushed their popularity and new single “Love will tear us apart” up to the top 20 UK charts. A month later, their second album Closer (1980) was released. It claimed the number one slot on NME’s Album of the Year and was actually included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The band, and all the surrounding heartache, was facing a crucial time to decide what to do next. Not an easy decision, since most bands don’t carry on after the death of their front man (see The Doors, Nirvana, and Queen) but gush aside, it was clear that the band’s reaction to Ian’s death seemed surprisingly positive. Three months after the incident, the remaining trio, along with Gillian Gilbert, a close friend of the band, performed live at Manchester’s Beach club, with guitarist Bernard Sumner taking on the role of vocalist. Soon after, they began sessions in preparation for a new album, under a new name; New Order. During that time “Ceremony” was released as a single. Their first album Movement wasn’t that much of a leap forward, yet it saw the band use more synthesizers with even heavier production input by Hannett, but still it sounded more or less like Joy Division. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolute genius but it just wasn’t New Order yet.
Left to right Bernard Sumner, Martin Hannett
“There was a lot of space in [Joy Division’s] sound. They were a gift to a producer, because they didn’t have a clue, they didn’t argue”. Martin Hannett on Joy Division’s first album.
Ian Curtis
During the recording sessions, Hannett had taught the band how to use a mixing board to produce records for themselves, and while touring they were exposed to other musical influences. These two very vital elements equipped, inspired and aided New Order in their musical development. Drummer Steven Morris pickup drum programming and bassist Peter Hook started shifting towards a more melodic sort of playing. They brought back with them from New York new ideas and sounds, such as post-disco, electro and Italian disco. Soon Tony and the band had plans opening a nightclub, spending huge amounts of the music budget to convert a textile factory in the heart of Manchester into the infamous music venue and club which they called The Hacienda (FAC 51).
Joy Division
Joy Division Discord Music Magazine Zero Issue
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The Hacienda (FAC 51) Once it opened to the public on May of 1982, the Hacienda’s design was met with high appraisal. It was remarkably ahead of its time, in terms of stage and room acoustics. Everyone was blown away, all but Hannett, who had gotten extremely disappointed and irritated by the club’s expenditures. Given that it had dug into, and used up most of the label’s musical budget… Hannet decided to leave the label. He mentioned something about opening a recording studio but maintained a low profile ever since. Saville also quit as a partner due to payment problems, but still continued working with New Order and Factory’s back catalogue. At this point everything was falling apart, huge debts were accumulating on the label due to extremely low attendance at the Hacienda. Not even the best selling 12” single of all time (“Blue Monday” released by New Order in 1983) would undo the damage done; instead the club was still costing the band about 10,000 pounds a month. Money aside, the release of “Blue Monday” followed by their second album Power, Corruption and Lies saw the band fully evolve to an electronic/dance act, greatly influencing many other bands at the time. Still, Factory Records needed another spark of genius, another non-traditional means to an end. That was Paul and Shaun Ryder, together with guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whalen. They formed the Happy Mondays, a group that reminded Paul McCartney of The Beatles in their “Strawberry fields” phase. Nevertheless their music could be labeled somewhere between indie pop, acid house and funk coupled with Shaun’s impressive writing and singing abilities. If one has the belief that some musicians have stellar origins, mysterious minds from Mars or Pluto, the Happy Mondays will definitely back up such an argument, especially Shaun Ryder and Mark Berry (a.k.a. “Bez”,) a very good friend of Shaun’s, who later joined the band by simply dancing hysterically during rehearsals, recordings and on stage, sometimes with a shaker, other times with a tambourine, but most of the times just bouncing around with a very unique set of robotic groove illustrations. Tony discovered the band during a battle of the bands contest held at the Hacienda, even though they came on last he decided to sign them on anyway. Their first album, Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), released in 1985 was very successful that most of the tracks (especially “Kuff Dam”, “Tart Tart” and “24 Hour Party People”) were constantly being remixed by popular DJs. Alongside New Order’s release of Low-Life they became the label’s most successful bands. Finally bringing in the cash, that has long been overdue!
