Six Organs man says music becoming nothing but information

andy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:20:20 +0000

Indie psy-rock guitar man Ben Chasny, perhaps best know for his output as Six Organs Of Admittance, has warned that music is losing its value as an art form and becoming nothing more than data to be collected and filed away, as people become “addicted” to information. For many, he says, the act of sharing the experience of listening to music and enjoying that interaction has been all but lost.

Chasny told The Quietus: “The other day I came across the first Sun City Girls LP on a blog. It’s absolutely out of print, no way I will probably ever see it in a store or on eBay for a sum I could afford, so that left me with a clear conscience about downloading it for free. But I realized, how much pleasure would I get from it anyway? Why do that? Just to say I have it, that I have heard it? I decided not to download it because it would be much more enjoyable to at least share the experience with someone else. Maybe someone will play it for me one day. Until then, it’s just information”.

He continued: “I do believe we are becoming addicted to information. You only need to look at those people who have hard drives filled with songs that they have never even listened to. They are not even collecting music. They are collecting information. And the more people become addicted to information and the faster they can obtain that information, the less they will be able to contemplate that information, and it is the contemplation of the information which makes it art”.

Intelligent bloke that Chasny. To read the interview in full, go to this URL:

thequietus.com/articles/01318-six-organs-of-admittance-s-ben-chasny-reflects-on-music-and-technology-in-a-singular-time

This article originally appeared in CMU Daily on 19 Mar 2009

I Eat Music » Six Organs Of Admittance

Six Organs man says music becoming nothing but information