The power of sharing: music as a common good - Part Two
Musician Mat Callahan on women in music, how music can inspire collective action, the “Songs of Slavery and Emancipation” project….and why you should make music where you live.
In today’s The Left Lane, we continue with Part Two of our recent interview with musician Mat Callahan. Part One can be read here:
https://theleftlane2024.substack.com/p/the-power-of-sharing-music-as-a-common
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TLL: Let’s carry on discussing music. What do you consider is the current position of women in popular music? Are they equal? Are they getting a fair break today? Have things improved since the bad old days?
MC: I think there have been some specific improvements. There's more recognition of women as composers, band leaders, and instrumentalists, rather than just being seen as the attractive singer. That's a positive change. However, women's fundamental role in music, which has historically been under-recognized and unrewarded, is still not given its due. The real contribution of women in music, particularly in preserving and promoting it within the home, the school and community, has been overlooked. This is because our system tends to focus on individual composers, which is a result of capitalism.
Music, to a large extent, has been shaped by women in their societal roles. They sang music to children in the home and led choirs and choruses in churches and communities. Often, women were the main source of music instruction, at least to children. They played a crucial role in keeping music alive as a social and spiritual component of humanity. Their contributions were not confined to these roles and in spite of the obstacles there have been outstanding women composers, instrumentalists and orchestra or band leaders. But the fundamental contribution women have made is enriching and cultivating music's social or community function.
The rise of the bourgeoisie and the need for authors and composers in the 18th century reinforced the marginalisation of women in music. Women's voices were necessary for choirs and operas because they were needed for singing in the higher registers.
LISZT: ARGUABLY FIRST ROCK STAR
But with the rise of the bourgeoisie, the presence of an author in music became essential. In the eighteenth century, composers were thought of differently. Yes, there were figures like JS Bach and Handel, but it was precisely with these two figures that the paths diverge. When Handel began selling opera tickets a business aspect emerged that was qualitatively different than the role of the Church, hitherto the employer of musical servants such as Bach. This development solidified the importance of the author, turning them into celebrities and entrepreneurs. Franz Liszt was arguably the first rock star, though some may argue for others. These individuals defined music in the nineteenth century, with Wagner being a classic example.
However, where were the women in all of this? Yes, there were a few notable ones, such as Schumann's wife, Clara Schumann, and a few other composers. Yet, the education of children often fell to their mothers and female music teachers, even while a few were recognised for their higher voices and essential roles in choral performances and operas. Nevertheless, women were confined to these roles. They were acknowledged for the one thing they could do that men couldn't: sing soprano. The story of castrati is another topic altogether. [Editor’s note: A castrato is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto.]
But the point is that we need to recognise the role women have played not only in the past but for the future. The recognition of women's nourishing of the social or communal role of music, is essential for the future of music. It's not just about acknowledging women's past contributions but also ensuring that music remains free from the clutches of capitalism.
TLL: As a musician, you have been involved in progressive politics since the 1970s in San Francisco. Now you live in Bern, Switzerland. I remember a few years ago you came to Sheffield to perform at a benefit for asylum seekers. In 2010, you and Yvonne Moore went to Brazil to perform and speak at a conference organised by the Copy South Research group, which criticised the negative role of copyright in blocking the sharing of knowledge. So what role do you see music playing in advancing progressive politics and the struggle against capitalism?
MC: There's a key word in what you just said, and that's sharing. Music depends on sharing. It wouldn't exist if it weren't something to be exchanged between people. Even a shepherd playing a flute to his sheep on a mountain is playing music he or she learned and facilitates a social product. Music is generally made to be shared. It is a product of sharing and contributes to sharing. In this sense, it has a communal aspect and belongs to the common good. It needs to be strengthened in that aspect and should not be constrained by the marketplace or the star system that promotes competition. This kind of system needs to be resisted. Music itself can play a role in this resistance.
MUSIC CAN INSPIRE COLECTIVE ACTION
Additionally, in the hands of people committed to changing the world, music can have an even greater impact. It can serve as an inspiration for collective action and unity against common enemies. I believe this spirit will never die as long as people pick up music and use it in this way.
TLL: Let’s keep talking about that spirit. One of the important focuses of struggle is the struggle against racism. And you've long been interested in African American music. Can you tell me about a few of the projects you've been involved in that are seeking to promote that music?
MC: Well, the biggest one is the most recent Songs of Slavery and Emancipation, where I discovered some songs composed by slaves that were overtly revolutionary. I grew up listening to African American music, it's the music of my own upbringing. In that context, to hear and read the lyrics to these songs was an eye-opener. I asked myself, "Why didn't I know these songs before?"
TLL: When was this music composed?