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Everything came together, the people, the music, and the whole atmosphere. From rock bottom to sky-high, The Hacienda became the centre of Manchester’s rave scene, the Madchester scene. Almost all popular DJ’s at the time were regulars on the decks at the Hacienda. Martin Hannett reappeared to rejoin the label after reaching an agreement with Tony (even though he filed a lawsuit for unpaid royalties, the matter that was later resolved outside the courtroom.) Instantly, he produced Happy Mondays‘ second album, Bummed (1988). New Order also released Brotherhood in 1986 and Technique in 1989. The Mondays then released Pills ‘n‘ Thrills and Bellyaches in 1990, which was produced by Paul Oakenfold and had reached the top 4 in the UK charts. Together, during the late 1980s they dominated the whole scene. Factory expanded and opened a bar (The Dry Bar, FAC 201), a merchandise store (The Area, FAC 281) and Factory’s headquarters (FAC 251) because until then the company was still registered to Alan Erasmus‘ apartment! During 1991, tragedy struck once again, in the form of two great losses to the music industry. First of which was Martin Hannett, a pioneer in his own right, suffered and died from heart failure. The other tragic loss was that of Durutti Column’s guitarist, Dave Rowbotham, who was brutally butchered to death in his apartment. With the loss of the ingenious producer, who unintentionally changed the rules of recording, sampling and even some of the equipment that is still being used in today’s music, it was evident that it was a downward spiral all over again. Martin Hannett
It took New Order two years, and about 400,000 pounds before releasing their comeback album Republic (1983). The Happy Mondays decided to record their fourth album Yes Please! in Barbados. There are claims that they used most of the money sent, for “recreational” purposes instead of recording. Shaun had just checked out of rehab, but obviously it didn’t work out well enough for him. All they did was get high and drive the label straight into bankruptcy. Despite its fame, the Hacienda wasn’t making enough money, if any at all. Even though the entrance fee was low, compared to other pubs and clubs around, the majority of people simply preferred the ecstasy-friendly clubs over those that strictly sold alcohol. A great downfall was inevitable, nothing short of an epic tragedy. In 1992, Factory Communications Ltd. declared bankruptcy after a takeover by London Records fell through. It was understood that Factory owned none of rights over the music. In other words the bands had full ownership of their music, which meant that they had the right to walk away at anytime. And the majority did just that.
Left to right Shaun Ryder, Tony WIlson
New Order, along with most of the other bands, signed on with London Records. The Happy Mondays broke up soon after they released their album Yes Please! (1992) which was generally considered as their poorest work so far, and had one UK music magazine review the album in two words: “No Thanks.” By 1999, the band attempted to reform, however they broke up again the following year. Then finally, they reunited in 2004, without Paul Ryder (who swore not to work with his brother ever again.) In 1997, The Hacienda was not only forced to shut down, but was demolished, reduced to mere rubble. Instead, built over this sacred landmark… a luxurious apartment block! Talk about adding insult to injury! That’s it! There are no conclusions, nothing to learn, no happy endings. I guess the ride was what really mattered to everyone...
New Order Discord Music Magazine Zero Issue
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New Orleans-based artist Kate Hanrahan does gorgeous mixedmedia and sitespecific drawings and installations.
Check out the incredible illustration work of Savannah College of Art and Design graduate Tran Nguyen. Totally nuts.
London-based illustrator, designer, and screenprinter, Dan Mumford, uses pencils, pens, a tablet and Photoshop to create meticulous and creatively exciting pieces of art.
Grandpa Shea is a Melbourne-based artist wielding a pencil like no other. His work is confident, emotional, at times dark and filled with black humour. One pencil and an eraser, such simple tools to produce such intricate, moving and thought provoking work.
These stunning photos by Elly Prestegard are from her new project based on photos from her garden: ‘You know Alice, the girl who followed a rabbit, met a cat and a wicked queen. She just popped up here! She took me to her secret places, and we played for hours. Maybe days’.
Take an enchanting journey in the Mexican countryside with Dreaming in Reverse, a beautiful series of photomontages by American artist, Tom Chambers.
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Hugh Peachey is one of the best photographers in Melbourne. Just look at these pictures! Peachey earned his stripes shooting campaigns for big names like Dulux, Bayer, and Stihl, but he says his favourite projects are the test shoots he creates in his custom-made studio in Northcote.
