Shall I point my finger to the book publishing or to the music industry? Or to what? Shall I really write about this? I usually try to be supportive, particularly when someone has written a book, composed or produced a music album. And, if not, I try to shut up. But someone told me doing this all the time is unhealthy.
I haven’t read it, I’m sure there is something to learn in it. But it’s the style that comes along with it that kills me, like seeing a movie of Berliner Schule or so. Dead.
I was at a reading, a book release about the music industry. They did it in a club. Appropriate for the occasion. It was full, may be about 150 people. Most of them I have never seen before, which doesn’t mean anything although I was working in or may be more so with the music industry for some years myself. Usually when you walk in somewhere it tells you something, you feel something about the crowd, but I felt nothing, at least nothing to mention, not say boredom.
Then, there was a guy sitting half ass on the table where the authors would later do their reading. The guy was later introduced as the editor of the book. Charmingly his work was acknowledged by the main author with the compliment that he was indispensable for the whole process of writing the book because the authors didn’t know the rules for placing commas. That was it, no irony involved or may be I didn’t get it.
The editor spoke for about ten minutes, in a tone and a mood, that I thought he is even bored of himself. The whole introduction was about summarizing the bio of the authors which one could read on the facebook invitation in less than two minutes. No additional story why the publishing house was interested at all or anything interesting to tell.
When the authors came on stage, the leading one introduced the co-author, and explained that she, because she wasn’t so experienced in being on stage, would just act as his reading machine. No irony involved or may be I didn’t get it. I’m probably way too conservative to imagine that a man could introduce a woman like this.
I don’t want to make a short story long. The idea of the book or at least the occasion was that the music industry had a big car crash a few years ago, and now, in between the ruins and ashes we build something new. The title of the book was a quote from a song, something with sex, and ruins and ashes. But I felt I was in a pedagogical seminar.
Still listening to the reading while leaning on the DJ booth where also the mixer for the sound system was placed, one of the technicians pushed me ungently out of is way to get in. All he said was Achtung!
Yeah, right, Achtung, baby.