by on

This morning I read another report about the sphere inaugurated in Las Vegas with a concert by the band U2. Feedback on the show has been very positive and everyone seems quite impressed with the tons of LED lights and the (poor words, so worn out) immersive experience.

I wonder if these people have ever been to a planetarium in their lives. I remember memorable shows at fantastic planetariums in Osnabrück, Germany and Lisbon, Portugal. And we are talking about the 1990s and 2000s!

Honestly, I am surprised (in a negative way) by the collective mesmerization, in the worst sense of the word, with inventions that, honestly, are nothing new (the true global cult of cars, so harmful to the environment, comes to mind).

It seems that everything that has been done before social media simply never existed. I would say there is a tendence of treating “old” (pre-social media) events as new stuff, or even worse, sometimes they are considered revolutionary, disruptive etc. The very word “experience” has reached a level of overuse by publicity pieces, that it no longer inspires the slightest confidence.

Thge point here is not to question the quality, much less the merit of the band U2 (who, in fact, neither asked nor need my opinion).The reflection I would like to bring today has to do with the widespread use of pyrotechnics in the most diverse musical events.

How much of our already weakened attention can withstand yet another bomb of visual stimuli and still reserve some attention for the music?

Among the artists you know with astronomical numbers of followers, how many people they brought to the stage on their last performance? Hard to rememeber, right? No wonder, with screens that go up and down, dancers with vibrant choreography and costume changes, musicians are just a tiny detail.

I cannot help but thinking that the sparkling lights are taking a place that should be occupied by the music/musicians.. That is, when we are lucky enough to have musicians on stage.

Currently, not only many festivals host attractions whose performances are based on pre-recorded beats, they also consider lip-sync part of the show. And I am not talking about kind-of-hidden-pro-tools-lip-sync”. I am talking about headline performers who would shameless scream words (“Jump”, “Make some noise”) in their mics, while their pre-recorded song goes on.

I am ready to hear any arguments in favor of these resources, I honestly am. However, I fear that any theoretical contortionism will end in some sort of an absolute defense of the concept of entertainment, which I am not opposed to either.

Previously this year, I discussed the difference between large and small concerts, and I am perfectly convinced that there is an audience for everyone. I do not see entertainment as a problem, not at all. The problem is, when there is nothing but entertainment.

Particularly in relation to music, the problem ist that music production has to be reduced to mere entertainment. This is indeed sad, because it means a loss, a decline in its status a form of art. Have you ever heard someone making a comment like: “Well, I did not like that film/exposition, play, because it is sad and I go out to be happy”? I have the impression that this sort of weird reasoning had spread itself throughout society.

Do you know what would really impress me? That people would no longer be hungry and that, at night, everyone would have a shelter. Other than that, honey, there is no sphere giant enough to impress me, and all I can think of all the buzz is: it has been done, babe.

Be seeing you!

G. F.

by on

When I set out to write this blog, a rule I created for myself was:no rules concerning topics, as long as I could see it through the lens of independent music production and, if you have been following me, you must agree that I have kept my promise. Mostly.

Sometimes, however, I feel an overwhelming need to return to a previously mentioned topic. This is the case today. And the topic I am going to address once more, firstly came out about a year ago, and it has to do with the podcast on Comic Art research I produce and host. What is the problem about the podcast?

Nothing, the podcat is fine. My critic has to do more specifically, to a frequent behaviour by the guests speakers. I return to the topic without embarrassment, and not because I want to attribute some kind of “original sin” to my university colleagues. Quite the opposite: it is due to the number of people, from different nationalities who exhibit the same behavior, that I started to think this is not a problem restricted to the academic community, but it represents a much more common type of attitude than one might imagine.

My doubt refers to the fact that although the invitation to participate includes precise guidelines, which include the length of the audio (around fifteen minutes), many people choose to send audios twice, sometimes three times shorter than that.

What is the reason, in an era marked by overexposure, often completely banal everyday situations, why people fail to take advantage of free time given to them to talk about their professional career and research interests? I understand, of course, not having the time or even the desire to participate in the program, but once the invitation is accepted, why not make the best use of it?

I don not have the answer, of course, but my theory is that of the various elements present there is a bit of an impostor complex and also a bit of self-sabotage. The invitation to freely express topics that move you is like a gift offered and I realize that many of my guests still do not know very well how to deal with it.

As I said, it is not my goal here to judge anyone, just to point out a problem, but if you have come this far, I feel like I owe you at least a suggestion. Well, here it goes: my suggestion is that you should not waste any opportunity to talk about topics that are close to your heart.

