Occupy Kurt Vile

If rock ‘n’ roll has always tried to distance itself from popular culture/ industry as much as it can (which may not be much at all, despite Johnny Rotten’s best efforts), indie rock has been particularly adamant in its (usually doomed) refusal. Indie rockers only support independent musicians at small venues, with iPhones in the pockets of our Urban Outfitters jeans. When faced with these contradictions, some cringe, look away or maybe even pour out some PBR in mourning. However, sometimes it’s simply too much to take, like when the superheroes of M83 licensed “Midnight City” to Victoria’s Secret and Spotify’s insufferable, endless commercials or when Kurt Vile licensed “Baby’s Arms” to Windows Phone and to Bank of America (and disguises it as this “beautiful, artistic, real to life” video).

While I complained bitterly to friends, brooded (with the help of Bon Iver), and deplored the state of culture, Patrick Stickles, lead singer of punk rock outfit Titus Andronicus complained too—online. And so began the Indie Rock Twitter War of 2011. Or so it would seem. A confrontation occurred, but it was short-lived and very peaceful. Check it out (online) for yourself but here’s the rundown: Stickles complained, Kurt Vile backfired and then Stickles apologized. All indie rockers and workers for that matter are doomed to live with these uncomfortable realities and Stickles was out of line to complain.

Though Vile and Stickles now seem ready to move on, I think it would be a mistake to let this seemingly silly spat go without notice; in fact, I think that this confrontation should not be the end but the beginning of a hard conversation. There’s simply too much at stake. The question of licensing is one that not only tells us about the status of the musician/artist in our 21^st century capitalist economy where record profits have gone out the window, but also challenges us to consider the relationship between art and politics. When Vile justifies his decision “because I never cared about that sorta thing” (in reference to Bank of America), he tries to take the high road with regard to politics. But not all musicians have made similar decisions. At Occupy Wall Street, many well known musicians have shown support in their presence; others have engaged in the social conflicts around them in their lyrics. And this is not new. In fact, social criticism was critical to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

So, though it may be uncomfortable, the Vile and Stickles conflict should not be lost forever in cyberspace. It should instead serve as a reminder that though musicians/artists are humans and workers too, they also occupy an elevated position amongst us, whether they like it or not. And finally, music/art exists in a particular creative context, not in a vacuum, and it is all of our job to figure what the hell kind of context we live in today. 

- Jeremy Levenson, The Vegetable Report