On Hemingway, America, and Music

by P.J.M. Bond

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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Silent Scream

by Ioana Iorgu (JO)

Silent Scream by Ioana Iorgu (JO)
Being a self-taught guitarist and drummer, my journey into music production started back in 2014 when I was living in Borneo, Malaysia. I was very lucky that one of my teachers, a music producer himself, showed me how to do it. Traveling around Asia, hearing each place’s tune greatly influenced the vibe of my latest album ‘Silent Scream’ which is a collection of memories from there.

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SoundFields, A Remarkable Story

by Robert Fields

SoundFields, a Remarkable Story by Robert van der Velden aka Robert Fields

Apart from being behind the band SoundFields, I (Robert Fields) am the main character in a screenplay about someone who started thinking back in 2007 that he is the one John Lennon wrote his song, Doctor Robert, about.

You might wonder how someone comes up with such a thought. One reason is that I was already around when the song Doctor Robert has been written. The Beatles’ songs filled the room where I lived when I was just a little child; when something dramatic happened: I nearly died.

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Writing music to get through the day

by Gian Jesus

Writing music to get through the day

Have you ever felt out of place? Have you ever felt out of space or just as another person walking the streets wearing a mask? Well probably you did it, and if is the case you did perhaps look for a way to fit in, to enjoy naturally the constant passage of time. We are all adaptable beings looking for goodness, in search of a method of living free of suffering and anxiety.

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