I recently fell in love with the work of Istanbulbased photographer Umut Kebabci. Floating Light is a series with bodies in motion that I find stunning. I also love his black and white works, in particular the series about the whirling Dervish.
The artwork in the book The Arrival by Shaun Tan is so visually captivating. The way the author, and illustrator, tells a story about a man and his journey to a new, surreal land, purely through illustration is astonishing.
Andrew Hem graduated from Art Center College of Design and has exhibited internationally with shows in LA, Chicago, and London. When not painting, Hem has built a career as an illustrator and designer, working for clients such as Adidas, Lucky Brand Jeans, and The Los Angeles Times. Using amusing tropes from horror and sci-fi films as well as carnival side shows, artist Zach Cohen creates wonderfully surreal images that are tinged with a bit of indie culture disaffected-ness.
New York-based Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu has been featured on Lost At E Minor several times over the past couple of years. I love the sense of drama her work conveys, the apparent colour clashes that somehow gel despite pre-existing rules about their compatibility.
For creative people Discord Music Magazine Zero Issue
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Ja, Panik
Live at Sakia
Omar Khairy / Nader Ahmed
A lot went wrong when the German Goethe Institute welcomed one of Berlin’s much-admired indie pop/ punk bands to perform at Sakia, Cairo. Their guitarist had to deal with a broken amplifier and their keyboardist collapsed midway through the gig. All of which pointed to one reaction: Yes, panic!
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Ja, Panik are an Austrian-based band consisting of five band members. When the Sakia hostess introduced Andreas Spechtl, he at first seemed very shy, but then proved otherwise once the microphone landed in his hands and he picked up the guitar. The rest of the band consisted of Sebastian Janata on drums, Stefan Pabst on bass, Christian Treppo on keyboards, and Thomas Schleicher on another guitar. Thomas, who only joined the band after the release of their debut album entitled The Taste and the Money (2007), is the only band member that does not sing. He instead intensely focuses on his guitar. The band has been together for several years now, and has relocated from motherland Austria to Berlin, Germany in order to release their album entitled The Angst and the Money (2009). Signing on to an independent record label in Germany has not stopped them from touring endlessly every week. Their performances in Egypt are not only their first in the Middle East, but their first performances outside Europe. They are, one can say, tour-virgins. The Performance: The band opened with one of their hit songs, “Alles Hin, Hin, Hin,” in which Andreas talks about being “fearless without money,” one of the key issues the band addresses and tackles throughout their album. Their catchy punk songs seized the Egyptian crowd into a trance; dancing like they were high on sugar, coffee and Red bull, to which the band took notice of and later pointed out during our interview; that their counterpart European crowd are much calmer. Taking that as a compliment that places one pointer to Egypt over Europe. “Pardon”, a personal favorite, followed, and it adequately highlighted each of the band members’ talents. In the song, the band members explain how with a foreign language, they’ll ‘turn demons into kings’. The first two songs performed are two of the best songs from The Angst and the Money, and definitely some of the night’s best bits. Their songs combine both the German and English language, and as Andreas humorously confessed during their performance that night, that even though “their English is bad, their German is even worse.” The songs that followed showed not only their calmer side, but they also exhibited the humor that infested their songs. And I must admit, they are funny. Some things that caught my attention ranged from confessions about experiences in the men’s room to admitting to having a funny accent. Other songs performed included “Blue Eyes”, “Tür Auf, Tür Zu”, an unreleased track, and a Pet Shop Boys cover that closed their gig.
