Repost: Deacon Fielder Strikes Again...Boston Fielder and his Muthawit Orchestra

 ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/30/2010
finally, a release cometh...so i'm reposting...

I came to be acquainted with the inimitable Boston Fielder about half a decade ago, believe it or not, on Myspace.  I'd been writing a blog there while promoting my music and building up a following which consisted of myspacers worldwide.  We were mutual fans of each others music.  

At some point I'd posted a blog chronicling a particularly challenging period in my journey and the next day, in my inbox there was this message from him... It was raw, straightforward, scolding, as if he'd ordained himself an authority on the subject of Brig Feltus, and it was a profound moment for me.   I'm telling you this up front because there's no use in pretending to be unbiased when it comes to Boston Fielder, the Muthawit Orchestra, or Underground Railroad Broadcasting Alternatives, aka URB ALT.   We have been devoted friends for longer than linear time can define.  We knew each other in another lifetime even.  I'm sure of it.  I am a proud member of the URB ALT Family.  

 I'm telling you up front because though this is meant to spread the word about the art this man creates, it is unabashedly personal.  Let my honesty about this fact represent my confidence that what you will experience will more than justify my love of all things Muthawit!

So by all means, explore for yourself when you're done here.  You'll find me to be an honest report on the virtues of the man and his art.  I am confident of that much. 

The music of Muthawit Orchestra will not be contained in the structure of conventional musical genre descriptions.  But, oh... it is in every way music, encompassing all genres and none all at once... neo-classic, jazz, rock, funk, bluegrass, gospel, experimental, metal, psychedelic, blues, electronica...and it's own indescribable something-or-other which can only be experienced and never explained.  You can forget about trying to put this man's art into a box and tying it up in a nice neat bow.  If there is any thematic, that be it. 

You will be challenged.  You will be challenged to free your mind, to let go of your own preconditioning, break loose of the chains of stereotype, archetype, and cultural characterization.   The Muthawit orchestra's sound is beautiful noise that will touch your most guttural conscience and your most ethereal dream scapes as well.  It is frightening and sexy and comforting and confusing truth all wrapped up in compositions you can relate to despite your own conditioning.  If you are afraid of your tail feathers shaking, do not listen.  If you are afraid of arousal, do not listen.  If you fear your own emotions, this is not music for you.  Go and have a cup of tea and carry on. 

Every time I listen to this music I rejoice.  lol... I choose my friends wisely, you see...  

URB ALT is also Mr. Fielder's brainchild... a community of artists, filmmakers, photographers, poets, musicians, and their admiring relatives and friends, all attempting to live on the cutting edge of free thought and inspiration.   For me personally it has been a place where I can get to know others like me... alternative thinkers who don't quite fit the manufactured grooves of this groupthink society we all live in.    He will say differently but for me it is a movement, by pure definition of the term.   You see, I have been moved more than once since becoming a member of URB ALT.  Movement is the nature of the beast!  

Visit URB ALT

Boston's orchestra ensemble Muthawit releases its next album soon and I am honored to have been one of the first to hear its jewels pre-mastering and I couldn't wait til the proper time, so I'm telling you all about it now and getting a jump on all the promotional hype that's coming down the road closer to release date.  

As far as I'm concerned, the character of the artist will tell you a lot about their art.  This man is extraordinary in every way that I know him, and has many layers of depth, not to be digested all at once.  

Being his friend is a constant temptation to be greedy. There's stuff I just intuitively know about him but don't have to think about most of the time because it's beneath the surface.  His surfaces, when you meet him, are slow, and easy going, and gentle, just like his southern drawl.  

But don't be deceived.  Every now and then he says something or does something and I'm reminded about that other stuff beneath his skin... things that can be intimidating when one considers to look straight on.  

(Do you think people understand you? Not really. If they did they'd run...)

I gotta look with sunglasses, because he's like the sun.  Most know the sun is strong, so we resist the urge to look at it straight on.  The timid don't bother looking at all, won't even stand naked in its rays for fear of getting cancer, and in the process end up with vitamin deficiencies because of it. The foolish, in their greed, forget and try to look straight into it, and end up with scorched corneas.  

That's what he's like.  Seductive ease on the surface, and raging nuclear energy underneath!  His music is evidence of all that stuff beneath the surface, organized a bit, and recorded for posterity, which is a good thing because his sub-surface stuff evidently doesn't like repeat it self in order to keep you on your toes!

As if to prove my point, while I was writing this last bit a minute ago Fielder emailed me a disclaimer warning me not to hold him to his answers because he plans to contradict himself regularly over the next few months... Schizophrenia Convenia he calls it apparently.. ( one of a thousand Bostonisms I've had the pleasure of cracking up over all these years.)  THEN  a minute or two later, a post-post-disclaimer requesting to add Igor Stravinsky, Samuel R. Delany, and Jack Kirby to his influence list... Did I ask for an influence list? Perhaps he was referring to his heroes... Uncle Baldy, and Co...  He also informed me that this is one of a handful (literally) of interviews he's ever allowed. 

