Favorable Reactions

Trying to do what I want to do career wise, it's hard to be okay with novelty.

What I mean is, whenever I explain a work or a project, people have one of two reactions. 1) Awesome! 2) They argue my thesis, or what I'm trying to say in that art. These are both favorable reactions, given that they could have none at all, or doing the faux act of "nodding and smiling". "It's cool, yeah." Sure.

I've struck it nicely so far. I've met opposition with my parents regarding "In Hopes to Mend" and the aspect of rape. Rape is a recurring theme in my work, it seems. Well, rape in the most "appropriate" form. I put that in quotations since rape is obviously not appropriate in any form, but at what point does politically incorrect meet up with taste? Projects that seem to be completely disgusting and outlandish in my mind are more met with the former reaction of Awesome! Projects that seem to be safer are met with the latter, full of argument.

Omiss has garnered argument moreso than Necrotica. Necrotica deals with a lust killer, a man keeping an illness under wraps in his head, thrust into a situation where he might lose control of his mental stability and commit murder in real life (I'm trying not to give too much away). Omiss is personal, a true story, about me and my thoughts on certain people in my life. Without telling who the story is about, people still ask questions on what it means. It's obviously about one person, but who it's about I'm not telling. That's for me to know and for you to find out if the cards are right and the stars aligned.

It still surprises me, though, both reactions. I'm the most humble person you're ever going to meet. I take pride in my work, and I love it to death, but it's easily scrapable. Meaning if, for instance, the band doesn't like the song, it's not giving them the willies as other songs might, I might just say "Fuck it, I'll rewrite it. Let's move on to the next thing on the list." But at first, I feel slapped with the argument reaction. I go, "Wait, there's something wrong with this way of thinking? I'm sorry." I can either defend it, or listen to their comments outright and assimilate what they say into the reworked story or project. Again, though, it's shakes me up at first. When people like the work or argue with it, that means it's doing it's job. Making people think and empathize.

That's the goal, and so far I'm meeting that with the recordings and story pitches. I can't speak about the live band yet, but I garner I will be able to once March rolls around. Same goes for the recordings, since they will be released to the public at that time, too. That's the true test of goal preservation and/or rethinking.