by P.J.M. Bond
Reading the stories on this website is a humbling experience, seeing that every person has been through so many things — both good and bad — and it only goes to show the evils of ignorance and presumptions, which may just rid one of many a great encounter. At the same time, acknowledging the scope of everybody’s inner world can become a maddening experience. When stuck in traffic or when boarding a bus, the realization that everyone there has a family to go home to (or not), with their own individual problems and pockets of happiness, who are having children, each with their own proper names and lives, etc., etc. can drive one crazy.
Did you know that there is a word for this? Sonder, or “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” I am afraid some people never have this feeling, which is unfortunate for themselves and everyone around them. But I am also convinced that an artist cannot live without it. The artist manages to internalize other people’s stories and turn them into art: in doing it, the artist makes the ocean’s vastness intelligible, drop by drop. In keeping with this analogy, we find that some stories are constantly and haphazardly pumped from the water’s surface, whereas others must be sought for at the depth of the Mariana trench.
I fear that my story belongs to the latter category, but don’t pity me because I’ve already come to terms with obscurity. Now let this be the introduction to my own little story about how a Dutch bloke decided to write an album based on the first publication by America’s greatest author.
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DramaDolls live/exist in Adelaide a small remote city where the best and worst elements exist for creating genuinely original music.
The photo above is me outside the Koninklijk Theatre where Tori Amos played Amsterdam in September 2017. I was lucky enough to get last minute tickets the very day before I was scheduled to fly home after my European tour. Needless to say, it was all very auspicious and I recently started to think about how many songs I can play of hers, and how by playing them they’ve become a part of me. She also has a special approach to doing covers. I have also interpreted many songs by other artists in the meantime and I’m also keen to try my hand at a few that intimidate me! Here is some background and a few tips for nailing that cover song.