Unspoke Magazine: Issue Four

U N S P O K E M A G A Z I N E

ISSUE FOUR JUNE 2017

OUR MAGAZINE: In today’s world, we are faced with conflict and constantly changing social, political, and economic issues. These issues are commonly suppressed and are “taboo” subjects of conversation. Our mission is to expose these topics and get people talking. We want to release the unspoken and shine a light on it.

THIS ISSUE: Music infiltrates every aspect of our lives, whether it’s the personal playlists we curate, the algorithms telling us what artists we may enjoy, or the washed up radio tunes of the grocery store. Music has the ability to explore topics that aren’t put forth directly into everyday conversation, as well as in a way that we cannot directly articulate.

VOCABULARY VOCABULARY VOCABULARY VOCABULARY ALBUM!

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n. a selection of songs released as a collective unit

BOP!

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n. UNH!!!!!!!!!

CAT!

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n. a weird pet name my jazz friends can’t stop using

GENRE!

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n. a categorization of music styles, soon to become obsolete

HARMONY!

n. complementing notes played in conjunction with one another, sounds pretty sick if done right

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INSTRUMENT!

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n. a piece of equipment that produces noise

JAM SESSION!

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n. musical stream of consciousness that never. ends.

KEY CHANGE!

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n. when shit gets real, my dude

MELODY!

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n. the main sequence of notes that defines the song

MUSICIAN!

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n. someone who’s struggling, will ask you for food

PERIOD!

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n. a defining time span of a particular style of music

PLAYLIST!

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n. a grouping of songs to fit a certain mood, theme, or activity

RHYTHM!

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n. don’t you dare clap on 1 & 3

SONG!

n. a finite piece of music consisting of instrumentation, lyrics, vocals, etc.

S U M M E R P “man of oil” - animal collective

“roller skates” - nick hakim

“on the level” - mac demarco

“yam yam” - no vacation

“grandma hips (ft. danny brown)” - your old droog

“three rings” - grizzly bear

feed it back to me

a semi-linear story about writing an album by shane avrard

listen to the album here: thenoisecomplaints.bandcamp.com/album/feed-it-back-to-me

S1: traveling (Survivor’s Guilt)

Idea to paper, voice to tape, stage to half-empty room, four years la former lover who lives far away now. In the countless dimensions a is traveling – the sharing of music (in focus here: songwriting) is an personal, an attempt to connect the stories and events in life to a br of truthful telling. From the time I first started paying attention to t songs, the ability that attracts me to certain songwriters is the use o lyrical way. Providing firsthand details from inside a reality, mome that carry weight to drive the conveyed meaning in. Hammer on na

ater on a cd to a sort-of and ways in which a song n articulation of the ultra roader narrative by way the processes of building of literal storytelling in a ents of genuine sentiment ail.

S2: writer’s block (Bury the Hatchet)

I moved back to New Orleans with no money or degree to show for my time at college, with decidedly less ambition than I’d flown out west with. Among the literal baggage I was dragging across the country for the second time was a relationship that had been inspiring in the weeks we drank away between dropping out of school & returning to our home states. Over the next two years, however - between extended absences and short visits, our correlation to each other started to feel out of focus. Writing became exhausting when the immediate internal critic started to shut down every idea, and putting thoughts I was having into music would mean broadcasting them to anyone listening. I eventually found out that most songwriters go through these phases (a lot of us are depressed & anxious, too) but not until I’d spent a year panicking about it. At some point, though you have to write down some terrible ideas down to get a single honest, effective one out.

S3: blood sugar (Mellitus/Twitch & Bleed)

In a 2013 essay on songwriting for The New York Times, Paul Westerberg of the Replacements writes: “every day a songwriter rows out into the deep waters in search of his own personal Loch Ness monster.” When you’re living with a chronic disease it feels more like you’re treading water and the monster is using you a raft.

I was diagnosed with Type1 Diabetes at age four, and will have been insulin dependent for 20 years this December. It’s a 24/7 balancing act that will never feel natural, even though I can’t remember anything before. As a band that plays a lot of shows, it’s affected us since day one. High blood sugars mean I’m throwing up behind a pizza restaurant next door to the venue before we play. Sometimes we play a long set in a sweaty room & the drummer has to drive us to a store to get a soda cause I sent myself low. The ups & downs referenced in “Mellitus” are as extreme as they’re made out to be. Some songs take writing and rewriting, with uncertainty and indecision but this one was started and finished in about thirty minutes, after a hyperglycemic episode.

