The second album officially released from WAL*THRAX, GoddZillionaire is a "diatribe" against our "get rich quick" sensibility that our culture seems to have wholeheartedly embraced.
As a lover art and obsessive creator of it through music, I have spent a good portion of my time on this tiny rock paying a great deal of attention to the deconstruction of the thing I obsess over most. By talentless people with the capitol and ego to involve themselves in some thing they know very little of. While some choose to pursue their vision with reckless abandon, turning there back on a never ending chain of opportunities in pursuit of there ultimate goal. Others choose to sacrifice there's for the sake of self preservation, and in some cases fame and fortune. Still others have no particular vision except for that of dollar signs. They go about there merry way, sometimes becoming quite proficiant at there weaapon of choice only to never achieve the nirvana that is coupled with true passion. There was a time, not that long ago, when only the truly inspired and gifted of artists and musicians could make a living at there craft. I suppose it could be argued that even in the days of kings and warriors, only the luckiest, or most connected, or those born into it would ever ascend to the status of LEGEND. But even they were the best of the best at what they did, no manufactured hook lines with a cute teenager dancing out front could have cut it as 'art' back then. All the while there existed countless virtuosos that we will never know of, playing the tunes of life, echoed through their experience, their eyes, for their people to hear and understand.
The same could be said for today's state of things, only that the business of art has taken the money away from artists and musicians being commissioned piece by piece by the royal and rich as a way of boosting their stature in the community of the upper class. And has being used to manufacture 'art' and 'music' for the headless masses to consume as they consume every other tangible part of their existence; to excess. It is no surprise then that no top 40 music seems to have any real staying power, and the artists who are jammed repeatedly into our earholes are constantly putting out 'new hits.' These are only household names because the powers that be are continuously regurgitating the same patterns with new quirky sounds, and the same garbage lyrical content that keeps ignorant masses satisfied for the moment. And in other mediums; paint, sculpture, written word, even video based media... could one really say any different? You see, from a very young age most children know the name Bach or Beethoven or Picasso or Rembrandt or even Warhol, Miles Davis, etc... you get the point. When our brains inevitably get clogged with Gold and Shit, these tend to remain, usually with vague association, but non the less they remain. It is because artists in this category were truly legendary, in talent, vision, and career. If I were to play the number one hit on July 18th, 1956, chances are you would have no clue who it was. After being told who it was, chances are you would still not have any idea who that was. But if I were to play just the first 4 notes of Beethoven's 5th symphony to any complete stranger, chances are that even if they could name the tune they would likely say something along these lines "wait, I know this... give me a second" before giving in.
There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel though, it may prove to only be a train, but at least a glimmer of hope. This glimmer is controversial, to say the least. Piracy. The act of pirating [mainly music and video] is creating a vacuum under the industries in media, pulling them down into the quicksand faster and harder as they fight harder and harder, eventually suffocating them. This, combined with the powerful tools of social media websites and the overwhelming smell of shit seeping out of our TVs and IPODs, is already creating a new breed of fully self sufficient artist. Capable of not only exploring new and exciting paths, but being able to get his/her new found direction out to the world, for better or worse. See this process can potentially help restore the balance of passion and art, anyone can come to the party, but not everyone can come in. In this sea of blood, only the virile can keep the heads above water, and the more dead bodies sink, the sooner the survivors can stand safely. Everyone gets to choose what they love, before long even the deafest and blindest of the fools will find their way out of the mire, the weeds will bind the weak until the die, and out of the forest will emerge all of us who are ready to move on.