Listen I can be, and I am, as socially aware as the next person. I can understand when I should and when I shouldn’t be supporting public figure heads after big-ass scandals or online cancellations. But maybe I just wanna fucking listen to Sticky Fingers’ live version of Cyclone without hearing all of your shit judgments, is that so much to ask. Sorry, let me explain.
Now if you asked me if cancelling online personalities, or celebrities, has gone too far. I actually don’t think I can come up with a cohesive answer. It’s a hard one to navigate, I’m unsure of the direction of my thought process of whether I’m being a sheep if I follow in the footpath with everyone else as they lead to blocking and deleting the music of problematic musicians from their libraries. I know what I like, unfortunately sometimes I happen to like music made by people deemed problematic because of shit they’ve done in the past.
And the solution is pretty fucking easy when I think about it, stop being such a shit cunt. I’m not absolved of guilt for things that I’ve done in my past, some of the decisions that I’ve made and the actions that I’ve done. I know that I’ve been a shit person. Though I believe everyone is capable of changing and becoming a better person. There’s no way that everyone should remain the same that they were 2, 5 or even 10 years ago. We as humans are capable of growth and development. Why do we hold these famous people to different standards of those around you? It’s starting to sound like I’m building a parasocial relationship with online celebrities, which is far from the truth.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m a chronically off-line person, and that is still largely the same. I like being able to exist every day without having to have constant updates of everything that is happening around me. It’s even refreshing when I find out things from people in my offices, in my friend circles, But I don’t require that constant update as a means to fill in my days. In reality, you’ll find me most likely listening to concert music and watching random rabbit-hole style YouTube videos when I’m writing or when I’m creating this magazine. I don’t find there’s a need to read and trawl the public forums of social media. I also don’t want to sound like some weird person that lives in my parents basement. Please know that I’ve been living out of home for almost 10 years. Please.
What you should take from the space, which isn’t saying a whole lot as this entire editorial is a bit of a cluster-fuck of ideas, is that I just want to listen to Sticky Fingers in peace without having to explain myself to everyone as they hear the same song on repeat. Sometimes it’s okay to like the things that you like, as long as it isn’t harming anybody else or some bullshit like that. I have my limits though, don’t try explaining hate-speech or racism too me, I don’t want to fucking hear it.
If, for some reason, you think that I am trying to teach you some valuable life lesson with this editorial–no I’m not. This is really just a love letter to Aussie music and my insatiable need to stream at all hours of every single day through my UE Boom 2. Keep an eye out on your friends, and make sure you’re paying attention to the things that matter to you. I don’t think that you have to be absorbing media and every facet of your life to keep up with those around you. At the end of the day it doesn’t fucking matter.
Catch ya kids, Uncle Jak