What? I haven't said much of anything about the new album? Perhaps you should go back and read this posting again and pay attention this time. 

Other than that? Have a listen here and then you'll just have to wait!




Below is a quicky email interview I sprung on him today without warning.  These are his off-the cuff answers.  Thank you Boston for your friendship, for your music, for your wisdom, and for your most admirable existence!!   May your purse reach you...

What is Muthawit? A loving homage to my elders, peers, children and folks who use common sense.  

When did you start Muthawit? When I was 7 years old.

What was your inspiration for its creation?  My grandmother's singing voice and my grandfather's speaking voice.

What is the Urb Alt Movement?  Following the North Star is a movement that inspires me personally but I wouldn't call URB ALT a movement.  The financial component would make that hypocrisy.

What makes the Urb Alt Movement important in these times?  I don't know that URB ALT is important.  Is making people feel good about themselves and others enough to say that it's important?  Hmm. 

Would you compare Urb Alt with other movements in music history? Pouring glass as slowly as possible into a pitcher.

What kind of people are participating in your movement?  People who probably don't consider it a movement because movements tend to have a head, the head is lopped off by history and then it dies, is placed in a museum or cryogenically frozen in a state of mediocrity.

Who are your musical heroes past and present day?  Uncle Baldy, Marvin Gaye, Alice Coltrane and that old dude who used to sit on the front row of the church is Tupelo and chanted "Yap, Yeah, Yap, Yeah" during Reverend Pulliam's sermon.

In 10 lines of PROSE or less, describe your musical compositions in poem. "Beauty. Booty. Baby. Bounty. BOOM."

Do you think people understand you?  Not really.  If they did they'd run.

Does being understood matter to you on a personal level?  It means everything and nothing.  Too much to do.

Does it (being understood)matter to the successful spreading of the music?  Only if the music is good does it matter and even then pirates will hijack it on the seas of change before the purse reaches the hands of the chosen.

What do you believe your art contributes to the world?  Joyful cacophony and a good reason to get out of bed or stay in bed depending on the situation.

Is there a subject matter you are afraid to write about?  No.

Is there a subject matter you love to write about?  No.

What is the story behind your new album's title Men and Women?  The death of individualism, the rise of the IRS in the micromechanics of governing and the joy of watching tadpoles swim downstream.

What was the most joyful moment in creating the music on this album?  Mixing PMS Junkie.  It was a bloody good time.

What challenges did you face in making this album?  Tenant revolt.

Is your music influenced by any esoteric or ethereal experiences?  Mainly dead people who walk with us and share our experiences.  They like to dance and eat popcorn.

Did you have any experiences of transcendance during the creation of the music on Men and Women? If so, explain.  I got regular sleep for the first time in well over a year due to roommate overhaul.  It released a torrent of positively kinetic energy.

Which song is your favorite and why? What's it about?  My favorite didn't make the album cause it hasn't been written yet.  It'll be the greatest song ever written in history.  Better than anything Lennon and McCartney or Liberace could produce on their best day.

When will the album be available in stores?  May 9th.  Mutha's Day.

What are your thoughts on overcoming incomplete paradigms in life?  A paradigm by nature is complete.  It's a simple signpost of change that has served it's purpose.
What are you dreaming up for the near future artistically?  Children.

What are you dreaming up for the near future personally?  Protection.

Japanese Addresses... Derek Sivers

Check out the 2 minute talk Derek Sivers gave at the TED Conference in India.  Good stuff...

Embracing Restraint.

My name is Brigette Feltus, and I am longwinded.  I want to be brief but it's really difficult.  I suppose I need to attack this at its source and take on the monster head on.  This is not a learning disability.  It's not for lack of knowing better.  It's emotional.  It's a symptom of a childhood borne insecurity that has been hard to shake. Ironically, I often tend to run on and on about things that don't really matter, and keep the important stuff to myself because I'm afraid of upturning the boat to everyone's disapproval.  It would no doubt behoove me to do some streamlining.  Speak the truth more, but say less.  Let go of fear.

I was painfully shy as a child, and as far as certain loved ones were concerned, that was my "place" as a child... to be seen and not heard, and I was submissive to that position well into my young adult years... It was easy to be submissive because I come from an environment where I was surrounded by very strong personalities who demanded dominance and reminded me often... be seen and not heard.  But that submission made me miserable, so, now, in opposition, the fighter in me never wants to shut up! It's a horrible conflict in me. It might even be why I am so creative, so to complicate this further, I must also say that in very positive ways it has also made me who I am.

