The Media's Destruction of Human Thought

    
     The media is one of the largest facets of influence on the lives of nearly every human and our society and culture as a whole. It is because of this importance it has on us that is what is destroying creative thought. This video through the combination or art and music shows how media, specifically t.v., is corrupting our minds to be a thoughtless mass of zombies. Now I'm not innocent of watching t.v by any means, and I'm not saying that t.v is corrupting society by telling it to do the wrong things, although that is sometimes the case. Media is however in a way telling us what to think. Think about it, where do you get all of your information? The news or other t.v programs, the Internet, or the radio, and that's about it. The fact that we hear something from someone else leaves us at a disadvantage to the whole truth of the situation, because all humans are biased. Everyone is, because everyone has an opinion, maybe not always their own, and that's the point. Unless you witness some event first hand and you develop your own ideas from that event without any influence, any information you receive is biased. And because the media is really the only way we get information today, and because the media is run by humans (as far as I know), anything we hear is somewhat biased, not even just information based media.

     I think this video really shows all this. The music and video work in harmony to show how we have this almost animalistic side, not necessarily in a bad way, just our natural human side. Whether it is bad or good is just one's nature. To me the video shows the media trying to control that natural side by feeding us what it wants to show us, but in the end only our natural side is the defining factor of our character, or should be anyways. That's what it looks like to me with the deer standing on the cliff watching the death of the media machine. Sure it's idealistic, and may not be possible in reality, but its something we should strive for. The music really gives this feel of lamenting sadness whenever the giant t.v is in control, but free and wild when the natural side is released, almost combined with a determination to overcome this colorless, lifeless life that the media has created. Sure maybe it's a little over analytical, but that's my take on it, and I think it holds true. Obviously not all media is harmful, not unless you let it, and I think that's the point of this. Because after all the video is media, even this blog is a form of media, and maybe that's hypocritical of the point it's trying to make, but again, that's only if you let it influence you. And that's kind of how my take on music is. Music to me is parallel to thought, with thought you make music, to express thought. So by relation the loss of this creative thought is a loss of creative music, but the idea can be applied to any art form. Take from this rant and this video what you will, I don't mean to say what the reality of something is, but just another way of looking at reality, because reality is what you make of it.

Thomas Giles Rogers, a Pioneer of Music and Thought

     Metal is probably one of the more misunderstood genres of music. It doesn't appeal to the masses, but that is not its goal. It is a playground, a building of music into something unique, free from the constraints of many of the mainstream standards, but this doesn't mean that as a genre it doesn't come under some heavy fire of both those who oppose it and those who embrace it.

    Thomas Giles Rogers Jr. (pictured right), most known for being the vocalist for Between the Buried and Me, is no stranger to this very fact. Being the front man for a widely diverse and unique progressive metal band, in a genre where its own community is more critical of itself and the music it encompasses than any other genre out there, has set him and his band up for adversity like many others with a similar mindset. It is his diversity and intelligence in such a complacent and critical music scene that has been not only an influence on music, but on me as a writer as well.

    Creating art in the form of music is not an easy task to begin with, and making it something unique and appealing in a music scene filled with bands trying to be trendy or popular. Unlike many of these bands, Tommy disregards the standards set by the general music population and writes not necessarily what listeners want to hear about, but what he thinks or feels, and what he thinks or feels tend to be very deep and complex. It is because of this that makes him a true artist, creating things no one has ever heard before about things many have never thought about. From the idea of the brain being a labyrinth, to the psychological insanity of insomnia, to flaws of government or of the human mind, no topic is beyond his grasp. The way in which he explains such complex ideas through lyrics is even more creative than the ideas themselves, which is why as a writer myself I find Tommy to be such an influence on not only my writing style but my way of thought.

"Beyond the satellites:
Sweet candy populous... a worry free entrance into the world's history
Never underestimate... never think beyond their thoughts.
The satellites have been tapped and Cloud Mountain will carry on the commands of our ancestors

Indeed we work from here. We have for centuries... hearing every breath... watching every disease
(You must accept this truth)

Below the satellites:
The leaders are driving to the farthest retreat. Sit back, relax, enjoy the ride.
They have been speaking for years.
Every night while you're asleep they have been discussing what the future holds for us all.
The outer space takeover. Worlds collide in a dreary pre-determined idea brought by our fellow night owls.
Their stories have been mocked... their ideas have been crushed... but after last night they control every idea we think from here on out.

A GOVERNMENT OVERTHROWN... "

     His lyrics make no attempt at being literal or direct about the point being made because that would be to easy, both to write and to teach the listener. One does not learn something told to them, they learn something from what is shown them, in its reality and natural ambiguity. This is why Tommy's music inspires new thought, because it leaves the thought and analysis to you, and it is because of this why his music has influenced my writing style and way of thought as well.

