four things #13
beats by cuth, interview between john mayer and zane lowe, atlanta gym, and taoist quote on leadership
Music:
Brutalist by Cuth: There are these points in life where we live in the middle between sleep and wakefulness. In those times we reside in the middle of two modes of being: consciousness and unconsciousness. Maybe we're lying restless at night plagued with a busy mind. Or, on a long cross country drive in the early morning twilight, to rendezvous with the next person, place or thing. Somewhere in the background there is a radio tuned to a low FM frequency, 90.1 or something, that plays music the way they used to. Or the faint murmur of a TV on constant rotation, playing shows and tunes and movies from another place and time. Cuth's music reminds me of these moments, borrowing sounds from here and music from there, and creating something new. Both familiar and foreign. Contemplative and accompanying. Abstract and concrete. Follow him on Instagram.
Video:
Interview with John Mayer and Zane Lowe: I could listen to John Mayer talk about music all day. It’s like listening to Chappelle talk about comedy. Or reading Joan Didion write about.. anything. I was one of the people who did not like Mayer when he first erupted onto the music scene. My teenage bravado probably/definitely disallowed me to admit that I secretly liked the guitar part to “Your Body is a Wonderland”. After a few years I had heard that his latest album, Continuum, was a masterful modern blues/pop/rock album. Curious, I decided to explore it. It blew my mind. I then understood that he was much more than a snarky pop-rock superboy. While I haven't followed his career, he weaves in and out of my ecosystem from time to time. He's played with everybody: Greatful Dead, Eric Clapton, Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, and many more. This conversation with Zane Lowe shows his love for music as well as the depths of his approach to making art.
Gym:
Phys.ed in Atlanta, GA: A dear old friend of mine and his brother own this gym. It’s located on the southside of Atlanta, near Tyler Perry Studios. He and I were bandmates in high school; he the singer and me the drummer. We hadn’t seen each other since high school and linked up before I departed for my year living in Crete. After lunch he took me on a tour of his gym. It may be cliche’, but it’s more than a gym. It’s a community. They have all kinds of events and activities, for all ages, activities, cookouts, etc. In my opinion, this is the way to run a gym. If you’re ever in town, they allow the first workout for free. Here’s their Instagram.
Passage I think about a lot:
“The best leaders are those the people hardly know exist.
The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst one is the leader that is despised.
If you don't trust the people,
they will become untrustworthy.
The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.
When she has accomplished her task,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"
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Rock n’ roll,
Tyler