Discharge—Free Speech For the Dumb (1982 / D-Beat Hardcore) + Pailhead—I Will Refuse (1988 / Angry Industrial Whatever For Pegged Jeans and Leather Jackets)
Gonna miss you, man, but I may not be too far behind. The thought of wrapping it up has definitely crossed my mind. I heard about all of the Nazi shit before I joined, but it seems to be worse now with Gaza and Trump 2.0. There is also a lot of transphobic shit that pisses me off.
I REALLY hate Notes! The idea of promoting one's newsletter is understandable, but as you say, the algorithms of what I see don't make sense and seem completely random. Also, far too many people are using it like Twitter or an FB feed. Cat photos, some random posting about literally nothing, sharing of stupid TikTok videos, GoFundMe's, the constant barrage of American politics, yada, yada, yada… I was hesitant to join Substack in the first place because I had pulled the plug on social media years ago. The introduction of Notes is literally everything I hated about social media in the first place.
I also really dislike that a lot of people on Substack never reply to a comment. Fucking hell, if somebody takes the time to read a piece and then takes even more time to write a well-thought-out comment about that piece and maybe/probably has taken the time to subscribe (maybe even paying!) to that newsletter, it's fucking bad form and just plain weird that anybody would then ghost a comment. I can't wrap my head around it and have unsubscribed from newsletters when it happens.
I look forward to Sermons! Version 3 ("S3"... just like that rather wonderful druggy band from Rugby, England!).
All the best, and see you on the flip side. Take care and please continue to make the world a better place by sharing music, art, and your love for the underdogs, outsiders, and misfits of the world!
PS: So when you pull the plug, does everything you posted and your page just vanish?
Honestly, I figured you weren't far behind me on this. Notes was something I accepted, and it even worked out a bit for me at first—I saw that I wasn't in my own weird pocket trying to use it Substack to talk about music, and I came across a lot of great people writing about music, like you, and was exposed to music I didn't know.
That was great, but like everything with Substack, it was a short wave. And as much as I try to get to all the stuff I want to read and support, Notes kept feeding me shit I wanted to escape from, until I just kept asking myself: do I need to read this? And the answer overwhelmingly became "No".
Still not sure what the details of this funerary ritual will look like—I'd like it all to stay up, a ghost haunting the bathroom, but maybe they nuke it all after a period of inactivity. I guess I'll find out. My main task is to back up the writing, because some of it I like. And damn, there's a good playlist to be made of all of this.
I'll definitely be in touch to see what you do and let you know where I take this. Thanks for all the kind words and support. And now...
For All The Fucked Up Children of the World, We Give You SERMONS! 3
Keep me in the loop, brutha! I appreciate your musings and musical guidance. Maybe I need to split this platform too, I wasn’t aware of the fascist support. I am beholden to no platform, and it’s a glorious feeling! ;)
Sorry to see you go, but I totally get it. Part of me thinks dusting off my webpage and running things from there is the way to go. Another part of me says "F that." I'm sick of having to move. And frankly, I like it here. Is that worth fighting for? I dunno. Time'll tell, I guess.
And like you, I *really really* miss those heady early days. I don't know how they'd manage it logistically, but the return of things like Office Hours and Substack Go! would go a long way. Please keep us in the loop on where you land next!
I know. I'm sick of having to keep ditching these things that start off so good...it's like the elevator of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ride, where the portraits turn into ghouls. You have a good thing going here—good community building, I'm sure it's worth it for you to stick around as long as you can hold out. Hell, maybe things will change and you'll be glad you weathered the storm.
It's so bizarre to me, because I know they hear all the clamor, and throwing users a bone, like returning Office Hours, shouldn't be that hard and would go a long way in the diplomacy department—but I honestly think at this point that they don't give a rat's ass about what users think...unless it's cult-like praise. I imagine it may be just a matter of time for the founders, too. I'm sure they're ready to cash their chips in and turn it over.
Like you mentioned, it's time to crank up a new personal website and go from there. I'll let you know.
This why I dropped my Substack newsletter endeavor. I went in knowing about the Nazi thing, thinking that being an exception to that would be enough. In the end, I couldn't live with that. What sucks is that the alternatives to Substack don't fit with what I want to do, so I have to pivot creatively; I unintentionally had a newsletter as the impetus to do work, so I'm kinda rudderless at the moment. It is what it is.
Gonna miss you, man, but I may not be too far behind. The thought of wrapping it up has definitely crossed my mind. I heard about all of the Nazi shit before I joined, but it seems to be worse now with Gaza and Trump 2.0. There is also a lot of transphobic shit that pisses me off.