     But Tommy Rogers is not a one trick pony, and that be one of the most influential things about him. Not only is he an innovator in the heavily criticized  music genre of metal, but he has spread through many other diverse genres such as indie, electronic, experimental, or jazz. Creating bands such as Jacob Rogers (which also functions as a clothing line Giles is also a part of), or his solo projects Giles and Thomas Giles, he's done it all it seems, and with a total of 11 albums released by the age of 30 to back it up, it can be sure that he will do a lot more in the years to come. Every side project shows a new side of his musical prowess, but nothing he does could be considered old hat. Time and time again he shows that he is making music for the art of it and for himself, experimenting with new sounds and styles, and melding them together to create music which the world has never heard. His intelligence musically, philosophically, and psychologically has paved the way for many diverse musical ways of thought, and this is why he is so influential not only to me, but to music in general.

The Death of Music as We've Never Known it

Turn on the radio nowadays and you're bound to hear the latest, trendy, new songs of a variety of different genres. You may think it sounds great, or maybe it's awful, but it is on the radio, so it must be popular for a reason right?

Well, regardless of whether it is or not, can you say it made you think of something in a different way? Did it present some new idea? Some complex analysis of the human condition, or maybe the human mind? Chances are it was probably about how much money someone makes, some relationship they've lost, or maybe their favorite day of the week. Sure, I guess you could say it is music. It has a beat, a melody, maybe even a catchy hook, but is this all music should consist of?

Music is supposed to be an art right? Art is something that tries to make a point of something of importance, or insight new thought or maybe a new perspective. The mass of mainstream music, and even a large majority of the underground or undiscovered music scene, is plagued by the absence of anything that should be considered art. Sure, I get that music is meant to express yourself. Believe me, as a songwriter I know that music is a release, to say whatever is on your mind. The issue with music today, and for some while in the past, many musicians are on a one track mind. Maybe they write a song about some significant other. That's all well and good, but is it necessary to make that the entire theme of your album, and than your next, and than the next... you get my drift. This has been the case for music for a long time, ever since music on the radio and the invention of records. Now at the time of those innovations the music industry was still innocent, so it is true a lot of the bands in those days were playing music their way, with feeling and thought. As the music industry grew, combined with the exponential growth of music technology, music artists became more well known throughout the world. And thus began the corruption of music, and its slow death as an art.

As unfortunate as it is to say, we as humans are greedy. Maybe you haven't noticed, or just wish to deny it, but it's a very real fact. A majority of music artists are no different. Now before you completely ignore everything in your annoyed disagreement with that, there are a lot of honest musicians. I know that, and that's my point. With mainstream music being popular by definition, it has set the tone for what the mass society deems as "good" music. To make it in the industry today, you have to be either very good at being unique and very determined, or you have to cop out and follow the mainstream trend. It seems that in today's music many choose the latter.

Even the musicians who begin as unique, playing the music they want and expressing the ideas they want, end up turning to the mainstream trends to reach a broader audience or to gain the funding of a record label. And that is the ultimate goal of being a music artist right? Well, maybe it shouldn't be if it leads to the loss of self in music. The music industry only takes in those which can be mass marketed to society, and the other ones who may be too different are left in the dust. This is why even those bands with the opportunity to be something new and unique are lost. They either don't have the money to continue to be a band, or the conform to continue making music. Music was supposed to be made for one's self right? Well if that's true than following the mainstream is a destruction of music. The loss of innovation, of thought.

So we come back to the question, is the majority of music really art? If you believe art is rehashing the same idea over and over for 20 years, a music style which fluctuates to whatever people think is cool, lyrics which contain maybe a few witty metaphors but a larger amount of sexual references or hate, well maybe it is art. If you think music should stand for something other than who is superior to who, or how many different ways someone can say they love or hate someone, than I think you'll agree with me when I say that music is dieing as a product of society and music itself. The goal of music in general (to gain more fans and possibly more fame/ money) is the cause of the loss of this creativity. The music industry is in a paradoxical downward spiral of the industry's or artists greed and the desire to be heard. Maybe if there were more songs about the flaws of humanity's greed and desires instead of the performance of these, maybe more could see the true purpose of music. But in this digital fast paced world, it doesn't seem like that is likely to happen. If you want to slow this fall, support bands that haven't changed for anyone other than themselves, and that are trying to make a point with their music. Those are the true musicians which should be mainstream, the ones who defy the mainstream. Maybe people could learn something about the vast artistic expanses of music.