Dear Dickheads,

I just finished catching up on all the 2013 soundwaves podcast episodes. I felt at one time to be hardcore, but its hard to keep up sometimes. From the anticipated episode one all those years ago in the interview between Gavin Hoffman and All systems fail I began to hear a subliminal chant that will continue unceasingly throughout many episodes. Nobody ever says it outright, but you can hear it if you listen closely. The band is extremely positive but Hoffman tries 3 different times to beg the question: is the salt lake scene worse than the scene in Germany, in the United States, in the State? This is mirrored in the more recent episode about the River District while interviewing a community development guru the host makes an embarrassing mistake trying to compliment the west side by recalling an incident on the east side around park street years back when a vandal destroyed all the car windows in the vicinity one night with a bb gun. Well, this is all very inconsequential to the occasional listener, but the message persists to junkies to the point of near annoyance: that beneath the exterior lies an insecurity that the host really doesn’t buy the product they’re selling, and the examples are quite abundant in the podcast library. I used to feel this vibe all the time when writers persisted “support local music.” There is nothing wrong with supporting local music, but its bad copy, a counter-productive slogan: subconsciously it conveys a sense of insecurity that music made locally is in need of support. On the other hand, when you get an episode…just about any episode with a panel discussion between merchants or artists this kind of rhetoric is nowhere to be found, and there is a genuine feeling of communal pride, things seem to go a lot better! Why is this?? One reason I suggest is because panel discussions leave very little room for freestyle by the host who sortof just naturally perspires insecurity, and less opportunity for inserting this same insecurity. I feel like there is no better source of information at all, anywhere, it is a truly great piece of podcast to have, but for now panel discussions are definitely the way to go…and more Dan Nailen.

Jobama

Hey Jo-mama,

Huh … It looks like those English Lit. grad program apps didn’t pan out for ya. Welp, support local music!

XOXO, SLUG

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