Gossip [&] the Devil

Kindle is a program sites like Amazon.com use that allows you to download e-books and read them on devices like your iPhone or iPod touch.

(This is the continuation of the interview I’ve conducted with singer/songwriter Jessica Allyn. This is part 3 of 3. Part 1 can be found here. and part 2 can be found here. Once again, I’d like to thank Ms. Allyn for taking time out of her busy schedule to do this interview and wish her the best of luck in the pursuit of all of her dreams.)

Part 3 | Technology and what it means for artists (present and future):

JMT: It’s no secret spoken word and writing have been dying a slow death since the invention of internet slang, texting, Twitter etc. While the internet is a great tool, a lot of meaning can get lost in the mix of today’s give-it-to-me-now-in-140-characters-or-less-attention-span. You almost have to capture your entire message in one song in the hope to hook your audience to come back for more. Do you agree and, if so, does this put more pressure on you as an artist to deliver?

JA: Look, I’m addicted to Twitter and blogging just like everyone else. But I cannot convey my essence in 140 characters or one song. The same way you can’t meet a person one time and know their whole life story. The record is only 6 songs for a reason; I knew a person’s attention span wouldn’t last through an entire musical. So I ended up having to try and cram 15 years into 20 minutes. There was a lot of pressure in that respect.

(It’s sort of like walking into a room of people and not having the bandwidth or the time to figure out which ones you want to deal with. But if you find those one or two people wearing Cure t-shirts you can make an educated guess and walk over fairly confident you’re going to have a decent conversation. – J. T.)

JMT: The art of buying a record is on life support, complete with a doomsday clock ticking down to the day when we’ll all be pouring out 40oz of malt beverage in remembrance. It’s sad since tangibility is part of what makes records really great—actually holding them and seeing the effort in the packaging and artwork. I think this goes back, again, to the “gimmie” attitude of society. CD and record collections aren’t practical anymore when you can download 5000 songs to your iPod. This makes things much easier when trying to get your work into the hands of an audience—but at a price. That being said, do you feel giving up the tangible part of a record is a necessary sacrifice to reach an audience these days?

JA: I actually have a hard time swallowing the reality of that. But, unfortunately it seems necessary to make such sacrifices these days. There was so much more I could have done with I Am a Camera had I not been so restricted by the rules of digital music sales. The artwork, the notations, the lyric sheets all lost to a 600×600 (pixel) front cover and a “buy now” button. I remember reserving copies of records in stores, waiting for the release date to rush out and get it, holding my own copy, cracking it open and pressing play. I definitely miss that. It makes me sad that this generation is growing up and will never have that experience; they don’t cherish it. Everything is handed to them on a silver platter, everything is quick, easy and one click away. It (the generation) lacks appreciation for the art itself. As an artist you quickly realize the sacrifice might be necessary. The reality is painfully present. At the same time there are still ways to showcase “the art that got away” as I’ve started to call it. But it’ll never compare.

Jessica Allyn (Taken from her Facebook page)

The Artistic Temperament:

JMT: This final question is asked mostly for my sheer morbid enjoyment, as I’ve been immersed in literature about manic-depression and the artistic temperament for months now. George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) once remarked: “We of the craft are all crazy.” And in fact many of history’s greatest poets, painters, architects and composers have been afflicted with some type of affective disorder. Presently I’d extend the definition of Byron’s “we” to include lyricists as well who’ve been “touched with a fine madness.” Based either on personal experience or from observation does that sound like an accurate assessment?

JA: Of all the artists I’ve known, myself included, that statement is so true. I once read a book that said: “People who are often depressed usually have a more realistic perspective on things, than that of a ‘happy’ person.” I don’t think that is true all of the time, or for everyone. But for me it’s a fact. They call it “Depressive realism:” “People without depression are more likely to have inflated self-images and look at the world through rose-colored glasses, because of cognitive dissonance and other defense mechanisms.” I also believe being “touched with a fine madness” allows you to go deeper when creating, you’ll go to the edge. You’re more willing to be brutally honest, because you’ve got nothing to lose.

(Jessica Allyn resides in New York, New York. While nothing is “official” yet, she is currently in talks with one of Long Island’s oldest lesbian bars for a possible residency and will be doing open mic nights all around the NYC area this Summer. Visit JessicaAllyn.com or her Myspace page for details and tour dates as they become available.)