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WHAT IS MUSIC FOR?
Ok - it might sound like a stupid question but just think about it for a minute; what is it really for? Is it for providing a pleasant background for a dinner party? Is it for persuading you to buy a new consumer durable? Is it for filling your I-pod up with ( cos you know how much storage space that mother's got & you won't really be happy til you've used it all will you?) Or is it for something else - something a bit more vital? The Hours think so. And I tend to agree with them. We're constantly being told that there's more music around than ever - & yeah, there are more music TV channels & radio stations & places to download stuff & all that: so how come it doesn't seem to mean as much as it used to? How come it doesn't seem to tear through the fabric of reality & shake you like it once did? How come you can make up your mind about a band after hearing about one & a half songs & usually be right? That's not the way it's meant to be is it? Don't you just hate yourself for thinking like that? So, ask yourself that question again - What is music really for?
Well, maybe it's for something a bit moreÖ..human. Something a bit more messy - a bit more, you know, unpredictable. Ok, maybe we're at a stage now where Rock Music has been around for such a long time & has such a history that it's inevitable that everything you hear will instantly remind you of something else but , come on, let's at least make an effort. Let's have some blood , let's have some dirt, let's have some CONTENT! Shit, that's it: that's what's missing - & surely THAT'S what music's about: having something that you've just GOT to tell somebody else about. Not nice guitar riffs & fancy drumming (tho they can help), music is about communication. Music is about disruption, not about providing a pleasant soundtrack. The Hours understand this. And I ,for one,am thankful that they do. We're not talking about some free-jazz noise fest . We're talking about people getting together in a room & trying & fumbling & trying again & stamping on the floorboards cos it's the nearest they can get to the sound in their heads & throwing it all in there: the addictions, the humiliations, the brief glimpses of beauty, the knock-backs, the laughs - just throw it all in & stir it up & see what comes out. & when it's all done standing back & thinking : "Fuck - where did that come from?"
Well guys, I can tell you where it came from - it came from the place that music is meant to come from - the heart. If the term hadn't been so de-valued over the years I would call it Soul music.It's not about being clever , it's not about being difficult or po-faced. It's about being alive & expressing that in all its raggy, hilarious, touching glory.
I guess biogs are supposed to tell you about the people in the band & what bands they were in before & what team they support & their favourite telly programmes & their influences & how they once stayed on a camp-site next to Gilbert O'Sullivan's brother & stuff ,but I'm not going to do any of that - I'll just tell you this:
The Hours are Antony Genn, Martin Slattery . They understand what music is for - it's for human beings to communicate with other human beings. It's that simple, it's that important. Let them into your life. You won't regret it.
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