![_Dandy Warhols at Emo's East [Show Preview]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2012/05/DandyWarhols-thumb-250x250-715813.jpg)
Local Music is Sexy Preview: Mutual Benefit Says "Hey" to Austin
Thursday, November 4
Mohawk (912 Red River Street)
Free, 7:30pm
[info]
In advance of what is to be another mind-blowing installment of Local Music Is Sexy at the Mohawk, we tracked down a few of the artists playing and asked them to write a letter to Austin, Texas at large. First up is Jordan Lee, who records under the name Mutual Benefit. Enjoy!
Written on an airplane somewhere above the endless cornfields of the midwest…
Mutual Benefit Origin Myth
Hello Austin internet dwellers and visitors! My name is Jordan and I play "sometimes creepy outre folk pop" with my friends under the moniker Mutual Benefit.
Like many revelations of our time, the name and concept came to me the first time I tried psychedelics. Along with (for some reason) deciding Cocoon was the best film ever made, I also came to really fancy Mutual Benefit because it could either come across as wide-eyed idealism or the cynical subverting of the business term, both of which I feel strongly about depending on the day.
I decided that fateful night that Mutual Benefit would have two tenets: do cool stuff and be kind to people. As naive and mushroomy as that sounds, having those two things bouncing around in my head like a mantra has done wonders in my life both as an artist and earth citizen.
Take the most lowly and dreaded act as a musician: sending out mass unsolicited PR emails. When I finished my first EP I decided instead to use it as an opportunity to take the blogs and publications that I truly enjoy one at a time and basically write them a thank you note along with sharing my songs with them. The whole experience was very positive even if they didn't dig the album. It's like they appreciated being treated like actual human beings. I knew I was on to something!
Another interesting tool that today's musician has to do good is blogging. I don't mean the kind where the band posts cat gifs, YouTube memes, and endless band photo shoots that the singer's girlfriend took. I mean actually writing (mostly) about other people's music and art that is inspiring to the band. Taking a little time each day to make one post on the m/b blog has been really fun and rewarding, not to mention a lot more interesting to the reader. Also I think it is an important exercise to try to put into words why you like a specific song or album. Before long I was collaborating on songs with musician peers or trading cassettes or having a rad art designed for free as a direct result of writing positively about them.
As for mutual benefit's music, the newest album, Spider Heaven, was recorded all over rural Ohio where I spent a couple months escaping the city and the pervasive idea of "hipness" while exploring beautiful parks and even more beautiful abandoned buildings. The goal was to make pretty songs with unpretty sounds.
You can listen/download/buy a handmade cassette here
and/or read my blog here.
A big thanks to Paige from the Austinist for working so hard to put this awesome show together and for (foolishly) giving me an opportunity to write some words!
"remember to do cool stuff and be kind to each other"
