Ku Ku Ku Making New Land

ONE OF KU KU KU TALKS TO HERSELF

What's the point of being in a band at all? I ask myself, and not too unsurprisingly don't get an answer. And then again sometimes, feeling rather more encouraged by it all, and not worrying about paying the rent or buying food (y'know, insignificant things like that), I says to myself like I was a person of some intelligence like yourselves--

THE POINT OF BEING IN BANDS IT TO GET SOMETHING HAPPENING THAT IS ENJOYABLE FOR YOU PERSONALLY--as a player--to listen to, because maybe what's around is not so hot.

To be more accurate, probably there's not enough of what appeals to your sense of proportion, excitement, beauty...there almost certainly isn't enough. Your capacity for these is enormous. So stretching the imagination to ridicules bounds, in a better world everybody would be painting their own pictures, writing their own books, composing their own music and dance...

BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO, even though there's some insidious propaganda going around to make you think differently. If you write something--try and try to get it right--and show it to people and TRY and try and all the time you're thinking it's not good enough and finally give up--before you throw it on the fire, ask yourself this: whose standards are you trying to live up to, exactly? Beethoven? Elton John? Your art school teacher?

Forget it! If the planet didn't need your particular point of view, do you think it would have gone to all this time and expense to see that you were born, educated, and sat down with an instrument in your shaky little hands? I'm suuuure!

Well, you have to live up the planet's expectations. You have no choice, I'm afraid, but you can see to it that you don't botch it up by trying to camouflage your self as a not-very-good somebody else.

Now, about being in bands: we all of us feel "larger than life" when performing: more alive, whether just telling jokes at a party or performing on a "real" stage. In truth, that's the size we are. That power is there always, just damped down. Is it any wonder you never get it out of your blood? Once it's awakened, you know it was always there. (Oh legions of little stagestruck girls, on your way to Hollywood!)

This is not "exhibitionism", or some other phony disease the church invented. This is not egotism but its opposite, when done right and honestly. When you perform for an audience--any time you take the creative power out of yourself and expose it to other minds like your own there is the potential to get it back multiplied as many times as there are people with you. That's what being human is. That's what we're for--to feel that. That's what love is. That's why you shouldn't commit suicide if you can at all avoid it, because the potential for that union is always, always there.

It's everywhere. It's in this room right now. MANTRA, FOR KU KU KU

Please write to us, if you want to--we'd love to hear from you. We happen to be looking for another member or 2-it might be nice if they turned out to be girls, but not essential by any means. I'd like it to be people who are comfortable singing and moving, with a grasp of piano or guitar or some other melody instrument for at least one of you.

We're playing at the LAB Sept. 28, 11:30PM so come meet us there. Call Johanna, 528-9355 to set it up. KUKUKU 18 Joy Street, SF, CA 94110

Typed by Cheryl Vega 6-26-95