Midway through the performance, keyboardist Christian Treppo left the stage and the band members stopped performing only to find out he collapsed backstage due to food poisoning. This did not stop the band from going on with their gig. Five minutes later, the whole lot, including Christian, were up and running again when Thomas’s guitar strings tore apart. He simply stayed on stage and started dancing, which was a funny surprise. Seeing Ja, Panik perform on stage was definitely amusing- even if the band’s music is not very distinctive or groundbreaking. Their music is somehow similar to other western punk rock bands, but the combination of two languages as well as their catchy tunes makes The Angst and the Money a pleasing listen. Fans of Panic! at the Disco and the deceased The Servant, known for “Cells”, will want to check the band out. The interview: After the show, everyone rushed backstage to check on Christian, who had to run off the stage every now and then to throw up, after being victimized by the chef’s recommended ‘Salad of the Day’ at the hotel. Food poisoning, a very common companion of Egypt’s first timers, chose not to spare Ja, Panik’s keyboardist. While I waited, I was left to chat with Sebastian about Joy Division and some experimental drum recording techniques. A very interesting guy, certainly not the average drummer you’ll come across. The other members returned - all but Thomas, who had taken Christian back to the hotel to see a doctor. We were all packed in a tiny place that overlooked the Nile next to the stage, it was a soothing view but highly distorted by ‘Abo Eleef’ echoing from every ‘Falouka’ that passed by, highly frustrating that it got me to start the interview right away.
Very impressive show tonight, really, I was “off my feet” most of the time. So, let us start from the beginning. How did you guys meet? Sebastian: Andreas, Christian and Stephan met at High school in Vienna, they were in the same class and I knew them from going out. When JA, PANIK! were working on their first album they needed a drummer, so they asked me… Thomas was a friend of Andreas and joined us during the second album.
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Are all you guys from Austria? Andreas: Yeah, we moved to Berlin about a year ago. And how long you have been making music together? Stephan: We’ve been playing together since 20052006, sometime then. We have other projects as well, but JA, PANIK! is the main one… It’s more or less the same sound; Andreas and I are in a band with two other girls, it’s not that much rock oriented. Sebastian also makes electronic music on his computer but never releases any. Sebastian: Yeah, I find it frustrating… my computer isn’t fast enough and I experience a lot of technical problems, I’m into it but I guess it’s still a learning process for me. The big question, what brings you here? Don’t get me wrong, but a German-speaking indie band in Sakia, it’s not a very common act. Andreas: The Goethe Institute, often invite bands to perform in Egypt. They contacted our booking agency. I don’t really know why they picked us, I guess that’s the first time they invite a German-speaking rock band. How did it end up, did you enjoy playing here tonight, and yesterday in Alexandria? Sebastian: It was a big surprise for us, in a very positive way, we didn’t have a clue what to expect and during the concert people started dancing, and after the performance they were like “thank you so much for playing here, please come visit again!” Andreas: It was our first time to play outside of Europe, and people here are very friendly. In Europe people are much colder, we didn’t know what to expect so it was perfect for us. Are you guys signed to a record label? Sebastian: Yeah, it is a small independent record label in Germany, and we are more than happy. We can do whatever we want, we do many things on our own, and that is an advantage in many ways. Does that include production as well, I mean, is your latest album “The Angst and the Money” selfproduced? Andreas: No, we’ve been working with a producer in Berlin, Moses Schneider. We like it very much working with him, it’s very comfortable and fun, and we are going to record our next album in November again with him. What about touring, is it a disadvantage having signed with a small label that you don’t get to tour that much? Andreas: No. That’s not true… for the past year we Discord Music Magazine 030 Zero Issue
have been playing almost every week. But we don’t have to, that’s the point it’s totally up to us, we like to and we want to make a living out of this. I want to ask you about your influences in general, because after being here tonight I can tell that you a have a well-contained appetite for noise. Andreas: Well, mainly most old indie stuff, the Velvet Underground, we like them a lot. I am personally a big fan of John Cale, I also like his solo work and some Bob Dylan. Yeah, although I don’t understand a lot of German, I can see that most of your songs are more or less related to political/social issues. Is that all? I mean in terms of song writing are there any tracks about personal experiences for instance? Andreas: I would say that somehow they are personal but they are still connected to the society as a whole, and the way people perceive politics, emotions and all that kind of things. It’s all related, I mean if there is a song about love it would still fall under such topic. So back to your latest album, is it only available in Germany? Stephan: Germany, Austria and Switzerland, basically German-speaking countries, as its very difficult for any German-speaking band in countries like the UK, but we will try with our next album in countries like Sweden, Denmark and Holland… they have little German communities and kids over there that learn German at school… so it makes sense to start trying something like that. What about the music scene over there? Because for some odd reason these countries have a reputation here for embracing Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock and that sort of music. Sebastian: Not really, there is quite a big scene of people around us that play the same kind of music, somehow it’s not all about Heavy Metal, yet most of them are not very popular outside Germany. Andreas: Actually, there is a two girl noise band Charlie Goats, they played in Alexandria once, they are really good, just drums and guitar. Really? I never knew that, I only knew about your gig by chance. I happened to be at Sakia, and I just saw the flyer. Why didn’t you advertise more? Promote your gigs on a wider scale? So more people would show up. Andreas: It was difficult because we don’t know anyone in Egypt, we simply don’t have any contacts here, so it was all handled by Goethe Institute and
