Tim Hopkins
The World is a Mess
The World is a Mess, my brand new album, is my first work with modular synthesis, which I began exploring in early June of this year. My work with modular, I would say, so far, is very basic, but it has certainly become a passion; although, I don't imagine I will ever have walls of modules in my little studio. My preference is to work with very basic things, with a preference for analogue and a love of LFO modulation. Who knows, however, things may take on their own life as I continue to explore.
The title of the album was inspired by a quote from Joseph Campbell, which basically says that the world is messy and that's the way it's supposed to be, so stop whining and work on yourself, but leave others alone. I liked that idea, as we certainly are seeing more disruption in the world than I've experienced in my lifetime. It got me thinking, however, about the lives of people in the past and in other parts of the world and the difficult things that life presents. I think Campbell is bang on! The people I admire most are those who always do their best to be good and never blame others when things go wrong and absolutely never take advantage of others for their own gain. I think if we could all live that way (and this is what Campbell was saying, I believe, the world would still be messy but perhaps a little easier to navigate.
So, anyway, after all that explanation, the tracks on this album are about my own journey, navigating the ups and downs of daily living, sometimes being angry about the state of the world, and what to do about it, and all the while navigating the intricacies of being human. I try not to take myself too seriously, even though, sometimes, I write music about serious things, I believe that music can have an element of fun and playfulness, even cheekiness sometimes. I hope that comes across in the album and I hope you enjoy!
P.S. Big thanks to Gary Stenning for his fabulous cover design! See his info in the album credits.
