MUSICIAN. ARTIST. GARDENER.
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JOURNAL

MICHAEL MUSIKA'S CHRONOLOGICAL DOCUMENTATION OF CREATION THROUGH WRITING, PHOTOGRAPHY, AND PERFORMANCE ON VIDEO.

JOURNAL


 
FEB 26, 2018 // A SOCIOPATH AND HIS SISTER

BEND, OREGON

The show last night was good.  I practiced a lot in the month leading up to it using a metronome.  I played songs from the records Eric and I recorded in the fall in Michigan, some old songs, and a cover of FPODBPOD's "I'm the Only One I Know."  Sean played really well too, and it was good to see him.

A musician from LA who was hiding out in Oregon came to the show. He bought me a drink in a dive bar across the street afterwards and told me a long story about how the record company had ruined his band and how the music industry was sick. He wasn't terribly interested in anything I had to say so I mostly just listened. He left to go get greasy food after a while. I stayed and talked to the bar tender while a snowboarding competition from the winter olympics was on the televisions. 

The bar tender was  sweet.  I asked her out as I was leaving.  She told me she was flattered and  had a boyfriend.  It was very cold and snowing outside. I scraped the icey snow off all the windows of the car and put on "Watch the Throne" by Kanye West and Jay Z while the engine warmed up.  I drove slowly home through the glowing white of the empty, quiet town while Kanye and Jay Z rapped about how successful they are.  

The next morning I was tired, drained and sad.  I read a long form article about Axl Rose and what it was like to grow up in a backwards small town in Indiana.  It reminded me a lot of growing up in Maryland.  I saw Todd in the garage smoking a cigarette and he told me I didn't have to do anything today. I told him I should do something and drove to a trailhead in the national forest . My sister called when I got out of the car and I talked to her on the phone while I walked through the snowy forest.  I told her I had determined I'm probably a sociopath.  She told me about a story she was writing where the protagonist mistakenly thinks she's murdered her landlord. 

We hung up when I reached the river, and I walked back to the car in silence.  The late afternoon sun shined through the pine trees.  I was hungry and tired, but I felt a lot better for having gone into the woods. 

Michael Musika
DEC 13, 2017 // SNOW DANCE

YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN

Filmed in the back yard of Eric and Erica in Ypsilanti, Michigan during a snowy evening. Michael contemplates his friends' internet obsessions, the election, his future, and does a dance in the snow.

Michael Musika
NOV 11, 2017 // A COLORED PIECE OF CLOTH

YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN. Christians who favor nationalism lack intellectual rigor. Sex cults who promise enlightenment will leave you in the dark. Don't let them make you buy water. Jesus was a problem, child.

Michael Musika