what they were able to offer. So what’s next? You already told me that you’re working on some new material, does that mean that there are no more tours for a while? Andreas: Yes, that’s our main concern for the next two months… just recording, arranging and keeping our heads clear for that, and when the album is recorded we can start touring again. Stephan: Our next gig (in Sudan on the 25th; which is in a few days) is our last, which gives us enough time to record our next album, think about the artwork and how to promote it. Do you see yourselves evolving into a new direction, exploring new territories? Sebastian: In our early albums, there were more noise parts, because our abilities were a bit limited, so we used to compensate by making it louder and relying on feedback a lot. Stephan: Our next album is a bit more “soulful.” Andreas: There are noise parts as well, but now we are able to control it better, make a better use of it. So the normal process is to record first, release, then play the songs live. Some bands prefer to play songs live first, because some tunes would sound good in the studio but it’s not that fun to play live. Is that the case with JA, PANIK? Andreas: That’s a very good point. Although no song would change because someone doesn’t like it, it is important to play new songs on stage, it’s like another form of rehearsing, and we try out how everything comes together. Sebastian: We actually played two new songs tonight and yesterday in Alexandria, that we haven’t record yet. ---------------------------------------------------------------We had to leave, the place was already shutting down. They had to go back to the hotel for dinner, with plans to see the pyramids with Goethe people the next morning. I myself was dying for a cigarette so outside the borders of the so-called “White Ring” smoke free zone, we all stopped for a smoke while we planned what to do the next day… some ideas about going out and jamming, some about arranging a trip to the Red Sea. We didn’t settle on anything because all I could focus on is their funny accent, its quite evil I admit but honestly I couldn’t help it, it was too hard to resist. Later we all called it a night… but certainly not a night to forget.
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Ababda Maya Wadnomery
During a trip to the Egyptian Eastern Desert, in a deep southern corner of the Red Sea, I had come to discover beautiful people, the Ababda tribe. The Ababda are nomads of the Eastern desert who are known to occupy land between the Red Sea to the Nile river, north from Qena to south of Luxor. Unlike the Ababda who live in the Northern parts of Egypt – who speak mostly Arabic - those who live in the south consider themselves Beja Bedouins of origin, who are mostly found in Northern Sudan and Eritrea. They speak a dialect of the Beja called Rotana, a very melodic language when used for singing. The Ababda are also known for their distinctive hair that they have worn proudly as a crown for centuries, for they believe they are the descendants of a Lioness deity and her human consort. It didn’t take more than an encounter with a few of the Ababda men to discover their humorous nature and lightheartedness. Aside from an all-day’s work of herding goats and tending to their camels, they seem to find comfort in the company of music. Throughout the day I’d hear someone humming a tune as they pass me in the valley. However, music is more intense in the evenings, when all work is done. Men gather around the fire talking about life-related issues; marriage, better living conditions and such. A young man takes out his five-stringed simsimiyya (a simple wooden instrument similar in function to a modern day guitar) and starts plucking its strings in one ecstatic constant rhythm. Not a few seconds pass, and the music is accompanied by a group Discord Music Magazine 032 Zero Issue
of clapping hands, pulsating vocals and dancers moving electrically back and forth to the music. The men are drawn into a trance that seems more like a spiritual activity. Bass sounds pounding from the throats of the men get stronger and the singing gets louder. Women give out zaghareet (ululations that are often used at weddings and homecoming parties) from a distance to join in for their part – as they stay far from the exclusively male group of musicians. The music stops for a minute or two and a very old man, with a sword hanging from his waist belt, jerks a cheer into the night grabbing everyone’s attention and starts reciting poetry. Not any kind of poetry, but political poetry sprinkled with much sexual metaphors. He too takes out his simsimiyya and starts reciting while playing on another tune. After each sentence said, the men laugh and slap one hand against the other in disbelief. When the poet goes on for some time, the singing and dancing start again. Music, to the Ababda, is not just something they do to pass the time, they consider it food for the soul. Almost every Ababda man knows how to make his own simsimiyya. Music is like a sweet epidemic that spreads rapidly once a string is plucked or a metal can is used to generate a beat. Everyone joins in. Once the music stops, a big laugh spurs from the whole group with luminous smiles, as if for the past few minutes, there was no care in the world.