“I wake up high, stumble to the bathroom in the middle of the night – I wake up high, scrambling for water wait for the shaking to subside - I wake up so high, only on the first climb of this roller coaster ride that is my life”

S4: chicago (Sudden Lack of Intimacy/More Than Red/ Hope ur Healing Better)

I went to Chicago in the middle winter to see an old friend, and drive up to Traverse City to see someone I loved. The winter sky hung grey and oppressive overhead, all the leaves had turned and died. The car heater wasn’t keeping us warm enough. Shivering up 31, bundled in sweaters and blankets in the passenger seat, I started finishing the last songs for the album. If I wasn’t aware of it fully at the time, the ending was playing out in front of us. Where up to this point, this collection of songs had been outward facing expressions of the internal; suddenly there was nothing internal to communicate. The lack of love where it was once overwhelming left an unfamiliar absence. Here the lyrics pick up a reflective tone, more ‘what went wrong’ than ‘what’s going to happen.’

“So you’re missing what we had, well I hate to be the one to tell you it ain’t ever coming back/So admit you’re not that sad – we’ve all got obligations, it’s not a personal attack”

S5: Silver Subaru

Sitting by your side in your used ‘05 Silver Subaru on a Sunday drive You’re crying on the dash and you’re banging on the window It’s not a pleasant place that we’ve been in no

S6:

No, you won’t explain Just say my name with such disdain before it’s clear yet who’s to blame Someday you’re gonna find out what remains Someone is gonna go and treat you the same

S7:

Oh, we had it good We had it made but then I walked away, you knew I would So, it’s understood We’ll understate each other’s pain and say to stay would be in vain

SOUND~WAVE TRANSIENCE

by CHAD ROBY

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As the internet expands we consume music in the quiet and solitude of our own home. We all curate our own playlists, run them constantly, and have those rare aha moments when you find a new tune you like. In that moment there is beauty because you cannot recreate that. However, we often abuse the “repeat button”, and this slowly degrades the listening value of these records. The digitization of how music is consumed, and created, often leads more people to stay inside rather than check out live music at a local venue. It also doesn’t help that the number of music venues has been declining since the late 70’s. Even though this is happening, we cannot forget that music should not only be an auditory experience, but it should include ALL other senses. Live music/ performance is an integral part of how the audiophile should consume music. ! !

The transient nature of live music makes it all the more beautiful, and we often look over this. There is something about the process of

showing up to a concert, watching the lights go down, and seeing your favorite artist in the flesh. The rush of hearing that favorite track of yours drop and losing yourself in the moment is almost ethereal. In that instance, all senses are triggered and you can truly experience the moment for what it is.

As a musician myself, when writing songs I get lost in that instant. I enter a meditative state where the piece takes over me and allows me to escape for while. The same can be said about the listener while experiencing a piece of live music. That transient moment is so crucial to enjoying the music because it allows you directly connect to the artist. That intimacy you have at that moment with them, and the audience around you, is unlike any other experience you can have. It’s unique. Savor it, and know that you can never have it again. If you understand the transient nature of your viewing experience, it may change for the better. ,

HOW TO WRITE A HIT SONG FOR ART SCHOOL TEENS IN SEVEN EASY STEPS

by Jack Faust

For some reason lost on me, all the cool art school kids want to listen to is music that sounds like it was written by an emotionally stunted six year old raised by the internet, doing its best to emulate Jack Kerouac. I was in Handsome Tom’s car, and I’d be in a considerably better mood if we were listening to Handsome Tom’s music. He isn’t without his pretensions—not only have you never heard of the bands he listens to, you can’t even pronounce their names. They’re Japanese, or French, and they probably haven’t released an album in the last hundred years or so.

But at least the music is catchy.

