In writing this week’s cover story, “Getting Rude,” I got immersed in the music of Australia’s Rudely Interrupted. For most any listener, what’s instantly fascinating is the unusual aspect of this band: five of its six members deal with major issues like Down syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome, blindness and deafness. To be sure, it’s a different kind of experience to see folks who don’t fit the rock star bill deftly cranking out high-decibel rock.
That aspect of Rudely Interrupted prompted an interesting comparison to Northampton’s own Young@Heart, an elderly group of rock ‘n’ rollers who also defy rock-star expectation. That wasn’t initally a comparison that rang true for me. But after listening to the Rudely crew for several days, after taking an interesting sonic voyage, a certain convergence seems clear. It’s hard to come up with other examples of such unusual groups of rockers, but in every such case, it seems likely that the same kind of voyage happens.
What is it that proves so compelling about seeing unlikely musicians embrace rock, once solely the music of rebelling and youth? When Rudely Interrupted plays, there seems to be an initial phase of plain wonder: can these guys really do this? Is their music about generating empathy for overcoming their difficulties?
And the answers quickly come back: yes, they can really play their instruments, and no, they aren’t in search of merely empathetic reaction. The technical aspects become clear: a little guidance goes a long way, as do adaptations like special drumming gloves and a bass capo. The members of Rudely Interrupted don’t seem to mind working around their issues, and indeed, many is the “normal” rock performer who’s successfully taken to the stage equipped with less ability.
It’s easy to get caught up in the kind of euphoria the band generates once they’ve dispelled any mistaken notions about how well they can do what they do. It is undeniably cool that these players can not only make a joyful noise, they can whip up a healthy dose of the stuff in their listeners, as well. That infectious spirit goes a long way in carrying any performance.
Likewise, the band’s elderly comrades in the Young@Heart provoke joy, not necessarily a common unit of currency at rock shows. Seeing those who often get perceived as less able lead a crowd into helpless smiling is a strangely moving thing, a sort of conspiracy in which the performers get to embrace newfound powers and audiences progress from doubt to exuberance.
Rock shows, however, aren’t usually two or three songs long. For me, the most interesting thing about out-of-the-box rockers like Rudely Interrupted isn’t that initial rush, but what happens after. Once it’s been established that rocking will occur, it’s inevitable that the contours of something new become visible, the contours of a particular and unusual vision of the world.
When that vision starts making its way from the stage to the ears of listeners, performers like the members of Rudely Interrupted have a real advantage. Audiences have grown numb to the usual tropes; hearing the world’s millionth song about a relationship carries little emotional weight and no surprise. That’s been done for half a century. But who’s written a good song about the difficulties of living with Asperger’s syndrome? Who’s heard the remarkable resonance of “Purple Haze” in the mouth of someone who’s having trouble with memory?
I’m reminded of the scene in Harold and Maude in which Maude tells Harold that everyone should play an instrument and hands him a banjo. Not everyone can write great songs or hold a crowd rapt, but an inclusive and egalitarian view of music-making provides far more opportunities to discover how other people see the world, and how they might express that vision in music. It’s largely terra incognita, especially in rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s pretty exciting to wonder what kind of music might next arise from unlikely sources, what idiosyncratic visions might lie beyond the posturing of merely “normal” rock bands. It may be that the next revolution in rock won’t come from rockers at all.