Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:39 pm
SamuraiDrifter wrote:Josh wrote:The early interviews had a lot of myth building. They did a great job with that.
Reminds me of the story Eddie Vedder used to tell journalists when asked where the name Pearl Jam came from. He said he had a grandmother named Pearl who used to make hallucinogenic jam and the name of the band was dedicated to her. It was total bullshit, but a good story.
I don't know what to think of the idea that those early interviews were "myth building." I mean, making stuff up in interviews to build a public image seems pretty contradictory with the fact that they've generally shunned attention and seem to make music mostly for themselves.
Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:17 pm
Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:48 pm
Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:52 pm
A_Northern_Soul wrote:Of course they worked on their myth and public image - I find it hard to believe that any artist is somehow above all that - Robert Johnson didn’t really sell his soul at the crossroads, Keith Richards didn’t really have all his blood replaced, Prince didn’t really have ribs removed to give himself a blow job; they’re great stories though.
Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:59 pm
SamuraiDrifter wrote:A_Northern_Soul wrote:Of course they worked on their myth and public image - I find it hard to believe that any artist is somehow above all that - Robert Johnson didn’t really sell his soul at the crossroads, Keith Richards didn’t really have all his blood replaced, Prince didn’t really have ribs removed to give himself a blow job; they’re great stories though.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think they're above it. But those stories you mentioned are all fundamentally implausible or downright impossible, whereas BoC have mentioned their interest in the power of music and symbols to manipulate people in interviews, and have been well known for putting subliminal messages in their music over many years. And if anything, it seems like they've downplayed the mythology element - they've laughed off the suggestions that they are Satanists or cultists or whatever, and have maintained that their interest in the subject comes purely from an artistic perspective.
I'm not saying that their music has the ability to program people in the way that MK-Ultra experiments were trying to do or anything like that, but I do think it's plausible that they were creatively inspired by similar theories, and equally plausible that there are members of Hexagon Sun who are interested in the psychological power of images, sounds, etc.
Also, related question - do you think the suggestion that there's a Hexagon Sun book called the "THS Scripture" mentioned in that interview is myth-building as well? Or might such a book actually exist?