What you have to say is certainly very important, perhaps even decisive, in the life of someone.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

by on

The flu I had last week caused a sinus attack so acute that I lost my sense of smell for a couple of days. It was a very terrifying experience, if you ask me.

Firstly because it was the first time it happened to me, but also because my sense of smell is very keen, which means (and this became even more evident during those strange days) that I guide myself in many actions throughout the day based, in large part, on the smell of things.

Suddenly, I fet as if the world had become a place without smells, the good and the bad ones. From cooking to deciding whether or not to wash a piece of clothing, everything became a little more complicated without being able to rely on the smell of things.

In addition to these serious aspects, there was also the irony that I had just bought a new perfume. And this is not something common for me. I have so much trouble finding a fragrance that I like and that is not too strong and cloying for my in normal conditions extemely sensitive nostrils, that I usually end up going back to lavenders no perfum at all.

Well, and then just when I had mad up my mind and decided to give a new fragrance a chance… I cannot smell it. Perfect timing, at least from the for comic relief point of view.

Without the alternative of enjoying my recent purchase with my sense of smell, I turned to the aesthetic side, that is, the perfume bottle. Some context: I had purchased the fragrance without seeing the bottle, based on the experience of a free sample, one of those that comes in a small 4 ml bottle, and the first thing that occurred to me, was that the team responsible for the design had done a really lousy job.

Without the distraction of the fragrance, it was clear that the shape and colors of the bottle were not only ugly, but also did not communicate well with the name of the perfume, as they did not convey at all the idea of “illuminating” suggested by the name of the fragrance.

Photos and description of the olfactory family of the perfume are great tools, but the design of the bottle can be the decisive element in the purchase, which leads us to a reflection: am I taking care of the bottles of the products I sell?

I know it is hard to thinnk about music productions as “products”, but let us play the marketing game for a moment, shall we? Now, take deep breathe and think about your next project as if it was the launch of a new fragrance: what would you say about your bottle? Is it communicating your message the way you want it?

Think about it and do not forget to smell the roses, along the way.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

by on

The body is constantly talking to us and yet, we still have not learned to listen to it. Sometimes it is even worse for we do listen to it, but we choose to ignore it. Here is the story:

I told you already about a podcast I produce and host about Comic Art research. It is called Comments on the Top and it was supposed to have a single season, since it was part of a grant provided by an institution called IAMCR- International Association for Media and Communication Research.

Now, I had the brilliant (sarcasm alert) idea of doing a second season. Why not? , I thought. What could go wrong?, I insisted to myself, it will show your love for the group and its mentor, my dear friend and comic art research legend Prof. John A. Lent.

Of course, there was a whole plan in my head it it included producing the episodes in advance. I even invested some money in a “podcaster kit“, which reduced editing time a lot, so I really thought I had it all under control, except for a little detail: in the middle of all this planning, there was an element that I forgot to take into account: life.

The reason for the plot twist on my plans was actually quite a nice one. After the pandemic plus a terrible government in Brazil, 2023 brought finally good news for those involved in cultura productions: a series of funds to support culture opened their convocatories, whichmeans a lot of paper work to do. In practice, months of hard work that naturally caused my episode production plan to fall behind schedule.

Sure I could also mention en passant that some guests are slow to send the me their files and sometimes I lose valuable time writing reminders for the ‘deadline ignorers”, but none of these events change the fact that the blame for the delays in the release of the episodes lies solely with me. In the same way that the responsibility rests solely on me for not having known how to reestablish my schedule.

Instead, I tried another strategy: working to the point of exhaustion, including an epic workday last week, which ended four in the morning. I worked resless, despite neighborhood parties, no-stop-barking dogs etc.

Even so, the last episode was released two days late. A few hours after I uploaded the files to the streaming platforms I started to feel sick, with flu-like symptoms, mixed with a general malaise. In other words: burnout.

Fortunately, I am not talking here about a high degree of physical and mental exhaustion, which usually leads to the hospital and often leaves consequences, but rather a degree of exhaustion in which the body asks for a day or two off to recover, whether you like it or not.

At these moments, I always think about the signals my body sent before: tense shoulders, sore eyes, you know, the usual computer problems related to computer over expostion. Did I pay attention to them? No. Looking forlornly at my podcaster microphone covered by the plastic protector, I think that it will still take a few days for my voice to recover so that I can record a new episode.

Was it worth pushing the limits of my body so much? Certainly not. I find some confort though in the thought that there are already enough podcasts running and the world can probably wait a day or two for another episode.

I hope to have learned my lesson once and for all: as difficult as it may be, establishing limits is more than a personal choice. It is a universal right.

Be seeing you!

G.F.