I've been observing my interaction with the Austrian.  There is this thing he does repeatedly which drives me nuts, and like a well choreographed dance between us, I, in response, have my ritual reaction to it, which always got us nowhere fast.  I'd get angry, fuss, complain, ask "why???" over and over again, as if the why really mattered, and we'd end up annoyed with each other and an otherwise perfectly good day would go on with a stinky cloud over our heads.  We would eventually make up, because this thing he'd insist upon doing as if it was so important, really wasn't in the bigger scheme of life, and I'd always point that out and admonish him for ruining our day, which, in my mind, left me still sour and resentful.

The other day, when he started in with that thing he does, I stopped myself.  Instead of following ritual, I decided to change the choreography.  I simply stopped him in the middle of that thing he does, and said I didn't want to hear it.  He attempted to continue.  I smiled, "Babe, I love you, but everytime you do this  we fight, and it's all for nothing. You will agree it's not important to either of us if you're honest, so I'm not going to engage in it.  I don't want to hear it.  Work it out on your own without us fighting about it." 

A few minutes passed, while he tried to decide if he should be pissed at my failure to cooperate with his attempt to engage me with that thing he does.  I didn't sit waiting for a response.  I confidently carried on with what I was doing before he started, as if that conversation was done.  He eventually took a deep breath and let it go.  Just like that.  I watched him do this, then gave him a big kiss right on the soup-coolers, because I was proud of him.  Our day was kept intact.  No stinky cloud.  No sour taste in my mouth... and we were able to go on with our day lovingly in each other's company. 

Sometimes, it would seem, less is indeed more!

As recently as last weekend, I was showing my blog space to a very closely related loved one, (forgivingly, they shall remain nameless because they are truly a loved one) who is historically known to frequently have me on the phone for hours at a time telling me all the details of what's going on in their lives.  This person asked me what I was up to these days, and so, excited about my blog writing,  I told them about this blog space, and they wanted to see.  Halfway through my giving them a tour of the blog page, this person blurted out impatiently,  "I don't need to know all that stuff, Brig.  What your opinion is about this or that, or what you're cooking, or whatever it is you're writing here isn't important to me.  I just want to hear from you and know you're okay."   Seen but not heard.  The child in me wanted to cower into a corner because that's where she'd been taught she belonged.  The fighter in me wanted to let out a display of emotionally irrelevant truths that might cut, might divide, but certainly wouldn't fix that broken moment.

I took a breath, and exercised restraint, because even though the little girl in me was immediately insulted, I knew that getting upset wasn't going to make me feel any less insulted.   So I asked myself a question quickly.  What is it in this very moment that ultimately would make a difference for me?  I turned to my loved one, and with wide eyes and a smile, asked them how many hours long our last phone conversation was, and what the subject matter was that we discussed.   They replied that we talked so long because I was interested.  I smiled silently.  My loved ones face changed immediately, as if  they suddenly understood something they didn't see before.  They got my point, and I could see that there was some level of desire to retract what had been said.  After all, we'd been sitting there looking at my blog all of about 10 minutes. Certainly, even if they really don't give a damn, they could manage to suffer through a few minutes, out of sheer kindness, right?  So, I waited a few moments for the recognition to sink in, then continued to show them what I've been working on, as if they'd never said a word.  They were engaged, and actually asked questions, read a couple of my articles and said that they would try some of my recipes soon.

I don't know if my loved one was transformed by that moment of truth sitting with me in front of my computer, but I was just a little bit, because I spoke truth instead of defending the pitiful child in me who is a past memory, not a present reality.  Cowering would not be the answer.  Sometimes defensive aggression mode is not the answer either.  Sometimes you are not really in danger at all but go into defensive mode based on some former reality that doesn't really apply.

Sometimes I write so elaborately because I'm afraid of not being understood, therefore not heard.  It's not conscious.  I just do it on autopilot because I'm afraid I'll miss someone or some bit of information.  Wait.  That's not me.  That's her.  The little girl who used to live my life in the shadows.
She's been gone a long time now.  I don't know what it is that makes humans keep trying to warm up what's cold and dead instead of enjoying what is real in the moment.
I'm working on being a more efficient writer because, in the moment, I know better.  I'm embracing restraint in every part of my life.  Ironically,it's mostly as an exercise in getting freer.  But also,  if I'm honest, like most people, I want to be seen and heard, and I know that the very thing that scares me, I create if I allow myself to run on and overwhelm the reader.

Imagine that.

Thanks to Derek Sivers for the spark.

Derek Sivers Doesn't Know It But....

... he's one of my secret mentors.  I have a few.  But this founder of the website CD Baby is someone I've been following since he sold his company and set out on a journey of new awakening.
What's so special about Derek Sivers?

