The Theories are essays designed as creative and philosophical tools, for people to add their own ideas to and use in positive ways
THE PLANET MUSIC THEORY
What is the connection between the structure of a planet and our relationship with music throughout our life? How can we demonstrate the four stages of music engagement via space structures and linear time?
Everything outside is also within us.
INTRODUCTION….
The other day I was looking into space, well not literally, I was researching into astronomical discoveries in the last few years, because well, why not? This was started off by finding out what sound comes from a black hole. By the way a black hole sounds exactly like you would imagine, a droning abyss of white noise. A bit like a drone rock record from stateside, who make that of kind music so well. I guess a black hole sounds very similar to let’s say, Royal Trux. I would encourage you to check that out, it’s terrifying but also comforting that it really does sound like you expect it to. However, I also found out something that blew my mind so much, it started off this whole theory.
There is a galaxy helix that’s the shape of human DNA out there in space. Meaning that the structures deep within us exist in the fringes of our known space exploration in a much larger form. Almost like a massively enlarged galaxy photocopy of the very tiny molecular roadmaps that build us as humans. My brother-in-law, Dean, brought this to my attention whilst also regaling to me that my nephew Benji had urinated on the floor of the kitchen, as a dirty protest the night before (Benji will hate me when he’s old enough to read this). I’m not sure how we combined those two very disparate subjects in one phone call, but let’s go with it. Dean, like me, is a bit of a space cadet. We both went to university together and raved together in our late teens in Cambridge, that seat of learning so connected to this type of study. Note: We didn’t actually go to Cambridge itself, neither of us were academic enough for that, we went to the polytechnic also situated in Cambridge, APU. He did also end up dating my sister ten years later, who he met through me on my 30th birthday, so instead of being friends now we are family. He’s got ginger hair so I have two auburn nephews, which I do love as red-haired people are kind of rare these days. I will also mention I pretty much him traumatised him by making him watch the MIA video where red-haired men are rounded up and executed. That wasn’t one of my best ideas. But his mind is very similar to mine and we often talk about such subjects regularly. We are big ass dreamers.
From this rather random call I started to look at what other structures that are enlarged like the DNA Helix galaxy could also mimic other human structures, relationships, timelines within us. After some further research, this ‘enlarged photocopy’ is also shown with the electromagnetic field of the human heart, which madly is 100 times stronger than that of the brain, you can even sense someone else’s heart 3ft next to you, this has been proven by monitoring ECG’s. Now my sister Susie, Dean’s partner, is a cardiac nurse and her first thought over this was ‘bollocks’. Her being very pragmatic and results based, she is wholly SCIENTIFIC. But on closer research she found this fact is actually true, although in very early stages of research. The pattern of the heart electromagnetic field also mimics that of the earth’s core…Its in the shape of the Torus. A Torus is a piece of sacred geometry. Sacred geometry is a fascinating subject for me as I base my photos on the Golden Ratio, which is a ‘photocopy’ of a dissected shell.
I was also listening to Bedrock by John Digweed at the same time, which is a classic mix and you should all really listen to that at least once. So naturally, I investigated the structure of our very own planet earth. Where is the Bedrock on earth? What other meanings to Bedrock do we use? This is the one that jumped out at me:
Noun
noun: bedrock; plural noun: bedrocks
1. The fundamental principles on which something is based.
"honesty is the bedrock of a good relationship"
I’m a big music fan as you all know having worked in it for 15 years or my life. Over the last few years, I’ve been really ‘drilling down’ to the fundamental reason why I love music so much. I, in a way, was drilling down to my personal ‘core’ of the love of music. Core is very similar to bedrock in meaning, so what else has a core that’s in space? Ah…Planets do. Our great planet earth does. That core is made from molten Nickel and Iron and has an electromagnetic field. Aha! The other earlier aforementioned ‘photocopy’.
I’ve realised in thinking about music this deeply I’m almost touching the void of the spiritual territory of it. This is echoed by one of the 7 Universal Spiritual Laws. One of which is The Law Of Oneness, meaning that everything outside us is also within us. But if I was to describe my lifelong relationship with music it would mimic the structure of the earth layers, that is the enlarged space photocopy of something within me, much like the Helix galaxy. So, I’m going to break down each layer of my musical evolution, using the structure of a planet as its fundamental principles, whilst cross-sectioning with the Spiritual Laws. Time also comes into this. I’m describing the timeline of my musical evolution from teenagerhood to middle adulthood (I’m over 40, god damn it). This is the opposite way to how the earth was formed. The core was formed first on earth, more on that later. So, in a way this is a negative enlarged photocopy of my personal lifetime (so far) music evolution. Trust me to ALWAYS bring it back to photography…SOMEHOW.
EARTH STRUCTURE
1. – The Crust – Superficial Evolution Of Music
The uppermost layer of the earth is the Crust. No not Krust, that drum and bass visionary from Bristol, but The Crust. Having said that if you haven’t listened to Krust at some point in your musical evolution, do you really like electronic music? Ok let’s not get off topic here too much, meandering is my speciality but as we are dealing with the elements, let’s keep to the plan. But yes, also listen to Krust, he is the teacher.
The crust on the earth is approximately 30 miles thick, made from solid rock. It is made up of moving plates that have changed shape over the history of the earth due to the molten mantle beneath it. Each of them bumping up to each other to make volcanos and create earthquakes. This movement forms new mountain ranges, land masses, new oceans. The earth’s surface is in a constant state of flux. Ever changing and ever moving.
When I first got into music, I was a teenager, let’s say 13 years old. And my own personality was in a state of flux, thus mimicking the earths surface. It was ever changing, my hormonal shifts creating earthquakes and volcanoes of mood swings and teenage rebellion in my own household. My love for music at that point was my own identity forming, my own personal crust. But it was also superficial, like the crust, it was a very thin layer of engagement within music. This engagement was in a state of flux and was to do with what OTHERS thought of me, what was cool, due to it being part of my identity formation. The desire to belong to a group. Humans in an evolutionary sense want to belong to groups because in hunter gatherer days, if they did not, they died. Now I wasn’t going to die because I wasn’t a goth, or a raver, or a break-dancer or an indie kid. Well maybe in my hormonal state I did think that at some points. But back then, those teenage tribes and identities were very important to me. But also superficial, music was a signifier of those groups, the engagement in music literally was ‘surface level’.
TBC….