We’re not listening to Handsome Tom’s music. Squid Head Sally is along for the ride. Her fucking hair gave me a seizure when she kicked me to the back of the car so she could sit shotgun. So I’m already in the backseat convulsing, laying on my side, trying not to choke on my tongue, when Squid Head Sally plugs in and starts blasting her favorite tunes. Straight hot dissonance is spewed all over my face by the backdoor speaker. The band is called Cranberry Dipping Sauce or maybe I just made that up. The dissonance stops, in its place a thumping, over-compressed kick drum. Enter the singer and frontman, shouting about girls, or mental illness, or both. He’s a Lou Reed wannabe—he isn’t singing, he’s talk-screaming, and his lyrics are “honest” and “real” because he’s seemingly shouting words and phrases as they pop into his mind, instead of in any way attempting to construct good, sonically pleasing phrasings for his lyrics. Fucking Squid Head Sally.

We arrive at Milkman Bill’s house. He’s having a little party, and he asked if I’d perform some of my music. I’m Jack and the Backing Track and I’m ready to rock the house.

I start playing synthpop, real cheesy 80s shit. I fucking love it, let me tell you. I started playing synthpop because I could do it myself, and musicians are flaky. I knew no one liked it, and I said I didn’t care—it was supposed to make me punk rock or something, playing music I knew no one wanted to hear. Of course, things went exactly as I planned.

No one at Milkman Bill’s party wanted to hear this music. Right when I hit the stage, everyone went outside to blaze it up. Didn’t come back inside until I finished my set. Then Fangled-Teeth-Tony starts blasting tunes by That Rapp’r Guy, including his hit singles, “Women r not people, but sex objectZ” and “ur a Pussy With Legs + I have money.”

Anyway, two months later I’m in a band called Strawberry Bagel Spread, I’m talk-screaming my songs, shouting about girls, or mental illness, or both. Squid Head Sally doesn’t come to my shows. Heard she loves the new Felix Venus album, though. She describes it as “synthpop, real cheesy 80s shit.” Fucking fuck me.

A TIMELINE OF

according to Th

19501950's The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks with David Seville Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price Kansas City - Wilbert Harrison The Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton Lonely Boy - Paul Anka

1980's Another One Bites the Dust - Queen Africa - Toto Walk Like An Egyptian - Bangles Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson Like a Prayer - Madonna

1990's I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston Fantasy - Mariah Carey Wannabe - Spice Girls I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing - Aerosmith Livin La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin

NOW Humble - Kendrick Lamar Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran Believer- Imagine Dragons Now Or Never - Halsey Bounce Back - Big Sean

MODERN MUSIC

he Billboard 100

-2017 1960's Stuck on You - Elvis Presley with the Jordanaires The Lion Sleeps tonight - Tokens (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones I'm A Believer - The Monkees Come Together/Something - The Beatles

1970's ABC - Jackson 5 Heart of Gold - Neil Young Dancing Queen - ABBA Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

2000's U Got It Bad - Usher Hey Ya! - OutKast SexyBack - Justin Timberlake So What - Pink Single Ladies - Beyonce

2010's Born This Way - Lady Gaga Shake It Off - Taylor Swift Rolling In The Deep - Adele Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen Whistle - Flo Rida

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C R E D I T S Natalie Day Founder, Designer, Editor

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Natalie is currently a freshman at Columbia College Chicago where she is studying acting and journalism. She is originally from Omaha, Nebraska. She is so happy to be a part of providing a platform to discuss issues that aren’t always talked about in daily life and hopes that the words of this magazine affect at least someone.

Lili Mac DeSIGN EDITOR

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Lili Mac is proudly from New Orleans, LA and is currently a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago studying musical theatre and a bunch of other stuff. She’s not a real designer, but we’re not gonna talk about that. She loves exploring the uninhabited spaces of art, performance, and other people.

Shameful plug! @lilimac866

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Carsen Schroeder Founder, Designer, Editor

Carsen is from Overland Park, Kansas. She is currently a freshman at Columbia College Chicago as an acting major. Carsen has also been a dancer for many years and loves anything to do with the stage. She has always been a storyteller and has been writing as a hobby for many years. She is very happy to provide an outlet for people to tell their stories and discuss these important topics that we avoid so much.

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CONTRIBUTORS Shane Avrard Natalie Day Jack Faust Lili Mac Chad Roby Carsen Schroeder

OTHER

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CREDITS!!

Shane Avrard Photography Lili Mac Photography

NEXT ISSUE: POLITICS!