Rage Against The Machine

Is music with a message still able to become mainstream? 3

If you listen to the radio here in the Netherlands, you don’t hear music with a message, unless the DJ put it on by mistake. When I think of 20 to 50 years ago, I think of many songs with a message with mainstream success, from Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’” in support of the civil rights movement, through “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols against monarchy, to “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the […]

Free as an artist

Art is always something new, something that hasn’t been there before, at least not in that form. It requires a certain amount of freedom, freedom of fear, to create something new. And new is unpredictable, therefore scary for many people. Today is a national mourning day in the Netherlands, for the victims of the plane crash in eastern Ukraine. Another conflict area that is dominating the news is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I see many one-sided and aggressive reactions on social […]