In Blackest Night – The Order of the Dog

Thanks to a particular group on Facebook, I have found a certain strength from reading others’ stories and sharing mine.  I’m more of a shadow on there; occasionally posting but, for the most part, reading what others share and commenting where I feel I have something to add or to take away from it.

Scott, who ‘runs’ the group (I use the term ‘runs’ but that makes it sound too much of an establishment whereas it’s a laid back sanctuary for folks who suffer from mental health issues as well as those close to people in those situations) started off as a guy I knew of through a mutual friend.  We’ve never actually met but we have had a variety of conversations regarding pop culture, depression and just generally chewing the fat.

I wanted to take the time out to share his blog and provide readers with another perspective.  Scott has gone through a lot, as we all have, but despite the darkness he is able to function.  And, to be fair, function is such a trivial word when it comes to his feats.  He has conducted interviews as well as had folks write pieces on themselves for the blog and provide different perspectives and a glimpse of what other people’s journey down the rabbit hole looks like.

If it weren’t for a recent post of Scott’s where he interviewed Frank Turner, I wouldn’t have discovered an assortment of tracks that speak to me or that I can relate to.  I’m not going to be one of those “I’ve always loved your work” fakers.  In all honesty, as diverse as my music tastes are, I find it hard to get into listening to new things.  Mostly, I just don’t know where to start.  Any new tunes that get added to my Google playlists tend to be from movie trailers, movie soundtracks, adverts, the occasional tune on the radio or (most commonly) from videogames.

I find that having people recommend or point me in the direction of a particular artist or album doesn’t gel with me.  Sometimes I’ll stumble across a gem on one of the Google recommended playlists but, for the most part, I have to just coast on by and a track will stop me in my…erm…tracks.  Thanks to Soundhound and Google (for the obscure tunes that Soundhound can’t identify) I am able to collect a varied range of music.  Through curiosity, I checked out this Frank Turner guy (I had never heard of him before…I don’t think, anyway).  One of the songs mentioned in the interview was listed in the top tracks on Google Play Music, so I gave it a listen.  I’ll be honest, I went in expecting to not like it.  But after about 5 replays (video at the end of the post), I messaged Scott to congratulate him on the blog post and, in a roundabout way, thank him for opening my eyes to a musician I probably would never have discovered otherwise.

I know he has had an influx of comments, messages and other notifications just pinging away, and I’m sure [READ: hope] he doesn’t mind the shout out I’m giving him here.  On top of a surge of visitors/readers, he was mentioned in a number of high profile Tweets: Ginger Wildheart, who was also interviewed by Scott (and another artist I’d never heard of but will be looking into as well) and Frank Turner himself, amongst the plethora of retweets and shares.

It’s pretty cool and mind-blowing yet grounding at the same time to see into the lives of critically acclaimed people (c’mon, they have Twitter’s blue seal of approval [verified] for fuck’s sake!) in a manner that is more personal and that levels the playing field.  It’s refreshing to read interviews with no hidden, ulterior motive.  Untainted by the Media with a spin to get the most sales.  Just a pure series of moments discussing common ground.  I know I mentioned in a previous post and a lot of people give caution to meeting your heroes but I’m sure these meetings of the minds are ones Scott won’t regret in a million years.

So check out his blog, Scott is a great guy and has the kind of beard I can only ever dream of growing.

Once again, thanks for reading.

P.S. Here’s the video I mentioned earlier: