“Scratch a cynic and you’ll find a frustrated idealist” is my new favorite quote. It’s a constant back and forth between getting mad about why things aren’t better and getting on a soapbox and saying come on guys let’s DO better together! Other times you just have to throw up a middle finger and say I’m going do what I do best and if you can’t see that, sorry about it. If I was a producer, I’d channel my cynicism and idealism into an EP just like Demuir’s Past to the Future from I’m A House Gangster.
“The Cheerleader” on the surface seems an obvious pick for I’m A House Gangster because it samples Joe Pesci in Goodfellas – “No More Shines.” It’s not a superficial choice, however. It’s a statement from Demuir saying either follow realness or get out of the way. I live in a music town where the establishment has effectively zero clue about the DJ and dance music culture that’s been here for decades. “No More Shines” is throwing up that middle finger and saying we’ll still rock it whether you want to pay attention or not.
What’s worse is that even within that culture is very little cohesiveness. Everyone’s doing their own thing and there doesn’t seem to be an individual or set of them that can bring all the cliques together and pool our resources. That’s where I see a song like “Drama Untied” as a response coming into play. We’ve been divided up into tribes and we should come together as one. Finishing off this knuckle sandwich of truth is another tough piece of toast that’ll scratch the roof of your mouth, and maybe you’d wish that for the target of “Whatcuwooooant?!”
“Voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.” That’s my other new favorite quote and it’s from Sam Cooke. Bob Dylan referenced this in his awesome speech last month at Musicares where he addressed his critics from over the years. It doesn’t matter whether the subject matter makes you feel good or pissed off. It doesn’t matter whether the source is polished and pristine or a hot mess. It’s either real or not, and we ain’t got time for 5 dollar bitches.