I have my music on the CD Baby site.  They sell downloads and actual physical CD's, and they are responsible for my music being on every major form of online distribution... including iTunes long before there were any other ways to get onto iTunes as an independant artist.
When someone buys an artist's cd from their website, they keep track of all your stats, and I don't know... once a week, I think it is, you get an email letting you know how many cd's you sold and how much money you made.
At the end of that short and simple report, there was always this message from Derek saying:

Yes it's good to get paid paid paid paid for making music!
I hope I write you a million more checks.
I hope you write a million more songs.
I hope you get a million more fans
who give you a million kisses
all because of CD Baby.

Derek Sivers


Yeah, I know that went to every cd baby artist.  Did that make me feel any less warm and fuzzy?  No.  He made sure his name followed it.  As broad sweeping as that little message may have been distributed, he put his name on it.  That meant something to me.  It said that if I ever ran into him, and asked him to recite those lines, he probably could, because he wrote them himself as his personal sign-off on every business transaction. That notion made me feel somehow protected.  Like Derek Sivers and his company had my back. He put his name on it.  What a genius bit of psychological marketing!

When he left, I was very skeptical about what would come of my relationship with that company.  But so far, nothing has changed... it's as if in his leaving he required certain things to be kept intact when he was gone.
The message at the end of the sales report is still there.
Humorously, it now is signed The Money Person.

What is he doing now?  Well... lol... Mr. Sivers has a blog.  That's right.  He left his highly profitable business behind and for the last couple of years, has been writing a blog.  I've been reading it for the last year.  When I first started reading it, I did so reluctantly... I didn't want to go on.  I didn't want to hear the same old stuff that all the industry gurus try to spew.  Most advice out there fits comfortably into the category of Status Quo.

I was so tired of the same old crap being repackaged and perpetrated as a new idea.  I didn't need that.  I needed to learn something new.  The music industry is falling apart because of its stoic exploitive nature.  It disgusts me and often makes it very difficult to function on a business level.  A little more than a year ago, I had a manager, who was also a long time friend of the family whose advice and direction lost me enormous amounts of money and the ability to promote my debut album.  I was devastated and years worth of jade came down on me in the course of that one moment in time.  I have little or no tolerance anymore for wasting time, money, or heart on the words of people whose actions don't match.

Derek Sivers' blog has kept me from going completely cold on this journey.  Everytime I'd think I was going to toss it aside, another blog  update would show in my email inbox and I'd read what he had to say and heal a little.  I can't even tell you how many times I felt like he was writing to me personally.  I could relate so well to his journey.

Lately he'd been writing alot about being idle, the concept of being completely free, not having any place he had to be, nothing he had to do, no obligations, and no schedule.  One blog he wrote about just doing nothing... that day he was just going to sit around and read and sleep and then read and sleep some more, because the book he was reading was inspiring.   I thought to myself, "yeah, right... what are you reading, Mr. Sivers??"  I tried to post that question as a comment and for some reason it wouldn't take my post.  So I went to the email update I'd received and did something I never do.  I reached out to a total stranger, who, in my estimation is in a whole other league than I.   Short and sweet, I wrote, and asked him what he was reading.
He wrote me back within 24 hours.  I was a bit floored by his accessibility.  Here's what he wrote...

Hi Brig -
Awww thanks! :-)   Heheh, I was reading a programing book actually.  Not that interesting. 
I just get excited about that kind of stuff.
Thanks again! 
I'm so glad you're liking the blogs!  Very cool!
More to come!  :-)

I knew he had something up his sleeve.  Who reads programming books for nothing in their leisure time? Something new is in the works.   I am pretty excited to find out what it is...

Recently the TED organization commissioned him to speak at their Talk in India.  This organization excites me too and you should check them out.  (Which reminds me, I plan to join them to stay in the loop.)   Anyone interested in technology, entertainment, and design should be hip to TED and its adventurous conferences.

I feel like I'm wasting time writing all of this gushy stuff, when all I need to do is give you the darn link.  His writing is inspirational.  It's not just about music and the sale of it.  It's about living life to the fullest, how to find your niche in the world, being a maverick, getting up off your duff and making things happen instead of waiting for them to happen, or in the adverse, stopping full halt and contemplating what the hell you're doing...  It's a good blog and his insights are very honest and to the point.

The blog update I received today, led me to his blog page to read an entry that moved me more than any blog he's written in the past.  I would love for you to read these words and be enriched by the poignant wisdom in them.
I have to run...
We are on our way to the California Science Center to take part in a conference about the human genome and the medicalization of race.  Yeah.   I am the mother of a budding scientist... That's how we roll... :)


Derek Sivers' Blog