Maddenation
Ted Leo
When I was a freshman at Notre Dame, the guy in the room below mine used to jam out on his guitar all the time while I was trying to study. The sound came up through the pipes and made it like the concert were in my room. My roommate and I fought back by playing a Scottish bagpipe band record at full volume and putting our speakers right up against the pipes. I don’t know if it worked.
That guy jamming on his guitar was Ted Leo, who ended up being a pretty amiable fellow New Jersian, and friend, roommate, and bandmate of fellow Whippanian Chris Infante. Their band, Chisel, was, as far as I know, the biggest, realest band at Notre Dame during my time there. I wasn’t a big fan or anything, but I kind of liked their music. It was punk, but musical.
In the past year or so, Ted Leo has been in the New Yorker (a photo and brief writeup announcing a concert in NY) and Notre Dame Magazine (which I found while I was waiting to renew my passport at the US Embassy). So I checked him out, and his music is still good. I think I’ll buy some of his CDs when I get home.
He’s playing in Chicago (at Shuba’s, where Glen Phillips has played) on 17 September of this year. Dave & Dan should check out the show.
Besides the recommendation, I’m thinking about how we’re more inclined to like artistic works (music, painting, writing, etc.) by people we know. We give them an unbiased (or positively biased) chance. I didn’t know Ted that well. I probably talked to him enough, but mostly quick in-the-hall chats and things. He might remember me, but I wouldn’t be a strong memory for him or anything. And my interest now is not really motivated by a desire to brush up against fame or stardom. But the combination of knowing him when he was unknown and seeing that now he’s “made it” (at least in a punk, indie sort of way) sparks this new interest in me for his music. Weird, but not that weird.
I think, also, of Steve Stewart (Erin’s husband)’s poems. I think they’re very good, but I wonder what I’d think if I didn’t know him. His poems are eclectic. Strange. And is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it’s good that we’re more open or perhaps forgiving to/of those we know. But maybe we ought to be that way for everyone. And maybe that’s the motivation behind the hype machine that pushes new musicians (for instance) into the public eye with such ferocity. The more they’re “known,” the more people will buy their music, even if it’s not that good. I mean, even in the case of Ted Leo, it has worked with me. I see him in the New Yorker, I say, Hey! I know that guy! He used to bug me while I was studying! and I download some songs (legally, off one of those sites linked above), and I’ll probably buy his stuff. Had I not seen him again, I probably would not have thought about him again, would not have found out that he was still making music and finding success, etc.
Maybe when I finally publish a book, I have to get into ND Magazine, if only in the Class of 93 notes. Fame. Familiarity. Judgment. How do they fit together?
Patrick • Recommendations • 08/21/03 • 4 comments
Comments
Dad • 08/21/03 • 9:48 PM:There’s also the opposite effect, as experienced by Jesus, as a “prophet in his own land.” Sometimes if someone is too familiar, and you know him/her when they used to be an idiot, then you have trouble believing they become any good later on.
David • 08/26/03 • 10:15 AM:Dad,
Really now, I think that’s a little insensitive, not to mention, heretical, to call Jesus an idiot.
In other news, I’ll probably check out the Shuba’s concert - did you know that Gina taught the owner’s kids last year? Yippie.
Smart people DO believe (and like) weird things, especially when they are familiar with the person telling them, or selling them, or singing or writing - or like the music/poems of a friend. Interesting.
Patrick • 08/27/03 • 9:57 PM:I don’t think the “prophet in his own country” usually goes with people you know well. Or at least it’s a different effect. I don’t think you dislike the creative efforts of people you know just because you know them. You may doubt the larger-than-life status, though, of someone who you saw cheat on a test at school, or whose farts you’ve smelled, or something like that. You know the “real” person behind the image. And if you “know” someone, but don’t like them, then there, maybe, you’d dismiss their work out of hand.
Dan • 08/28/03 • 11:10 AM:let’s clear this up: did you smell his/her farts on purpose or on accident? i think it makes a difference.
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