The Rip Off Guide Tabs “Mosquito Song”
by Queens Of The Stone Age
Am C E I know, I know the sun is hot Am C E Mosquitos come suck your blood Am C E Leave you there all alone Am CE Just skin and bone Am C E When you walk among the trees Am C E Listening to the leaves Am C E The further I go the less I know Am CE The less I know B#m F#m Where will you run? A B#m Where will you hide? B#m F#m Lulla a bies E To paralyze
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Am C E Fat and soft, pink and weak Am C E Foot and thigh, tongue and cheek Am C E You know I’m told they swallow you whole Am CE Skin and bone Am C E Cutting boards and hanging hooks Am C E Bloody knives, cooking books Am C E Promising you won’t feel a thing Am CE At all B#m F#m Swallow and chew A B#m Eat you alive B#m F#m E All of us food that hasn’t died And the light says
Am C E Somehow they pick and pluck Am C E Tenderize bone to dust Am C E The sweetest grease, finest meat Am you’ll ever taste C E Taste, taste Am C E So you scream, whine, and yell Am C E Supple sounds of dinner bells Am C E We all will feed the worms and trees Am CE So don’t be shy B#m F#m Swallow and chew A B#m Eat you alive B#m F#m E All of us food that hasn’t died
Sound Check Lee Ranaldo’s
setup on Sonic Youth’s The Eternal
Effects used: Moogerfooger Ring Modulator Ernie Ball Expression pedal for Ring Mod Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer MXR Blue Box BJF Honey Bee Ibanez AD-80 Analog Delay Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor Klon Centaur Digitech PDS 1002 2-second Digital Delay Voodoo Lab Pedal Power In addition, Lee also uses the ‘Antenna Box’, a custom delay built for him by Matt Zivich. It sits on a platform connected to his mic stand, and it is used for the intro of ‘Antenna’. Amplifiers used: Fender Super Reverb head w/ Fender 4x10 cab Fender Vibro-King Furman power source Toneworks DTR-1 Digital Tuner
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With that laid out on the table… I’d like to note this is a music magazine, incase you guys missed the cover and headed straight for the editorial. Not just music per se, rather the expression of art in its plural forms; the kind that works to provoke your thoughts, that brings you closer to yourself. I wont limit our scope by saying what we ought to cover, so I’ll just say we ought not to cover your everyday monotony. We’re attempting to break the mundane trend of the “popular” that breeds off youth. We’re attempting to start something fresh, uncanny, offbeat, etc, something that would veer you off the herd. Attempting such is a team that mainly consists of musicians, artists, and literary nerds. Each member’s interests vary notably from one another, giving us a significant, genuine and eclectic voice, I presume. We felt we need a medium for expression, somewhere to project and stand out. Somewhere to take off the daily hustles of life, blend in and communicate. As you will read on, I will try to explain from where the idea sprouted, and why we believe this is an essential notion to our everyday lives. So whether you’re a reader or a contributor we hope you find your place. Make yourself at home. Life as we’ve come to know it… Living in the region for a dumb chunk of our lives, we’ve come to see how inhibitions can grow ugly, how followers are pathetically plethoric, and mavericks are an endangered few. Because no matter how good you could get at something, you’ll most always be turned down or frowned upon for not convening to the vast majority, for being different.
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In turn, society can sometimes be a lonely place if you choose to be yourself. Ultimately, you can play out as someone else, or mask your differences to gain acceptance. But in doing so, in coming to truce with such, I realized that we tend to lose ourselves. Some come to forget how it was to be free, to express, or be curious. We slowly sink in waters of conformity, into a broil of standards that work to impede our individuality, and sometimes even our humanity.
