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Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum.
Today, I’m joined by my co-host Eric Urrea and returning guest Zack Albetta for another installment of The Drum Panel.
Listen to the full episode HERE
This one starts with Angine de Poitrine, the masked microtonal math-rock duo from Quebec who seem to have broken everyone’s brains a little bit. Their KEXP performance helped push them into the wider music conversation, and people have had no shortage of opinions about the masks, the music, the “gimmick,” and what it all means.
But pretty quickly, the conversation turns into something bigger: cynicism.
Why is our first reaction to weird art sometimes distrust?
When does a visual identity become a gimmick?
Is cynicism a sign of taste, intelligence, insecurity, jealousy, or just fear of not “getting it”?
And as working musicians, how do we keep from becoming the bitter person in the room?
We talk about art as process, masks as freedom, the strange bond that comes from complaining, and the choice to be someone people actually want to be around. We also get into the difference between healthy skepticism and the kind of negativity that can poison a room, a tour, or a creative life.
Angine de Poitrine and the rise of microtonal math-rock weirdness
Masks, costumes, performance art, and the word “gimmick”
Why musicians can be so quick to dismiss what they don’t understand
Cynicism as both a shield and a trap
The danger of bonding through negativity
How touring can breed complaints if you let it
Choosing to be positive without being fake
Why “I don’t get it” is sometimes enough
Art, context, and the death of context
Whether success in music is ever really linear
Listen to the full episode HERE
P.S.
What is your relationship to cynicism?
The Drum Panel is a recurring series on the podcast Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum
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