MC: The ones I found were made in about 1785 and 1789. Slave rebellions in the Western Hemisphere had been taking place since 1526, and, in fact, that's what started the project. I found a song in a pamphlet by Herbert Aptheker called "Negro Slave Revolts, United States 1526 to 1860." That’s a pamphlet he published in 1939. He documents over 200 slave revolts that took place within the territorial confines of the United States, even those prior to the founding of the United States, including one in 1526. And that was only a few years after Columbus landed in Hispaniola, and almost 100 years before 1619, which is when everybody thinks the slave trade began in the United States.
SONGS OF SLAVERY AND EMANICIPATION
Yet it began with a revolt, and the colony was destroyed. So the point was that there is a connection between the songs that I was finding, the revolts that they were a part of, and the burial of these songs for almost 100 years. This tells you that there is something going on here. The songs are not only songs of considerable beauty--- at least in my opinion--- but they're evidence that something has been wiped out of American history. And this is what "Songs of Slavery and Emancipation" is about: to bring the spirit of their struggle to public attention today.
TLL: Tell us a bit more about this project.
MC: Well, it's comprised of 30 songs. We recorded 15 slave songs that had to meet the criteria of being written by slaves and being revolutionary or overtly political in some way. And 15 Abolitionist songs, because that was documenting the Abolitionist movement and trying to show what the Abolitionist movement was contrary to popular myth. The image projected in America when you grow up and go to school is that the Abolitionist movement was made up of bourgeois do-gooders who were sort of peeved about the bad treatment of these poor miserable souls. And that image is false.
The Abolitionist movement was made up of working-class people, fugitive slaves, free black people. There was certainly a component that was bourgeois, involved for mainly religious reasons. But it was not dominated by them, and in fact, the movement itself was extremely militant and violently attacked in the North. People died for this, not just John Brown. It became a mass movement that did force the Civil War, this is a simple matter of fact, yet it contradicts what we're taught in school. The South decided to rise precisely because they were threatened. They feared that the Abolitionist movement was going to win.
TLL - One last question and I'm sure you could "let rip" on this one for 20 minutes. What solutions would you recommend to improve the situation for both musicians and music lovers today?
MC: Given the fact that we're not talking here about revolution and that we are working within capitalist structures, there are several things that people can do.
First of all, organisers of events, audiences, and musicians need to work together, not against each other. We need each other. The public needs music and musicians. Musicians need a public and the organisers of events, whether it's for commercial reasons or benefit concerts, or whatever. Event organizers need the musicians, and they need the public. We have to see our common interests and not fight each other.
IT'S ABOUT RESPECT, NOT REVERENCE
Secondly, people should have an attitude of respect, but not reverence. Musicians are not gods. They're just people. They need to be respected for the skills and commitment that they bring. Just as you would respect a plumber or your farmer who you go to and buy a salad from at the farmer's market. There should be some kind of mutual respect—not awe and reverence—but respect. People should work together to make music.
Musicians are usually offered the role of star or servant. These are the roles that musicians have been cast into, and they need to be stopped. We need to develop a relationship between audiences and musicians, based on mutual respect and mutual sharing.
A POST-PANDEMIC EXAMPLE FROM ZURICH
People can organise events on their own for no commercial purpose. We've had this experience after the pandemic. There's a really great example here in Zurich, Switzerland, where a group called Galotti has a music school. They sponsor annual events where hosts and performers are matched by chance. There are, say, 20 groups --- usually duets and trios, sometimes quartets. The performers' names are all put in the hat, and then there's a bunch of people who want to have events in their backyards or whatever.
And so there are 20 or 30 concerts. No host knows what they're going to get. None of the performers know where they're going to play until shortly before the event. It's just random and we've done this like 3 or 4 years in a row. And it's wonderful. You just go and you have this relationship with maybe 50 or 80 people.
The last time we did this was after Covid. And people were so hungry for music. We came outside in the backyard, and there it was a nice sunny day, and there were like 85 people there. It was great, and we just played, and they didn't know us. We didn't know them, but we came in and we gave our best. We did our best performance because it means a lot to give your best. That's the way to go.
MAKE MUSIC HAPPEN WHERE YOU LIVE
That's the future for me. Not stars and hits, and not commercial crap. Do it yourself, man, make it happen in your own community.
And one last note to musicians. This is a personal ethic: every time I ask the audience's attention, whether it be 10 people or a thousand. I give my best. I don't care if there's a tiny audience or a huge audience. I give my best.
Every time you get up and give a shitty performance, you damage music, you make people go away saying, “I don't really like this” and thinking: “Why go out? I'll stay home and watch television. “
Whenever you step on the stage you're doing something for music, and you should not let music down.
TLL: I really enjoyed that and thanks Mat for chatting with THE LEFT LANE.
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Some books on music written by Mat Callahan
https://matcallahan.com/words/
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