I REALLY hate Notes! The idea of promoting one's newsletter is understandable, but as you say, the algorithms of what I see don't make sense and seem completely random. Also, far too many people are using it like Twitter or an FB feed. Cat photos, some random posting about literally nothing, sharing of stupid TikTok videos, GoFundMe's, the constant barrage of American politics, yada, yada, yada… I was hesitant to join Substack in the first place because I had pulled the plug on social media years ago. The introduction of Notes is literally everything I hated about social media in the first place.
I also really dislike that a lot of people on Substack never reply to a comment. Fucking hell, if somebody takes the time to read a piece and then takes even more time to write a well-thought-out comment about that piece and maybe/probably has taken the time to subscribe (maybe even paying!) to that newsletter, it's fucking bad form and just plain weird that anybody would then ghost a comment. I can't wrap my head around it and have unsubscribed from newsletters when it happens.
I look forward to Sermons! Version 3 ("S3"... just like that rather wonderful druggy band from Rugby, England!).
All the best, and see you on the flip side. Take care and please continue to make the world a better place by sharing music, art, and your love for the underdogs, outsiders, and misfits of the world!
PS: So when you pull the plug, does everything you posted and your page just vanish?
Honestly, I figured you weren't far behind me on this. Notes was something I accepted, and it even worked out a bit for me at first—I saw that I wasn't in my own weird pocket trying to use it Substack to talk about music, and I came across a lot of great people writing about music, like you, and was exposed to music I didn't know.
That was great, but like everything with Substack, it was a short wave. And as much as I try to get to all the stuff I want to read and support, Notes kept feeding me shit I wanted to escape from, until I just kept asking myself: do I need to read this? And the answer overwhelmingly became "No".
Still not sure what the details of this funerary ritual will look like—I'd like it all to stay up, a ghost haunting the bathroom, but maybe they nuke it all after a period of inactivity. I guess I'll find out. My main task is to back up the writing, because some of it I like. And damn, there's a good playlist to be made of all of this.
I'll definitely be in touch to see what you do and let you know where I take this. Thanks for all the kind words and support. And now...
For All The Fucked Up Children of the World, We Give You SERMONS! 3
In a world that plays with fire... SERMONS! 3 will be the perfect prescription. 😎❤️
I think you can transfer content and subscribers to other platforms. I'm not sure which ones though. I don't like it either!
Keep me in the loop, brutha! I appreciate your musings and musical guidance. Maybe I need to split this platform too, I wasn’t aware of the fascist support. I am beholden to no platform, and it’s a glorious feeling! ;)
No Platforms, No Masters.
I'll definitely keep you in.
Sorry to see you go, but I totally get it. Part of me thinks dusting off my webpage and running things from there is the way to go. Another part of me says "F that." I'm sick of having to move. And frankly, I like it here. Is that worth fighting for? I dunno. Time'll tell, I guess.
And like you, I *really really* miss those heady early days. I don't know how they'd manage it logistically, but the return of things like Office Hours and Substack Go! would go a long way. Please keep us in the loop on where you land next!
I know. I'm sick of having to keep ditching these things that start off so good...it's like the elevator of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ride, where the portraits turn into ghouls. You have a good thing going here—good community building, I'm sure it's worth it for you to stick around as long as you can hold out. Hell, maybe things will change and you'll be glad you weathered the storm.
It's so bizarre to me, because I know they hear all the clamor, and throwing users a bone, like returning Office Hours, shouldn't be that hard and would go a long way in the diplomacy department—but I honestly think at this point that they don't give a rat's ass about what users think...unless it's cult-like praise. I imagine it may be just a matter of time for the founders, too. I'm sure they're ready to cash their chips in and turn it over.
Like you mentioned, it's time to crank up a new personal website and go from there. I'll let you know.
Please keep me in the loop, add me to your mailing list, whatever. Thank you for the music!
Absolutely! And I look forward to reading more about your exploration of Houston's finest.
Good on ya.
This why I dropped my Substack newsletter endeavor. I went in knowing about the Nazi thing, thinking that being an exception to that would be enough. In the end, I couldn't live with that. What sucks is that the alternatives to Substack don't fit with what I want to do, so I have to pivot creatively; I unintentionally had a newsletter as the impetus to do work, so I'm kinda rudderless at the moment. It is what it is.
Keep on keepin' on, man. 👍🏾
I'm thinking of bailing too!!!