We’ve joined a line, or gone astray No time to play, we’ve lost our way The faces, the masks… Take them off The irony of societies, however, is that the way they function, how we humans interact amongst one another, indefinitely creates deviations from the ideal society, or what it intends to attain. So, for example, experiencing injustice, immorality or apathy, will tend to distort our perception of reality, and to some extent of ourselves, within that society. In due process, these experiences, how we react to them, how we “change skin” to counteract them, we catch on to being somewhat eccentric. Somewhat perverted or diverted. Miscued, depressed, distorted. Tainted, in a way. We have it in us, even if it’s a little. In effect, we believe that this raw feeling if left untamed will only weed out into your life.
So, who are we? We’re liberal; We’re socialists, communists, leftists, rightists, fascists, racists, sexists, Buddhists, radical-misfits, terrorists, activists, fundamentalists, narcissists, existentialists, and we likely fall under some other segregated label –hence my absolute loathe for labels. We’re all over the place. Difficult as it is for some to accept, it is who we are, and we’ve come to like it that way. We’ll probably like you too, for who you really are. As my friend Walid, our chief editor, mentioned, we see life through our own eyes, a big surreal painting, so our experience ultimately falls back on the beholder. Are we not the least bit entitled to that, to convey life the way we perceive it? That’s why perception plays out as a raison d’etre, to our drive, to Gonzo. Its an attitude, really; a style of projection. I wont go over it again– you get the idea. We’d like to spark a revolution for evolution. To impel genuineness, a movement, away from the contrived. A movement to something felt, not observed, admired and imitated. Three main points I’d like to get across:
Which is why we’re confident that expression can be a release, whatever constructive form it may take. Though expression down here can be seen largely as transgression, I believe it is vital to lead a sane life, even if a lot of what you let out is insane. It’s a yin-yang relationship; you need to be at peace with both sides.
One, we hate corporatism – like serious abomination. We’re pretty certain corporations are the devil’s lair; the higher up you go, the “lower” you’ll be willing to go.
Let it out…it’ll feel good. Steam off the brew. Write. Sing. Dance - naked if it does it for you. Brush your lover with paint. Have passion, for something, for anything. Believe in your intuition, as screwed as it may be. It can change the world.
There’s a third: we like freelancers; they’re neat. Why you ask? I think if you have the mental capacity to live your life while making money out of something you have passion to, you deserve Respect. If you take a leap of faith with your creative intuition and lead your own way against all odds, you deserve Respect.
It did change the world, for the most perverted and dejected were those who created the finest of art; be it music, writing, film or drawing/painting. To name a few: Beethoven, Michelangelo & Virginia Woolf: Bipolarity; Charles Dickens, Tchaikovsky and Marlon Brando: Mental instability and depression; Van Gogh: Mental instability and epilepsy. What I’m getting at is this: it’s only natural to be unnatural. Sardonically though, it’s usually the offbeat’s who take a beating. Then again it’s the offbeat’s that make it. But it all depends on what ‘make it’ means to you.
Two, we believe that the act of expression in itself is absolutely vital to lead a sane life, as insane as it might be to others.
If we were to have pillars to our foundation, they would be a movement to question everything that was fed and bred in us; to provoke and revoke yourself. We know the human mind is capable, we just think we were made to believe otherwise. We would like to break that belief.
Bam Editor mis-chief
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Classifieds Discord Business Freelancer’s Community is Now Hiring
FREELANCE
The term first appeared and was in use during the early 1820’s. When broken down, the word means “medieval mercenary warrior.” Something we at Discord are expecting to find when hiring… So if you don’t have that rawness… that unfiltered creative desire to be all you can be... do bugger off!
This offer is open to all creative freelancers, which include:
Writers Photographers Illustrators Graphic Designers Etc...
INTERESTED
Then apply now simply by submitting a sample of your work to the following address: freelancers@discordmagazine.com And join the biggest freelancers community in Egypt.
general warning freelancing with Discord may cAUSE the extinction of blue sperm whale’s, penguin erectile dysfucntion and depression of hyenas…
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