Reflections on 2023
It is traditional at the turn of the year to look backward and forward at the same time. Given that I started writing for Outsideleft at the start of 2023, it fits rather neatly. Outsideleft is an odd site. It really is, but in a good way. It doesn’t take advertising or get bankrolled by subscriptions, so is not beholden to any part of the media industry, or driven by the need to feature popular things to keep subscribers happy. It can do and say what the fuck it likes and that’s a great thing to have these days.
Looking back over my first year writing for the site, I seem to have written rather a lot. Lots of book and music reviews, even a film review, along with a fair few interviews and features, some of which got a lot of hits. Being rude about the crass and commercial, and championing the different and original is what I like to do (you may have noticed). Meantime I have been working on my own music project ‘Senestra’, dubbed ‘dark electronics’ by those who dub such things. There is an album ‘Stanford’ out and another being worked on for 2024. I’m still working on my third book too for a European publisher but it’s taking a lot longer than it should.
Looking back over the year though, my overwhelming thought is that there is a vast amount of stuff out there. There really is a lot, so how anyone can make any sort of impression without already being an established act or having mega bucks corporate backing is beyond me. That’s where Outsideleft comes in. The little guys, the amateurs, those without glossy PR agencies or a label or publishing house behind them. Those who are going against the tide, and not looking to be on trend or become a social media sensation. Those are the ones we can make a difference to by giving them even a tiny step up so that a few more folk can hear about them. It’s a shitty world and Arts and Culture websites have zero impact on that, besides helping us appreciate the good bits in life. I’d say that’s well worth our doing.
